my kung fu brothers - may I hear you say....

Do people not utter the names of moves before performing them anymore?

I ventured to the side a couple of times today to skip jumping. It was so quiet. No chi. Silent. Tired. Slow. I tried cheering the line up and a few people just smiled at me. I yelled out names of moves to set example and our standard "more chi" from the top of my lung - all I heard back was cricket.

What happened?

I remember when I first started the back was as loud as the front - even more sometimes. It was fun to be in the back. And I trained hard.

Did we not set good example as older students? Did we not make the class fun for newer students?

Should I even worry about this?

Spin Cycle

On Sunday, Heng Xu taught our small class of 21. The line for basics was quickly whittled down due to the large number of newer folks, including this family who started a few weeks ago -- a dad, and his daughter and son. I spoke to the daughter, Alyssa (sp?), briefly in the changing room. She's 15 and her brother is 13, and they're from Staten Island. Her dad works across the street and saw our Temple and thought it would be a good idea for all three of them to try it out. Awesome!

So last Thursday, I decided to try doing the sweep kick on my own without instruction. My historically bad right knee has been a little tight since then, almost like a bunch of rubber bands were wrapped around it, so during a few of the basics, I had to lay off some of the jumps. And I avoided zuopan as well. During forms practice, I continued to skip zuopan when in chujiquantao so as not to aggravate the tightness. When it came time to do erluquan, I debated with myself -- do I practice my improvised version of the sweep kick thus potentially annoying my knee more, or avoid it as well?

I decided to go for it. I reasoned that some of the discomfort I was experiencing was due to building new muscles, and that based on most people's experience, I am bound to feel funny at first anyway. And how else am I gonna do it if I don't try? So I groaned my way a few times through what I've learned of erluquan, and was encouraged by others cheering me on. And being at the same spot in erluquan as my fellow dork, Hannah, was helpful, for the synchronized chi can bolster one's spirit.

Perhaps the best thing about stumbling and wobbling our way through the sweep? It caught the eye of Xu, who gave Hannah and me a mini-sweep clinic in the last 5 minutes before we did pushups. Seeing her sweep is amazing, as she demonstrated her agility by showing that you don't even have to plant your hand(s) down if you throw your hip hard enough. And apparently, I've been incorrectly sticking my butt out.

While my legs were too spent to really give her tips a go at that point, I am eager to try them next time, when my legs are hopefully fresh.

"Don't wake me I plan on sleeping in."

So sleepy on Sunday. It's not the first night out late that gets you; it's the second. The thing is, even when I go to bed at 3 or 4am, I still wake up at 7:30 out of habit from work. So by Sunday morning I was not at all well-rested. That, combined with this stupid pseudo-cold that I can't shake, meant that I spent most of basics seriously contemplating how I could get down the carpet with my eyes shut. Very bad chi.... By the end of class my legs were frozen. I was trying to work on the sweep but I could barely get myself into gongbu to begin it. I'm glad I went to class if only to teach myself about responsibility and the repercussions of not getting enough sleep. I am not so talented as Heng Ji whose forms seem to get better the less sleep she gets. I think she had a total of 5 hours of sleep from Friday to Sunday. What a champ. Unfortunately, instead of my sweep being better from my tiredness, I ended up catching myself on the last one with only my thumb, bending it all the way back to my hand. Swore like a sailor right in front of Heng Xu. My thumb is a little swollen and throbbing unpleasantly today. I am going to bed at 8 o clock tonight........

Sweep you off your feet!

Ok, so I won't actually... and I know this is the third post in two days about sweeping, but I officially learned the sweep yesterday. Huzzah! So sad Qbertplaya wasn't there to take part! Almost didn't come to class myself, as I was out till 3 with some other kf dorks to see an art show of a couple of former temple students. Good times, but I didn't anticipate waking up in the morning until about noon. Luckily I was up in plenty of time and got to go to a great class and learn something new. Has "learning" the sweep brought me to new levels of understanding of the move? Wellllll...... ok it's still murder trying to kick around, but I understand the mechanics better now. And at the end I did get around pretty well a couple times. Off to class again in hopes of learing even more!

