Watch out, obnoxious passengers! Kung fu lessons for Hong Kong Airlines cabin crew

Working as part of an airline cabin crew can be a tough job, just ask Gadling’s very own Heather Poole. Passengers get drunk, passengers get rude, sometimes even passengers go on strike. Now the cabin crew of one airline are getting trained to strike back.

Hong Kong Airlines staff are taking kung fu lessons, the Guardian reports. The cabin crew is learning Wing Chun kung fu in order to deal with obnoxious passengers. According to the airline, a female cabin crew member has already used her new-found combat skills to deal with an unruly passenger, who an airline spokesman described only as “a fat guy”.

Maybe getting your add kicked at 33,000 feet should be added to our list of Top 10 Hong Kong Experiences.

[Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons]

Workout with the locals – International travel tip

I’m a black belt in Kenpo Karate and I hate missing a workout. The workouts keep me sane and balanced during periods of long travel. During one particularly long stint, I covered 22 countries in 18 month’s time. At every stop, I asked the hotel concierge to book a karate program with the local master.

In Tokyo, I worked with Shorinji Kenpo in an elementary school; in Stockholm I worked out at Stockholm Athletic University; Mexico saw me at Kempo Americano; and China was Tai Chi in the park at Guanzhou.

In short: just because you’re traveling doesn’t mean you can’t exercise. In fact, pick your favorite workout and have a blast! You’ll probably meet some new friends and have a great time. At the least, you’ll feel good.

[Photo: Flickr | Cheetah100]

Bruce Lee’s former home may become a museum

The former home of actor and martial arts master Bruce Lee may eventually become a museum dedicated to the deceased star. Officials in Hong Kong have launched a competition to design the museum, and the owner of the home has offered to donate it and the HK$100,000 ($13,000) in prize money for the winner.

The home is currently a Hong Kong “love hotel” that rents rooms by the hour, but would be transformed into a memorial hall, kung fu studio, library and film archive that showcases the life and work of Lee. According to Hong Kong officials, Lee’s daughter, Shannon Lee, will be on the panel of judges that also includes architects and town planners. In preparation for the museum, the government has begun collecting Lee’s personal items and has commissioned documentaries about the creation of the museum and the life of Lee, who died in 1972 at age 32 from swelling in his brain.

The winner of the contest will be announced by the end of the year, but there’s no word on when construction of the museum would begin.

The birthplace of kung fu kicking off online store

If you are planning a trip to China, cancel it.

You can do it all on-line now. Yes, that’s right, the birthplace of kung fu, the famous Shaolin Temple, is going on-line.

And, karate (oops, kung fu) fans, they’ll have it all: performances, video, and a reality-TV-style search for the next “Grasshopper.”

Named “Shaolin, The Stage of Joy,” a Web page has been set up by a unit of the temple on the popular Chinese e-commerce site www.taobao.com, and the gift shop is open, including shoes, tea, T-shirts, and slippers.

Ancient secrets revealed…in the kung fu instruction manual for 9,999 yuan ($1,456). Or just buy your “environmentally friendly” chopsticks for 29 yuan.

The temple came under fire in 2006 after a monk got a luxury car for helping out the local tourism industry, which forms a bulk of the city’s revenues…Oops.

(For those of you who are easily offended, I am just kidding. You should still go and see China. Especially since you know how savvy those monks are nowadays!)