I Believe I Can Fly!

What's even better than spending 2 full days doing kung fu on a spiritual retreat at a secluded monastery? Okay, not much, but Monday night's Level 2 class was definitely a fun way to bookend a great, and I mean FANTASTIC Memorial Day Weekend.

Heng De taught class and we had our Austrian Temple brothers Marc and Seppi join us. Halfway through class, De said, "Okay. Let's get the trampoline and the big blue mat!" My heart skipped a beat. I've been dying to jump on that trampoline since the first day I watched the kids jump on it. I always kept myself out of their fun by saying, "No, no, Leo. You're a big boy now. You don't need to pretend you're six and play with the kids on a trampoline." Well, that all changed. De wanted all of us to work on the tornado. To help us with the jumping and twisting mechanics of the tornado, we would take off from the trampoline and land on the mat. And I must say, it was the most fun I've had in Level 2 class so far! We all flew and soared through the air! Marc and Seppi were doing acrobatic tumbling. They were amazing! Seppi did a DOUBLE 騰空雙飛腳 (Tengkong Shuangfeijiao) in the air. Every time he jumped, we watched in awe. He even tried touching the ceiling! Shifu came over to watch and I could see it in his eyes that he really wanted to give it a try too. I was almost about to say, "Join us Shifu!!"

My first jump (first jump ever on a trampoline) was full of skittish excitement. I barely jumped. I sort of just stumbled and fell. But that all changed with my next few jumps. I twisted like a 720 through the air sideways. I don't know how I looked, but everyone's faces lit up laughing, "Um...Leo...What are you doing?!" With so much air time, I wanted to see how much twist I could have through the air. I have a feeling it will really help my tornado.

We had to get ready for forms so we put the mat away but I can't wait to jump off that trampoline again!!!