Hottt!!!

Thanks to Easter for forwarding this hottt image. Mmmmm....Walker, Texas Ranger...Yee Haw!!!!

Swept Away!

Last night, since Shifu was away, I felt a little more at ease and adventurous with my kung fu-ing. The weather was not as grody as it was for Tuesday's class. Plus, it was energizing seeing a fuller class -- it reminded me of the old Temple feeling with so many on the carpet.

I did pubu chuanzhang lunbi zaquan from the other side without fear of being kicked to kung fu kindergarten. I wall stretched with Shi (Charlotte) and Shi (Jose) both of whom I hadn't seen in a while, and did a little bit of the straddle on my own. The night's best challenge came, however, when it was time for forms practice.

Hannah and I have been neck and neck for a while in terms of our progress through erluquan. For weeks we have been anticipating the sweep, so last night we egged each other on in attempting it. Well, I tried it, and the first time seemed okay (but who knows if it looked okay), but then a few times after that, I dragged my right foot funny and now it don't feel so good. So after class, all of the KF Dorks -- Me, Hannah, Mo, Sucheela and Quantou -- got together on the carpet after cleaning mediation and did a few spins. I landed on my ass, but boy, was it fun!

Totally dorkilicious!

How sweet the sweep!

Last night could not have been more different than Tuesday. Huge class (47!!!) cool air, and Xu taught, which was a nice throwback to when I first started and she taught my day classes. Long lines meant I wasn't so out of breath and I could go slower and focus on technique a little more. I did wall stretch for the first time in awhile and man is it hard to go back! Have to remember to keep mixing it up. Then during forms, Qbertplaya and I decided the time had come, the chi was high, we bit the bullet and added the sweep to our Erluquans.

We haven't been taught it officially, but we've been watching people and listening to Sifu's corrections and felt like it was time to swallow our pride and start getting a feel for it, no matter how awkward we might look. I think we both felt pretty silly, but it was a successful breakthrough nonetheless. Thanks everyone for cheering us on. Embrace the wobbliness! After class she, Sucheela, Quantou, Mo and I practiced sweeping, but I'm not sure I really progressed. I think "learning" the sweep is going to come down to endless repetition. Like so many moves, I understand it in my head, I just need to communicate it to my body. But I hope that I working on it now will help us move on to the next step faster. I will finish erluquan!!! I really wanted to get to five kicks before my mom visits is August. Probably won't happen, but at least I will be able to sweep for her!

'The Wall'

Last night was definitely the hottest day of the year. I don't know about you but my head felt like it was going to explode. One quick word from shifu "Don't wash your head down, only wash your neck and face. Your head is where you lose the heat." Yes shifu... but I feel so woozy and it wants to explode and the water feels sooooooo good!

I left class a little down-trodden. I was nearly pushed to my limit (due to 6 of us doing forms for an hour) but knew that I hadn't reached the proverbial ‘wall’. How close do you think you came to hitting 'the wall' yesterday?

At the end of class I got some special shifu love... "Train Harder". I knew it too… I hadn't taken full advantage of the day. Of course he was right.

Great job to everyone who trained yesterday!

A Love-Hate Relationship with Water

Yesterday was a scorcher. When I went to get lunch in the afternoon and felt the heat, I knew that training would be a doozy. I have to admit, the scaredy cat part of me briefly considered skipping because I knew training would be miserable in this humidity, but then the other part of me said, 'playa, you've missed too many classes recently due to work and whatnot, and tonight you have the time to train, and you're gonna voluntarily skip?! Stop this crazy talk! So I chomped down and went.

