Getting Out of the Bubble

Have I told you about the time...I learnt martial arts? If I said that I did martial arts in China I don't think people would be that surprised. After all, who doesn't think of Kung Fu or Chinese martial arts when they think of China?! But my anomaly was that, of all the highly trained kung fu masters in China, I learnt from a white guy. Jake is one of the most interesting people I met in China. He and his lovely wife, Becky, were some of our colleagues at Aston in Yinchuan and had come over from the US for a bit of adventure. Jake had a fascination with Asian culture and threw himself into the cultural experience. I really respect the way that he would practice his Mandarin with everyone and anyone while I stammered and hid behind my Chinese boyfriend. Jake also was really passionate about martial arts and was even developing his own style which I believe was a mix between MMA and wing chun (correct me if I'm wrong Jake!). Jake kindly offered anyone who wanted to l