We finished learning Eight Immortals Sword this week and it is AMAZING!
















I Love The Sword!!! Yaaaarg!

3 weeks down and I'm already tired. haha.

Due to chinese new year we had an 8 day training week last week and it was pretty exhausting. Even after the day off yesterday, my body is super fatigued, especially the legs. I know kung fu is generally a leg workout but it's times like these that you really get to experience what that feels like. This is why I'll never have skinny thighs.

We're learning a cool form now. Eight Immortals sword. It's very long and tricky but so much fun!

I finished my first week of training and then we got 4 days off for Chinese New year. It was nice. I kind of wish I could have saved those days for the middle of summer when I really need then though. I just had over a month off so I would have been content to just train as usual. Oh well, I don't want to complain about having time off!

It's been a pretty smooth transition this year so far. Shifu hasn't been around so we are left to our own devices a little which is so nice. Mel had the brilliant idea to bring back a foam roller for self-massage and it's already been totally worth it. I've been rolling my quadriceps and although it's pretty uncomfortable, it's kept me from getting too sore. There's just one area that I can't massage with the roller, neck/shoulder area. That's what friends are for though right! haha.

I really gained some perspective over the break and I feel so much more confident about my future return to Canada now. I know what I want to do and though there are still lots of details to figure out, it's going to be such a time of personal growth. I look forward to it. I still have another year and a half here that I need to focus on but it feels easier to do that when I'm feeling so positive about the future.

After 6 weeks of resting I've returned to Wudang and to training. The time at home was amazing, I ate a ton, rested and slept, and spent time with the people I love. It's been great. Though it was hard to leave I've made it back and I'm relieved to be here. It feels good to move again.

The return trip was ok. We're both pretty jet-lagged though which usually only happens when traveling east so I'm surprised. We always seem to end up sitting near babies on the plane, that might have something to do with it.

With Chinese New Year coming up and most of the Chinese students gone, we're getting lots of time to practice and review on our own so I'm already really enjoying that. It's nice when you're self-directed too because you can ease back into training a little more gradually and take it easy for a few days.