1. Ip Man drinks tea

☰ Ip Man 葉問, Wing Chun 詠春 Grandmaster and Bruce Lee's sifu. Drinking tea in an unnamed old style Hong Kong teahouse. Judging by the Gaiwan 蓋碗 tea utensils, he's most likely drinking either Keemun or Yunnan black tea. Very fitting, if it were, because he was a known smoker. ☷ When I look at the photo and seeing him smiling back, it makes me wonder about the quieter areas of Hong Kong. I could just imagine myself as the one who took the photo. As a martial artist who does Baguazhang 八卦掌, this photo allows me to honour him in my own way. ☵ May he be blessed up in Kung Fu Heaven while I sip from my own Chinese tea cup Pu-erh. ☲ I bring him up because martial arts is like tea. We all have our styles and preferences. But at the end of the day, it's all tea. Essential coming from the same plant Camellia Sinensis. And at a certain level, whatever the martial art, we all end up at the same place being at one with each other. ☳ That place for high level Kung Fu masters involves tea. Tea symbolizes in a graceful way that the Tao of Martial Arts is more than just training and fighting. I wish I could explain it all here, but it's something that you have to be there to understand. ☶ It is like visiting Hong Kong itself. At the bottom end, where most tourists start off, Hong Kong is all bright lights, big city, shopping, shopping and shopping. Eating and eating. And too many people crammed into a tight space. It's exciting for the first few times... But then it starts to wear thin. ☴ Every soul in Hong Kong finds their Place of Recomposure. For most people it will be a small cafe serving fusion Canto-western cuisine or a teahouse frequented by those guys in pyjamas and white vests. The kind of place tourists typically rush past without noticing or if they did, dare not enter because they look at bit dodgy. ☱ I guess in a way, I have taken you down the river to where the river flows to: Rambling that make no sense to a person just starting on the Martial Arts Path. If that be you, just drink your damn tea and enjoy life. Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/