GIVE YOURSELF AN EXQUISITE HOLIDAY
Inaki, me, Douglas and Trini
My coming teaching in Alicante and Palma de Mallorca from 18th to 24th September 2014 marked my 20th anniversary of teaching in Spain. A few people, including the organizer of the courses, have asked me to tell some interesting stories about Spain.
As many of your know very well, the first person to invite me to Spain, and thus started the expansion of our Shaolin Wahnam Institute worldwide was Douglas Wiesenthal. When you first meet him, you might think you are talking to His Royal Highness Prince Charles of the United Kingdoms, because both of them look alike.
Douglas travelled with me to many places in Spain, like Alicante, Barcelona, San Sebastian and Sevilla, and translated the early classes for me from English to Spanish, or Castillano he would say, insisting that there was no such a language called Spanish. This reminds me of an interesting incident in San Sebastian, a beautiful town in Northeast Spain just across the French border. For some reasons, perhaps anticipating and allowing this interesting incident to happen, Douglas did not come with me in this trip, so Rama (who has now resigned from our school) translated for me in a television interview, which was broadcasted live.
At the end of the interview, Rama loudly exclaimed in a rising crescendo, "Viva Espana", which means "Long live Spain." Everyone present, except me who was sitting there quite innocently, stared at Rama with big, rounded, angry eyes -- but not the ones we have when performing one of the Eighteen Lohan Hands. The locals in San Sebastian did not call their country "Spain", but the "Basque Country", which was smaller than what you would call "Spain" but also included part of France, irrespective of whether the French government agreed.
They also did not call their beautiful town "San Sebastian", they called it "Donostia". And of course they did not speak Castillano if they had a choice, they preferred the Basque language. Nevertheless, there were many participants at the San Sebastian courses, many of whom came as a result of the interview.
When I was teaching chi kung in Barcelona, or the region around it called the Cataluna, a nice gentleman who knew English and Castillano well, simply refused to speak in either of these two languages, and spoke in Catalan. Some locals had to translate the Catalan into Castillano, for our translator (I can't remember whether is was Douglas) to translate it into English for me. Spain was, and is, full of fun.
But to me the most funny story connected with Douglas happened in Sevilla, where some locals would prefer to speak neither Castillano nor Catalan but Andaluz, and call their country Andalusia. But don’t worry about the various Spanish dialects. If you can speak Castillano, normally called Spanish by non-Spaniards, or have someone speak Castillano on your behalf, you can travel anywhere in Spain and South America except Brazil, and enjoy all the fun without any language problems.
In Sevilla, a charming city in the south of Spain, a young man around 20 accompanied by his mother came to me for consultation. While he was enjoying his chi flow, I noticed from his back that there was an energy blockage. I went behind him and gave him a whack on the back of his head, sending him tumbling forward a few steps.
Then he started to cry. His mother went over to him to ask what had happened. The mother also started crying. Douglas, who was translating for me, was alarmed, and went over to ask the reason for their crying. I was calm and relaxed. Had not Douglas come to explain the situation, I would have said, "Carry on. Enjoy yourselves."
Douglas told me that the young man had migraine which was considered "incurable". His mother had taken him to consult all the doctors and therapists they could find but to no avail. Just one whack from me cleared all the pain away. They cried for joy.
The first course organized by Trini, who is also the organizer for the 20th Anniversary courses in Alicante and Palma de Mallorca, was also very funny. Trini asked me whether the course could be held at a beach. "A beach! That would be lovely," I thought to myself. I recalled picnics with lovely girls, and also lovely boys, in my younger days in my 20s (I am still young now in my 70s) by the sea in Penang underneath shady trees with sandwiches, noodles, curry chicken, coffee and tea.
When I arrive for the course, Oh my God, there were no shady trees at all -- not even one. And there were also no sandwiches, noodles and coffee, though I can't remember whether there was any tea. But the course participants, both men and women, were lovely, basking in the morning sun beneath a clear blue ski, full of expectations besides the Mediterranean Sea. We had an enjoyable and rewarding course.
I am sure the coming 20th Anniversary courses in Alicante and Palma de Mallorca will also be very enjoyable and rewarding. I am also sure that Trini will not repeat the first time funny venue of open sunny beach. Both Alicante and Palma de Mallorca are very beautiful. Alicante is by the Spanish coast with a lot of palm trees. Palma de Mallorca is an idyllic island in the Mediterranean. Do not just come for the courses. Give yourself an exquisite holiday. You can register with Trini at mailto:info@chikungalicante.es or phone +34 609 44 17 70.
Wong Kiew Kit
21st August 2014
Palma de Mallorca, a jewel in the Mediterranean
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