So today was interesting; Sifu had us run. I've never done that before. But during tenkong fanyao I guess we weren't getting out of the way fast enough, so he made us run around the temple a couple of times. Then we did tengkong fanyao, still weren't running out of the way at the end, and ran around the temple several more times. I guess some of us just didn't get it, because we repeated this at least four times. Tengkong fanyao: "get out of the way faster!" Then: "Run!" Finally we were moving at a speed he liked and got to move on to yangshen yunshou... (if one considers that a reward. If you're like me, that's the one you always kind of hope he'll forget about..... ) It was a good reminder to get the heck out of the way once you finish a movement. Sometimes you don't make it all the way to the end of the carpet (more chi!) but no matter where you stop, you need to hurry to get back in line.
Stretching today, Heng De was looking for some help with his straddle. I was reluctant because last night at dinner Branden had mentioned that De needs really strong people pulling his legs and then he can stretch a lot farther. That's not me. Between the sweaty grip and the tired arms I was pretty ineffectual. So on the second round I traded with Leo who was stretching with a different group so that De could have strong dudes pulling him into his stretch. I looked like he got a lot further; I should have just done that in the first place. Meanwhile I went and stretched with Chan, Esther (yay she's back), and the other Hannah. And I had another training first. I was getting down there pretty easy, trying to relax, and my hip cracked and felt like it just popped out. And not in a very comfortable way. I sort of torque-d it back in and tried again with a slightly different posture but it happened again. I don't know if it was a tendon popping around or what, but I decided that was enough, even though Chan said it was probably a good thing that stuff is popping around. I am getting much more interested in my flexibility, or lack thereof, rather than my power. If I want to get my pubus lower I might have to just give in to the popping on all my stretches.
Stretching today, Heng De was looking for some help with his straddle. I was reluctant because last night at dinner Branden had mentioned that De needs really strong people pulling his legs and then he can stretch a lot farther. That's not me. Between the sweaty grip and the tired arms I was pretty ineffectual. So on the second round I traded with Leo who was stretching with a different group so that De could have strong dudes pulling him into his stretch. I looked like he got a lot further; I should have just done that in the first place. Meanwhile I went and stretched with Chan, Esther (yay she's back), and the other Hannah. And I had another training first. I was getting down there pretty easy, trying to relax, and my hip cracked and felt like it just popped out. And not in a very comfortable way. I sort of torque-d it back in and tried again with a slightly different posture but it happened again. I don't know if it was a tendon popping around or what, but I decided that was enough, even though Chan said it was probably a good thing that stuff is popping around. I am getting much more interested in my flexibility, or lack thereof, rather than my power. If I want to get my pubus lower I might have to just give in to the popping on all my stretches.
I thought the running was kind of fun. :) I have only been at the temple 3 months and I haven't done that before either. 騰空翻腰 (Teng Kong Fan Yao) is always a tough move for me. I am not even close to mastering it yet. And after running a few laps, I can barely do one. But to tell you the truth, I really love that about training at the Shaolin Temple. It is cross-training. You are always using different combination of muscle groups. There are very few training regiments that can accomplish the same type of aerobic exercise as Shaolin. Throw in some major stretching and you got yourself the perfect workout to building lean and long muscles for speed, flexibility and power.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting thing that happened yesterday was that by the end of basics, I was leading the line. It was my first time leading with so many level 2 people around. Richu told me once that Sifu said to him, "If you are not in the front of the line every level 1 class, I will kick you back to level 1." I hope I didn't risk someone getting kicked back to level 1. :)
I remember the first time I was at the front of the line. It was a Saturday class with 12 (twelve!!!) people in it. I felt pretty heroic by the end of it.
ReplyDeletesifu sometimes makes you run if there is not as much CHI or if people are petering out too. often he tells us to walk but we get yelled at if we end up running.
ReplyDeletealso i like it when class is mixed up a bit, keeps it interesting.
The "someone" that wasn't running after the teng kong fanyao was most likely me. I don't mind sifu pointing me out. I did feel bad that because of my 'inaction' I caused everyone, indirectly, run. Although, I didn't understand what sifu was saying.
ReplyDelete