The Shaolin Secrets Blog

I returned last Saturday from my trip to China and the Shaolin Temple and to say that this trip was transformational would be an understatement.

So many wonderful moments happened that it would be too many to list in just one e-mail to you. Over the next several days I'll share with you the experiences and memories that were created and give you an insight to the Shaolin Temple and the martial arts.

The trip began in Shanghai, one of China's most vibrant cities. It was over five years ago that I last visited and like the U.S. of A., a lot's changed since then.

The city of Shanghai has been hard at work modernizing and cleaning itself up. The Bun, or waterfront, looks like Vegas at night with all the buildings lit up like the Mirage on the strip.

Even the people were friendlier this trip. Everywhere I went, the energy from people was warm and friendly...or as warm and friendly as Chinese people can be when they don't know you.

I visited the historic Jade Gardens and Temple, where they have some of the finest jade as well as an ancient statue made of purely jade. It's so old and priceless that they don't even let you take photos of it.

After the visit to the Jade Gardens and Temple, we went to a tea house and had a tea ceremony along with a sampling of some of the teas the locals drink. In Secrets of the Shaolin Temple Volume I, which you can get at http://www.shaolinsecrets.com, there are places where herbs and liquids are listed and it tells you what each one will do to keep you healthy.

The teas we sampled were just like that. You drink this tea for your liver and cleansing, you drink that tea for your skin, you drink this other tea in the morning for your circulation...it was amazing how the Chinese use nature to keep themselves in balance and healthy.

While I was at the Jade Gardens and Temple, something amazing happened. A good, old fashioned summer thunderstorm can rushing through and started dumping rain on us.

And I mean dumping. A toad strangling, soak you through your clothes, look like a drowned rat rainstorm. The kind of storm that makes you want to go outside and jump up and down in the puddles.

What was amazing was the energy the storm. It refreshed us all, since we were all trying to acclimate to 100 degree heat and almost 100% humidity. It also gave an energy to the grounds we were on that I can only say made us all feel like we were buzzing.

So much so that we did what most adults only do when they have boy children and a massive rainstorm hits...

We ran out into the rain and started playing in the puddles. Jumping up and down, practicing martial arts on each other, laughing our butts off and having a great time.

What was really amazing were the looks we got from the Chinese that were watching us. They were laughing, clapping and talking excitedly among themselves. I heard one of them refer to us as the "Crazy Americans" while another said it looked like we were having a lot of fun.

By the end of our playtime, a crowd had gathered and was cheering us on and enjoying the show. We finally wrapped up, bowed and waved to everyone and we moved on. We may have been soaked through to the bone, but we were energized beyond belief.

While we were standing in line to go to lunch, we were still outside and it was raining lightly. I did some deep breathing exercises and immediately felt warmer and even more energy.

When we went to eat, I may have been soaked to the skin and squished when I walked, but I had a huge smile stuck to my mug and I felt like a million bucks. The meal was great and the rest of the day was just as exciting.

More on the trip later, but for now, get over to http://www.shaolinsecrets.com and get your copy of Secrets of the Shaolin Temple Volume I and see for yourself how the Warrior Monks of China were trained in weapons, combat, breathing, healing arts and more.

Best,

William Huff

P.S. - The big announcement I promised is a week or two away. I worked on it while in China and will be finishing it up soon. Stay tuned.

P.P.S. - In the meantime, if you don't have it yet and you are being a "Fence Sitter", get off yer bum, get out into the rain and start playing in the puddles. Take a chance...push yourself to get out of your comfort zone. Get over to http://www.shaolinsecrets.com and get your copy of Secrets of the Shaolin Temple Volume I.

For example, have you ever been traveling and in need of a bathroom and not been able to either find one or ask for one in the native tongue.

It happened to me and it ended up with me playing charades as a mimed sitting down on a toilet in the middle of a shopping mall to a very disturbed looking security guard.

Lucky for me he was pretty good at charades.

It got me to thinking about my recent trip to the Shaolin Temple.

My wife is Chinese and speaks Mandarin but I have to admit, I haven't been bugging her enough to where she'll teach me. So I learn by being around her family and when we travel to China and Taiwan.

So here I am, ten days in China and another five days in Taiwan and I don't habla except for a couple of words and phrases.

There are four things in life and the world that are pretty universal. Love, money, music and the martial arts.

Love. Amore. That magical attraction you get with someone that when you make eye contact, you get the butterflies in your gut and music bursting in your ears as rockets go off...

