At the end of the term last month, a group of 13 dedicated members of the Imperial College Wushu Society were boarding a train to Stockport, Manchester to study Chinese Martial Arts under a five time National University Champion of China.

I would recommend it to newcomers and veterans

The first day of training included basic warm-up (jogging, some warm-up jumps, loose kicks), and then went into drills and jumps.  Front kick, side kick, inside then outside kick, front slap kick, butterfly jumps etc. We were given critique and learnt a traditional Shaolin Longfist Form. The next day we learnt the basics of Sanda or Chinese kickboxing.  It wasn’t all work and no play; we went out for dinner during training breaks and had a great time at a joint Christmas party with the club in Manchester after our last training session.

Overall, the trip was a blast.  The group was small enough that we could all get to know each other, but big enough that it felt like a party.  Not everyone was a Wushu fanatic, so there was plenty to talk about besides martial arts.The bed-and-breakfast was also fairly cozy, and the disappointing breakfast was not a deal breaker (after all, it was £100 for the hotel, train tickets, food, and the seminar).  It was very well worth the money, a good balance of fun and hard work and I would recommend it to newcomers and veterans.  All in all a great trip.  Good job, IC Wushu!