FIRE!!!

I've been thinking a lot about how every time I tell Shifu about an injury he just says "no problem. train harder." I know that we are supposed to work through the pain, accept it and use it to make us stronger but most times it still distracts me.

I'm still dealing with my shin splints. They're getting better by the day but there are definitely days where I don't warm up enough and they really hurt. It's the kind of pain that seeps into my subconscious and affects my confidence. The other day I got sick of the pain holding me back. I was so frustrated I felt on fire! It was my turn to do Xuan Feng Jiao. I took a deep breath took my strides and launched! I have no idea how well I did the kick but I felt on FIRE!! I could feel my Dan Tian pulsating! I had energy in every part of my body! I was relaxed but had an incredible desire to move! My turn came again and again and again. I didn't want to stop. Then we stopped jumping and moved onto the next move. At that moment I realized that my shins didn't hurt anymore. Shifu was right!! I trust Shifu's advice implicitly but I don't usually understand it until much later. In the immortal words in Rick Moranis in Spaceballs "when will then be now!?", I wish I got his lessons a bit faster. Now when Shifu yells "FIRE" at us I'll let loose the nitros and CaiJiao until I puke!

Everybody Hurts

Pushing the Limits

Pushing the Limit is a NY Times series of articles and multimedia profiling athletes who confront an opponent that must be mastered, not beaten.

I found this week's article really encouraging. It is about a runner that has gotten better with age, not worse. Matt Carpenter's training philosophy is similar to ours. "Go out hard; when it hurts, speed up."

Link to Article

All My Remedies

I can't imagine the days that I am free of knee pain. I have been living with it for so long. The pain level fluctuated over the years depending on how much I trained. I tried all kinds of magic potions and nothing seemed to work. This is like a curse. It's like "great flexibility comes with great pain."

My first knee pain was accompanied by a lower back pain in the middle of learning Erluquan. I went to a chiropractor. He said I was fucked. My built-for-child-bearing hips weren't straight and therefore screwed up my knees, spines and neck. I kept going to have my spines adjusted and popped for about 3 months with neither lower back or knee pains going away. So I stopped.

Then I went to an Orthopedist. He felt up my knees for about 2 seconds and pronounced my knees Chodromalacia and gave me a prescription for physical therapy for 3 months. So I went to a physical therapy for 3 months during which I hardly trained at all. The therapist ordered me not to do anything i.e. no walking on the beach, no wearing flipflops, no high-heel shoes, no swimming, no biking, no long walk, no running, and no kungfu. I listened to him 75% of the time. I exercised my knees and iced them half religiously.

After the 3 doing-nothing months, I went back to my orthopedist. The pain still didn't go away. He sent me to an MRI. The result showed that everything was fine except that I had huge inflammation under both kneecaps. So he injected Steroid into my knees. The pain went away completely for 3 days and came back when I went back to training.

I stopped going to that doctor.

Not all was lost however, I found out that my problem was the inflammation under the kneecaps. I just have to get rid of it. Patricia (Heng Zheng) told me about Arnica Gel - a homeopathic that helps reduce inflammation. I started using it religiously. It's great for bruises and other kinds of swell but not my knees. I also started using knee braces while training. They reduced impact on my knees a bit during jumping but they are very cumbersome for moves like Xiebu or Zhengtantui.

By this point, my knees are so swollen that I could not bend my knees totally. I grew up sitting with my legs folded and squatting. I could not do either of that anymore because it would hurt too much. I was losing my Asian squat...

I started taking Glucosamine with Chondroitin and MSM -- without any pain reducing result. I also got into a habit of taking Ibuprofen before training so that I could do certain knee-crunching moves with out too much pain.

Recently, Natalie told me about FlexNow - a supplement made from Shea Butter - that she took and had successful anti-inflammation result. So I started taking that too.

Shifu suggested that I stop using knee braces, stop jumping and do more stretching and kicking. So I did just that. In the past two weeks I only trained Level 1 classes and got out of the lines when other people jumped.

Currently, with all these supplements in my body and no jumping, I think my pain level went down a notch. The pain is still there especially when I walk down the stairs. I still can't totally fold my knees but my Xiebu becomes a little more comfortable. So I guess I'm heading toward the right path.

