To all “Yùndòngyuán“ ( 运动员 ),
I want to dedicate this blog entry to a mysterious, hidden but at the same time fantastic place…
The “Fight Club” (Bó Jī Jù Lè Bù – 搏击俱乐部)!!!
Maybe first some background information: Jenny used to train long time ago with a wise, old and peculiar Chinese Kong-Fu/Kick-Boxing teacher, “Lǎoshī“ (老师), which dedicated plenty years of his glorious life to different kinds of fighting sports. One day, he disappeared without a trace– no one knew where he has gone and why he left unannounced.
Some days after my arrival, after getting to know the Qingdao-guys, Jenny told me about her ambition for fighting sports (what I would never believe to be honest :)) and that she plans to revive this ambition by having work-outs on a regular basis, when finding the suitable location. Because I am also interested in these martial arts, we arranged to search for a “Fight Club”, which suits our needs. So we started consulting different people, visited different gyms and finally entered THE glorious “Fight Club”. By entering it – the place is just 5 Minutes away from our office, inconspicuously based on the third floor of a random building, you sense the atmosphere of freedom and peace. The place is not especially clean and well-equipped but looks more like a basement or underground “club”, a place for initiated; people who just want to escape the big-city-feeling and the routine working life. And guess who we met there, sitting on one of the nicely suiting sofas, immerged in the special atmosphere of the “Fight Club”? The mysterious, wise “Lǎoshī“(老师) or master “Guànjūn” (冠军)!!! Please don’t ask why he is there and how he managed to be invisible for such a long time (2 years!) – We simply don’t have a clue but we are pretty sure that this is miracle! 🙂 Because he knew Jenny from earlier times, he welcomed us all (the two of us and two other “fighting friends”) with the words: “ Finally you made it, I waited for YOU for a long time” ( Ok fine, he didn’t say it, he just speaks Chinese, that’s what I understood or would like to hear… -.- ) He introduced us to some (unwritten) rules, e.g. that by entering the place, you should forget the daily problems you are struggling around with – during the workout-time neither problems, nor sorrows exist. And it helps – to train there is like a “therapy”; not important with what mood you enter the “Fight Club”, you are always leaving this place with a positive attitude and in a much better mood!
But what is it exactly making this place so special?
First of all, it’s the “underground” style itself – it looks like someone just said he wants to use a floor and opened a club, probably without having a license but the necessary connection. So you have a big floor, which is divided into separate “parts”, which altogether harmonize like different kinds of plants and trees in a forest. You have an area with punching bags, an area with a small boxing ring, an area functioning as a gym with some basic appliances, second area with mats and punching bags and an area which is not developed yet, also called the “black zone”, leading to a staircase, which brings you to a dancing place, where different kinds of dances are practiced (ranges from traditional dances to belly dancing :)). This area is occupied by (hot) Chinese girls, girls who also want to feel the magical atmosphere of the “Fight Club”.
Secondly, it’s the people training there, just Chinese people, ranging from very total beginners to very good fighters, from young to old and from pupils/students to business men. It is like a big family, everyone has a personal story to tell (in most cases in Chinese, so not everything is clear) but the sport bands us all together. Furthermore, you can try different sports, such as Chinese Kong Fu, Thai Boxing, Karate and others. You always can get assistance from one of the “Xiǎo Guànjūn´s“.
Last but not least, the place is just next to our office, so it´s really convenient and you can go there every day (!!!), from 10 am – 9pm. Because you know that after finishing work the traffic is horrible, going to our sacred place appears a reasonable alternative to go directly after work – after the work out you feel relaxed and it´s much more agreeable to go home, eating something and falling death on your bed! Moreover, because we represent “foreign faces” and make the place more multifaceted, we paid special prices, e.g. 1200 RMB for 1 year, which is a real gift for what the place offers!
Ok, enough rhapsodized about the “Fight Club”, I’m off for a work out there! We would be happy to welcome you one day to this place and feel the magic which is “hosted” here!
One thing in life is granted – no matter what happened in the past, there is always a next fight waiting for YOU! 😉
Hello everyone!My name is Dimitrij and I just arrived on Saturday night in Zhuhai.
I am 22 years old and I am from Frankfurt/Germany.
What am I here for? Because I am a student of International Business Administration in Wiesbaden/Germany, I am obliged to make an internship in a foreign country for four months.
I was always fascinated by China, simply because China is unique and so different from Europa. Last year I have been to China for one month, in Beijing and Shanghai, and I decided to come over to China as soon as possible!
So, after I started a research to find an internship, I found the homepage of INTERNCHINA, which was quite interesting. I just applied for an internship here and was lucky to get a very interesting offer consisting of an internship directly at INTERNCHINA (two months in the Zhuhai office and 7 weeks in the Qingdao office), two months Chinese classes in Zhuhai and a HOMESTAY at two different guest families in both cities. This was the perfect combination for me and I decided to do it! I am sure it will be a big adventure!
So here is shortly my first impression of Zhuhai. Leo, the customer relations manager, picked me up from the port and we drove to the apartment, which is next to the office, where I will stay some days, until my guest family is ready to host me. The next day, Sunday the 14 of August, I met Jamie, the general manager, at the beach, where we had a lot of fun. Together with Jamie’s girlfriend Helen, Leo and two other Chinese friends we played Frisbee and pool, chilled at the beach and went to the swimming pool next to the beach. Although they did not recommend me to swim in the ocean, I did it and enjoyed it a lot!
The beach is very cool because you have a nice view on some islands in the ocean (see picture!) and you have a few shops, cafes and cocktail bars along the beach.
Later on we went to a restaurant and had hot pot all together (see picture!). It was very delicious and not very expensive. Yeah, it was really a cool first day in Zhuhai!!
Yesterday was my first day in the office at Intern China. Jamie gave me a good introduction on the activities of INTERNCHINA and the tasks I will work on during my placement. After having lunch together, I went to the school and passed a short test which should show the teacher how ‘good’ my Chinese is. 🙂 At least, I understood something… -.-
But I am optimistic, I am sure I will improve my Chinese during my whole Placement.
So, that’s it for today, see you guys!