Liquid Endosperm-tastic

After not being able to train for over a week because I am performing in a play (thank you to all the KF dorks who came to give me chi!), I trained today. Right before class, I decided to try something new. I usually never drink anything during training, but today I decided to give coconut water (liquid endosperm) a try. Everyone has been talking about how great this natural sports drink is and I had to see for myself. I bought a VitoCoco coconut water from across the street before class and couldn't wait to rip the little tab off the box and gush it down.

During basics, I was dead tired and couldn't really catch my breath. After only 1 week of not training, my KF stamina disappeared. I was almost tempted to drink it right after basics but I didn't because drinking a cold drink right after a heated workout is probably not good for the body. So I was hoping that Shifu would give us a water break during forms. And sure enough he did. I only took a few sips, as I didn't want to overdo it. The coconut water was less sweet than I expected. It tasted more like milky water with a tiny amount of sugar added. It wasn't really delicious but I must admit, my body felt better. There was this warmth coming from my stomach (or was it my Dan Tian?) like a battery being recharged. After a few minutes, I could sense a recharge of energy. It's not like a jolt of caffeine but more like a slow and steady rise of energy. My muscles felt more loose and I had a little more pop on my 5 kicks.

After class ended, I drank the rest of it. And that warmth in my belly came back again. And I must say, I kinda liked it. I am not the type of person to depend on anything before or after training. But this might be my new formula for after training nutrition. "Monsieur? May I have a Number 1 soup and a coconut water please?"

Celebration!

Hooray! Today is the blog's first birthday! I want to thank everyone who has posted, commented or given us inspiration for keeping it going. I feel so much has happened in the past year, so it's awesome that we have a nice journal of sorts that we can look back upon and reflect. I often wish I had thought of doing this earlier in my Shaolin career!

For me, blogging has been a great way of training after training -- meditating upon the action meditation. And just like when we train when we express ourselves on the green carpet, we also express ourselves here but in words.

It has been such a beautiful experience sharing our time and thoughts! I look forward to keeping the chi going with you all!

Oh, and Happy Chinese New Year! Gongxi facai! 恭喜發財

So many reasons to celebrate!

La-z-girl

Last night, sometime during erqijiao, I thought, "Well this isn't as bad as I always dread it being. And if you have to teach the second part of class, then really the most tiring part is over."

I did indeed get asked to teach the second part of class. This time it was tsabu. I love each time I teach something new because I invariably learn some new mechanic from Sifu that I either forgot or never knew in the first place. However, when I woke up this morning without any aches or pains (I'm not complaining mind you!), I wondered if I am getting stronger or if I am benefiting from the 40 odd minutes of teaching that have replaced the end of my Level 1 classes. Again, I'm thrilled not to be doctoring aching crying muscles and joints, but it makes me worry that my revelation during erqijiao was actually a revelation of my not training as hard.

I realized early on that by bringing in a new generation of teachers, Sifu is also giving the older students a break from teaching and allowing them to have time back that training time that you lose. I love teaching (and learning) but I've realized that if I want to keep progressing, I can't settle into thoughts like "well once class is half over I'll just be teaching and all the working out will be over." If anything, that means I need to take that precious first hour and train even harder, and not think about saving anything for later, since later I'll be training teaching-style. I don't resent using that time to teach, as I said, I love that it allows me to refresh on things myself, but that means every moment that I'm going down the line is doubly important and I should take full advantage of it instead of anticipating its end.