2016 Hawaii Workshop

2/5/2016 - 2/10/2016

The workshop in Hawaii took place on the island of Oahu, at the YWCA camp located in Kaneohe Bay. I have attended this workshop for the first time about 5 years ago, and as before, found the local students in Hawaii to be very welcoming.

a view from the training hall

I had the rare opportunity to meet Master Alex's father, Master Dong Zeng Chen, when he visited the workshop with his wife. I was also given a chance to push hands with her, and that was a very interesting experience. I found her to be quite strong and aggressive, and while I kept my ground pretty well, the excessive strength I used had made my right arm, already showing a sign of tendonitis, to become quite painful and useless by the end of the camp. I need to learn to be more soft even when faced with excessive power. I hope to learn more and improve on my push hands skills in the two push hands workshop I plan to attend later this year.

with Master Alex, Master Dong zeng chen and his wife

One afternoon, I joined the sightseeing group to visit a nearby Japanese Buddhist temple, a replica of the famous Byodo-in temple in Kyoto, Japan. 

a replica of byodo-in temple

garden at the temple