I had a wonderful time at Kung Fu Zen Garden Retreat.The place is probably the most peaceful place on earth. I have been staying there for 2 months to train my kung fu skills. It was a hard but pleasant training with master Xingxi and my Kung Fu brother Weifeng.  When you are looking for a Kung Fu School that is NOT like a military training camp, this is the perfect place for you. The atmosphere is familiar and uncomplicated. If you decide to take a day off, when you’re exhausted or just up for a weekend trip to Beijing, it’s completely alright with them. But this easy-going attitude does not mean that the training is less strenuous or challenging. Your muscles will definitely enjoy the weekend breaks ;)

Not only did I improve my kung fu skills, I also learned a lot about meditation, Buddhism and my own body awareness. The training usually begins at 6 a.m. with Qigong breathing exercises. After a few weeks with early-morning-Qigong I was able to feel how my Qi was getting stronger and stronger. The Chinese breakfast is served after the breathing exercise. It's very different to the western breakfast I'm used to.  We usually had steamed bread, scrambled eggs and a lot of different tasty vegetables. The food was mostly bought at the local market and was convert into delicious traditional Chinese meals.Between the training lessons you have enough time to learn Chinese, meditate, listen to some music, read or whatever you’d like to do.

If you have any questions don't be shy and ask the school manager Naomi! She definitely has her heart on the right place and will try to help you whenever you’re in trouble. In case you’d like to have some further information don’t hesitate to ask Naomi for my email address.

                                          Leonard Stahl

 Swissland

August  2015.