Tuesday, August 18, 2009

2009 Retreat in Mexico!

Those three days went by so fast I don't know how to summarize them.

Actually I do...

More Chi! Train Harder!

The first evening we got to the monastery we were greeted and shown our simple but clean and comfortable rooms. The weather was nice and cool. A couple of hours later, it was time for dinner in a large dining hall. We were served a lot of fresh tortillas and delicious spicy food, buffet style, cooked by monks in the monastery.

The next morning, we were woken up at 5:30 with a loud gong to start training at 5:45. Because there were so many attendants (110 people!), we were divided into 3 groups: Qi Gong, beginner Kungfu, and not beginner Kungfu. I went with the Qi Gong group to wake up my bones.

We had breakfast at 7:30.

For two hours after nine, we trained Qi Gong and Tai Chi (in a beautiful grass lawn under a brilliant sun!).

Then lunch.

Then I passed out.

At 4:30, we trained Kungfu for 3 hours. I repeat 3 hours of Kungfu!!! I must say I was impressed with all the chi. Even after those exhausting 3 hours, a lot of people kept practicing and stretching! Me? I was done.

After Kungfu, we sat in a circle around Shifu and he told us stories and philosophies.

That night's dinner was the most delicious meal ever...

Day 2: Scroll up the the 3rd paragraph and repeat.

Day 3: Scroll up again, shuffle the paragraphs and read.

We finished up day 3 with Shifu giving all the attendants certificates and us taking group pictures - this was where we busted out our best moves posing.

Through out the whole retreat, we were very warmly welcomed. We were given gifts, taken out to towns, and treated with very special water. All of us even got a ride back to Mexico City. Our brothers over there are super nice and awesome!

Here's one of the things we learned:


I still can't completely decode my own drawing so maybe you can help me...

P.S. If you are curious to see what we did in Mexico before and after the retreat, see pictures here.