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.