your own kung fu cult

[bawang]

hello what if you have your own kung fu cult what would you do discuss

[David Jamieson]

hello what if you have your own kung fu cult what would you do discuss

what if you had an mma cult (much more plausible these days)?
What would you talk about?


As for my Kung Fu cult?
We would discuss nothing, ever. Just training begins as my minions enter, then ends and they leave.

I run a pretty informal cult.

[MasterKiller]

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll244/promomaker/Q0R4o.jpg

[MightyB]

hello what if you have your own kung fu cult what would you do discuss

Only hot women inspected by me would be allowed to enter - men are not allowed. All our techniques would involve nude grappling in groups.

[David Jamieson]

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll244/promomaker/Q0R4o.jpg

Oh Paris...you freaky deeky city of freaky deeky people...

awesome fro though.

[JamesC]

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll244/promomaker/Q0R4o.jpg

I scare...

[Lucas]

my cult leader make me wear hair like elvis

[mooyingmantis]

Only hot women inspected by me would be allowed to enter - men are not allowed. All our techniques would involve nude grappling in groups.

A cult of nacho nibbling Ninjettes! And I would be El Grande Nacho!!!

[SPJ]

well, there will be several role models.

1. ye fei

for patriotism: for southern song dynasty.

for filial piety: for taking care of her mom.

2. guan yun chang or guan yu or guan gong

for yi/justice and faithfulness/loyalty to liu bei

for brotherhood: swear by blood with zhang fei and liu bei at peach garden.

3. qi ji guang

for fighting japanese pirates all his life

4. xiang yu/ chu ba wang

for being responsible for his men and home town

for fighting furiously againt mighty qin war machine.

for a love story about farewell my concubine

--

on and on.

learn some good characters from the old timer.

--

do not worship me,

I have weakness and many defects/imperfections

me no god

me only human with weakness and defects in so many ways

---

:)

[bawang]

if i had my own kung fu cult i would endlessly adjust the students wrists and feet positions.

i would get them to do push hands, tell them to relax, then tense up and force them down. then tell them they didnt relax enough.

[hskwarrior]

if i had my own kung fu cult i would endlessly adjust the students wrists and feet positions.

i would get them to do push hands, tell them to relax, then tense up and force them down. then tell them they didnt relax enough.

terrible cult leader. too nice on your followers. they should join the triads.

[SimonM]

I would make rank associated with moustache length rather than coloured belts or any other such frippery.

[SPJ]

if i had my own kung fu cult i would endlessly adjust the students wrists and feet positions.

i would get them to do push hands, tell them to relax, then tense up and force them down. then tell them they didnt relax enough.

ha ha haa.

yes.

there is also the story that a good teacher would stand on the thighs of his student to check their horse stance.

OMG

the body weight of an adult on your thigh and knee

big ouch.

--

:D

[SPJ]

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll244/promomaker/Q0R4o.jpg

this is so soulful

also so 1970s.

long and big collar shirts, long pants and thicker sole shoes

--

if not long hair hippie

then it is pom pom hair

--

:)

[donjitsu2]

hello what if you have your own kung fu cult what would you do discuss

My cult would only have women. We would oil wrestle and talk about Battlestar Galatica.

[bawang]

a white man is technically an albino black woman

[SoCo KungFu]

a white man is technically an albino black woman

What if I'm half indian and a hint of black?

[TenTigers]

It's called, "with a twist."

[MightyB]

My cult would only have women. We would oil wrestle and talk about Battlestar Galatica.

donjitsu for the win!

Luv'n my netflix for the ability to have BsG marathons every night!

[SPJ]

check out pptv (chinese)

just watched god of wealth guest house (cai shen ke zhan, 2011).

it is modeled after dragon gate inn (long men ke zhan).

if I had a cult or following

then it would be to watch xu xia novel/drama/opera/movie

and explain what you learn

not about fighting, because they are choreographed and out of this world.

but about characters

justice, loyalty, faith, love your country (patriotism)

like marine credo and more

etc etc

[David Jamieson]

We have a saying.

It goes:

If it's not Scottish, it's Crrrrrrrap!

So, my cult would also have basket swords, targes, kilts, pipes, haggis and defiance.

lot's of defiance.

[goju]

We have a saying.

It goes:

If it's not Scottish, it's Crrrrrrrap!

So, my cult would also have basket swords, targes, kilts, pipes, haggis and defiance.

lot's of defiance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1tJJO_pVvQ

:D

[wenshu]

We have a saying.