Okay, maybe not the rockets. But attraction is universal. You can be traveling in Italy and make eye contact with someone, the sparks fly, and you're off on an adventure as you try to bridge the language barrier with words.

Money. Dinero. Duckets. Cha-chingus. Why is it that in almost every sales situation a new salesperson finds himself in, the first question usually asked by a potential buyer is, "How much is it."

Because if you or I don't know anything about a product or service, the only thing that we can relate it to is money. You might not be able to speak a lick of German, but when the massive Fraulein behind the bar holds up three fingers after giving you your pint of stout German beer, you know that means "pay up".

Music is a language that is often overlooked. I studied music at a young age and still struggle as a beginning guitar player today. I played classically for seven years and the ability to read music, sing, understand music theory and pitch has all helped me as I work on learning the technique of playing guitar.

The cool thing about music is that you can take a song like the Star Spangled Banner, put that sheet of music in front of any musician in the world that can read music, and he'll be able to play it, regardless if he speaks English or not. The notes are the notes, here in America or in Timbuktu.

Let's not forget the martial arts. While at the Shaolin Temple, I trained for three days. The Instructor was a Shaolin Monk who didn't speak a lick of English. As a matter of fact, he may have had his sense of humor surgically removed because he was one serious dude.

He started us off and for every minute of the training, he would lead and we would follow. He would grunt to tell us to move and would say nothing and stare when he wanted us to hold that position.

He corrected by coming around, standing next to us and showing what and how we should do what he was teaching. Every once in awhile he would physically touch you and move you a certain way, but not often.

I learned the old school way. The way children learn when they can't talk yet. I watched. I followed. I repeated what he did exactly, or as close as I could.

I was excited as a two year old watching Sponge Bob when I saw how he was moving his feet and transitioning his weight so smoothly and quickly. I picked it up because I had been focusing on his feet and watching his every move. I had to; we couldn't talk in words.

It was close to a hundred degrees, almost one hundred percent humidity, he was just shouting grunts as we moved by the numbers, are clothing absolutely soaked and stuck to our skin with sweat...

It was old school. And it was one of the most magical times in my life.

On our last day when we completed our training, our Instructor was kind enough to pose for photos with us. He was very gracious and patient, even shaking hands with myself and several others.

He couldn't have known the gift he had given all of us. I had learned that like love, money and music, the martial arts can be a bridge to cross the language barrier and allow you to communicate and learn with a fellow martial artist.

There was one more thing it had taught me. That there was a success principle that we were being taught on top of the martial arts.

We couldn't talk to each other, so the Monk would lead and we would follow, modeling his every move.

If you want to be successful at something, all you have to do is find someone doing what it is you want to do...and follow in his footsteps.

All the success in area of your life that you want has been done by someone before. All we have to do is find that person and model their thoughts, beliefs and action steps.

And we'll get what we want, every time.

Best,

William Huff

P.S. - There's much more about the training of the Shaolin Temple and the Warrior Monks available at http://www.shaolinsecrets.com. Here you can get your copy of Secrets of the Shaolin Temple Volume I and gain access to volume I of the Ten Volumes of the written recorded history of the Shaolin Temple. To read how this information was obtained and published, go to http://www.shaolinsecrets.com and see for yourself.

Here Goes:

"I was in China training with the monks also, and yes, it was hot!!! But boy, what a fab experience!

Charlotte"

Charlotte, I'm glad you had a chance to share in that experience. Keep training hard and I hope to train with you again at the Temple.

"Mr. Huff,

Your letter below reminds me of my favorite quotes of all time:

"We imitate our masters only because we are not yet masters ourselves, and only because in doing so we learn the truth about what cannot be imitated."

"There is no transference of secrets from master to disciple.
Teaching is not difficult. Listening is not difficult either.
But what is truly difficult, is to become conscious of what you have in yourself and be able to use it as your own."

Is it not our responsibility to use what we are being shown by our masters as a guide to finding what is within ourselves?

Thank you for sharing your experiences.

Best Regards,

P.L. Wilson"

Patrice, thanks for the e-mail. In regards to your question, I believe the answer is yes, what you are taught by anyone is a guide and you should explore it, test it and get results for yourself.

As Bruce Lee said, "take what is useful; discard what is not." I like to call it the "Grocery Store" theory.

When you go to the grocery store, you don't buy one of everything on every aisle. You buy what you like and what works for you. Some people like the aisles where the processed foods are more than the outside edges of the stores where the fresh food is. Some people won't even go down an aisle unless their life depends on it.

The key is to find what works for you and gets you the results you want... and do it.

