Tornado Alley

I don't usually get to lead Level 2 lines. There are far more talented and chi-tastic people who should be up front. Last night, in Level 2, I found myself up front. Nothing was particularly special until we got to 旋風腳 (Tornadoes). It was my first time leading while doing a tornado and for some reason, I felt an unbelievable build up of chi. So, I said, "What the heck! I'm gonna bring it!" I wanted to see how many tornadoes I can do in a row. First time down the line, I got two, third time down, I got three. I lost count how many tornadoes I did. I was in Tornado Alley and storms were touching down all over the map. What I do remember is kicking myself in the teeth(they still hurt by the way). After a few times down the line where I was combo-ing 3 tornadoes in a row, Hwalan, who led class, stopped everyone and said, "Leo, can you show us what you're doing?"

I then proceeded to break down my technique for the tornado and show how I was able to get it using exercises and drills I've developed for myself. As all of you know, I've been tornado obsessed ever since I started Level 2. In order to perfect it, I've been doing my drills over and over again. They have helped me create the storm and I hope I was able to share it last night.

There was one final lesson I forgot to mention to class. And that is, "You gotta want it! You gotta really really WANT it! Every time you fall, you are getting closer to learning how to fly!"

Amituofo!

More Chi! More Fun!

I would like to think that because of the last post, we had a lot of people showing up last night both for training and dinner, including a new student - Cyril - who just started training on Wednesday. Last night also marked a second anniversary of the our own super chi dork - Heng Cheng.

At the head of the lines, we had the old-timers Khalid, Han, Eric All Night, De, and Doctor Dan. Followed them closely with equal chi are (used to be) long hair Christopher, Leo, Cheng, Rob, Shi, Ellen, Ra (Jin) and me. The lines moved very smoothly and quickly despite a big class with lots of new students.

I love it. I love training. I love training with a lot of people. I love training with a lot of people with a lot of chi.

I'm so super happy. Can't wait to train again this Saturday!

Who Let the Chi Out?

For the past few days since Monday night Level 2 class, I've been perplexed by something. When did my chi get so strong that I could do one-handed 側手翻 (ceshoufan) repeatedly like I've been doing them all my life?!! Up until Monday night, I haven't been able to do a one-handed 側手翻. Not even a close one. I tried it only 2 times, and each time, I fell like a poorly stacked house of cards crumbling to the ground. Carpet ? Meet face. Face? Meet Carpet. Fun times. I assure you. All of that changed Monday night. While everyone did 霸王摘魁 (baiwang zhaikui), I did 側手翻. Right before the end of the carpet on my first run, I didn't feel like putting my left hand down. (I guess that's the best way to describe it) I did a nice round off with one hand and went to the back of the line. In my mind, I was like, "Did I just do a one-handed ceshoufan? Nah! How can this be? When did I learn how to do that?!" On the next run, the same thing happened, except it happened twice in a row. I did TWO one-handed ceshoufan in a row!! I heard someone say, "Nice!" So I am assuming I wasn't dreaming it. This got me thinking. What changed from Friday to Monday? The only answer I can come up with is, of course, THE RETREAT!!

But what exactly at the Retreat did I learn that enabled me to do ceshoufan one-handed? The Retreat should have tired me out. Plus, Monday was my fifth day of training. My arms should have felt like jello. Then, the answer came to me. It was the Chi Kung.

The Chi Kung we learned at the Retreat totally focused my chi, especially in the arms. Right before Monday class, I got to Temple early and did my Chi Kung exercises. You wanna hear something crazy? I could have sworn I saw mist/steam/chi rise from body while I was doing the third movement. I was like, "Oh! I'm seeing things! Great! That's all I need! Class hasn't even started yet!" I did the third movement again and I saw the chi rising again. Now I was like, "COOL!!!!!!!" I forgot all about it until the inexplicable happened. Repeated one-handed ceshoufan's down the line.

One of my reasons for going on the Retreat was to learn Chi Kung. I've been dying to learn it. Now that I have, does it live up to the hype? You betcha!! Who let the Chi out? Whoop! Whoop!

Hi-Chi

Last night, after about 25 minutes or so of relentless handstand-choke-fall over, I finally got the handstand somersault. On a mat, but I think it is a worthy first step. Bolstered by this success, when class started I bopped right to the front of the line and managed to stay there the entire class, even through ceshoufan, which is when usually I have to make way or get run over.

Training was great. There were at least 30 people there; and maybe it was the chi of the first really warm spring day, or maybe everyone was excited for testing, but the energy was bouncing off the walls. It was a relief after the struggle of yesterday, and I think I have just been off kilter of late because I was sick, then threw the baby shower, and my schedule was out of sync. So it was nice to have everything get back to normal and high-chi right before testing. I even got a chance to do erluquan and xiao hong quan all the way through. I finally felt like I was having fun again. I guess I probably should have taken off more than two classes when I was sick.... but what can you do? Testing is this weekend!

Chi-plosion!!

Yesterday, while going down the lines in basics, my chi exploded. A chi-plosion, if you will. To be more accurate, it was more like a build up and then a volcanic eruption. It was amazing and fantastic! I have never felt so much chi before! It was as if every cell and every fiber of my being had just come alive for the first time. Heng Xu felt it too and got out of the way of the flying shrapnel and let me lead line, which gave me another chi-plosion.

Training started pretty rough. I almost didn't make it to temple in time. I was pretty late (11:57am). Yikes! All I remember of my commute was lots of sprinting and wishing the bus/train would go faster. As I walked through the temple doors and said, "Amituofo," I saw a few surprised faces, namely, Ellen and Sucheela's. The night before, I was berating Ellen that she always said she would train Friday morning but she never came. It would have looked pretty bad that I didn't show up while she did. They were ready to pounce like tigers on my egregious mistake. I can only imagine the flurries of IM's and blog lashings they were preparing to unleash from their evil minds. But I made it. Needless to say, I didn't get a chance to warm up.

My muscles felt really tight and stiff from caijiao to xubu, then something happened. During 雙腿屈膝跳 (shuangtui quxitiao), my muscles released. I felt the chi. I began to have an uncontrollable smile on my face a mile wide. The rest of the basics I don't remember so much, except Xu looking at me like I am crazy or have gone bonkers. I just felt the radiating chi exploding from my 丹田 (dan tien). It was one of the few times that I felt my 騰空翻腰 (tengkong fanyao) actually feeling right while I was jumping and twisting.

Of course, once the stretching session came, the chi sort of just started seeping away. During forms, my chi felt low after being so high. Next time, I am going to see if I can keep the chi-plosion going until the end of class. And maybe, just maybe, the chi-plosion will keep going, like a nuclear reaction that never ends.