Kung Fu Dork Profile #4

Name: Esther
Temple Name: Easter
Occupation: Mad Scientist, mwahahahaha!
Borough: N/A (West Nyack, NY)
Chinese Sign: I can tell my astrological sign instead, which is Leo. Giving my chinese sign will tell you how old I am. Boy, do you really NOT want to know.

When was the last time you trained? Level 2 class, last Wednesday night.

How is your commute to the temple? It's crazy stressful especially during a workday/weekday and if there's an accident on the Tappan Zee Bridge.

Metro-North from Tarrytown, NY, (~45 minutes) to the 6 Train to Canal Street (~15 minutes -dependent upon whether the train actually comes or not). Or alternate route is 4/5 Train to Union Square and transfer to N/Q/R Train to Canal St.

How did you learn about the temple? And what made you start training? A former work colleague obtained his MBA at Columbia and he knew of someone that trained at the Temple. I went to the trial class, loved the Qi and trained and now on forward it is history (at least part of my history!)

When did you start training? August 2005

What is your favourite basic move? The first and most basic kick...Caijao. You can also apply it to your conversations like, "If you mess with me, I'm going to 'Caijao' you." Of course I wouldn't go ahead with the action. ;)

What injuries have you had from training? Injuries... of course! A different variation of Qbertplaya's and Mo's shaolin butt sword except it's the hamstring that goes directly to your butt-tocks!

What's the most important lesson you learn from training? So many important lessons that could be applied to your life from now 'till the end of time ~ Open your mind, open your body!

Soup or no soup? Who could not love food? Love soup!
Shower or no shower? Miss the cold showers at the old temple! But who's complaining! :)
Gatorade or water? Watered down Gatorade.
How many uniforms? 2 blues and 1 orange.
Straddle or wall stretch? Scared of the straddle but should gain the courage for it. I do prefer the wall stretch or the wish-bone stretch. :)

QUIET PLEASE!!!!

So I just finished practicing kung fu at home and wanted to share. First off, my room is a wreck and I sure didn't feel like clearing a big ol' area to practice in. Second, I live on the top floor of a house and my housemate has complained more than once about my alleged stomping. Now the rule of thumb in Shaolin (apparently) is that you can train in the space that a tiger can lie down in, or something to that effect. And we are taught to try and land soft with no sound on our kicks. So with this in mind I've been going over basics in my room. It was quite an exercise in isolated muscle control. I've practiced outside temple before (see crazy rooftop kung fu, and doing forms in the lobby at my old theatre) but never in this limited amount of space. Very interesting. I recommend everyone become very cluttered, get a grumbly downstairs neighbor, and go at it. Plus, any excuse to put off cleaning the house....

Everyday Kung Fu

Class today was small -- only 19 of us, so after a while, Shifu had us doing the basics as one line whipping around the columns. During forms practice, he worked with Leo on some yiluquan, and it became a nice review for all of us as we stood there mimicking what they were doing.

For the post-training meal, Ji, Hannah R. and I met up with De and Sucheela for some yummy brunch down in Tribeca. Judging the food we consumed, we probably undid all the good we did for our bodies in class today, but at least we made up for it by walking over the Brooklyn Bridge. But then we had some yummy cupcakes that Sucheela had made, so oh well...

Part of our conversation included talking about doing kung fu outside of Temple. I have often stolen moments at the office where I'll do kung fu. I worked on fanyao along a hallway lined with file cabinets where I quickly learned to keep my arms in one plane so as not to bang into the cabinets. I'll sometimes practice in the ladies' room in front of the mirrors. And I'm sure I've amused my building's security desk with its cameras by pubu-ing in the otherwise empty elevator.

Inspired by our conversation, we capped off the fun day by heading to the roof with a camera to enjoy the view and practice some moves, which we filmed. I happily worked on pubu chuanzhang lunbi zaquan from the other side (see above).

And now, I just finished my laundry -- including all three of my uniforms. While waiting for the dryer to stop, I practiced some mabu.

Yup, we're dorks.

Hair today, Gong (bu) tomorrow

I got my hair cut a few weeks ago for the first time in almost ten (!) months, and as a result, I have quite a few shorter strands of hair towards the top of my scalp that are too short to bundle up in my hair elastic. So for the past few classes for which I've actually made it, I've been slightly distracted by the stray hairs constantly flopping in my face. I'd brush them back and tuck them behind my ears after each time down the carpet, only for them to dislodge themselves with each powerful kick (har har) and end up back in front of my eyes, or worse yet, in my mouth. And lemme tell you, Shaolin hair don't taste so good sometimes.