It goes:

If it's not Scottish, it's Crrrrrrrap!

So, my cult would also have basket swords, targes, kilts, pipes, haggis and defiance.

lot's of defiance.

If you can say
"It's a braw bricht moonlicht nicht"
Then you're a richt de ye ken (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIwGD_XQNSM)

[David Jamieson]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1tJJO_pVvQ

:D

lol @ "effete wankers".... so true...I mean sa trrrru

[RD'S Alias - 1A]

First, I would get myself a few pictures of me Jumping off of a roof top doing a side kick. Then I would manufacture stories about living with tigers and such. Then I would tell them I was the Champion of all Asia and charge them sick amounts of money for all sorts of made up courses, from regular course, to "Special Private" to Olympic course, and Black Belt courses, as well as supper expensive "Instructor's course"

I would go on and on about how simple stance training sets are the most advanced martial arts of all time, and profess to teach a form called "Ocean form" (that is really made out of badly done, uncorrected mantis moves) that is 14 hours long, non stop, never repeating a move twice. However, I wold never teach more than a hundred moves of it, and mix the form up every time I taught it because I forgot what i made up the time before.

Then I would make up a "Tiger Form" (using the previously mentions Mantis techniques) and say that is what I learned when I lived in the cave with Tigers.

I would also claim to teach 8 complete martial arts, as one, and never do more than teach parts of stuff I stole from Jackie Chan movies.

I would make ridiculous claims that my style is the original martial art, and all others came from it.

I would make up a form from watching old Honk Kong Kung Fu flicks. Then years later I would rename it "Tai Chi Chung", even though it has no resemblance to real Tai Chi at all.

I would start teaching a style called Bagua that I saw at a school when I still lived in Korea. However, since I only learned the first few moves, I'd just make up the rest. Hey, so long as they are walking in a circle when they do my made up nonsense, who's to know right?


I would create a compound and have all my servants *Ahem* I mean Instructors live there with me.

I would have people teaching for me for free, while working 2 and 3 jobs, only to hand thier paychecks over to me for magic Sip Pal Gey lessons.

I would make sure said teachers, who were born in the US speaking perfect English, learned to speak Pidgin English like a Korean with a heavy accent who never fully learned the language.

I would make students and instructors go buy me food, on thier dime, and never say thank you to them because I am an arrogant F u c


I would have my head regional instructors threaten to kill Pam Zeckman from channel 2 news, for exposing my cult to the world.

I would lastly, cry like a little girl and hide behind the couch when the feds raid my home...



Oh Snap!! John C Kim did that already!! never mind!!

[RD'S Alias - 1A]

Just so everyone knows, the above is a true story. In reality it's only a small fraction of what really went on. For more information, buy "Herding the Moo", by Joe Smith. Find it on Amazon.

[bawang]

you never left chung moo

you project your cult mentality on shaolin now

[RD'S Alias - 1A]

you never left chung moo

you project your cult mentality on shaolin now

Now Bawang, that was just mean! :mad:

[SimonM]

This guy... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oom_Yung_Doe)

Oh and by the way - that article needs work. Weasel words abound, neutrality not achieved.

[RD'S Alias - 1A]

This guy... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oom_Yung_Doe)

Yup, that is who I was talking about.

[SPJ]

my cult would be close to nature.

close to music and painting.

greatness is the nature and the truth.

as the saying goes

the wise man is close to mountains. (think in a big picture, mountain is way bigger than a tiny you)

the benevolent man is close to waters. (forgive and forget, yield and redirect like waters, ocean also take up or accept everything)

zi zhe yao shan

ren zhe yao shui.

--

yes, nature is ferocious and dangerous, too.

such as earthquake in virgina hitting, washington DC, NYC and boston.

hurricane coming toward florida.

tsunamit hit Japan early this year.

--

we seek harmony among people and live harmoniously as we could with other people and nature.

so recycle recycle recycle

green energy is my cult

the short version that is.

--

[RD'S Alias - 1A]

my cult would be close to nature.

close to music and painting.

greatness is the nature and the truth.

as the saying goes

the wise man is close to mountains. (think in a big picture, mountain is way bigger than a tiny you)

the benevolent man is close to waters. (forgive and forget, yield and redirect like waters, ocean also take up or accept everything)

zi zhe yao shan

ren zhe yao shui.

--

yes, nature is ferocious and dangerous, too.

such as earthquake in virgina hitting, washington DC, NYC and boston.

hurricane coming toward florida.

tsunamit hit Japan early this year.

