It’s the middle of the semester. You’ve got more than your usual dose of integrals, Shakespeare and Descartes. You’ve downed gallons of coffee, just to keep that barrage of term papers, lab reports, and killer long exams at bay. In four words: You need a break—and see what’s there to learn beyond the four walls of your classroom.
Around this time of the year, University of the Philippines (UP) students go on a hiatus of sorts, and cherry-pick their activity of choice from the 30-something half-day mishmash of activities simultaneously mushrooming around campus, from food-blogging seminars and Stock Market 101 classes for Warren Buffet wannabes, to Zumba dance lessons for those who just want to try something exotic.
It’s what UP students fondly know as the “aclê”—short for Alternative Classroom Learning Experience, which various groups volunteer to organize.
I knew I wanted to try something that would put me on the edge of my seat for this semester’s aclê. So one aclê described as “Fight or Flight: Martial Arts and Kung Fu Demo” quickly caught my eye. Images of Jackie Chan and Angelina Jolie kicking evil henchmen flashed through my mind, and I decided to give it a shot.
Around 150 of us in our loose shirts and jeans got together at the Palma Hall parking lot as UP Diliman’s resident Chinese Student Association (CSA), the event’s organizer, spruced up the venue, and TVjuan (a media group that educates students on direction, acting, set design, production, and different broadcast communication elements) got their cameras ready to cover the event.
Down and dirty
The wait did not disappoint; as I was to eventually find out, this aclê would be more than just about watching crazy kids gifted with unusual Shaolin monk-like Kung Fu abilities perform. All of us were going to get down and dirty, trying to get our inner Karate Kid to do a Crane Kick worthy of Mr. Miyagi’s nod of approval.
We started the afternoon with a slow but intense session of Tai Chi with Master Ton and Ms Irene of the Peach Blossoms Tai Chi Group. Slow and graceful movements are key, says Master Ton as we carefully shifted our weight backwards and sweated out the “Repulse Monkey” move.
Tai Chi was then followed by an hour of Wing Chun, a southern China Kung Fu technique rumored to be Bruce Lee’s martial art of choice. Unlike other Kung Fu Styles, Wing Chun is all about making lightning quick defensive hand movements.
Garbed in imperial yellow, our teacher, Sifu (Chinese for “master”) Robert Greene and his assistant Chester Hilario (dressed in black for the event) showed how this martial art could deftly be used to deflect a knife or gun attack. (Tip: Be in tune with your center of gravity. Do that and even the strongest person won’t be able to push you down.)
Our afternoon capped off with Marlon Villanueva of PK Manila, Flynn Siy of PK Philippines, and Levi Suministrado of PK Lucena coming over to give a crash course on Parkour (PK). With Parkour, the world becomes your playground—the Palma Hall parking lot, with its towering acacia trees, parked cars, and moss-covered hedges were no exception. Jumping over cars? No sweat, with the right landing and ground rolling technique (first thing we learned—very important!).
The Parkour Crash Course ended with Marlon showing us how to get into a car—by jumping through the front window. (Note to self: better find a car with large windows). The adrenaline pumping Parkour-ing lasted well into the night, as the glow of sky lanterns filled the night sky.
Yes, we’re still working on that Crane Kick.
