Bonbon Hu, from Vancouver, gave a short version of his journey. From his nerdy days in WYK, to his so-so non abilities in sports and academics, he recounted the lucky turning points in his lifetime. First, Fr. Anthony Farren, Rector, introduced him to Loyola College of Montreal for a great Canadian immersion situation. Second, his father enticed him into Dental Faculty in UBC. He has been in private dental practice for 41 years.
His hobby includes riding motorcycle. His first summer job was working in a mine in Timmins, Ontario. He spent his very first pay cheque in buying a Yamaha 90cc motorcycle when he didn't even have a driver's license and did not know how to ride a motorcycle, let alone with clutch and gear shifting. He tried and tried and learned it on his own. He has been hooked on the feeling of riding the motorcycle. His next venture will be riding his BMW R1200RT from Vancouver to St. John, Newfoundland in June, solo. The one after that will be riding with a group of 20 people on the Adriatic coast, Croatia, Bosnia, Monte Negro, Slovenia, etc in September.
When asked how he became interested in Traditional Chinese Medicine, especially acupuncture, his story of the journey started when he was the nerdy WYK boy. He tried to learn martial arts, but because of the disapproval from the parents and lacking of money, he only had 2 months of lessons. But he studied hard, and practised hard. He was fascinated with the angles of parrying, the kinetic energy of the punches and kickings. He was hooked on the idea of martial arts. When Bonbon was in his late 20's, he had a practice, a family, and debts. He was not motivated to keep fit. Eventually, he went into the art of TaeKwonDo, and loved it. He became a 1st Dan Black Belt. As it went on, the combat bruises took longer and longer to heal as he grew older. He went to TaiChi, for many years, eventually to the combat style of TaiChi. He still found something missing. So at the age of 50, he achieved the 2nd Dan Black Belt of TaeKwonDo. By then he was able to use both TKD and TaiChi together, and even participated in National Championship Tournaments.
One day, one master told him that as one ages, one's martial arts will decline. It will be all for naught. Unless one practises QiGong, the master said. So Bonbon went on to learn QiGong, years of practising seem to show nothing. By chance Bonbon went to a QiGong seminar by a MedicalDoctor as well as a TCM, and heard the words that, "To do QiGong is like to do acupuncture without using the needle."
That was why at the age of 60, Bonbon went back to school, University of Alberta, to get his certificate in Medical Acupuncture, and further advance training in hospitals in Beijing.
Now with a knowledge of the meridians, and how the energy flows in the body, and how the body-mind-spirit relate, Bonbon is able to practise and improve on his QiGong. He admits that there is still a very long way to go, but never too late. He hopes one day that he can use QiGong to provide healing.
Meanwhile, he finds that he is very satisfied with acupuncture, integrated with the new technology, such as electromagnetic impulses, laser, etc.
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Comment from Vincent Lee:
"I think we as a class are extremely fortunate, indeed blessed, to have BB in our midst, as a trusted friend to whom we can turn for advice in matters of health - given from a perspective different from that of western medicine.
From my personal observation of his manner of approaching and learning acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, his humility, his deep desire of helping others, AND his successes in treating many of the most difficult cases, this man is truly worthy of the honour we attribute to greatness in care givers in our own culture: 仁心仁術.
Being trained, and having practice for so many years in the western scientific methods and Hippocratic traditions (after all, dentistry is but a branch of medicine), I would be the first one to admit that I had been somewhat of a sceptic in things like acupuncture, chi, energy flow, herbals.......and so on. Well not any more, after witnessing what I saw, and learning from BB in his mastering of our traditional Chinese medical art forms. If he hasn't done so, and if you guys in Toronto have another chance of sitting down with him in a gathering, I would recommend you ask him to tell you his success stories in helping his patients using his relatively newly learned skills. Simply amazing.
I am not abandoning my trade and skills in the Western methods; am still using anaesthesia, needles and drills, cold knife and sutures..... in my daily work. I am just saying that quite often, we who have been trained in the West, have ignored or "written off" these age-old knowledge and techniques from the East, and indeed from our own culture. I would be one who would plead guilty for that. I only wish I had the ability and capacity to follow his footsteps to take up the acupuncture (and the likes) training - my memory is just not there! I am happy with what I am doing and am good at; will have to settle with that.
Thank you, BonBon, for opening our eyes, my eyes! And happy motoring, enjoy the freedom of that breath- taking wind blowing on and across your face!
Best wishes,
VPC"