This one is from a gentleman named Luke;

"Hello Sir,

You Quoted:

If you want to be successful at something, all you have to do is find someone doing what it is you want to do...and follow in his footsteps.

I Quoted:
To be successful you must find what you love to do and take action.

Donald Trump Quoted: www.woopidoo.com

He says to be successful you have to enjoy what you're doing

-Luke"

Luke, thanks for writing.

There are a bunch of directions I could go with this conversation but I'll stick with the success lesson that was mentioned.

I specifically wrote about modeling as that was the topic and principle that was pointed out in the story.

I did not mention desire because in this instance, the group I was with and myself wouldn't have spent thousands of dollars and countless hours in the heat and humidity training with people who don't speak English if we didn't want to...real bad.

It is my fault for assuming everyone knew this so I'll be more clear and detailed in the future.

As far as finding what you love to do and taking action, that is correct. To kick start that process would be to find what you love to do and take action by modeling the person who's already doing what you love.

If someone else has done it, you can, too.

There are many more success principles that are hidden in Secrets of the Shaolin Temple Volume I along with combat principles, training techniques, health and fitness secrets and more.

Go to http://www.shaolinsecrets.com and see for yourself the "Dead Sea Scrolls" of the martial arts. You will be blown away.

Best,

William Huff

P.S. - Stand by for that little something I mentioned that was coming after I returned from China. You'll find out soon.

P.P.S. - In the meantime, if you haven't already picked up your copy of Secrets of the Shaolin Temple Volume I, you want to get over to http://www.shaolinsecrets.com now before that little thing I mentioned comes out. Your wallet will thank you.

I wrote earlier in several e-mails that I started as a musician at a very young age. If it wasn't for music, I don't where I might have ended up.

It's my Mom's fault. The summer of my sixth grade year, my Mom was asking me what I wanted to do as activities after school. With the exception of bicycle motocross, I was not much of an athlete.

I was small for my age, lightweight and had asthma so I didn't believe in my abilities for sports. I was content to be building tree houses, pulling on girls' ponytails and squeezing frogs when they came out after the rains.

Thank the Lucky Stars Mom had better plans for me.

She got me started in music classes that year and lucky for me, it came easily to me. One of the best things that came out of music for me was that I learned a system for mastering things that allowed me to learn anything very quickly. I'm thinking of developing that and sharing it with you in the future.

I was trained as a classical musician but there was one type of music that touched my heart the first time I heard it, like nothing had touched my heart before.

The Blues.

I was hooked. Immediately. There wasn't any form of the blues I heard that I didn't like. Delta, Chicago, Memphis, Electric, Slide, Harmonica, you name it...I liked it all.

I've been lucky enough to see many of the great ones live. Saw Stevie Ray Vaughn four months before he died. B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Keb Mo, Dr. John, Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughn and many more.

Now it's gotten to the point where I can hear a guitar play and tell you who it is before they sing a note.

Last night I was eating dinner with my wife and we had the blues playing in the background. A song started and while the guitar was doing the opening of the song, I asked her to tell me which artist it was.

She excitedly started running down every one she could think of. After each one, I'd say, "Baby, don't guess. You've heard this guy before and I know you can do it." She stopped, really listened and then said, "B.B. King."

"Close", I said, "It's Buddy Guy." To which she responded...

"Darn, I always mix up Buddy King and B.B. Guy."

I love my wife.

It got me to thinking about why do I love the Blues so much. What drew me to it.

It's the feel along with the words that does it. If you listen to just the words, it's almost as depressing as country music, although I will have to say the funniest lyrics I ever heard from a blues song was sung by a female artist in Chicago that started, "Girl, your man is cheating on us..."

It's the combination of the words and the instrument played together. With blues guitar, it's making the notes "sing" like someone's voice. It's bending the note and just the right time to where it almost makes you cry when you hear it.

I've seen great blues guitarists play solos and when they are feeling it, you can see goose bumps on their arms. They're feeling it; the sounds have gone right to their core. They are one with the music.

That feeling is also what attracted me to the martial arts.

It seems like there are martial arts schools on every corner. Karate, Kung Fu, Tae Kwon Do, Jiu Jitsu. It's all kicking, punching, trapping and grappling, isn't it.

Nope. They are all similar and you can benefit from each and every one of them, but there is more to it than meets the eye.

The magic in the martial arts is that feeling you get while you're training and right after your done. When your body has been moving like a well-oiled machine, you are soaked through with sweat and when you move, you feel as smooth and powerful as a panther.