During my last 2 years combating this knee problem, the only time that I was totally pain free was toward the end of my India trip. I did not train at all for about 5 weeks. I had no problem running up and down steps. I hope it doesn't come to choosing between training and my knees. Hopefully, I will find a middle ground where the knees can make peace with Kungfu.

Pain is weakness leaving the body!

On Wednesday, I engaged in kip-up madness. Because of a tweaked right shoulder, I've been avoiding using my arms to assist in propelling me forward. I think I made some significant progress, thanks to Jian's pointer that I use more of my head to push myself up. Scratch that, I know I made some progress because man, have I felt it in my abs, neck and back muscles lately. I almost didn't train tonight's L2 because of my stiffness, but happily, Mo urged me on. Glad I did cos it loosened me up, I think, but then again, I'm sure I'll feel some other pain tomorrow, like maybe in my hips due to learning biantui. :)

Here's a video I found on YouTube showing how to do a kip-up using no hands. I plan on watching this a million times. And then practicing it a million more.

Pain in the Back

I’m the first to admit, I’m of a melodramatic nature. The refrain of my childhood was my mother saying, “Stop being so dramatic.” So when I reach some physical or mental barrier in kung fu I really do try to reign in the grimaces and groans and involuntary gesticulations of frustration, pain and exhaustion. Everyone is tired. Everyone has pain. Everyone makes mistakes.

This is what my intellect is telling me. But my emotional reactions are, as I said, involuntary, and so controlling them can be difficult. Half of the time I don’t even realize that I am doing X melodramatic thing. Still, I don’t want to look like I am trying to prove something or enlist sympathy through my expostulating, so I am trying to learn to identify and control it. I don’t want to be making excuses even if they are subconscious scowls of pain.

That being said, where’s the line from mind over matter, and when is it ok to say, “I’m hurt.”? Saturday and then last night, Xu and the Sifu both asked me if I was all right. Going to show that however much I might try, my lower back pain has reached the un-hide-able point. I don’t want to be macho and deny that I am in pain. But I don’t want to be a pansy about making excuses. My penchant for melodrama can easily lead into whining and self-indulgence. My back hurts. But it isn’t so severe I shouldn’t be able to train. And if I make the choice to train then I should train. I shouldn’t be half-assing it.

There’s always going to be something bothering me; that’s part of the cycle of building muscles and flexibility. If I’m soreness and pain free I probably haven’t been training very hard. If I am unable to push through my aches without drawing attention to myself, then I need to acknowledge the weakness in my mind or body.

Sometimes I expect too much of myself. But I can’t stand knowing that I could have trained harder but I was being lazy or scared or weak-willed. Or melodramatic. Last night, the pain was not hindering me so much as a mental incapability of pushing through. I got really frustrated and trained worse than my two week back saga warranted. And that got me more frustrated and I was really struggling just to focus on the task at hand. And when a clock is mental and not physical, that makes me feel even more frustrated because the only thing tripping me up is me. Notice the recurrence of “frustration.” It took all my energy to control the melodramatic outburst that was violently bubbling under the surface. I don’t WANT to be irrational. And I recognize when I’m doing it and still can’t seem to flatten my heart.

Tonight I am skipping training to go get acupuncture which I am hoping will benefit both my physical pain and my mental build up. Because more than pain, I am tired of psychoanalyzing myself; I just want to train.

Semi-pro?

Ok, so I know that I'm not training to be a shaolin master, or compete in Ninja Warrior or the UFC and wushu isn't even an Olympic sport, so I shouldn't feel compelled to train 7 - or even 4 - days a week. I'm not looking to make a career or compete in kung fu. This means I have the rest of my life to train and don't need to be in a hurry to master something if I would rather take the night off and do... whatever normal people do on a night off.

But what if I want to train that much? Today, there was nothing doing at work and I thought I would slip out for another double, just for fun. But in debating it with myself I came to the fairly rational conclusion that I was already sore and I had already trained S/M/T, and I didn't want to be beat for L2, or worse, injure myself over-training right before the retreat.

