19.6.06

How God tamed a tiger


Above: Tony Anthony speaking at Opwekking 2006 (10,000 people in the audience!) Below, left: Tony speaking on stage with interpreter Joke Tan. Click pics to enlarge (c) Opwekking.

From Buddhist Kung Fu Master to Christian Missionary
Tony Anthony’s story is quite remarkable, perhaps even too far-fetched for a Hollywood action flick. Born of mixed Italian and Chinese parentage in the UK, Tony was sent to the Canton region of China at the age of four to study Kung Fu under his grandfather, a grand master of the martial art. It was here that he was raised as a Buddhist, understanding discipline and undergoing extreme physical hardships. He also started cultivating the intrinsic energy of “Ch’I”- the “life force”. “It was in China that I learnt the Tiger style of Kung Fu and studied the movements of an actual tiger,” says Tony. He lived in China for eight years before returning to the UK where he had to learn English as Cantonese was his first language. At first Tony wasn’t accepted in either culture due to his mixed race; that was until his extraordinary skills proved his making and earned him the respect of his peers and superiors. Travelling internationally he fought to become the Kung Fu world champion. He was in control of his life.“I knew much about honour and virtue,“ he says. “These things were beaten, quite literally into every cell of my young body. But love? What was love?”

Read the rest of this review and some comments from readers here.

At Ark Boeken we have published the Dutch edition of Tony Anthony's autobiography. From Friday 23rd to Tuesday 27th I will accompany Tony during his visit to some youth groups, churches and prisons in the Netherlands! On Tuesday 20th (tomorrow!) the Dutch Evangelical Broadcast Organisation (EO) will show a documentary about Tony's story on national TV. If you want to see this programme afterwards, you can try to watch it online here!

If you are living near Hoofddorp, why not go to the Youth Event next Friday? Read all about this meeting here (in Dutch). If you are living close to Gouda, Rotterdam or Ede - drop me a line and I will tell you where to go on Saturday June 24, Sunday June 25 or Tuesday June 27...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Paul. Daan and I will be there in Rotterdam. Hope to have some friends/family with me. Also announced it on my blog, some maybe it will get crowded. I hope so.

See you sunday!

Paul said...

Can't wait to meet you guys! I'm on a rollercoaster ride right now... Some unexpected u-turns, climbing up slowely, falling down all of a sudden - all the way enjoying the experience and trusting God is still in control! Saturday morning I will be in Drachten at a youth event from the Baptist Bethel church. This afternoon I got a phone call and we changed plans... Looking forward to meeting many people and expecting miracles from our mighty God!! See you in Rotterdam!!