Waibaitui + Badassness

Last night, during Waibaitui, I had this epiphany: Relax!

When I stretched my mind at that moment to accomodate that notion, suddenly my legs turned into vertical propellers, I was extending infinitely, my arms were the picture of Up, Straight, and Not Bouncing, and I wasn't about to pass out at the end of my turn!

Goes to show what overthinking can do...

PS: My pinky finger got thwacked today in Fan Yao. It's all black and blue now. Don't tell anyone, but I secretly like my Kung Fu war wounds. It is evidence that bad-assness has taken place.

follow your palms

don't forget to follow your palms when you move both your hands over your head and switch gongbu sides in yiluquan

kung fu injuries - all in my head?

When we do basic moves in the line, sometimes it's inevitable to kick or hit people next to us. Whenever I'm the one kicking or punching or slashing other people, I always feel so bad. I would be aware of it until the end of the class - trying to leave more space or moving faster or slower. I would keep thinking about it until I can say sorry to the person or make sure that he/she is cool.

On the other hand, whenever I got kicked, hit, punched, stepped on, etc. I always want to show that I'm fine - no worries - keep training - forgetaboutit - no big deal - smiling - Omitoufu. And it always *was* no big deal. These never stay in my head longer than 3 seconds which is how long the pain lasts.

I realized this - and thought - maybe I shouldn't worry about it too much. Just let it go. Maybe other people were trying to show me too that they were fine when I touched them too.

I know that we should be aware of ourselves and people and place around us. Well - sometimes I am not.

What usually goes on in your head whenever you happen to kick somebody in the line?

Lollygagging Will Get You Nowhere...Literally

You know when we're doing basics, and Shifu paces us by barking GO! each time a group of four is up? So during waibaitui today, I heard him say GO! to the groups in front of me, and then when I lined up, I didn't hear that GO! so I didn't go and just waited there a wee bit too long. Durrrrrrrrrr.... And then Shifu did one of those annoyed c'mon what are you waiting for? GO!s at me. Oops.

So Qbertplaya's lesson of the day: Keep the chi up! Don't let Shifu catch you lollygagging! Zou! means GO!

And then after training, Sucheela, Shi (Jose) and I lollygagged and ended up heading to Thai Son for a super quick dinner. We almost weren't seated cos we were so late. For simplicity's sake we all ordered the same dish - 10a - rice noodles beef soup w. grilled chicken. But the kitchen was in such a rush to close, some of our chicken was only half cooked. Raw. Yuck.

It doesn't pay to lollygag! Train faster! Eat sooner!

The Personal is Political (This is Less Boring Than it Sounds!)

Maybe you can relate. You know when we're standing in line to do forms, to do basic moves, to do anything, and someone starts clapping, allowing a burst of exuberance to manifest? And then you start clapping, and suddenly you feel excited too, and then it spreads like a wild fire of clapping and shared expression and gladness that we are all here at this moment?

I'm going to confess that, on occasion, I don't clap. I close up and feel protective of my chi-- I don't want to share it for some reason. And then I notice that I am not receiving it or building it anymore either. I have blocked it from going out, and I have blocked it from coming in, and I can't grow. What is that? Is that ego? Is it a "bad day"? Because it feels really good to just relax, to just let it flow, to join in with the collective appreciation of the moments we create. Those moments wouldn't be what they are without each of us. And besides, whatever you give away comes back to you, multiplied.

Anyway, this is just a big shout out thank you to everyone who shares their chi, who gets us riled up and ignites the domino-chain of firey excitement that makes training in class so freaking awesome. More Chi!

Wait... I think I hear clapping, all the way in Brooklyn...

Perpetual Butt Injury

I think I have a vaporized Kung Fu being who lives in my butt-cheek, just above my thigh. It hurts! And I will celebrate one year of co-existence with this beast in June 2007.

What I have continuously learned from this is, despite apparent scars and wounds, despite nagging discomfort, it pays to train harder. You forget the pain that way-- learn to fight through it, learn to focus on the strengths, and ultimately laugh in the face of the little Shaolin sword poking your left buttock.

Amituofo, Everyone! So Why This Blog?

So the other day I was telling Sucheela how I wanted to start a blog loosely documenting my progress everytime I go to class because it seems like I learn so much, so it's easy to forget and repeat mistakes sometimes. I want to be able to look back and remind myself of what I've learned, and perhaps how far I've come...so now Mo, Sucheela and I are gonna make this a group thang! :)

Basically, the idea is to write down something new you've learned, be it a new movement, some attention to a detail you didn't realize, or even something as simple as someone's name, or, in my case, something that Shifu has yelled at me for doing, which happens all the time! :) So, I'd like to remember to extend better, or to raise my arm properly, or whatever. This is all.

Whatever we make of it, this is what the blog will be. You feel the chi, that's the chi. Or something like that. CHI!!

And if you feel like commenting, go for it. Or if you have something you'd like to contribute and have us put up (like a good link or even a guest post), drop us a line. Maybe this will inspire you to think about class in a different way as well! :)

(Image taken from the Buddha Project at Lens Culture, a site containing many images of Buddha from around the world.)

shifu drinks johny walker black neat