Dali

I arrived in Dali two days ago after taking the 5 hour bus from Kunming. Its basically a small walled town which if in the centre, just looks like a tourist resort, but after walking around, is actually a place where people live, work and go to school. Its by a HUGE lake called Erhai lake, and at the foot of the CanShan mountains, which today I hiked up. The hike turned out to be a bit of a mission, getting much higher than I thought I would, and then having a minor freak out in my head about being to high and it being too late and so having to decide to turn back instead of loop around. Was a really great 8 hour climb up and down though, and the views were so good, felt like the highest I have ever been on ground, dunno if it was my imagination but thought the atittude was quite apparent, prob just my mind though haha. Feeling pretty rinsed now though i tells ya'.

Anyway, travelling by myslf has its up and downs. I spend most of my time just exploring around, and when not, just think about near everything and questioning everything going on in my life, like parkour, God, chinese, direction....etc. Just feel a bit directionless and want to have some concrete goals to aim toward in the long term, because I think without goals life is pretty meaningless to be honest. Thanks to an email from my dad, he has reminded me just to chill and that I am doing something productive with the studying, being here, parkour, pursuing God, and all that. So although it feels pretty lonely at times just being by myself, its also got me to clear my head and question things rather than being distracted by other things. So its all good, again, can't imagine Thomas' adventure right now, full support. Check his blog and give him a hand with some comments, inspiring guy. www.thomadventures.blogspot.com
The centre of Dali old town

Finish of a school day

Rub buddha's belly!

Zhonghe Temple half way up mountain

Typical street in Dali

Cool looking cloud and some fields at the foot of the mountain

Halfway up the mountain on 'cloudy pass'

Some horseys

Halfway up an electricity tower thing

Nice view from about halfway up

View from the highest point I climbed to

Some insence at the temple

Realising maybe I climbed too high

Solo travels

At the moment I am in Yunnan province, a south wester province of China, currently in Kunming, a massive and extremely beautiful city.
Just thought I would post what I am up to at the moment. Basically because we have 2 months holiday starting January, I decided I wanted to go to Yunnan and just explore some areas, so I have got about 20 days of travelling by myself and just getting to know the place.
Im planning to take a bus to Dali, which is a small walled town surrounded by mountains and natural scenery as well as many small villages. While I am there I just plan on exploring around by bike and foot, checking out the villages, running, studying, reading the word, and eating tasty food haha. From there its off to Lijiang which is similar but surrounded by grander mountains, and also the step before the Tiger leaping gorge, a trek that lasts about 3 days in a really deep gorge that I want to do. Basically its just a time for me to explore, train a bit, read, and go on some missions.
Nothing like the sounds of Thomas' current adventures, full respect to the man in the conditions that he is facing, not sure I would be up for it all!

Well, plan on going to Dali in a couple of days, still just spending almost all day here walking around the vast and beatiful city of Kunming, its got palm trees and greenery everywhere and a gorgeous lake which is wicked to chill at. Want to start sketching again as well, and need to get a camera too tomoro, which is looking to be a bit of an expense now!

Anyway, peace out!

Thank you

I had a real lapse in faith a few weeks back with serious doubts and questions arising, and even beginning to struggle to believe much anything that Christianity had to say to me. Been up and down since I first wanted to be a Christian, but this was certainly the lowest down point. So after talking to my dad when my family came to see me, I felt much more encouraged and I decided to start really trying to read the bible regularly and pray. I have been doing this for the past week, for about 1 or 2 hours a day and taking notes of things that are applicable to life working my way through the New Testament. It has been helping massively actually trying to study the word and not just aimlessly reading it through and I have come to love reading it with time passing very quickly while I do.
Today I was reading Hebrews for the first time which was basically addressed to Jewish Christians who were thinking of reverting to the old Mosaic laws of the Old Testament or thinking of combining Jewish teachings with Christianity.
I got to chapter 2 and jotted down verse 10, and then carried on reading down the page until I came to one line that hit me extremely hard. The chapter is about how Jesus calls those who believe in him brothers and family, and this particular verse read:

"Here am I, and the children who God has given me".

