This past week has been a pretty good one. Our meditation room is finished so we've been meditating again in the evenings. I think everyone is quite happy about it. I also reached a milestone for stretching. At the beginning of every class we stretch. One of the stretches we do involves putting one leg up on a railing and doing a forward bend, bringing our head as close to our foot as possible while pulling the foot in. I've been doing this stretch for 2 years now and it's always been extremely difficult and painful but I kept trying and pushing myself and I finally did it! I touched my head to my toe, on both sides! Some people can do this one in a few months but for me it's very challenging so achieving it felt SO good. It really made my day, no, my week.

We also started getting up early to practice qigong in the morning. Still not going for our run first so we get to sleep in until 5:50 am. yahoo!

I don't have much to say about this last week. I think we're all getting used to the current schedule and lack of meditation, though we're still anxiously awaiting the completion of the renovations. It rained a lot last week and we had to train inside which can get pretty boring and cramped. Other than that nothing really new is going on. I finally finished reading The Count of Monte Cristo (a Christmas gift) and I'd recommend it. At 117 chapters it'd definitely NOT a quick read but it is a really interesting story about revenge and forgiveness. I liked it and thought it was well written. Being here has really changed my literary tastes. I have been reading a lot more classics. At home I usually read non-fiction but here I'm more interested in a well written story.

Well hopefully I'll have more to report next week.

Our meditation room is under construction. The entire third floor (which is where the meditation room is) is being renovated and so we can't use that room. I miss meditation. Especially since we now have training for 2 hours in the evening instead. To me it seems like ant-meditation, we feel more tired and sore after class than we did before. I can definitely notice that in general we're much grumpier too. Overall, it's rather unpleasant.

I remember how hard meditation was at the beginning, sitting in one position for a whole hour was like torture but now I really crave it. Kinda funny. Hopefully it just continues to get better and better with more practice.

I've been knitting a lot but accomplishing little. Started a sock, got about halfway through the toe and decided I hated it. So I started knitting a lacy shawl instead. After numerous mistakes and having to undo it and start again 4 or 5 times, I've finally got it figured out (for now anyway) and I'm having a good time. I guess that'll have to relax my mind until the meditation room is done. I hope it's not much longer now.

Sometimes I feel like I'm too old for this stuff!

Last week we did a bunch of conditioning stuff. Jumps, duck walking, one legged hopping, squat thrusts, etc for 4 days consecutively and boy am I sore. The day off did help but I think it'll actually be an other week or two before I'm all better. Watching some of the younger students recover really makes me realize that my age is starting to catch up with me. I guess I am turning 30 this summer so it shouldn't really surprise me. Oh well, with age comes wisdom. Right? haha

So I'm back to "normal" life again. Mel and I had a safe trip back with no problems. We spent a few days in the city of Xian to check out the terracotta warriors and a few other cool sights. Xian is really cool, I will definitely be heading back there someday. It felt really good to get back to Wudang though. I feel comfortable at home and here, not really anywhere in between though.

We trained for about a week and then had a few days off again for Chinese New Year. It actually worked out very well, we got back into it but then had a few days off to recover from sore muscles before more practice. Chinese New Year was crazy as usual, lots of food, fireworks, and karaoke with very little uninterrupted sleep. It was fun though.

One thing I'm not enjoying is the renovations that are happening on the floor above our room. It is really noisy which is especially annoying in the afternoon between classes when we sometimes like to take a little nap. That floor is also where our meditation room is and it really sucks trying to get to it through a hallway full of debris in the dark, not to mention all the dust. Well I just hope it won't take them too much longer to finish.

The actual kung fu training is pretty good, despite the aforementioned sore muscles. I think we all really needed a break and now everyone seems to have a pretty positive attitude. Shifu hasn't been pushing us too hard yet either so classes are a nice combination of work and play, spending lots of time on individual practice and basics. I'm liking it! I have a lot of flexibility goals for the year and a few others that I'm mulling over. Certain things are hard to quantify, like wanting my side kick to be faster while maintaining proper technique. So I still have some thinking to do.

My major new year resolution was to stay more positive and not let small things get to me as much. So far it's going well, I can usually notice myself getting mentally worked up and control my thoughts. The problem is that sometimes I honestly enjoy being in a bad mood. I know it sounds strange but I think I have some belief that not getting angry about things means I'll get walked all over. Once in a while it feels good to me to be the person that everyone walks on eggshells around. I just hope I can learn to be more constructive about the things I want to be different. Thats why a positive attitude should help, I can keep a clear head and work on changing the things that need it rather than just steaming futilely.

I leave to go back to China in a few days.

On the one hand I really don't want to go back, it's so cold sometimes with no indoor heating and I'm really enjoying the food and modern luxuries of Canada. I am glad though to be getting back to training. I've been sitting around for about a month now and I'm pretty tired of it. It'll be great to use my body again and I feel refreshed and positive about the practice again. I really needed a break and now that I've had one, I'm really happy to start doing some kung fu!

Well I have missed a few weeks of journaling due to a combination of business and my computer being in 'the shop' but I'm still alive and kicking.

It's been really nice to be home. I was really missing Canada, being away for so long makes one appreciate how great it is here. The air is so clean and fresh! It smells fantastic. The food is great and I'm really enjoying spending so much time with my family and friends again. All in all a good time.

I have really been slacking and hardly doing any training at all. A little stretching, a little qigong and tai chi is about it. I am trying not to beat myself up over it though. The purpose of the break is to rest and come back ready to train hard again so I am doing my best to just relax and enjoy myself. The last year has been very challenging and I know the coming one will be too so I will make the most of this time without guilt.

While I am home I can actually upload a photo! This one is of me in front of a precarious overhang on the mountain. If you've seen the new karate kid movie, you'll recognize it as the place with the snake scene.