Talking with Richu, he once told me if you're crazy enough you can train through pain. My pain tolerance is low I guess. When something hurts I can't be a stoic and I'm paranoid about injury having thus far avoided anything serious. That makes it hard for me to determine when I actually DO need a break. Around day 4 when the muscles are throbbing and joints are aching I think I need to give them a night off to rebuild and recover, even if what I want to do is go to class. Logic and the study of human physiology say this is reasonable and wise. My embittered and stubborn ego says it is weak and complaining and I should suck it up and train harder if I want to get stronger. Everyone else trains through tiredness and soreness and I am just being a martyr... Where's the line for fanaticism?

But seriously, I am struggling with finding the balance that works for my mind, my body and my ambitions. I WANT to be able to train more without feeling like a lead weight, but the class after a night or two off feels so much better than the fourth night in a row. But if I take nights off how will I ever get stronger and be able to train those day classes on a whim without worrying about a potential over-training injury? I can't afford a full time masseuse and chiropractor like a professional athlete. and I don't want to be a professional athlete. But I don't want to be an amateur either just dabbling around. I know that if I want to excel I have to do more concerted training outside of class, but I don't want to be an all consumed workout-aholic. I do have other interests... Stop laughing. I DO. They're just not as interesting... Oh well, as we say, train harder. Just do it. More chi. And so on.

A bounce in my step, a spring in my heart!

In the changing room on Friday, while my gaze was fixed on the ground (changing room etiquette), I noticed that Richu has inserts in his feiyues. I asked what they were and Eric answered for Richu that they were for support. Then he said, "You gotta have 'em when you're a high-flier. Leo, you're a high-flier too, you gotta get them. Your knees and back need support."


After thinking about it quickly, it makes perfect sense. Maybe that's how I hurt my lower back during testing. So Saturday, I went out and got the Dr. Sholl's Tri-Comfort Orthopedic insert.

On Sunday, I got a chance to try them out for the first time. I have to say, Temple training is a whole new experience. I don't know why I didn't get them a year ago! They felt really good! They made my every step have a bounciness instead of the ground jarring sensation each time after a kick, move, or jump. The Feiyues don't offer much in the arch support area. Actually, they barely offer any support. They are flat and unforgiving. The best running shoes have amazing support because the foot is constantly pounding the pavement/ground. Even though we are on carpet, our repeated kicks and foot hitting the ground will take its toll. It's one reason on the first step of my gongbu, I never seem to feel right. The heel hitting the ground too hard always sends a vibration up my spine that I don't particular like. Today, that first step felt kinda nice! I was genuinely surprised!

There is a drawback though. It threw off my balance quite a bit, especially in forms. I wasn't used to having an extra layer in my shoes. And the bouncy support also changed how my stances were executed. But, by the end of class, my balance adjusted and I feel that with a little more getting used to, my forms will be even better than before.

There are different type of sole inserts. Some are for arch support; Some for knee support; Some for lower back pain. Maybe I'll mix it up and see which one I like best. Or maybe I should get something like this? Do you think 師父 (Shifu) would approve? My 騰空翻腰 (Tengkong fanyao) would really soar!! :D

You've been sworded!

There was a lot of rumor, mystery, hearsay and legend built up around the infamous Shaolin butt-sword. Every time I got a minor pain or injury in my hamstring I would fear that the alleged-horror of the SBS had descended upon me at last. Luckily, those pains always worked their way back out again to where I began to think the whole thing was a myth. Or at the most an injury cast upon the less fortunate by the wrath of God. Or Buddha, if that's your style, but I don't know how wrathful he is...

Damn my hubris. About a week and a half ago during L2, I was doing my best to pop during biantui and something gave up in my leg. It was very nearly debilitating so I started doing the other side. Alas, by the end of class both legs were condemning me for doing this stupid thing called kung fu. There's no question this time. I've been sworded. On both sides. A double butt-sword!?! I feel like a medical miracle. Only in a bad way.