Yesterday during class, Niederwelt noticed my predicament and presented me with a simple solution -- a bobby pin to clip down those shorter strands to the top of my head. It's not the first time she has been a hair rescuer at Temple -- she provided John Sid with an elastic to tie up his hair a few months ago. So I used the bobby pin and felt like a burden had been lifted from my shoulders...or, um, my face. I felt freer and faster and practiced my forms without worrying whether I would whip myself with my hair. So awesome! Amituofo, Niederwelt!

Enter the Hannah

Amituofo! I'm so happy to be added as a part of the Kung Fu Dorks family! Here's how I imagine the conversation went:

Qbertplaya: Anyone else notice that Hannah is commandeering all the message boards?
Mo: Yeah, I did.
Sucheela: Me too.
Qbertplaya: I was thinking we should ask her to join the blog.
Mo: Good idea. It will prevent her from performing some sort of hostile take-over.
Sucheela: I agree. Let's go get some Number One soup.
Qbertplaya & Mo: Excellent.

Last night was a great class, and perfect for my inaugural post because it involved several of the things I'm really working on. And the point of the blog is to help talk about lessons and track our progress. Last night I learned lots of things, but they all had to do with patience.

Sifu was in a really funny mood yesterday and everyone had lots of chi. There was something in the air..I could feel it.. maybe... could it be? Will today be the day I finally learn more Erluquan?

YES!!!!!!!!!

Sifu heard my silent plea, and after nearly two months of watching me screech to a halt at the first pubu, he had Heng De take me to the side to learn the next several movements. Huzzah!

Here's my story with Erluquan: I kept almost getting to learn more. Something always happend. Class would be over, or I would need to clean up the beginning, or there wouldn't be enough people there to teach. I really wanted to start faking my way through the next part as I've been watching people do it for months, but I knew that if Sifu was still correcting my first two moves, then I should do those over and over and not jump ahead, no matter how bored I got, or how desperately I want to learn 5 kicks.

But last night I got to go all the way to the first Erqijiao. So happy! This gives me plenty to work on, and brings me to the next thing that happened yesterday, which was that I felt a definite difference in my Erqijiaos during basics. It's pretty much been the hardest move for me, I always feel tired and short of breath and can't imagine making it to the third kick. I still have a long way to go, but yesterday I finally felt a real POP at the end. I felt like my leg was higher, my arms straighter, my body more extended. I don't know if I was all those things, but I didn't feel like curling into a ball anymore. This just goes to show you are always getting better even if you don't realize it at the time.

My final thought in this very long post is about straddle stretch. I've been a wall stretch gal for the longest time. I started doing straddle recently for a change and now must face what Heng Ji calls my "fear of the straddle". It's true, it's become a monster in my mind. I am scared, scared, scared of letting people pull on my legs in this stretch. I don't like not being in control, and all it takes is one slip of my hands and I'll fall into what I can only imagine is unbearable pain while my groin muscles tear. (I told you, it's a way out-of-proportion, psychological block.) So for me, it's just as much about conquering this mental hurdle as gaining the flexibility. Last night I think I got lower than I've ever been, not just in training but in my life. So I know that with more patience I can get on the floor. Lessons are fun!

So, to sum up, happy to be here at KFDU, thank you Heng De for teaching me, kick and ye shall find improvement, middle splits by next testing!

Kung Fu Dorks Unite! and Grow!

We have new contributors!

Not just one, but two! Two new dorks!

Welcome Quantou (aka Branden) who has already posted here twice as a guest contributor and Hannah R. who has been consistently expressing herself on this blog in the comments.

Cruisin' For A Bruisin'

Last night was the first evening class I made in two weeks. Work has been kicking my ass and despite there still being a mountain of paper on my desk, I decided nothing would stop me from getting a different kind of ass kicking.

Basics were tough for me, but not horrible. Because I was concerned about running low blood sugar like the last time I trained, right before class I gobbled down a hard candy, but that was a mistake. I ended up having really gummy saliva that lined my throat, and I had to spit it out a few times. Yuck! I had been dreading my return to training, worried that my flexibility would be shot, but it was actually okay.

During wall stretch with Niederwelt and Hannah R., I went to sit against the wall on the wood, and placed my hands on the floor to steady myself, and discovered I had a nice bruise on my palm below my middle finger on my left hand. Ouch! I have absolutely no recollection of when I did it -- probably during caijiao or something. It is even more pronounced this morning. I am excited to show it to my civilian friends.

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?