Kung Fu Dork Profile #9

(Editor's note: Please welcome Lukas as a new contributor to our blog! Also, if you are interested in being featured in a Kung Fu Dork Profile, please contact one of us! You'll notice we've tweaked the questions a little.)

Name: Lukas

Temple Name: Mr. George Lucas (I think. Sometimes Shifu yells that when I have a lot of chi but maybe it's a coincidence.) ... but I don't like it.
Occupation: Camera Operator

Borough: Manhattan

Chinese Sign: Ram/Sheep

When was the last time you trained? 12/5 Friday night L2! I'm not so good at waking up "early" these days.

How is your commute to the temple? 8 miles by bike! Which on a good day is about 30 minutes, but it's usually about the same on the subway.

How did you learn about the temple? I saw a special on Shifu when he first came here around 1994. I remember I was watching Wimbledon at my Grandparents' house when it came on. I was entranced. I couldn't believe someone like him was here teaching Shaolin's secrets! I didn't know how or when but I knew someday I would HAVE to train with him!

When did you start training? June/July 2007.

What is your favorite move? This is a perfectly dorky question! Zuopan is pretty dope ... I don't know it's hard to pinpoint a favorite. There are plenty that I struggle with that force me to focus and become obsessed till I figure out the basic mechanics of them. Aerials are definitely one of them. Pubu drills are my nemesis!

What is your most feared L2 basic move? I don't fear any move but I think it will be a tie between Xuanzi and LiYu DaTing for most difficult for me. My back is not very flexible yet and in order for me to do these the way I want to it's going to require a lot of diligence and maybe a few hours on the rack!

What injuries have you had from training? Ha! There is quite a laundry list for me. Over the years I've torn my meniscus in my left knee and had surgery to remove about half of it. I've probably torn the right one too but I just deal with it, plus they say physiotherapy is usually all you need anyway. Too many doctors run to the knife and unknowing patients comply because they trust their doctors. . . . you might guess that I wasn't happy with my knife toting quack--I mean doctor. Prior to I sprained both knees. I partially torn a ligament connecting my collar bone to my shoulder trying to roll out of a join lock. Recently, as most of you know from my whining, I've developed shin splints. With the help of a lot of sound advice from my brothers and sisters I'm recovering pretty quickly - thanks!

What's the most important lesson you learn from training? How to make my weaknesses my strengths in all aspects of my life.

How many uniforms? 3 total - 2 blue, 1 orange.

How often do you buy new feiyues? Are they white or black? Depends on what move I'm working on. Saotui or FanYao; one pair/month. Black is verbotten!

Straddle or wall stretch? I like both.
Favorite place in New York to train outside of class? Wherever my friends are. When I want to be alone for meditation or Tai Chi I like to go to the hill that overlooks the Harlem Meer.
Best place to eat after class? Nice Green Bow is really growing on me! I like anywhere we can do family style! It makes us all feel like family.
Movie you wish they'd show at movie night? Jet Li's "Fist of Legend" -- I love that movie! I also think we could see more films like PING PONG or TOP GUN -- movies where people realize their potential even if it's not Kung Fu related. Though if we did do a Shaw Brothers marathon I'd love it!
What's your dorkiest kung fu quality? My affinity for talking about Kung Fu, training and martial arts in general.

Sore No More?

I’m not that sore.

(Knock on wood.)

(Actually, let’s knock on wood a second time just in case.)

It’s so weird, but 4 days of training in a row, after a week off, and I’m not feeling as stiff or pained or injured or throbbing as I have come to expect in my training experience. I felt a little bit drained physically last night, but I still felt I had a lot of chi. My back hurts a little, but that is probably more from my soft mattress than the kung fu. Why do I not feel, well, frankly, worse?

(Knock on wood a third time for good measure. Also maybe throw salt over your shoulder or whatever other good superstitions you have at your disposal.)

Talking to Sucheela last night I wondered, “Am I not pushing myself hard enough?” I mean, one can always push harder and train farther, but I don’t feel that I’m taking it easy on myself these days. Admittedly, sometimes I don’t get in as many kicks as I should going down the carpet. But that’s because I have been focusing on putting maximum chi into each one. And while those things should be united, not exclusive, I certainly can’t pin that as the source of my non-soreness.

