Saturday 15th September, ITV2, 9.35pm
After surviving the rigours of the world’s tallest bungee, Jack and his recruits head deep into the heart of China for their next challenge – kung fu training with the Shaolin monks.
It's a serious undertaking. A regime of 5am starts, spartan living conditions and a punishing physical programme of learning moves and dramatically increasing fitness levels. To get through their week, Jack’s recruits will need every last ounce of self discipline they possess - just what Jack feels they need at this stage of their global adventure.
On their first morning, the team all do a five mile run, alongside thousands of other students all wearing the regulation red uniform. Next up: a simple but painful way to increase strength and stamina - jumping up a flight of 57 stone steps.
The next challenge is to learn an intricate set of moves which the recruits will have to perform alongside thousands of local students at the end of the week. In the afternoon, the teachers organise a temple boxing fight, where the recruits must fight each other in front of a crowd. For Anthony, who was bullied at school, physical activity in public awakens his old demons and it takes all of Jack’s motivational skill to keep his tearful recruit in the ring and on the programme.
Georgie and Lisa have been at each others' throats for the whole adventure and actually having the opportunity to physically fight it out is an explosive situation. In the ring, Georgie accuses Lisa of aiming for her face, despite an earlier agreement not to do so and unsurprisingly it boils over into another row. The kung fu school is certainly a cauldron of physical and emotional pressure, and even Jack's feeling the heat. Jack tells the cameras that night: "It's one of the toughest things I’ve done."
For Lisa, the experience of training with the dedicated monks is a moving one. Under a giant statue of the Buddha she reflects on how much her life has changed in just a year, much accelerated by the opportunity of experiencing the world and challenging herself with Jack.
The recruits move back down the mountain to the vast training school by crawling down 103 steps on their hands and knees. Time before the competition is running out and their Chinese teachers are taking no chances in letting Jack’s team be shown up - it really is tough love. The recruits undergo another ancient way of increasing balance, strength and self-discipline by balancing bowls of water on their heads with out-stretched arms, while standing on a small post.
Becky too is undergoing something of a transformation. Before she started on Jack’s programme, she relied on everyone to bail her out. However after yet another day of bone-breaking exertion, she has something of a revelation of who she used to be and how much she now wants to change.
The day of the competition finally dawns. Jack and the recruits take their place on a vast square, alongside thousands of other students. To execute the moves precisely requires strength, discipline and balance. In just one week they have all learned enough to acquit themselves well, something that wouldn’t have seemed possible just two months ago. Jack is delighted and he reveals to his team that their next adventure will be living the life of cowboy nomads in Mongolia.
