It's been a good week. I knew it was going to be rough when I had sore muscles halfway through mid-morning class on Friday. Only 6 days left after that! haha. It was great to be back into training though and we started learning a new style called Xing Yi. It's not just one form but a whole system of forms and fighting training with an internal side too. I'm excited to start working on something that requires a whole new way of moving again. Up to now we've mostly been doing long fist style which is good for beginners because it really opens up your body and helps you keep relaxed but it's exciting to move on to a more advanced style. I'm enjoying the feeling of unfamiliarity that comes with each new move we learn, it's like starting all over again from scratch.

There is a really important tournament coming up next month which quite a few people from our school will be competing in. Our Shifu sent the cream of the crop from his most advanced class to try out for the Wudang team in the 'traditional kung fu' division a few days ago. These guys are absolutely amazing! Funny thing is that not even one of them made the team, instead the judges chose only students from the Wudang performance team who don't know any traditional forms at all. They did modern wushu and got selected for the 'traditional kung fu' team. It's completely ridiculous but, sadly, not surprising. Modern wushu is so much more highly valued by the government here that things like this happen all the time. It really reminded me of why I'm here. Shifu decided to create a traditional class for foreigners for this reason, he believes (and I agree with him) that this style will not survive in it's current form within China. In order to save this tradition, we have to take it outside of China. It's sad but true and I just hope it works.

On a more personal note I've been thinking a lot lately about what I really need to be happy. When we first came here last year I brought so much stuff with me that I thought I would need and would really use a lot but as time goes by I realize how unnecessary it all is. I run out of things or they get broken/lost and I just don't miss them. At home it's so easy to accumulate stuff even without buying it for yourself. I guess I could do the same here if I wanted to but I have everything I need for training and beyond that.....there's not a lot of opportunity for much else. It' hard to explain but the longer I spend here, the less excited I get about 'stuff'. Even food. I used to love food and it was one of my greatest pleasures to eat really delicious food but now it's more for sustenance and less for pleasure. Mom, if you're reading this, I still look forward to eating your home-cooked meals when I come home this year so don't think you're off the hook! haha