China News Agency, Shiyan, August 17th: "Foreign Instructor" Jack: Apprentice to Wudang for more than ten years
Author Hu Chuanlin and Zhou Rongyi
In the midsummer season, in front of the Yuxu Palace in Wudang Mountain, Shiyan City, Hubei Province, Jake Lee Pinnick, the 16th generation martial arts descendant of the Wudang Sanfeng School, is leading a dozen students to concentrate on practicing Taijiquan.
Wearing a Taoist bun, wearing a goatee and wearing training clothes, he looks like a fairy.
If it weren't for his blond hair, high nose bridge, and white skin, it would be hard to associate him with foreigners from a distance.
Jack, born in Kewanee, Illinois, USA in 1990, has been in China for 12 years to practice martial arts, under the tutelage of Yuan Shimao, the fifteenth generation martial arts successor of the Wudang Sanfeng School.
Today, he not only married and had children in Wudang Mountain, but also became the "foreign instructor" of bilingual teaching in a local martial arts hall.
Get up at 5:30 in the morning, practice Taijiquan from 6:00 to 7:00, guide students to practice Qigong at Yuxu Palace at 8:30, instruct students to practice Xingyiquan, Baxian stick, etc. Guqin, communicate with overseas students online from 9:00 to 11:00, promote Wudang Kungfu and traditional Chinese culture... This is Jack's free life.
What made him decide to stay in Wudang Mountain are the people and things here, including his Chinese wife and daughter and Taoist culture.
"Tao is good, very good." Jack said, when he first came to Wudang Mountain, he didn't quite understand Lao Tzu's famous sayings.
Over the past few years, through continuous learning of Wudang Kungfu and repeated reading of the Tao Te Ching, he gradually discovered that, in fact, Lao Tzu's thoughts are still very consistent with some Western thoughts, and the emphasis is on "the Dao is based on its own principles."
Jack believes that the Wudang Taoist culture is extensive and profound. By practicing Wudang Kungfu and making friends with martial arts, we can shorten the distance between people and intuitively experience the charm of traditional Chinese culture.
After more than ten years of study and life, Jack is very familiar with the landscape and ancient buildings of Wudang Mountain. He consciously acts as the propagator of Wudang culture, and foreign martial arts enthusiasts often come here.
He said that as the 16th generation of Wudang Sanfeng School, it is his duty and responsibility to promote Wudang Kungfu and Wudang culture.
According to incomplete statistics, Jack has recruited more than 500 "foreign disciples", and thousands of overseas students have studied with him online.
Jack sighed that in the past ten years, Wudang Mountain has undergone earth-shaking changes: from the original green leather car to the current high-speed train, from taking the Hanshi Expressway to flying directly to Wudangshan Airport, from hiking to the sightseeing cable car... He said In recent years, with the wide spread of Wudang culture and the continuous improvement of the transportation network, more and more overseas tourists choose to come to Wudang Mountain for leisure, experience culture and health preservation.
According to the statistics of the Wudang Mountain Tourism Special Economic Zone Management Committee, there are more than 20 various martial arts halls in Wudang Mountain, and about 400,000 overseas people come to Wudang Mountain for tourism every year.
Before the epidemic, about 8,000 "foreign disciples" visited Wudang Mountain every year to learn martial arts and ask questions.
In addition to the status of "foreign coach", Jack is also the captain of the Wudang Mountain International Volunteer Service Team.
In his spare time, he often wears a red vest and takes the initiative to provide overseas tourists with services such as online ticket purchase, tourist route consultation, and Wudang culture introduction.
"Wudang Mountain is my second home. It is as kind to me as my hometown." As for his future life, Jack said, there is an ancient Chinese poem called "This place is my hometown", and he hopes to live with his wife and daughter. Wudang Mountain.
In the future, I will open my own martial arts hall in the United States, so that more people can learn Wudang martial arts and understand Wudang culture.
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