An Argentinian fulfilled his dream and practiced Kung Fu with Shaolin monks in China

Ramiro Fernandez was born in the town of Saint Vincentlocated 70km from the City of Buenos Airesjust 19 years ago. Despite his youth, he was already able to fulfill his first dream and practiced Kung Fu with Shaolin monks in the Chinese city of Dengfengcentral province of Henan.

Ramiro stood out last year in the First Latin American Shaolin Kung Fu Gamesthanks to the vital contribution of his “shifu” (teacher), Sebastian Perezas well as the contribution of his father, school director Shaolin Tigers San Vicenteand his brother, who is an instructor of said martial art.

The Chinese news agency, Xinhua, interviewed the young man, who during the talk stated that Chinese martial arts embraced him since childhood and they knew how to transform into their passion. Furthermore, he revealed that has an unparalleled interest in ancient Asian culturea fact that led him to raise funds no matter what, in order to travel to China.

“I have been practicing Kung Fu since I was four years old, that is to say I started in 2009. I was motivated to practice it by the fact that my father, Darío, also does Kung Fu, in his case since he was nine years old,” said Fernández.

The Argentine was invited to travel to China thanks to his good score in the Latin American competition held in Buenos Aires in October 2023, with the presence of more than 415 participants from 14 regional countries. Additionally, the tournament was witnessed by Shi Yongxinhighest authority of Shaolin temple in China, birthplace of martial arts.

The word of Ramiro Fernández

“Being in China seemed incredible to me, much more than I could have imagined before going and what I had seen in the movies and on social networks,” said the young man, adding: “Being there, living in the flesh own culture and the quality of the people, it was incredible.

“All the Chinese people I spoke to helped me, they tried to make themselves understood or to understand us to help us with whatever it was. That’s what I liked most about China and the people,” he continued, stating that not knowing The language did not prevent him from generating friendships and anecdotes.

Then, he highlighted that he was able to “learn and train in the Shaolin temple with the monks”, who “taught him a lot, also what goes beyond the physical part and the theoretical part, breathing and meditation; the fact of knowing our body for personal growth.

Between celebratory laughter, he related: “In the exhibitions I gave I was awarded the distinction of excellent performance, something that was intended only for five representatives from each continent,” and said that he had talks with Abbot Shi Yongxin, from whom he received invitations to return to the Asian country soon.

Likewise, the young man from San Vicente gave more value to “the experience of living in the temple for approximately a month” than to the competitions and their results. “I don’t know how to explain it. It was incredible to wake up every day at 5:00 in the morning looking in front of us at a landscape that we previously only saw in movies,” he explained.

“The atmosphere was incredible, the place was full of energy and it was beautiful to be there, where one always dreamed, where the sport one loves was born,” he stated.

When telling his routine, Ramiro said: “Each day began with a jog between 06:00 and 07:00 in the morning, then breakfast and, after that, a training session from 08:30 to 10:30 or 11: 00 and then continue with lunch at 12:00 noon. We returned to training, now from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., then dinner and finally we had night training from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Finally, he confessed how he managed to cover the expenses related to the trip. Fernandez, Racing Club fanand those close to them, managed over several months with different activities, among which the sale of food (such as pizzas and empanadas), among others, stands out. At the same time, local merchants helped him as well as family, friends and neighbors.

Even, his father came to sell the car to be able to complete the journey and fulfill the dream of his son, who stated: “I would like to return. If it can be achieved, it would be something beautiful.”