I arrived at my destination: a distinctive red-brick Victorian building; a church that had been converted into a nursery and West Hampstead Community Centre. My eye caught ornate brick work, lead-lined windows and a simple gable. I walked up a couple of steps towards a handmade sign that said ‘welcome’.
The door was locked. I pushed a button on an entry phone and the door immediately buzzed open. I climbed a series of staircases to what appeared to be a reception area where a couple of people were milling around. Cheerful music blared from a big attic room. I stepped towards the hall and peered through the window. A musical theatre class, populated by around six young girls, all aged between seven and ten, was coming to an end.
‘You can go and sit down in there’ gestured one of the people who were milling around in the corridor, suggesting I went to the community centre office. Two people sat at a round meeting table. I went to join them. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, I introduced myself. My two new friends were called Frances and Maya.
‘So, what’s your interest in Chinese medicine? Are you interested in more the herbal side, or are you interested in Acupressure?’ asked Frances.
I told Frances that I had no real interest in Chinese Medicine, but I was happy to find out more. The real truth, however, was that I was profoundly sceptical. I realised that my main reason for scepticism was due to ignorance and the fact that I’m a great believer in western medicine, controlled empiricism and the power of scientific method. I was also mindful that endangered species were being hunted to the brink of extinction all to feed a demand for products that find their way into Chinese medicine.
The event had the title: Chinese Medicine Film Screening and Talk - 'Iron Monkey'. After about ten minutes of chatting, the theatre school had finished and it was time to move into the main attic room. I said hello to our organiser, Alex, and went to sit down on a rickety chair that had been placed towards the front of the room.
I was expecting our organiser to be Chinese. Instead Alex was, like me, very British. I looked around: there were about ten people. I sat next to a woman called Jenna, and to my right there was a chap who used to live in Hong Kong and a British chap called Peter. Behind me sat a Frenchman called Fabrice.
‘Have you seen any Hong Kong films before?’ asked Stephen, who also used to live in Hong Kong. I told him that I hadn’t.
‘They’re very different to Hollywood movies’.
Alex handed out nuts and dried fruit in bowls, and made us a big pot of Chinese tea. After a short battle with technology, he turned on a ceiling mounted projector, pulled down a white screen and opened up a PowerPoint. It was time for a talk.
We were going to see a Kung-Fu movie. I had never seen a Kung-Fu movie before. Alex told us about the Qing dynasty and talked about competing western spheres of influence. This led to a brief diversion into the opium wars between China and the British Empire.
To add context to the film, Alex also talked about hair styles, religion, a Kung-Fu style called Hung Ga and a place called the Shaolin Temple. Apparently Iron Monkey, the main protagonist, was a folk hero called Wong Fei-hung. Wong Fei-hung was not only a Kung-Fu expert, but also a Chinese doctor. Alex explained that the connection between Kung-Fu and Chinese medicine is pretty obvious: you can easily get hurt when you practice Kung-Fu.
Alex explained that ‘Iron Monkey’ was one of many different popular films in which the Wong Fei-hung character featured. There connections to Chinese culture too, such as the tensions between north and south (and different dynasties), and to Chinese Triad gangs. Other than the obvious link to organised crime, we were told of a Triad narrative that relates to ‘up holding and protecting traditional values’. Everything, it seemed, was richly connected. Alex’s talk didn’t feel like an informal talk, but an impressive academic lecture. My overriding question was: how did he get to know all this stuff?
It was time for the film. Lights were turned off and English subtitles were turned on. I settled down with my tea, fruit and nuts, and started to watch the story unfold. In the day time our lead protagonist, Iron Monkey was a doctor. At night, he became Iron Monkey, super-hero warrior who took from rich corrupt government officials and gave money to the disadvantaged poor. It was a familiar story: it was a cross between Spiderman and Robin Hood.
Early on in the story, Iron Monkey bumped into a stranger who was very skilled in the art of Kung-Fu. The other character had a son, who was also learning the art of fighting. Very soon, there were spectacular fight scenes: two swords being used at the same time, an amazing sequence with a set of nunchucks, and a couple of sequences with a very big stick. The characters jumped and span in mid-air. They dived and wrecked buildings. Armies of government officials were laid to waste, leaving the ‘governor’ to express outrage and exert strict penalties on his populace.
There was other stuff going on: there were monks, illness, a case of mistaken identity, and a young attractive nurse who was clearly Iron Monkey’s love interest. Iron Monkey was in trouble when a government inspector arrived. This inspector was not only skilled at Kung-Fu, he also seemed to have magic sleeves. It took both Iron Monkey and new ‘Kung-Fu expert friend’ to defeat the inspector in a grand finale that was doused with fire and fast fighting.
Everyone fought: women fought with other women, the young son, who fought off a whole array of mean looking bad guys, also got a good drubbing. Iron Monkey got into trouble too, but thanks to Chinese medicine, he was able to quickly recover from the effects of ‘King Kong palm’. It was a fun, highly choreographed, tightly plotted watchable film. There was drama, comedy and, arguably, dance.
‘Anyone want to go out and eat?’ asked Alex, as he turned off the projector.
After stacking chairs, emptying bowls, and washing mugs, we made our way to West Hampstead. Our destination was a Vietnamese noodle bar. As we walked, I chatted to Alex. His group had around three hundred members.
‘I’ll be totally honest: the Meetup is connected to a business I want to set up. I qualified in Chinese medicine and wanted to create something and I realised that Meetup provided all the infrastructure I needed. I’m thinking of the group as a way to network and building a community with other Chinese medicine practitioners’.
I confessed to knowing nothing about Chinese medicine. Alex explained that there were a number of disciplines: acupressure (which uses the same points as acupuncture), herbal medicine, massage, exercise and nutrition. He was, apparently, qualified in acupressure.
When we got to the noodle bar and sat down, I was finally able to ask him the question that I was dying to ask: ‘how did you get into Chinese medicine?’
‘I used to live in Taiwan where I used to study Chinese. When I was there I supported myself by teaching English as a second language. I met a Chinese doctor who really inspired me. I got really interested, and I asked whether he could teach me. He said before he would teach me, I would have to learn the basics, so, when I returned to London, I studied Chinese Medicine at the University of Westminster. This was my second degree. I then went onto study a postgraduate course in Acupressure’.
As we ate, he talked about the history of traditional Chinese medicine, how it dates back thousands of years, and about how some key medical texts were discovered in a tomb. Alex also addressed something that was bugging me. The preparations that he dealt with were always herbal. ‘No practitioner’, he said, ‘would use materials from endangered species’ lowering his voice slightly to emphasise the point.
I liked really Alex. I enjoyed his company and I was impressed how he seemed to straddle two different cultures and how he shared his experiences with others. He did it in a warm friendly way with infectious confidence.
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