--

we seek harmony among people and live harmoniously as we could with other people and nature.

so recycle recycle recycle

green energy is my cult

the short version that is.

--

That is not a cult. That is enlightenment, and peace. Cults are supposed to be destructive.

[David Jamieson]

That is not a cult. That is enlightenment, and peace. Cults are supposed to be destructive.

actually, any group that gathers in the name of an unfounded or not provable belief is in effect a cult.

For instance, All religions are cults.

[sanjuro_ronin]

actually, any group that gathers in the name of an unfounded or not provable belief is in effect a cult.

For instance, All religions are cults.

ORGANIZED religions.

[sanjuro_ronin]

All cults pale in comparison to the POISON CLAN !!

[Taixuquan99]

ORGANIZED religions.

Military intelligence.

I love this game.

[David Jamieson]

Military intelligence.

I love this game.

That's an oxymoron, different thing.

I personally think all religious activity falls under "cult" simply because it is a matter of having faith and not proof.

If it's not a cult of shared belief, then it's a cult of personality where people irrationally ascribe supernatural traits to otherwise regular human beings.

all of them are cults, either way. By definition.

[Taixuquan99]

That's an oxymoron, different thing.


You're saying organized religion is not an oxymoron?:D

[SPJ]

yes. we have a community temple of all faiths near where I live.

christian, catholic, buddhist and moslem, induism -- all welcome.

it is sort of weird.

but they are organized sort of community services

not so much a "church" per se.

you know, koran, bible, sutra all co exist.

---

:)

[sanjuro_ronin]

Definition of RELIGION
1
a : the state of a religious <a nun in her 20th year of religion> b (1) : the service and worship of God or the supernatural (2) : commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance
2
: a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices
3
archaic : scrupulous conformity : conscientiousness
4
: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith


Definition of CULT
1
: formal religious veneration : worship
2
: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents
3
: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents
4
: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <health cults>
5
a : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad b : the object of such devotion c : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion

[sanjuro_ronin]

http://www.beyondhollywood.com/gallery/stills3/five-deadly-venoms-big.jpg

[sanjuro_ronin]

http://www.wagtv.com/imageContent/real/image_319_171.jpg

[David Jamieson]

fwiw, I don't necessarily ascribe a negative connotation to the word "cult".
it's just a pointer really. :)

[MasterKiller]

All cults pale in comparison to the POISON CLAN !!

Why, just to hear that name, it fills me with hate and loathing....

[sanjuro_ronin]

fwiw, I don't necessarily ascribe a negative connotation to the word "cult".
it's just a pointer really. :)

Especially when it refers to a sex cult :D

I think that religious cults like Jim Jones and those "sun cults" in Montreal, not to mention the cults that through the ages have done crap, give the term cult a bad name.
There are good cults and bad cults and the difference is what they do.
The fitness cult is an example.
Fact is that when we think cult we thing a small group of people, secret rituals, weird clothing and symbols, make hand signs, beliefs that strike "normal" people as strange or different and that the members view themselves as different and apart for the rest of "US".
And for the most part, YES, that is how cults work.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Why, just to hear that name, it fills me with hate and loathing....

*whips fake centipede at MK*

[Mas Judt]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBK5aKOr2Fw

It never gets old.

[RD'S Alias - 1A]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBK5aKOr2Fw

It never gets old.

I was just going to post that!!

*******! :mad:



:o :D

[Faruq]

First, I would get myself a few pictures of me Jumping off of a roof top doing a side kick. Then I would manufacture stories about living with tigers and such. Then I would tell them I was the Champion of all Asia and charge them sick amounts of money for all sorts of made up courses, from regular course, to "Special Private" to Olympic course, and Black Belt courses, as well as supper expensive "Instructor's course"

I would go on and on about how simple stance training sets are the most advanced martial arts of all time, and profess to teach a form called "Ocean form" (that is really made out of badly done, uncorrected mantis moves) that is 14 hours long, non stop, never repeating a move twice. However, I wold never teach more than a hundred moves of it, and mix the form up every time I taught it because I forgot what i made up the time before.

Then I would make up a "Tiger Form" (using the previously mentions Mantis techniques) and say that is what I learned when I lived in the cave with Tigers.

I would also claim to teach 8 complete martial arts, as one, and never do more than teach parts of stuff I stole from Jackie Chan movies.

I would make ridiculous claims that my style is the original martial art, and all others came from it.

