China is a big country, with a huge population. At any given minute there are all kinds of things going on, from the curious to the absurd. That’s pretty much what makes travel so enticing. You are exposed to new ideas and new ways of doing things. These new ways might be better or worse. Yet, the fact that they are different adds value to your experience.
If the new experience is better, then you can see where your previous assumptions might be wrong. This is what happens when you move out of your “comfort zone”. You learn that what you are accustomed to might be wrong or problematic. A good example of this is paying for drugs overseas. Drugs are cheap just about everywhere outside of the USA.
If the new experience is worse, then you have a better appreciation of what you have come to accept and live with. A good example is going to the public toilet in rural China. You really start to appreciate Western-style public restrooms.
I created this post to illustrate that there are many ways to do things, and often these other ways might appear odd, strange or simply curious to someone who is not used to them.
You know, when I first visited China, (back around 1993 or so) many of my (new) Chinese friends thought that a “hamburger” was exactly what McDonald’s made. They had no idea what American food was, and their only exposure to it was McDonald’s or KFC.
They were surprised when I explained to them that hamburgers are something totally different from what you would find in most (not all) American “fast food” restaurants. They didn’t believe me, and had a very difficult time visualizing it. So, what I had to do, was make up some home-made hamburgers on real rolls, with fresh fixings to show them.
Well, China is like that. They often do things different from we are used to seeing. And because of that, that kind of exposure, let’s us view things that we have taken for granted over years and years of exposure.
Maybe we need to take a look at why we do certain things in certain ways. As such, we can start to question if the things that we are accustomed to, are really the best way to do them.
Please kindly note that this post has multiple embedded videos. It is important to view them. If they fail to load, all you need to do is to reload your browser.
Monkey Style
I was raised watching David Carradine in the television show Kung Fu. I, like many of my generation became entranced by his Shoulin kung fu style. I, as well as most Americans, at that time, only knew of two ways of battling bad guys. (Aside from shooting them, and boxing them.) That was by using Karate, or Kung Fu.
After a few decades of this, we became exposed to martial arts through watching Bruce Lee, and other notable martial arts actors on television. It seemed like all of the best martial arts originated out of China, and more specifically, out of Hong Kong.
With this being our only “education” into the world of martial arts, it is no surprise that we Americans have come to assume that this is the best and (perhaps) the most effective style to fight in martial arts. It is our lack of exposure to other styles that gives us a false understanding of what is available to us personally.
Perhaps we should be exposed to other techniques and methods. Even if they appear odd or strange to us. They exist, because they when performed with mastery, are superior fighting forms.
Other styles of Chinese martial arts include, but are most certainly not limited to:
Wushu: Known more in the contemporary world as not really a style, but more as a sport or a showmanship of forms.
Tai Chi: A very popular internal martial arts style that is characterized by its breathing techniques. Millions of people practice this martial art for relief of stress, meditation purposes, and health and balance in their stress-filled lives.
Kung Fu: King Fu is used in the contemporary world to describe the many styles of martial arts in China. There were additionally various sub styles of Kung Fu from both Northern and Southern China. Whereas the Northern region boasted Shaolin, Eagle Claw, Long Fist and Monkey Style and the Southern region laid claim to Wing Chun, Hung Gar, and Choy Li Fut.
Shuai Jiao: Shuai Jiao was one of the first martial arts in China. Shuai Jiao was taught to the troops by means of utilizing the horns on their helmets and throwing as well as ground fighting was the main focus of this martial art.
Here is a micro-video of a monk performing “Monkey Style” Kung Fu. What do you think? Do you think that it would stun the attacker, or have him roll on the ground laughing?
You see, or maybe not, the point here.
This style is both humorous and unexpected. It’s difficult to fight someone who cannot be predicted. And the humor is disarming. This technique is not for everyone, but it has advantage, and in life… that’s what we need. A little bit of advantage.
Here’s another video depicting scenes of a Chinese movie character that utilizes such actions to disarm his opponents, and obtain advantage in situations. It’s sort of like the book & movie “The Scarlet Pimpernel”.
Moving on to a totally different subject, but still a little odd and crazy is what happens when you drink too much.
A Little Too Much To Drink
Now this is China, don’t you know. Everyone drinks alcohol as it is part of the culture.
In America we would go home to sleep things off, or maybe crash on some stranger’s porch or in our car (Heaven forbid we drive home). Rarely do we try to walk home. Though, I have seen people riding a bike home after closing time at the bar. (You know, that almost all bars in the USA have Cinderella hours. That’s right, they are not open all night. Yeah, crazy, huh?)
It’s 5:08 AM. She obviously left the club, bar or KTV, and is having a bit of trouble getting oriented. Lordy, you would think one of her friends would help get her home to bed.
This poor chick had a little bit too much to drink. I think. Either that, or her world is just spinning around and around.
Training a K9 Police Dog to perform CPR
I’ve seen people train police dogs. There are all kinds of movies and shows depicting this. I have seen them take down a “bad guy” wearing a padded suit. I have seen them run though obstacle courses. I have watched them sniff for drugs, and locate bombs.
But, I have never seen them be trained to give CPR.
Well, this is China, and they are not afraid to try new things and push things to the limits. This is a cute and interesting video of a young police K9 puppy being trained to perform CPR on a downed police officer.
Three videos are enough for one post. The band width would never permit you to load too many more. So please kindly go to the next section to check out some more crazy Chinese videos.
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