Why am I worrying? Not being sore is a GOOD thing. Why question when good things come to you? Maybe I’m too cynical and I am expecting a dreadful backlash. Maybe I don’t have enough confidence in my ability to increase strength and stamina. It’s sick, I was almost excited last night when I thought I felt some shin splints starting (they weren’t). I guess, the real answer is twofold: 1) my body is ready to push through to training at the next level, and 2) I am not used to exceeding my own expectations. I guess that means I should set them higher and then I won’t be so disconcerted when I am able to sleep like a log without waking up doing caijiaos. That's what we call "normal."

The Heat is On - Winter Style

Winter is my favorite time of year to train. It’s dark and cold out so you aren’t tempted to skip class to go lounge in the park or do some other activity. At 5:00 it looks like nighttime so, for me anyway, training feels like a small detour on the way to bed. But the real joy is that it isn’t hot. Yes, I have made the breakthrough discovery that wintertime is colder than the rest of the year. And even though the giant heaters are often blowing unpleasantly during class, it's still preferable to sweltering 100 degree temperatures outside. Winter means no labored breathing in the nearly solid wall of humidity. Only one uniform required per class. No “Shaolin Showers.” And there is less desperate over-hydrating during the stretching break.

Imagine my astonishment then, when last night, about 30 minutes into class, I went to femininely blot some of the perspiration from my brow (ok, swipe the pouring sweat from my face like the Neanderthal man) only to find there wasn’t a dry spot left on my uniform to absorb it! It wasn’t mid-August, drenched-like-a-rainstorm-soaked, but it was significantly more sweaty than I am accustomed to as of late.

At the water break I unabashedly, and gloriously guzzled my entire bottle of water, without any nauseating consequences for the second half of class. What was going on here? Was it actually Summer and I just blacked out for 7 months? No. It was simply the extra-chi class fueled by the always-exciting N’ou-taught class and the presence of the long-absent Hwalan.

Also, at the beginning when N’ou had me demonstrate caijiao. It took me back to my first L2 class when he had me demonstrate lunbi caijiao and my brain completely froze. It’s nice to know that if nothing else, your basics are developing and strong, and it’s an especially good mindset to have while training.

Another source of inspiration was that even though I was extra sweaty, nothing hurt. I’m sore from training after the lazy-food-fest of last week, but no injuries, no unbearable hip pain or shin splints. No phlegmy flu hampering my lungs; no bad lunch wreaking havoc in my stomach. I was training unhindered and was able to execute my movements, (I felt) with much more chi and much less angst than usual. So even though it wasn’t my typical Winter training session, it is a class like last night’s that makes me excited to roll in again tonight and continue the fun, sweat and all.

Stretching with Shifu

(Amituofo! A guest entry from our class leader tonight, Shi Heng De.)

So tonight when I was about to call everyone back into lines after stretching, a bunch of people were doing cetitui stretch after Shifu had been doing it with Randy and Khalid. So I thought, "Hey, that looks good, let's all do it."

Luckily for me I was the odd one out, so I asked Shifu to stretch me. So I paid attention to his technique. I got as sideways as I could, straightened my leg, and just relaxed. It would be great if everyone knew how to stretch people like he does! So he raised my leg up to where there was pretty good resistance (not from me -- I was relaxed, but from my leg), but I wasn't dying. I was still able to flex my foot even more. That's not to say I wasn't getting a good stretch though. Believe me, I felt it!

Maybe I should not train for 5 days in a row more often: I hit the middle split tonight and was able to extend my back up off the floor too. I know I'm gonna feel it tomorrow though!

But, anyway, he held that for just a few seconds, then brought my leg down and told me to relax more. Then he shook the leg around a bit to help it relax. He said, "Now can go more." And when he brought it up a second time, it did go up more.

After the second round, he told me to relax again, and then, using his chest against my foot, pushed my knee to my shoulder, still on the sideways axis. This was to counterstretch, and we do the same thing when we do zhengtitui stretch, or the butterfly stretch after middle splits.

When he did my other side, the knee-to-shoulder stretch really pushed it for me (my left hip can't open up much) and my right (standing) leg started to bend without me even realizing it. Shifu noticed and gave a light kick to my shin to remind me.

