Actually the “story” had begun a few years earlier, when Patrick Parthonneau started practising with Albert at Wujien Taëkwondo and Martial Arts Center
Following Patrick, a lot of other foreign students came to Wujien Taëkwondo and Martial Arts Center in order, not only to study Taëkwondo in a very good school, but also to share some great moments of friendship with their teacher Albert Wang. One of these students was Pierre-Louis Gras
Another one, a few years later, was Bruno Gentil
Of course there were not only foreign students ! A lot of other students also enjoyed attending Albert’s lessons, and the dojo was often crowded with people sharing the same passion.
Every three months, the students had the opportunity of “testing” and showing their improvement under the attentive eyes of the examiner, who would tell them, at the end of the examination, if their performance was worth getting the next belt level (yellow – green – blue – red – red and black…).
This successful examination gave us the opportunity of enjoying a great moment in a good restaurant, accompanied by some other great friends, such as Nicole Young and, of course, our delighted teacher.
A few months ago, while searching here and there for some information about the friends I met during these years, I discovered the Wu Jien Taëkwondo and Martial Arts Center web site... but, at that time, the whole site was displayed with chinese characters only… ! Then, a few days ago, I found out that somebody had the great idea of writing an english version of the site... which enabled me to write to Albert... "only" 14 years after the events I related hereabove !
This also gives me the opportunity of congratulating Albert for his 5th dan black belt. At the time when I practised in Taïpeï, it was 4th… which was already a very good and respectable level !
When I was about to leave Taïpeï in july 1994, I asked Albert to give me a piece of advice, about the other martial art(s) I may study, if I could not find the opportunity of keeping on studying Taëkwondo in France. Albert told me "Aïkido". So, when I came back to France, I searched for Aïkido as well as for Taëkwondo. I found "Aïkibudo", which comes from the same origins as Aïkido. Here is a link to the official Aïkibudo website (unfortunately, only in french for the time being...) : http://www.aikibudo.com/. Here is also a link to the website associated to the dojo where I use to practise nowadays : http://www.mitsurukai.free.fr/association.html
In 2006, I was glad to pass my 3rd dan "Aïkibudo" (techniques which are practised “with empty hands") as well as my 3rd dan "Kobudo" (techniques which are practised with a different weapons such as japanese sword - bo - naginata - two swords : katana and wakizashi...)
Very often, whether I am practising martial arts or just trying to solve any kind of problem in everyday life, I remember the advice that Albert used to give to his students. I especially remember the famous “patient” word he told us every time we were tempted to give up an exercise, such as the fifty “push ups” on the fists and on the wooden floor, or the hundred(s) of “stomach muscles” exercise in front of the wall… This is to say that beyond the martial art lessons, Albert also taught us useful principle of life.
I would really be glad to have some news from the friends I spoke about (Patrick Parthonneau, Pierre-Louis Gras, Bruno Gentil, Nicole Young) as well as from the other students (photos 2 and 4). Any piece of news would be great, after all these years.
I wish Wu Jien Taëkwondo and Martial Arts Center students many hours, weeks, months and years of great and useful learning with Albert.
Faithfully and sincerely yours.
Lionel PAYEBIEN
CROISSY SUR SEINE
FRANCE
lionel.payebien@wanadoo.fr
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