The left side is definitely worse than the right so I have taken the last week or so very easy, cutting my usual 4 or 5 training days to 2-1/2 (the 1/2 was movie night). And I have been careful not to get over-zealous with the left side kicking. The pain has been ebbing slowly, though there are moments in class when I hit a pubu or a zhengtitui funny when it re-asserts itself. But I'm hoping that with conscientious stretching it won't turn into this 2 year extravaganza experienced by some people. I guess I should count my blessings that it's taken this long to strike me. Still, the only swords I want involved in my kung fu are from learning weapon forms. Uh oh... I just thought, there isn't a Shaolin butt-nine-section-whip is there?

Gin and Raisins

For those of you that were at Cheng's place this past Sunday, you had a chance to try my new experiment -- gin-soaked golden raisins.

What is this delightful mixture you ask? Well, it is a very popular folk remedy for arthritis and joint pain. But my question is, will it be able to help our regular soreness and pains from Temple training? A lot of people eat tendon for the very purpose of preventing injury. But what if there is a simple vegetarian solution? What if this remedy is somehow able to loosen the joints and make it less susceptible to injury? In some of the articles, people think the raisin itself has many anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving chemicals. Or maybe it is all a placebo effect. Who knows? But one thing is for sure, they are delicious and a wonderful way to start the day! I would stick to the recommended amount (9 raisins) though. You don't want to walk in the office and be forced to take an alcohol breathalyser test!

Articles and recipes:
About.com
Healthcentral.com

Testing Recap

Level 1 Testing is over! The final verdict? Everyone did really well! My testing time was at 2:30pm but I went to watch/support the other erluquan (二路拳) people in the 11:45am group. Needless to say, I was there warming up, training, and testing for a little over 4 hours.

The 11:45am group was led by Rob and Ted, who were the only ones testing for erluquan. Everyone else was testing for yiluquan (一路拳). Rob was picked to lead the line. Thanks to his last minute cramming of all the names of the moves the night before, he led wonderfully well. Not once did he mess up, except for when Shifu asked him to do tuizhang (推掌). I know what tuizhang is, but I've never done it while going down the line or just as a standalone unless it was at the end of class. So I don't fault Rob for not knowing what it was, and Shifu didn't asking anyone else to do it the rest of the day.

Both Rob and Ted performed erluquan superbly. I hope they both passed in the eyes of Shifu and move on to Level 2.

The 2:30pm group was full. Everyone was excited and nervous. We were all testing for erluquan. There were 13 of us and Jaka led the line, as I knew he would. He is the most senior out of all of us in terms of the amount of time spent at the Temple. And, he has been asked to teach basic techniques and/or forms almost every Level 1 class. Heng Yu was second and I followed up as third. (Edit: Line Order-> Jaka, Heng Yu, Leo, Mark, Chris, Heng Shan, Heng Shi, Steve, Mike, Heng Zang, Elaine, Ellen, Heng Jin)

My nemesis tengkong fanyao (騰空翻腰) reared its head and I messed up horribly while going down the line. I even bumped into the person behind me as I was trying to get up into the air again. I hope I didn't mess him up too much. It just shows that I need to practice tengkong fanyao much much more.

During a break between basics and forms, I over-extended my back and hurt it somehow. Every step was painful and I didn't think I was going to be able to walk let alone do 3 forms for Shifu. But I resolved that I was already there and the worst that could happen would be that I make many many mistakes and don't pass. If I didn't test, I definitely wouldn't pass. I might as well take my best shot and accept whatever may come.

My erluquan was okay. It lacked any pop and I couldn't really extend or jump. I made it through. The only real glaring mistake was towards the end when you twist your body and jump into a pubu. When I landed, I felt a jolt of searing hot pain shoot up my spine. I lost my balance and almost fell backwards. I bit down hard and quickly recovered and finished the form wincing from unbearable agony. Shifu probably didn't notice because he just thought I was tired from doing the whole form. I actually don't remember doing the last few parts of the form. I was merely concentrating on not doubling over and saying, "Amituofo Shifu, I'm sorry. I can't finish."

I dragged myself back into line and those words kept repeating in my mind. I tried to take my mind off of the pain by watching everyone else test forms. I actually don't remember doing them at all. All I remember was the sensations of a sharp hammer violently assaulting my lower back (which it is still doing as I write this blog entry).

