"Doctor Says You Must Go To Hospital"

The frenzied pace continued for another week of competition, and my training with Teacher Shu intensified. Teacher Shu had decided that I should learn the complete Seven Star Praying Mantis set, and so we worked harder on that. My xingyi boxer friends also wanted me to train with them, and I was glad to switch gears and practice the very grounded, simple xingyi boxing after the hours of complex mantis movements. I had saved money for this trip, and it was burning a hole in my pocket, so I set out for the streets of Pingyao, the ancient city. I bought swords, cane swords (an ornately carved bronze walking stick with a rusty ice-pick hidden in the handle), kung fu shoes, gifts for Teacher Shu, Jindao and his wife, and a basketball for Jindao's nephew. I walked into a small shop where two men and a woman were bent over their work, making hand-made shoes. They spoke happily when I walked in: "They've seen you performing at the competition" Pei Pei told me. I promised to buy a pair of shoes later, and went about my shopping tour.

But my energy level was diminishing, and at some point that day I wasn't sure if I would be able to walk back to the hotel. Having not eaten much solid food, I was getting weaker. I went back to the hotel and took a nap. Later, Alicia and Pei Pei knocked on the door to see how I was feeling. Not very well, I told them, and a doctor was summoned to my room. The doctor checked me out and then spoke in Chinese. "Doctor says you must go to hospital". And, unpleasant as that thought was, I did not argue; I was exhausted. With much effort and a little help from Jindao, I walked downstairs, got into a cab and was ushered into the hospital. Jindao looked a little scared and that concerned me, because Jindao was usually as impassive as his dad, until provoked (once by a cab driver), and now he was looking a little nervous. Inside the hospital, a line of local people were waiting to get in to see the doctor, and I was quickly ushered past all of them to the front of the line. A family stood over their father who was on a stretcher moaning, and because I was a foreigner, I was put in front of them to see the doctors. I wanted to protest, but didn't have the strength. After a thorough exam, I was put into a hospital bed in a private room. A woman (doctor, nurse?) came up to me and put a small acupuncture needle into my ear and left the room. Then a group of young nurses came in, scrutinizing my tattooed arms and speaking in excited tones. One of them was instructed to put a needle into a vein in the top of my hand. Three other nurses watched her do this. After a couple of painful mishaps, she began to look very nervous before making one more attempt. I couldn't look at what she was doing, so happened to be glancing at another nurse, when I felt an electric sharp pinch on top of my hand. The nurse I had been glancing toward looked as if she'd seen a ghost, and I wondered what was happening to my hand. The first nurse had made three attempts to insert the needle into top of my hand, and now stepped back. I glanced at her and she looked completely ashamed, holding her head down. The other nurse stepped up and said something quietly to me in Chinese, before painlessly setting the needle. They attached a drip bottle to the needle, and I spent the next four hours in that bed, and went through two or three drip bottles. I was being rehydrated.

I was released from the hospital but the following morning, for the first time, I felt unable to go train with Teacher Shu. Jindao came back and said that they were taking me to a more modern hospital, and off we went. The more modern hospital did basically the same treatment to me, for a couple of hours, along with forcing me to drink a couple of big glasses of sugary water. The doctor spoke English and told me that I was still running a fever , and he wanted to give me an antibiotic injection, a recommendation I immediately refused. "I respect you doctor, but I'm not getting any injection. Can you please give me oral antibiotic?" He said yes, but the injection worked more quickly. I politely declined, and was given some pills to take.

By the next day, I was back training with Teacher Shu, Sun Jin Quan and Yu Chang Lin. One of my last days in Pingyao, one of the Pei Pei told me: "you won 2nd place in your group." It was as simple as that--no award ceremonies, no fanfare; Jindao handed me a red silk- bound folder containing a very large medal and a calligraphy scroll. "What does it say?" I asked Pei Pei. "It says your name, and that you won second place, and the name of the competition, and the date. You won second place, in the foreigner's division."
"What name did they put on it?" I asked.
"Ga-ray" replied Pei Pei, smiling.
Master Zhang came to congratulate me, and I had my picture taken with him, ten pounds lighter, but still proud of my accomplishment (see above photo). I said goodbye to the xingyi boxers and friends that I had made, and went back to Taiyuan for a few more days. In Taiyuan, I continued training with Teacher Shu, and we finished the mantis form.

Sitting in an aisle seat, I glanced back toward China as the plane reached cruising altitude. I had captured, on film and digital videotape, the events of the last month. This trip to China had taken a toll on me, physically, but I was recovered now and returning to America with my 2nd place medal from the international competition--a tribute to my teacher. As my attention turned West, I had no idea that time was not on Mr. Chen's side; that he would begin to teach me even more quickly; that in the next four months, my teacher would begin to accelerate the pace.

Next: A Strong Man Falls