I would make up a form from watching old Honk Kong Kung Fu flicks. Then years later I would rename it "Tai Chi Chung", even though it has no resemblance to real Tai Chi at all.

I would start teaching a style called Bagua that I saw at a school when I still lived in Korea. However, since I only learned the first few moves, I'd just make up the rest. Hey, so long as they are walking in a circle when they do my made up nonsense, who's to know right?


I would create a compound and have all my servants *Ahem* I mean Instructors live there with me.

I would have people teaching for me for free, while working 2 and 3 jobs, only to hand thier paychecks over to me for magic Sip Pal Gey lessons.

I would make sure said teachers, who were born in the US speaking perfect English, learned to speak Pidgin English like a Korean with a heavy accent who never fully learned the language.

I would make students and instructors go buy me food, on thier dime, and never say thank you to them because I am an arrogant F u c


I would have my head regional instructors threaten to kill Pam Zeckman from channel 2 news, for exposing my cult to the world.

I would lastly, cry like a little girl and hide behind the couch when the feds raid my home...



Oh Snap!! John C Kim did that already!! never mind!!

You take that back, John C Kim is a saint! He's just as innocent as poor Rod Blagojevic! When are people gonna stop persecuting these innocent people just because they make a little money???? What is the world coming to???

[David Jamieson]

you forgot the </sarcasm>

[Taixuquan99]

My cult would be based around beer and building me stuff while I drink it. I would proclaim things like "use gongbu while you mix that concrete" and "reciprocating saw on, reciprocating saw off", and my students would be strong, like construction workers. Then, at the end of each day, I would gie them a beer so they like me, and then tell them reasons they should feel bad about themselves, but remind them that it could be worse, other people don't have me to tell them that.

Other people! We would just sit and laugh for hours at the thought of them. What losers!

[SPJ]

my cult dictate to be close to nature and music.

both cultivate character and emotions.

so must be a member of myspace following lady gaga.

she just got banned from china for vulgar.

must drink beer.

must be on facebook following lauren alaina (singing star upcoming)

must be on twitter and tweet about taylor swift

--

oh, member of LA hiking

adult swim club

singing in a band or church choir.

--

[SPJ]

if you have a lot of followers

on twitter

on facebook

on my space.

you have your personal cult.

me like following ideas and not so much person per se.

person is human. all have defects or imperfections.

ideas may be gold.

but ideas got twisted a lot. or it holds truth only to a certain extent (context)

--

wow. there is a diamond star 4000 light year away.

star chasing

star following

ideas following (idealology)

---

[Taixuquan99]

Ideas can be good.

But some ideas turn out badly.

No one ever died building me a walnut gazebo.

I learned this from a wise man from Nepal, once the gazebo is done I'll tell you more.

[SPJ]

my point was

it it all rite to hang out

in a bar, drinking and talking

on a social network/web, texting and commenting

--

as long as not go out and actually do something bad.

--

drinking beer is good.

talking is good.

doing something, wait, need to think about it first.

--

etc etc.

:)

[Taixuquan99]

my point was

it it all rite to hang out

in a bar, drinking and talking

on a social network/web, texting and commenting

--

as long as not go out and actually do something bad.

--

drinking beer is good.

talking is good.

doing something, wait, need to think about it first.

--

etc etc.

:)

What you say is reasonable and sensible.

While I would not form a cult, I might satirize the process in text. While my minions assemble the gazebo.

[sanjuro_ronin]

I see your Gazebo cult and raise you the cult of the Brazilian wax !!
http://www.deep-tissue-massage-in-london.com/images/brazilian-waxing-model-2.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_gp6XBHJK7zE/TP3rFNUjXvI/AAAAAAAAADM/NX4WFc3I7lE/s320/waxingforwomen8.jpg

http://elizabethgrady.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/brazilian-bikini-shot-cropped1.jpg

[Taixuquan99]

I do not believe in clearcutting the forest. I am seventies man, so men should have hairy chests and women should have pelvis pelt. Modern men have turbed themselves into hairless chihuahuas in order to show their pecs.

Who more afraid of, body sculptor, or hairy chested Italian with manboobs?

More gazebo building, less talking. Lessons for paying members.

[Taixuquan99]

I can make you all better people. Send me five dollars, and I won't start a personality cult. For ten, I'll avoid ever using amber tinted sunglasses and prescription painkillers. It's not too late, send everything you can, and Jesus won't heal you by placebo effect when you touch my posts.

The ancients didn't tell me this. And I'll confirm that, if you send money now.

