Another really long week is over.
After our Chinese New Year break we had an eight day training week again which concluded with our performance day yesterday. Overall the week went relatively well and was only moderately hard which I appreciated a lot. The performance went smoothly too, Shifu seemed mildly pleased with our progress since the last time.
I mentioned that we were learning a slower form called Tai Yi Wu Xing Chuan and this particular form is quite challenging for the ankles, knees, and hips. I've learned it before and it's a lot of fun but my left knee is acting up and since I don't remember injuring it at all, I'm pretty sure it's just from the repetitive training. I went to get an acupressure massage yesterday and hopefully that helps along with a day off. I'm also starting to come down with a cold so I bought some medicine this morning and hope to avoid the worst of it. sigh. I'm really quite tired when it comes down to it. Hopefully I feel better soon.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
What a LONG week!
Well there's no longer any need to feel trepidation about the gentleness of our first training week. Shifu definitely brought the beat down this week. We spent a lot of the early part of the week drilling forms over and over, always being pushed to do it better, faster, and more powerfully. Then the weather changed and almost every morning this week there was light rain which means we had to train inside. One would think we'd be happy to train inside on a cold day but it's generally the same temperature as outside and our options are rather limited for the activities we can do in our small indoor space. We ended up doing Sanda training every day (sometimes 2x) with lots of punches, combinations, and speed/power drills. One day we did power lifting, one day squats, frog jumps, duck walking, etc. It was ridiculous trying to walk down the stairs for 2 days afterwards.
Because it's Chinese New Year we get 4 days off this week but to make up for it we didn't get our usual Thursday off, making an already long week even longer. Needless to say we were all really relieved to see the end of this week.
On a different note, the celebrations have been really cool. Two things that are ubiquitous at Chinese New Year are food and fireworks and we've had plenty of both. Last night at midnight was a huge fireworks show with pretty much everyone in China blasting off explosives both big and small. A group of us foreigners got together and purchased some cool crates of fireworks to set off in addition to the ones that Shifu had already bought for us. But that's only half the fun because you can get a kajillion different firecrackers and small sticks of basically dynamite. There are really pretty ones that spin on the ground and look like flowers and big red sticks like something out of Loony Tunes that explode with a deafening BOOM and everything in between. Who knew blowing things up could be so much fun? Well after the week we had, it was an awesome (cheap) way to blow off some steam.
And now 3 more days off to rest before we get back to being pounded into a mushy pulp in class again.
Well there's no longer any need to feel trepidation about the gentleness of our first training week. Shifu definitely brought the beat down this week. We spent a lot of the early part of the week drilling forms over and over, always being pushed to do it better, faster, and more powerfully. Then the weather changed and almost every morning this week there was light rain which means we had to train inside. One would think we'd be happy to train inside on a cold day but it's generally the same temperature as outside and our options are rather limited for the activities we can do in our small indoor space. We ended up doing Sanda training every day (sometimes 2x) with lots of punches, combinations, and speed/power drills. One day we did power lifting, one day squats, frog jumps, duck walking, etc. It was ridiculous trying to walk down the stairs for 2 days afterwards.
Because it's Chinese New Year we get 4 days off this week but to make up for it we didn't get our usual Thursday off, making an already long week even longer. Needless to say we were all really relieved to see the end of this week.
On a different note, the celebrations have been really cool. Two things that are ubiquitous at Chinese New Year are food and fireworks and we've had plenty of both. Last night at midnight was a huge fireworks show with pretty much everyone in China blasting off explosives both big and small. A group of us foreigners got together and purchased some cool crates of fireworks to set off in addition to the ones that Shifu had already bought for us. But that's only half the fun because you can get a kajillion different firecrackers and small sticks of basically dynamite. There are really pretty ones that spin on the ground and look like flowers and big red sticks like something out of Loony Tunes that explode with a deafening BOOM and everything in between. Who knew blowing things up could be so much fun? Well after the week we had, it was an awesome (cheap) way to blow off some steam.
And now 3 more days off to rest before we get back to being pounded into a mushy pulp in class again.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
hmmmm...