Everyone in our group was really strong with erluquan. I was ecstatically happy for our fellow KF Dork Qbertplaya for finishing erluquan in front of Shifu at testing. I know it has been a long hard-won journey for her. Heng Shi really impressed me for being able to do erluquan after only learning the rest of it this past week. Elaine's form was beautiful and graceful. Jaka's and Heng Jin's form were technically flawless. Heng Yu had massive chi as usual and pushed everyone on. Heng Shan couldn't finish the form the first time, but with heart and determination, he was able to do it all the way through when Shifu gave him a second chance.

All in all, it was a great experience to go through, with many highs and lows. Even if I don't pass, I've learned many valuable lessons to carry with me throughout my journey. The ability to overcome pain. Trusting in muscle memory. Not giving up. How much I love what we do. How much I love being a part of this Shaolin family.

I hope everyone passes and moves on to Level 2 where we will train even harder!! It's time to put our tax refunds to good use by buying new orange uniforms!!

Thank you Heng Cheng for coming to cheer us on with your chi and cupcakes! Both were tremendously appreciated!

Muscle Mechanics

I didn't post the last few times I trained because I was in a lot of pain (thank you, head-flip), and I didn't want to spend a lot of blogspace complaining about my feeble climbing up stairs. However, today I was feeling almost normal again and except for going into mabu during zuopan, (something I've never done before, yikes!) I didn't struggle too much with any moves.

What it did get me to thinking about was the subtleties of move mechanics. Firstly, the thing that hurt from the headflip was not my head or neck but my legs. (Ok and eventually my shoulders.... :P) I found it curious that headflips would result in persistent, unbearable soreness in my outer quads. Heng Mo says she got the same pain when she started kip ups, and has concluded it is a result of using the strength your thighs to pull you up out of the headflip/kip up when you don't get enough push from your arms. Whether or not we ought to be experiencing this pain at all (I'm thinking the mechanics require more from my arms than I currently and exerting) is still under debate...

What also struck me was that, with this "injury," I found many moves challenging that I would not have suspected I needed my quads for so much. I knew zuopans and gongbus were going to be killer, but so were cetituis and strangely, gouquan. I have been musing on how quickly our bodies get accustomed to a move to where we don't even recognize all the muscles we are engaging. In gouquan I focus on my hip and never think about the fact that my quads are also working for me. It's good to be reminded that you need muscles for each move beyond what is obvious. And just maybe, sometimes, we are using the wrong ones without knowing it.. :) Either way, I can't wait until they all are working together 100% so that I can land the headflip again.

It's All in the Hips

Before I left for the Christmas holidays I was doing battle with some pretty angry shenanigans in my hips/hip flexors. I've had trouble there before, but after a while it eventually passed. With the more rigorous training I've been engaging in since October the pain came back with a vengeance. It pretty well prevented me from being able to get up from a straddle stretch in less than three minutes, impaired my ability to transition stances (say: gongbu-mabu), and pretty much made sweeping a worse challenge than usual. After two weeks off at Christmas, I came back to a rested, un-sore body which included happy hips, hooray! But since we've been training in Austria the devil, crunchy, cracking pains are back. And now they even hurt during ceshoufans, and we know I didn't need anything making those worse. So now what?!?

I feel like my hip problems sound like most other people's knee problems. I'm never had a bit of pain in my knees (knock on wood) but my hip joints have been a concern nearly from day one. I am thinking maybe it's a genetic predisposition as my sister also had to quit running because her hips gave her so much trouble and the doctor told her they couldn't handle the impact. But then, I have done many other sports, one of which was volleyball and if that doesn't impact your joints I don't know what will. Either way, am I doomed to be locked in an eternal battle with this part of my body? Am I never going to be good at latin dancing? Should I pop a certain painkiller? Stretch a different way? Go get acupuncture? Or is it too late and I should just cut off my legs at the hip? That's going to make bringing back mad Austrian skills rather difficult.......

Be Strong My Aching Body

Just wanted to remind myself...

Training is my Anti-Anti Drug

Lately classes have seemed more intense. Perhaps it is the disappearance of the walking breaks instituted during summer's debilitating heat, the smaller class sizes of late, or -most likely- I'm training more than ever and am consequently more tired and sore when going to class.