Oh yea and I didn't even tell him when to stop or anything; he just stopped because he could feel it himself. After you stretch with other people a lot you start to be able to feel their bodies just from holding them and looking at them I think. So stretch together more! :)

So to me it was the same as how we do multiple rounds for straddle stretch or anything, or how I get in my stretching machine around 6 then go out a bit, then a few minutes later come back again and go more. First round relaxes and opens you up a bit, but subsequent rounds are where you really go further. And each time, Shifu didn't hold it for that long. Maybe it was because we were in the middle of class and it was a time thing, or maybe that's just a good way to do it.

Try different things and see what works for you! Be honest with yourself and push yourself! Train harder!

Leftovers

I've been away from training for a week; my sister was in town and though I did intend to bring her to a class, what with Thanksgiving and sightseeing we didn't make it to the Temple. Consequently I was really excited to come back tonight. There was a lot of HEAVY eating over the last six days, (when people come into town I like to take them out eating + Thanksgiving = lots of eating and more food still in the fridge) and I felt like there was sludge running through my veins, sludge comprised mostly of butter and heavy cream. It was definitely time to train.

Class was great. Randy and Khalid led the lines setting off each move with synchronized super-power. At stretching Sifu joined in and showed us the real meaning of flexibility. During forms we broke into groups for each form and spent the rest of class urging one another on. It was great to clear out all the blocked energy that had been building up and fermenting. And as I stretch out some shenanigans that cropped up in my knee, and avoid eating all the leftovers in my fridge, I feel very post-Thanksgiving thankful for being able to train and for having such a great group of people around me.

I hope to keep the ball rolling as I move towards Christmas and another 10 day vacation so that when I come back I can feel the same level of chi that I felt tonight. Those are the kind of leftovers I really need.

Whaaaaaa..!!!??!!

It was two minutes to seven and none of the regular teachers was at the temple. I was playing with the idea that maybe Shifu would teach us tonight or maybe Richu would teach and I would get to learn Tongbaiquan.

And then the clock pointed at 7. Shifu turned around and said "Sucheela - start the class."

And I went Whaaaaaa....!!!??!! Meeee...????

And then it's all a blur. I remember hearing Shifu saying random things. I also remember having the class did all the moves that I could think of and the clock only said 7:30pm. Good thing people like Richu and Cheng remembered all the basics and "whispered" them to me.

Anyway, the hour passed. We stretched, did a few more rounds of basics and then forms. I taught Ellen, Mike J, Lukas and Zang Tixi Pubu Loushou Gongbu Chongquan (which I thought I did best of all the level 2 basics), Zhiquan and Baiquan. On the other side of the columns, Shifu taught Cheng, Le, EZ, and Eric Tongbaiquan.

I am embarrassed to admit that I felt a pang of jealousy. I wanted to learn a new form too!!!

Then I realized I was learning something as well. Shifu didn't teach me the form but he taught me something else. He taught me about leading, about trusting and believing in myself. He showed me how wonderful training is from the other side of the line and how all of us can make training fun/challenging/exciting.

Huuggggeee thanks to everybody in the class tonight for being so supportive and chi-tastic!!

Kung Fu Ping Pong?!

Another Family Affair

Feeling a little sad at the end of my brother's visit, I went to the temple on Tuesday night for a shot of action meditation. The class was extremely small and fast with Joshua and Chris E. leading the line (welcome back Joshua!). The Chi was high but everybody was tired. However Shifu was in a good crazy chi mood the entire class. He came up with funniest bits while we did the basics. He showed off his super stretch during the break, encouraged and corrected us while we had one-on-one teaching sessions. And most importantly, he mumbled "hmmm alotta chi" at the end of my Dahongquan!

It was as if he was compensating for my blahh. I know it's just me trying to reach out but like other people said - things are what you want it to be. I wanted the temple to be there for me that day and it did. By the end of the class, I was sweaty, smelly, and exhausted - but I was happy to be there.

A Family Affair

Yesterday's class was quite a lot of fun. Sucheela's brother was there, as was Zu's sister, and Zhou and Lukas both had friends trying class. I also discovered that one of the new girls I taught later in class was Zhi's sister. It was a big class with lots of chi and I enjoyed it immensely: except the whole coughing up a lung thing.