Week one since the break has come and gone. I was expecting to be pummeled into the ground with training but Shifu has taken it really easy on us so far. I'm glad because even so we were all ridiculously sore for a few days, luckily it passed quickly this time. Despite my relief I do have a sense of discomfort with the situation. I'm not sure whether it's because I'm waiting for the axe to fall or because I really wanted to be pushed to my limit. I guess it might sound like this week has been easy for me but it really showed me how much stamina I've lost over the break. Anyway I'm sure it's much more sensible to ease back into things. My legs and lungs are certainly grateful!
We started training Dragon Claw this week and it's really cool! First we practice a sequence of pushing the claws out in every direction in sync with our breathing, keeping everything in our hands and forearms tensed the entire time. Then we squat down and put our fingertips on the ground in claw formation practicing putting as much weight on them as we can (eventually we'll be able to do push ups like this) and finally we shake everything out and do some standing meditation with our hands in claws and practice relaxing our entire bodies. So far it's totally wicked awesome, my hands feel really powerful afterwards, like I could do magic with them or something, it's great. I really want to be DEVASTATING at Dragon claw so I plan to practice it alot. Shifu said we'll notice an improvement very quickly if we practice every day and not just in our hands but in all arm strength. He had a female student once, 30 years old, who could do 50 Dragon Claw push ups in a row, more than any of the guys. Pretty inspiring.
My stances are better than I'd remembered them being which is encouraging. I was really pushing myself to go wider and deeper and I'm starting to see some of the results. I imagine that'll only improve when my legs stop being sore.
We had to do about 4 separate performances and practices for performances this week. It's been kind of annoying. Especially this morning when I was lying in bed on my one day off and Jeff (our captain of sorts) comes in and 'asks' us to do an impromptu TV performance like right now! I threw my uniform on over my PJ's, grabbed a bottle of water and a bag of peanuts to consume on the way and we left. Did a (somewhat sleepy) performance at the temple with an unwashed face and unbrushed teeth and missed our weekly skype date with my parents. Not how I wanted to start my day but I guess being in the traditional program involves participation in that stuff whether we like it or not.
Week one since the break has come and gone. I was expecting to be pummeled into the ground with training but Shifu has taken it really easy on us so far. I'm glad because even so we were all ridiculously sore for a few days, luckily it passed quickly this time. Despite my relief I do have a sense of discomfort with the situation. I'm not sure whether it's because I'm waiting for the axe to fall or because I really wanted to be pushed to my limit. I guess it might sound like this week has been easy for me but it really showed me how much stamina I've lost over the break. Anyway I'm sure it's much more sensible to ease back into things. My legs and lungs are certainly grateful!
We started training Dragon Claw this week and it's really cool! First we practice a sequence of pushing the claws out in every direction in sync with our breathing, keeping everything in our hands and forearms tensed the entire time. Then we squat down and put our fingertips on the ground in claw formation practicing putting as much weight on them as we can (eventually we'll be able to do push ups like this) and finally we shake everything out and do some standing meditation with our hands in claws and practice relaxing our entire bodies. So far it's totally wicked awesome, my hands feel really powerful afterwards, like I could do magic with them or something, it's great. I really want to be DEVASTATING at Dragon claw so I plan to practice it alot. Shifu said we'll notice an improvement very quickly if we practice every day and not just in our hands but in all arm strength. He had a female student once, 30 years old, who could do 50 Dragon Claw push ups in a row, more than any of the guys. Pretty inspiring.
My stances are better than I'd remembered them being which is encouraging. I was really pushing myself to go wider and deeper and I'm starting to see some of the results. I imagine that'll only improve when my legs stop being sore.
We had to do about 4 separate performances and practices for performances this week. It's been kind of annoying. Especially this morning when I was lying in bed on my one day off and Jeff (our captain of sorts) comes in and 'asks' us to do an impromptu TV performance like right now! I threw my uniform on over my PJ's, grabbed a bottle of water and a bag of peanuts to consume on the way and we left. Did a (somewhat sleepy) performance at the temple with an unwashed face and unbrushed teeth and missed our weekly skype date with my parents. Not how I wanted to start my day but I guess being in the traditional program involves participation in that stuff whether we like it or not.
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