[sanjuro_ronin]

I do not believe in clearcutting the forest. I am seventies man, so men should have hairy chests and women should have pelvis pelt. Modern men have turbed themselves into hairless chihuahuas in order to show their pecs.

Who more afraid of, body sculptor, or hairy chested Italian with manboobs?

More gazebo building, less talking. Lessons for paying members.

You are wise beyond your years, like the man that tap dances on sour cream.

[Taixuquan99]

You are wise beyond your years, like the man that tap dances on sour cream.

I am not too wise to be surprised when a google search of "man tap dances on sour cream" yields no pron.

[JamesC]

I am not too wise to be surprised when a google search of "man tap dances on sour cream" yields no pron.

Look harder. Rule 34.

[Taixuquan99]

Look harder. Rule 34.

Stare not into the man tap dancing in cream cheese, lest the man tap dancing in cream cheese stare into you.

[SPJ]

I do not believe in clearcutting the forest. I am seventies man, so men should have hairy chests and women should have pelvis pelt. Modern men have turbed themselves into hairless chihuahuas in order to show their pecs.

Who more afraid of, body sculptor, or hairy chested Italian with manboobs?

More gazebo building, less talking. Lessons for paying members.

yes. I also living in 1970s and camera shy.

it was expensive to have photos taken and 8 mm films taking.

nowadays, you may take photo with cell phone, ipod, ipad2 etc

no film/negative developing

you may view pictures by swiping your touch screen on tablets or iphone/smart phone.

upload to cloud or dropbox

--

need to use my camera function more.

---

[GeneChing]

hello what if you have your own kung fu cult what would you do discuss
The forum is my own kung fu cult. We mostly discuss MMA envy. :o

[Lucas]

The forum is my own kung fu cult. We mostly discuss MMA envy. :o
gene just owned us u guyz :mad:

[GeneChing]

I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your waitress.

:cool:

[taai gihk yahn]

I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your waitress.

:cool:

and try the ham...:D

[GeneChing]

and try the ham...:D and the kool-aid. It's a house specialty. ;)

[bawang]

in my cult my followers are called battle cattle. steroids and hgh is mandatory.

i will have the right of prima noctis. on the wedding night of my followers i have the right to their women.

beware of the battle cattle, but do not fear the battle cattle.

[sanjuro_ronin]

http://danielctw.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/daniel-kung-pow.jpg

[GeneChing]

bawang:

http://hphotos-sjc1.fbcdn.net/216687_10150335578724363_135964689362_9660505_1935 900_n.jpg




sanjuro_ronin:

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/185276_10150335578794363_135964689362_9660507_3267 45_n.jpg

This round goes to sanjuro_ronin.

[GeneChing]

https://video-images.vice.com/articles/626270a9448b64009b3ad5ee/lede/1653035984072-english.png
PHOTO COURTESY OF ELSJE AND JEPPE.

She Fell in Love with a Colleague. Their Boss Was a Cult Leader. (https://www.vice.com/en/article/dypb8m/kung-fu-cult-leader)
Elsje and Jeppe met at a rehab clinic, but what she didn't know was that his life was totally controlled by a charismatic founder of a kung fu sect.
Djanlissa Pringels
By Djanlissa Pringels
June 3, 2022, 1:00am

A version of this article originally appeared on VICE Netherlands.

In November 2021, a 72-year-old Dutch man named René L. was sentenced to 30 months in prison. The former kung fu teacher was convicted of assault, threatening behaviour and possession of illegal weapons. For over 25 years, he’d kept his students on a short leash in a so-called “kung fu sect”. He recruited sect members by offering them in-depth martial arts classes that promised to go beyond what they’d pick up in more traditional learning environments.

Former students reported being sexually abused, taken advantage of financially and being intentionally isolated from friends and family. Many of the kung fu students lived with their teacher – in a house they had paid for.

René couldn’t make money from kung fu classes forever. When that became apparent, he changed tack and turned his attention to other schemes and scams. First came a weed farm. Then there was a rehab clinic.

Elsje and Jeppe – both of whom wanted to keep their full names private – met and fell in love at the clinic. Elsje was 33 years old at the time.

“I graduated as a psychologist in February, 2013. A few months later, someone I’d studied with approached me on Facebook to say that a new rehab clinic was looking for staff,” Elsje said. The clinic had been formed by a group of friends who “had a strong belief that the care provided for addicts in the Netherlands could be done differently,” as she put it.

