While stretching, how close do you sit to Shifu? Why?

(Another guest entry from Quantou aka Branden. Enjoy!)

I realized the other day that I was always doing my stretching on the opposite end of the floor from Shifu. We are always supposed to "stretch our bodies, stretch our minds" but sometimes I want to recuperate from the line drills. By being farther away from Shifu I feel like I am not being watched so closely. I still stretch but probably not as hard as I would if he were sitting right in front of me.

Lately, in order to get into the front of the line quickly for waibaitui, I have been doing the second half of my stretches right near Shifu. It has helped to continue the chi thoughout the stretch time. I believe stretching is one of most important aspects of our training, but also one of the most difficult. I just keep thinking...Come here beautiful toes -- I WANT TO KISS YOU!

My Cartwheel Needs Oil

I have been having this fear of Ceshoufan aka the cartwheel since I started training. At first, my excuse was that I just got over a shoulder surgery. My left shoulder was weak. It hurt. I couldn't do it. And then a year and a half went by. My old excuse doesn't apply anymore. Need to come up with a new one.... Or just try to do it better.

But why? Why do I fear Ceshoufan?

I think it's because the head upside down action. Or maybe it's the fact that I can't see what I was doing and where I was going. Or is it because I was deprived of toys when I was a kid?

Regardless, I need to cartwheel harder!

• Keep my legs and arms straight (or try to.)


• Try not to take steps between moves (but how do I balance and see where I'm going?)


• Propel not with my arms but my legs and body.


• etc...

Breakfast es muy importante!

I have found that what I eat before a weekend class can really affect how I perform in that class. No later than ninety minutes before class starts, I usually will have something along the lines of a mashed up banana with some granola, some raisins, and then a smattering of skim milk or lowfat yoghurt to moisten the mixture. It is a concoction of dense carbohydrates that provides me with enough fuel to last through the two hours of training, albeit with a bit of stomach growling probably triggered by the smells of food emanating from the street below.

Yesterday before class, I did not plan so well. The bananas I had purchased on Friday still had a greenish tinge, and the mere thought of having to crunch a bowl of only granola made my jaw ache. Instead, I settled upon my leftovers from lunch the prior day. Maybe it was cos I was still in a sleepy haze, but somehow I decided half an iced coffee with half of a vegetarian sandwich (portabella mushroom, spinach, tomato and a sliver of fresh mozzarella) would be perfectly fine for breakfast.

Not the most brilliant of plans. During basics, I felt wobbly and dizzy, and seemed to be sweating profusely -- even more than I usually do cos of training. I took myself out during a few of the moves and still could not cool down, and my wooziness got worse. I fell over at the end of chujiquantao. I stretched on the wood near the windows, and still felt like crap. Weird.

So we resumed basics with waibaitui, and after I got through two trips down the carpet and started feeling disoriented, I took myself out of the line, and told Shifu I needed to go get some sugar. I grabbed some money, went downstairs and bought a bottle of Coke -- not my usual Diet Coke, but regular -- and guzzled half of it down. When I got back to Temple, the class began forms practice, and I started feeling human again. I didn't feel 100%, but I felt a lot better with that added jolt of sugar in my system and was able to practice forms for a while.

I concluded that I must have burned through the few carbs in that half of a sandwich awfully quickly, and became hypoglycemic (aka had a low blood sugar level) as a result. I must remember to eat better before class, especially when it's the first meal of the day, and I probably ought to keep some kind of quick sugar fix in my bag, like some kind of packet to mix into my water and/or some hard candy or whatever. Anybody have any tips?