As soon as I read this, for the first time in YEARS, I literally started crying! I couldn't help it at all, and as I read further down the page I barely dared to look at the words because new tears would stream down my face! Bear in mind I was in one of the classrooms and there was a girl behind me studying so there I am blowing my nose and wiping tears from my eyes. I couldn't stop crying for about 20 minutes, and I could barely read two lines at a time without blurred vision returning. I have never felt like that before and I am usually very sceptical of people who say they cried or had a seizure or something like that, but this was very real to me indeed.
It literally was just me realising how much of a MASSIVE sacrifice Jesus made, and I dont think people can appreciate that at all until they have tried to understand it with some effort, because this was like a curtain being lifted from me. I can't understand where the love comes from and why he would do something like that, i literally couldnt comprehend it and kept thinking 'why would he do all this for me!?' Anyway, never felt anything like that before and I just want to encourage people to look into it all and dont be passive because nothing comes of it. I realised how hardened I am to it all and today just gave me a glimpse into his love and sacrifice which I have never seen before. Take this from someone who was ready to give up on it all about 2 weeks ago.
The full passage which just encapsulates it all for me is Hebrews chapter 2 from verse 10 to 18.

So seek and you will find, it just takes time!

Nanjing Parkour Sampler

A taste of parkour again

Yesterday I organized a training session for some of the guys here in Nanjing to come to, just to all train together as well as just try and talk to them about parkour and show them basic things that they can keep drilling.
About 10 people turned up and although some were starting off with 10+ft drops, it wasnt too long until they began to understand basics a bit more. Also had a guy there who was 30 with 20 yrs of wushu under his belt, so when he started doing drops etc, i just said i didnt think it was best to start off with, but left him to it because he has 5 times more experience than me at his chosen discipline, so fair play!

Well, there is this cat pass to a tree that has been taunting me for a few months here, and I have put it off through a lot of excuses, and just not wanting to give it a go.
But that day I really felt was the day i needed to finally do it. Its about a 8/9 ft drop from the cat pass to the floor, and about 7ft or so across, so it was daunting for me because cat passing from speed to a tree is much more unpredictable than walls etc, plus the grip was kinda hugging two big branches.
The past few months of my training here has almost exclusively been drills and strength training, which has really paid off, especially with my touch, so I hadn't pushed myself to do something daunting for a while. As such, training was on occasion enjoyable, and often quite a chore, especially partly because I train solo 9/10 times and the weather here is much colder now. Not really something too off putting usually, but I didn't realise how good it is to train with other people which I have been used to having access to back in the UK of people similar to myself.
Either way, after deciding to commit to doing the catpass, it took me about 2 or so minutes to go for it, which really suprised me! I just had so much clarity while looking at it, and just ran without hesiatation to try it, something which usually doesnt happen as people who train often with me know that I can over-analyse things too much somethimes. The first attempt I crashed into the tree because off coming down into the landing it was extremely hard to stick due to the angle of force. I went on to try it another 4/5 times, picking up some tasty grazes and bruises until i finally nailed it by sticking my foot into a v-shaped divet which i thought was too high for me to get.

Anyway, the whole point of this is the feeling I got from it, it was a bonus that I stuck it, but the whole process of having to push myself and failing over and over but to keep trying is something i have really missed from parkour, a really familiar but long-ago feeling of raw parkour, having to really use what I have been training to accomplish it. I was just reminded of why I love parkour so much and how it has helped me grow and how something so intrinsic as moving has so much value. It also made me think that people should forget about materialistic things, and really invest in things that are intrinsic in your mind and body, like writing, art, singing, language, etc.....things that are with you 24/7 and you can unlock whenever you want, this is why I love parkour and moving. Sometimes I just need a reminder.

So if you are going through a slow patch or are discourgaed, just stay on the grind and dont give up, nothing worth having comes easily!

PS: Check out this link:
http://www.simpleliving.net/content/custom_garden_of_simplicity.asp

Peace