I remember a session I had with my fighting coach years ago. We had been cycling through heavy bag, focus mitts, Thai pads and double end ball training. At the end, we finished with several rounds on the Thai pads doing combinations.

I remember leaving that workout feeling like I had been hit by lightning and kept the electrical charge. I felt like I could fly. Fast, strong, light on my feet. I wanted to go fight a few rounds right then.

That energy carried me through the weekend and into the next week. I made great money the following week and was more productive then I had been in the previous two weeks.

You can get the same thing from your workouts. Don't just focus on the motions; go for the feeling and the energy. Really focus on how you feel and how you are moving; how the kicks, punches, traps, throws and grappling really get your juices flowing.

Then you'll understand that just like The Blues, there is way more to the martial arts than just what meets the eye.

Best,

William Huff

P.S. - There's people out there that think the Secrets of the Temple Volume I is "just another martial arts book"; they are probably the same ones that think that the Bible is "just another hardcover". I can't even begin to explain how rare, sacred and authentic this information is, but I try at http://www.shaolinsecrets.com. You can read all about the story behind how this information was obtained and what's contained in it.

P.P.S. - Don't miss out on that "feeling". Secrets of the Shaolin Temple Volume I shares more than moves. Philosophy, principle, technique, health and fitness, it's got it all. If you haven't done it yet, get over to http://www.shaolinsecrets.com and get yours now. If you have already picked on up, continue to enjoy and learn from it...and Thank You.

It's late June in the Song Mountains; it's close to a hundred degrees and only Buddha knows how humid it is.

You are in the courtyard of the Shaolin Temple. The slate gray, uneven stones of the courtyard are so hot you could fry and egg on them. The air is so heavy that it feels like you are parting a curtain every time you move.

You're stuck in a low twist stance doing your best to concentrate on your breathing and not the fact that it seems to your eyes that your legs have somehow switched sides and your feet are pointing the wrong way.

The pain is excruciating...seat dripping down into your eyes and off the tip of your nose; running down the small of your back, which would make you jump and wiggle but you don't want to attract any attention to yourself right at this moment...

Because you are saying to yourself, "Self...what the h@#$ am I putting up with this for."

You're doing it because the Head Monk is standing inches away, looking at you very intently like you are either going to be his next meal or you just might make it through this training session.

Okay, may be that's what it is like to be a Warrior Monk in training at the Shaolin Temple, maybe it's not. I can tell you from recent experience that the physical part might be close because that's what I went through about three weeks ago.

The point is why would someone put up with that. Put themselves through that type of stress and pressure.

It's simple. All of us make decisions. Some easy, some hard, but we all do it.

When we make the tough decisions, it always helps us to gather information and guidance from people wiser than us or people we respect. From there, it is our job to decide.

And once you decide, it's your job to follow through.

But...there's a secret weapon available to all of us that we can use to help us follow through with our decisions and get better results.

It's called a Coach.

Some names used are the Boss, Manager, Instructor, Mentor...there can be many names, but the duty is the same.

Your Coach's job is to get more from you than you think you can do. To push you to be your best. To hold you accountable for the results that you said that you desire.

I've had the honor of having both good and bad coaches and I am still being coached by several good ones right now. I've learned from both the good and the bad ones, as you probably have did when you were coached.

And then, there's always that One Coach. The guy whose death you plotted on many occasions. Whose name you uttered with various curses that questioned his heritage and anything else you could think of.

Why. Because out of all of them, he was the one who pushed you the most and made you go past your previous barriers. To be more that who you thought you could be.

Looking back, you probably think fondly of him and what he did to push you. I can think back to many things that my Senior Drill Instructor did to me during boot camp that are hysterical now...but the humor was lost on me back then.

Just like I imagine it was back in the day of training at the Shaolin Temple. I can imagine the trainees suffering through hours and hours of training with their Masters standing there watching them.

The Temple understood that this was necessary because they knew if it wasn't for their Instructors pushing their Monks, no one else had the discipline to train on their own hard enough to reach the levels of expertise necessary.

If you don't have a Coach, Instructor or Mentor, ask yourself why not and if you have any goals that you are trying to accomplish that are worth anything...that are pushing you to new levels.

Maybe it's time you got a Coach.

Best,

William Huff

P.S. - To find out what the Masters of the Shaolin Temple were teaching the trainees at the Temple, go to http://www.shaolinsecrets.com and get Secrets of the Shaolin Temple Volume I. See what information was so valuable and sacred that it required Masters to share it with the trainees.