So sorry to everyone about my long silence. My computer was on the fritz and is still in the process of dying a slow death so I had no keyboard...kinda hard to write a post without letters! A lot has happened over the past month or so. My parents came to visit for a few weeks (luckily they brought me a new laptop which is what I'm using now) and we've been busy, busy, busy. First Mel and I met them in Xi'an where we stayed for 4 days. After that we took the train to Chengdu for another 4 days of touristy stuff and then we took another train to Wudang where we live. I think my parents really liked both cities and I hope they enjoyed our little town too. It was so fun to have them at class and I feel like now they understand better what exactly we're doing here. My mom enjoyed training with us, Dad, not so much. He liked watching and taking some pictures but never did have much interest in martial arts. It was great having them here though. They left early this morning and I know I'll miss them but it's only another couple months until I see them again so it seems like nothing. I haven't traveled with my parents since childhood and it was really refreshing to see them outside of their usual environment.

We also had a tournament here in town that most of my classmates participated in. I didn't have much time so I just hung out with mom and dad and we watched and cheered everyone on. Our school did really well but it almost didn't seem fair to compete with other foreigners who have jobs and families. We do this full time so it wasn't much of a contest. It was really interesting to watch though, I just hope the people who came from far away had a good time too.

It's getting cooler and more comfortable...
we're almost finished tai chi sword...
my hip is feeling much better....
2 weeks until my parents arrive....
knitting again...
reading some good books...
moon festival is next week so we get an extra day off....

Life Is Good

Fall is coming!

It's still pretty hot and the school is crowded but there's an end in sight. Some of the small kids have already left to go back home in time for school and more and more people will do the same. The feel of training in the fall is so much nicer. Cool nights and warm days are so comfortable. It's still good for stretching but it's not so draining just to exist. I think everyone is feeling it, our attitudes seem to be improving and everyone is more happy to go to class and train. Yay!

We're pretty close to finishing tai ji sword. A pretty long but totally awesome form that I really enjoy practicing.

My hip is getting better, I can do almost everything I normally do again. I'm glad it's happening relatively quickly.

Friday morning during our stretch part of class I hurt the tendon in the front of my left hip. Strangely, I was stretching the hamstring on that side and I kinda squished the tendon inside my hip joint somehow. Sounds weird I know but it's actually a fairly common injury here. Well anyway, it's nothing too serious but it is annoying. I have to take it easy on the stretching now, which is the only good thing about hot weather training. I also have to be careful and kick slowly and gently for a while. Overall though it's not too much of a problem now. Sleeping is when it bothers me the most, it gets stiff and starts aching and sometimes wakes me up. I've gone for a painful massage and have another planned for this afternoon so hopefully it'll heal quickly. I was just thinking about a week and a half ago that it had been a really long time since I'd had an injury so I guess I jinxed myself.

Not much to say this week. The weather is hot and sticky. Humidity today is 100% according to the weather page. gross. Mel got a heat rash on her belly. We've started taking around 3 showers a day too. I really can't wait until summer is over. Mom and Dad will be here in a month and a half and I'm REALLY excited!

We started leaning tai chi sword (taiji jian) this week and I love it! I've been wanting to learn this form for ages, watching jealously as foreign student after foreign student in the free class learns it. Well now it's our turn and even though we've just begun, it's totally awesome so far.

Here is the web address for the video on youtube. It's not the whole form but you'll get the jist of it:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8FTg-d5JVY

well I missed writing last week but there's not too much to say anyway. Summer has gotten really hot again, more like what I remembered from last year and the school is busier than it's ever been before. I think this puts everyone around here a little on edge but overall we seem to be enduring it with relative patience. It's almost August which means another month or so of this and things will calm down and return to some semblance of normalcy. One thing that's quite exciting is the new form we'll start learning tomorrow: Tai chi straight sword. I've watched several students come learn this form and I've often been envious of them. It's a really beautiful form that combines two things I've fallen in love with over these past 2 years, straight sword and tai chi. I also think it's a perfect way to spend the second half of the summer.

A few weeks ago was my birthday which we celebrated well. I got many messages from folks at home and it really meant a lot to me that so many people were so kind. Thanks everyone!