I'm no longer infected with any disease (hooray!) but the winter air is still congesting my lungs, and when I start breathing heavily the coughing and hacking being. I apologize to everyone I disgusted yesterday. It's completely involuntary. My body is trying to de-phlegm itself and I'm simply along for the ride.

In spite of this, I really did have a good time. I felt flexible (from having three days off) and energized (again, three days off) and really enjoyed the enthusiasm the group carried through the whole class even when Sifu gave us no walks.

I'm really happy to get back to the no walking breaks. I feel like I get mentally weak when I have these expected rests. I want to push myself without stopping. God knows sometimes the thought of that walk is the extra boost that helps me get through the fifth round of jumps, but really, you don't need it. Especially in a class that large. And with the weather taking a sudden dip back to regular November temperatures, too much stopping and there's going to be some cold muscles and accidentally injury. I only hope that when my sister comes for Thanksgiving we can pull together a class with equally awesome chi; it will be my second sister I drag to training, I hope she is as enthusiastic as my last.

Strawberries & Cream

I've been to a few Level 2 sessions now, and want to post my few early observations. It obviously is a new game with new moves to learn and the bright orange uniforms, but there are so many intangibles as well.

- The overall level of chi is elevated. Maybe it's partly due to the orange that makes the room sunnier, but it seems like all the players involved are more energized. The Level 2ers are generally people who've been training for a while and have manifested a long-term commitment to kung fu by virtue of them being there, so the chi is not necessarily greater, but of a different quality. There is a greater sense of group dynamic whereas in Level 1, a lot of newer people are still figuring out their individual energies and abilities to commit. During my short while in Level 2, I've heard a lot more laughing and seen many smiles. People are more relaxed, yet more intense at the same time, if it makes any sense. I really like this feeling of being the newbie again, and hearing every one else who knows me giving me encouragement so that I don't pass out.

- Speaking of passing out, I am finding myself struggling while doing basics in Level 2. Conditioning my body will be even more important, and I'm hoping that my attending Level 2 a few times a week will push it in ways I have yet to see. After being in Level 1 for so long, I kinda fell into a groove in terms of pushing myself due to the overfamiliarity with how class was run. Now that it's new all over again, I have to learn a different way of pacing. For example, basics generally run close to an hour in Level 2, and that also means no walking time! Awesome!

- In the three Level 2 sessions I've attended, I've had three different great teachers -- Han, De and N'ou. Back when I first started training (at the old Temple) we would occasionally have different senior students leading Level 1 class (Jie, Gu, N'ou, Zhou, Tiao, etc.), but in recent times, at the current location, Shifu and Xu teach most of the Level 1 classes. So it is wonderful to have this rotating cast of teachers. They each infuse a different style and energy which really keeps you on your toes, so to speak. This probably means very little predictability, so you really have to be AWAKE!

- And because these senior students are leading class, this gives Shifu the opportunity to really watch what we are doing. I've often felt his gaze, but am even more aware of it now. As I've been stumbling around at the back of the line, I'm partly worried that he's watching me and thinking, Did I make a mistake in promoting her to Level 2? but I gotta just ignore that thought and run with it all. And not collapse.

- I also love that with Level 2 comes a new sense of adventure. For example, I am now committed to the idea of trying straddle and side splits which I had never really done prior. Yeow! Also, before and after class, I watched my friends pull out the mats and trampoline and do all kinds of jumps and flips with varying degrees of success. In particular, after class I found it inspiring to see Leo, Richu and Han working on butterfly twists. It was great to see them keep trying over and over, despite tumbles and face plants and talk of strawberry bruises. People are learning to fly higher and want to help each other soar.

- Speaking of strawberry bruises, this morning I woke up and looked down at my ankle and saw I grew one of my own, probably from all the lunbi caijiaos N'ou had the newbies do on the side for a while. Love it!!! Evidence that I'm growing again!

- Oh, and can I say, handstand pushups?!!?!?

I know Level 2 is a whole different challenge. I am excited and honored to finally be part of the process, and I can't wait to express my chi at a whole new level!