Run in a seemingly ad hoc manner, the clinic was built atop an isolated old farm close to the German border, 30 kilometres from the Dutch city of Nijmegen. It was remote enough that commuting to work via public transport wasn’t an option. Getting there involved hoping another member of staff could offer Elsje a lift.

“I worked there for two years. It wasn’t until I left the clinic that I found out it had been run by a sect all along. Once I discovered that, things started to make sense.” It was Elsje’s first job after completing her training and she went into it unsure of her own abilities. She says she worked hard to prove herself, worried that her colleagues looked down on her.

“The atmosphere at the clinic was strange,” she said. “On the one hand, it felt very intimate. It was immediately obvious that a lot of my colleagues had a strong bond. On the other hand, it was also clear that an outsider would always find it difficult to become part of things.” When she tried to communicate with her colleagues, she was often ignored. The message was clear: They weren’t open to strangers.

Her team leader Jeppe was part of the in-crowd and often gave Elsje a lift to work. Their friendship blossomed during those journeys. “I liked Jeppe, but I was in a relationship at the time,” she said. Even when that relationship ended, Jeppe held off. “He told me that friendship was enough.”

What she didn’t know yet, is that like a lot of people involved in the story, he was a kung fu student in thrall, and in debt, to René. Jeppe and his co-workers were happy talk spirituality with Elsje. She said that her colleagues believed in karma and reincarnation and that they also often spoke about the philosophies that underpinned kung fu. They were also strongly against having children “because it would be bad for the planet”, and that no one in the group “had the need for a relationship”.

With hindsight, it was bizarre that everyone seemed to share the exact same opinions. “At the time, though, I wasn’t suspicious at all,” she admitted. “In fact, I found their version of the world inspiring.”

René was the clinic’s director. “There’d be change in atmosphere whenever anyone spoke about him,” Elsje, said. “I actually only saw him once. He was unexpectedly in the living room. It is a moment I won’t forget. Everyone was so tense and nervous around him.”

https://video-images.vice.com/_uncategorized/1650618756109-untitledartwork-4.jpeg
ELSJE AND JEPPE PHOTOGRAPHED IN 2014.

Elsje learned from Jeppe that René had “enormous power” over his followers. He even managed to convince Jeppe that he was gay. “If Jeppe denied being gay, other members of the sect had to spend hours discussing the matter with him. In the end, he was so worn out by it all that he ‘admitted’ to being gay,” Elsje said. “I think the reason René did that was to prevent men from trying to get into relationships with the women in the sect – because he was sexually abusing them.”

Despite Jeppe’s tortured relationship with his sexuality, he and Elsje fell in love. “It wasn’t until then that he realised that he really wasn’t into men, and that René was wrong all along,” she said. “Meanwhile, my colleagues felt sorry for me, because they were still convinced that Jeppe didn't like women and that he was only pretending whilst being with me.”

Bit by bit, Jeppe told Elsje about everything going on behind the scenes at the sect. “Members were regularly beaten up by René. Women were not only beaten but also sexually assaulted,” Elsje said. “He saw the female members of the sect as ‘****s’, and they had to spend the rest of their lives trying to get rid of that label.”

Jeppe ended up giving a substantial amount of money to René, who managed the group’s finances, claiming it was necessary to ensure they could buy their house. He also encouraged the group to think of money as only having relative value, ending up with some members spending far beyond their means, often on gifts for their master.

After 15 years, Jeppe owed the bank €100,000. Leaving the sect meant he was temporarily homeless, and Elsje was shocked. Despite all this, she says, Jeppe wouldn’t hear a bad word about René – he’d just decided it was time to leave his friends behind. It was only two years later, after watching a documentary about cults, that he realised the true extent of his experiences with René had been.

Even after they got together, Elsje says that Jeppe held onto René’s misogynistic, ****-shaming ideology for a long time: “That black and white thinking was present in our relationship.” Jeppe was judgemental with everything and everyone, but was afraid of being judged himself. He was jealous of Elsje’s relationships; he’d often overspend and argue with her about money despite being broke.

Elsje contemplated ending the relationship but felt too connected to Jeppe to do so: “There were a lot of things broken in him and his life.” Eventually, he started going to therapy and began rebuilding his life. Jeppe and Elsje have two children together and got married earlier this year. Despite the occasional nightmare about his time in the kung fu cult, Elsje says, he’s doing much better.

“Despite all the trauma he went through, we’re able to talk about everything really well,” she said. “He’s been there for me when I wasn’t doing so well. When I was depressed, he helped me through it. When I started having panic attacks, he was there to listen to me. Ultimately, being with him has enriched my life.”

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