I entered Temple, and only a few of the lights were turned on, but it already felt oppressive. Grrreat. The changing room was sweltering and I could not get outta there soon enough. For the first time, I wore my uniform top with the right sleeve tucked in. I didn't give a crap if people could see my flabby arm. As I warmed up a little by the sink, Gombulla was slicing up a beautiful mango and he offered me a piece, but I declined, figuring I'd puke it right up. Instead, I swallowed a few quick gulps of water from the tap, thinking it'd do me some good to have water in my system. Boy, did that prove wrong!

Basics started, and I was kinda near the front to start. After a while, I started feeling this sharp stabbing pain in my right side. My stomach did not like the water I drank just before class. It was cramping me up! I stood to the side and tried to massage the water through my system. I didn't want to set a bad example for the newer folks, so I pushed myself to get back in line, only to drop out again. My body was feeling exhausted from the heat, yet also combatting this stabbing pain. Oy!

I dunno how, but eventually, the stretching break came. The stabbing pain had subsided but I still felt woozy, so I downed so much water. I figured that since we were done with most of basics (especially the jumps and ceshoufan), I wouldn't have to worry about the water sloshing around in my belly and cramping me up again.

I noticed a curious thing -- the tip of my nose felt a little tingly, kinda numb, like it sometimes does after I've drunk a lot of alcohol and am hungover. I guess because my mind was blasted, I didn't put two and two together until later in the evening, when I realized it must have been because of dehydration that I was experiencing this symptom. When you're hungover, you're also dehydrated. Duh!!!

After class was over, I took my uniform off in the changing room and marvelled at how heavy my stuff felt in my plastic bag. Heavy with sweat! I was proud to have gone through with training, but also relieved.

Kung Fu Dork Profile #5

It's my Shaolin Anniversary today! (Ok, so it's kind of a stretch, and time is an illusion etc., but I like anything that even remotely resembles a holiday.) And what better way to celebrate than by training tonight? While I sit and anticipate that, I thought it would be a good day to publish my dork profile.

Name: Hannah R.
Temple Name: Don't have one yet, but need one if only so I know whether Shifu is talking to me or Hannah T. (ed. note. -- as of September 2007, Hannah R. is now Heng Cheng!)
Occupation: Posing as a competent Assistant to the Executive VP at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. I mostly occupy myself there by drawing cartoons, looking up recipes and doing kung fu in empty rooms.
Borough: Brooklyn - Fort Greene to be precise.
Chinese Sign: Rat - Rats are characterized as being charismatic, pioneering, cunning, etc... Ok, so they also live in sewers. But hey, Splinter was a rat, and he still was able to learn ninjitsu and teach it to turtles.

When was the last time you trained? About ten minutes ago. I do mabus in the elevator. At temple: I last trained Sunday.

How is your commute to the temple? 15 minute ride on the Q train from work.

How did you learn about the temple? And what made you start training? Oddly enough, I found out about the temple randomly when I still lived in GA. About a month after I moved to NY I remembered, "Oh yeah, that place looked pretty cool." So I visited, thought it was really cool, and started training. The people and the chi kept me coming.

When did you start training? July 10, 2006 One year anniversary!

What is your favourite basic move? I changed this answer several times, but I gotta go with waibaitui. The explosion (both the noise and physically), the extension, getting to do it right after stretching, you can't beat it for chi.

What injuries have you had from training? Nothing too serious. I currently have nice bruise from where I fell on Saturday. Does hurt pride count? I hurt that a lot.

What's the most important lesson you learn from training? Patience; any way you want to interpret it.

Soup or no soup? Soup, but number 14 with the vegetarian broth. I'm vegetarian; like Shifu.
Shower or no shower? If I have somewhere to be before I go home. I try to be considerate of other people's noses.
Gatorade or water? Water. The sweet drinks just makes me thirstier, and I drink too much water already.
How many uniforms? 2 NTNL uniforms, and one blue cotton one. Oh and an extra pair of blue pants from my original uniform to which I lost the top. Oops.
Straddle or wall stretch? Both. Straddle lately because just for fun I decided to aim for a middle split by September. Psychological test. Conquer the fear of the straddle!

Looking forward to many more awesome years!