Young Africans embrace benefits of martial arts

ABIDJAN — "One, two, three, four", a young man in a Shaolin Temple training jersey commanded, as he demonstrated movements and postures to students in a gymnasium at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny University in Abidjan, the economic capital of Cote d'Ivoire.

"I'm a member of our university's Chinese martial arts club, where students of all grades can train. We have three sessions a week, and about 50 students come to learn kung fu and Chinese culture," says Jean Philippe N'Dri, who is responsible for instruction at the club.

Like many young Africans, his interest in martial arts and Chinese culture began with martial arts movies.

"My love was born of watching great actors like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan," he says, adding that they taught him to appreciate martial arts.

As children, he and his friends would imitate characters from the martial arts movies they watched, but it wasn't easy to master the movements.

In 2014, he enrolled at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny University. During his second year, he joined the martial arts club out of an interest in kung fu.

With the assistance of the Confucius Institute at the university and the support of the club, he was given the opportunity to visit the Shaolin Temple in China's Henan province.

"It was a beautiful discovery and a great dream come true," he says.

On the way to China, he and his companions were curious how the Shaolin Temple would look, and wondered what they would see when they arrived.

"We saw people dressed the way they had been in the movies. They were wearing Shaolin attire and practicing techniques properly," he says of his first impression of the temple.

The group underwent three weeks of training, but the first two weeks were really challenging.

"It was so tough that we wanted to go back home. We understood then why Shaolin monks have such a reputation," he says. "It wasn't just physical training, but also mental fortification that we received."

With his kung fu dream coming true, N'Dri was keen to pass on what he had learned to people at home.

"We have set up the Shaolin Training Camp, which is the first of its kind in Africa. It allows us to give the same training we received at the temple to young people who are not able to go to China, but who share the same dream," he says.

"We organize several competitions in which all of our students, some of whom are preparing for the Shaolin championship in China, participate. The competitions allow them to gauge themselves nationally."

He says that martial arts have become the backbone of his life.

"Before, I used to love to fight, but I never won," he says. "When I began practicing martial arts, my initial idea was to learn techniques to protect myself from people who wanted to hurt me."

But during the nine years he has been practicing martial arts, he has found the opposite to be true.

"As other people will tell you, I have become wiser. I can channel my anger, and have developed a spirit of sharing with my brothers," he says.

He adds that he hopes China will offer more support and opportunities to his compatriots, so that they can promote martial arts at home after returning from their studies.

"We are ambassadors of Chinese culture and also of African culture. We have these two advantages to enable Africans to get what Chinese and African culture are meant to offer," he says.

N'Dri is keen to convey to martial arts enthusiasts that practicing martial arts is an inner journey.

"You will develop extraordinary discipline. You will cultivate long-lasting health. You will also achieve peace of heart, which is the most essential," he says.