Sunday, August 12, 2007

Two, three, kick, turn, turn, turn, kick, turn!

Five kicks! FIVE KICKS! Count 'em, one, two, three, four, FIIIIIIVE. Saturday Sifu pulled me off line to work on erluquan with 30 minutes still left in class. Which meant that even though I had a lot to go over in the part I already know, there was still time to learn the eagerly anticipated 5 kicks. Whoo!

Today however, couldn't have been more different. By the time we got to fanyao in basics, Sifu had slowed us to a halt, going over the arm rotation and the extension again and again. He continued in this way for the following moves, breaking down every piece and doing it very slowly over and over. When we got to yangshen yunshou it was already 12, and Sifu told us to break and stretch, without having gotten to the rest of basics or chuji quantao. Then we did waibaitui and zhengtitui like usual then did both the first two forms and the xiebu, pubu, dingbu cycle twice. By the time we started doing forms on line there were 15 minutes left in class.

After all my bellyaching about wanting to learn more erluquan, it should be a no-brainer that Saturday's class was my more favorite of the two; oddly enough it wasn't. Before I got to go on to five kicks Saturday, Richu, who was teaching me, went through and found all the places where I'm being lazy, that is to say, all my stances. Mabus too high, gongbus with a bent leg, and pubus leaning too far over. And the last several classes I've heard Sifu yell my name out with frightening regularity, usually with the words, "lazy," "sleepy style," "slow down," etc. attached to it. So today was a welcome chance to work on all the nuts and bolts of my basics. I've never had a class quite like it, but it couldn't have been better timed. I can't wait to get a handle on the "choreography" of the five kicks, but for now I'm happy to concentrate my efforts on keeping Sifu from calling my name out again... Or rather, not without "very good," "beautiful," Or at least a "not bad" attached to it....

7 comments:

  1. it hasn't quite yet happened to me but i love it when sifu says someone's move is "weird". this was a wash of a weekend for "the royal we" as all good intentions led straight to nap.

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  2. you are so good!!!! trained both on saturday and sunday!

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  3. I LOVED Sunday's class! It was great to have Shifu go over each movement with us step by step. I always find when going down the lines, I don't get to refine my technique. So Sunday was the quintessential technique brush up without being sent to KFK. Although I was sent to KFK because I didn't line up for yiluquan fast enough. I hesitated only for a split second. I find it really amazing that Shifu can sense our hesitation and immediately call us out on it. It really reminded that I need to be completely in the moment more and trust myself better. I haven't been in KFK for awhile and I kinda miss it. I've forgotten how much personal attention you get when you are in KFK.

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  4. hahaha...next time shifu wants to send me to KFK, can i send you instead, leo? :)

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  5. My only fear was they we would do ceshoufans the same way. I might have died :) Or accidentally kicked someone in the face...

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