Sunday, April 13, 2008

Testing Recap

Level 1 Testing is over! The final verdict? Everyone did really well! My testing time was at 2:30pm but I went to watch/support the other erluquan (二路拳) people in the 11:45am group. Needless to say, I was there warming up, training, and testing for a little over 4 hours.

The 11:45am group was led by Rob and Ted, who were the only ones testing for erluquan. Everyone else was testing for yiluquan (一路拳). Rob was picked to lead the line. Thanks to his last minute cramming of all the names of the moves the night before, he led wonderfully well. Not once did he mess up, except for when Shifu asked him to do tuizhang (推掌). I know what tuizhang is, but I've never done it while going down the line or just as a standalone unless it was at the end of class. So I don't fault Rob for not knowing what it was, and Shifu didn't asking anyone else to do it the rest of the day.

Both Rob and Ted performed erluquan superbly. I hope they both passed in the eyes of Shifu and move on to Level 2.

The 2:30pm group was full. Everyone was excited and nervous. We were all testing for erluquan. There were 13 of us and Jaka led the line, as I knew he would. He is the most senior out of all of us in terms of the amount of time spent at the Temple. And, he has been asked to teach basic techniques and/or forms almost every Level 1 class. Heng Yu was second and I followed up as third. (Edit: Line Order-> Jaka, Heng Yu, Leo, Mark, Chris, Heng Shan, Heng Shi, Steve, Mike, Heng Zang, Elaine, Ellen, Heng Jin)

My nemesis tengkong fanyao (騰空翻腰) reared its head and I messed up horribly while going down the line. I even bumped into the person behind me as I was trying to get up into the air again. I hope I didn't mess him up too much. It just shows that I need to practice tengkong fanyao much much more.

During a break between basics and forms, I over-extended my back and hurt it somehow. Every step was painful and I didn't think I was going to be able to walk let alone do 3 forms for Shifu. But I resolved that I was already there and the worst that could happen would be that I make many many mistakes and don't pass. If I didn't test, I definitely wouldn't pass. I might as well take my best shot and accept whatever may come.

My erluquan was okay. It lacked any pop and I couldn't really extend or jump. I made it through. The only real glaring mistake was towards the end when you twist your body and jump into a pubu. When I landed, I felt a jolt of searing hot pain shoot up my spine. I lost my balance and almost fell backwards. I bit down hard and quickly recovered and finished the form wincing from unbearable agony. Shifu probably didn't notice because he just thought I was tired from doing the whole form. I actually don't remember doing the last few parts of the form. I was merely concentrating on not doubling over and saying, "Amituofo Shifu, I'm sorry. I can't finish."

I dragged myself back into line and those words kept repeating in my mind. I tried to take my mind off of the pain by watching everyone else test forms. I actually don't remember doing them at all. All I remember was the sensations of a sharp hammer violently assaulting my lower back (which it is still doing as I write this blog entry).

Everyone in our group was really strong with erluquan. I was ecstatically happy for our fellow KF Dork Qbertplaya for finishing erluquan in front of Shifu at testing. I know it has been a long hard-won journey for her. Heng Shi really impressed me for being able to do erluquan after only learning the rest of it this past week. Elaine's form was beautiful and graceful. Jaka's and Heng Jin's form were technically flawless. Heng Yu had massive chi as usual and pushed everyone on. Heng Shan couldn't finish the form the first time, but with heart and determination, he was able to do it all the way through when Shifu gave him a second chance.

All in all, it was a great experience to go through, with many highs and lows. Even if I don't pass, I've learned many valuable lessons to carry with me throughout my journey. The ability to overcome pain. Trusting in muscle memory. Not giving up. How much I love what we do. How much I love being a part of this Shaolin family.

I hope everyone passes and moves on to Level 2 where we will train even harder!! It's time to put our tax refunds to good use by buying new orange uniforms!!

Thank you Heng Cheng for coming to cheer us on with your chi and cupcakes! Both were tremendously appreciated!

6 comments:

  1. Leo, I didn't even realize until today that you had injured yourself. While you might have felt your erluquan lacked it's usual pop, I thought you did well yesterday! Nothing discernibly wrong to me about your performance, so more chi to you!

    Excellent recap, and yes, amituofo to Heng Cheng for her cupcake chi.

    Now comes another exercise...in PATIENCE! A whole week of waiting to know how Shifu thought we did...

    I had a great time yesterday, though. I was nervous, but in the end, happy to be there and happy for all of us.

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  2. I'm just glad this week is over.

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  3. I'm so sad I won't be able to make L2 after the cert ceremony (work travel). Heal up, Leo, and I hope to see you all in orange soon!

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  4. Thank you Qbertplaya and Jeremiah. I hope I did well enough in Shifu's eyes to pass. Can't wait for Certificate Ceremony to see who's going to Level 2!!

    Still in quite a lot of pain today. Ouch!

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  5. maybe he gave us a break because i aka gimpy was part of the group, and he knew i could use the rest! did you notice how he didn't make me do xuopan? talk about nemesis -- that is the one move i've avoided pretty much doing during class regularly. i'll do it during individual forms practice, when i can control how quickly i spin in and out of the sit position, but while we're doing chuji quantao as a group, and then xuopan as a group, i don't do it because the twisting motion makes my knee very angry with me. i'd like to think that shifu had me skip xuopan out of respect for my recovering knee. amituofo!

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  6. I finished a whole beef stew da chao mien after testing! The bistro burger, I did not do justice. Everyone else in the restaurant was jealous of our cupcakes. Those pints tasted good too.

    After training hard and slowing down on the special water training, two beers was nice. I wasn't too thirsty to train harder. I want to maintain the chi and good health...

    Testing was a lot of fun. I knew my best would be good enough. I had been going over the names of moves and the in-class order, since a week prior to testing (still needs work). I didn't do much the night before, except for try to get an early night and eat well.

    I feel very lucky to have led line. It boosted my confidence. I felt a responsibly to everyone in the group. I wanted to shout out FIRE!!! Respecting everyone's peace of mind, I tried to make my actions do the talking instead.

    Getting there early to watch the first group and get all the warm up possible was worth it. Leo and Charles helped me wall stretch too. I just wanted to go all out even if it was showing off a little. It was like my own mini class before testing. Next time I will bring an extra uniform and t-shirt. There was some restraint as it's hard to let the chi just flow in and out when you don't want to make mistakes. Damn you element of control!

    We didn't do jumps or movements. Lucky? Maybe... I almost felt ripped off. I did everything warming up, but want to know how I would've handled it 'up there.'

    Tuizhang totally caught me off guard. I called it out along with Chongquan during Zhengtantui. When I was doing Zuopan though, as I was coming around the second time, I thought I heard Shifu say Hao, but didn't want to stop unless I was sure, so I did two more, losing balance sitting as I looked at Shifu for confirmation - kind of a pathetic/oopsie feeling. Then when he said "Do you know Tuizhang" I just thought, oh no sounds like Tantiao!... "No!" I don't really know THAT, I thought. Then walking to the side it hit and I muttered "Oh TUIZHENG". I will have to make strikes part of my warm up from now on and stick all my Zuopans. There are times to watch Shifu but you must always listen!

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