The stance in question is called zhan zhuang, a basic kung fu training technique. Its practitioner was a technician assigned to Cameroon to maintain the conference center.

Fabrice began returning every morning to learn more from his new teacher. "He was very thin but at the same time very strong," recalled Fabrice of his tutor.

A year later, Fabrice returned to Sangmelima. His big brother was a projectionist there, and Fabrice often helped him sweep the movie theater, where he caught his first glimpse of Shaolin monks on the screen. "It spoke to me very loudly," he said.

After completing school, Fabrice returned to Yaounde to endeavor to eke out a living. However, life hurt him more than the zhan zhuang stance.

Jobs came and went so earning to enough to eat was a struggle. His friend, who worked at a bakery, sometimes kept bread crumbs for him, which a famished Fabrice would ravenously devour. "I had crumbs on my hands, face and in my nostrils," he said of those lean times.