Being insufficiently rested has resulted in a number of consequences, the two most prominent being the rising importance of coffee and pain relievers in my life.

I've always been in a constant battle with coffee, I love it but I don't like the accompanying highs and lows depending of my caffination. I don't like the gurgling stomach I get if I have it before training, but I like not feeling like curling up to sleep in the meditation room.

Pain relievers are a little different. I think I've mentioned before that I like to avoid taking medicine if I can. Serious illness and injury are one thing but otherwise I like my body to take care of itself. But near-perpetual soreness and semi-injury are testing my resolve on this point.

I don't want to feel dependent on coffee or Advil to provide me with energy or cure my aches and pains. I want to know my body well enough to push it harder but not too hard, because I know that will make me stronger in the end than relying of a caffeine fix to give me faux-chi or anti-inflammatories to make me feel less stiff and more flexible. I don't want to be an addict!!!!! So how to solve this? I already get more sleep than most people I know. My job is low impact. Do I really just need to train less? Because after a downright excruciatingly painful set of kicks last night I need to reassess what I'm doing. Or maybe I need to crush my pride or whatever is holding me back and embrace the drugs......

Diversion Tactics

I thought last night's class would be all about my thumb; it's still fat and pained and kind of purple. Turns out, it was all about my hamstring. After overextending a caijiao last week my right leg has pretty much been out of commission. I've been training through it, but it's come to the point that I think this one needs rest, not training. (The last couple of classes have been, frankly, painful.) What it did serve to do though, was distract me from my thumb. The distraction allowed me to discover that, while I can't bend it, I can still do a ceshoufan or two without too much pain.

Funny how one pain minimizes another. A foot injury distracted me from my shinsplints, a sore neck distracted me from my foot. A sore butt distracted me from my neck. The flu distracted me from everything. Just goes to show, if you don't focus on the pain it will in fact go away.

This is something I've noticed in how I approach class as well. I used to get caught up in how many people were in class, where I was in line, how many minutes left until a water break, the temperature and who knows what else. I realized lately that these things have gone away. I don't know if it's from training a lot more or being stronger, or being more chan, but now class is just class. I don't worry about how much water I'm drinking or where my sweat is flying: I just train. I don't know how or when it happened, but it's a really satisfying realization.

I also spend less time trying to distract myself in line. It used to be that I would try to think on something, sing a song in my head, or anticipate some other move to distract me from the pain/exhaustion of the move I was on. Now, I am much more focused on what I am doing and how well I'm executing it. And the pain has gone away not through distraction but through strengthening my movements by focusing on technique. It's not that I don't still get tired, (hahah if only). It's not that I don't still fall victim to pain - see my lackluster training in light of current barrel of injuries. Only now I feel like, I'm going in with the same mindset no matter what variables are varying.

I must say though, I'd still like something to divert me from the pain in my leg. It's so unsatisfying not to be able to whip out five kicks at full chi.

"It's the wood that should fear your hand!"

We don't do much, or really anything, that involves contact in class. At least we don't in Level 1. So unless someone accidentally hits you in line, the person most likely to hurt you is, well, you. Now and again I've noticed I get shin splints from landing wrong in my jumps or bruise my feet from hitting them during caijiao/lunbi caijiao, but mostly these things go away after a bit of corrective modification. The last few classes my latest pain has come from stomping. I first notice a little pain in my right leg when I'm landing erqijiaos, straining my calf from landing too hard. Then immediately after, during the pubu chuanzhang, whilst stomping, the pain shoots up the back of my calf making it near-impossible to resist grimacing. This pretty much sets up a series of identical, and increasingly sharper pains during the stomps in forms, until I have to "air-stomp" and easy my way into gongbus to avoid doing myself a serious injury. Silly Hannah, what are you doing?

Richu made the comment that I should be hurting the floor, the floor shouldn't be hurting me. That made me think of "Kill Bill" where Uma is putting her fist through the fat hunk of wood. Now, I don't need to be punching through walls or beating people up, but the point remains, what good is any kind of strike if I'm just hurting myself? I'm not quite sure what I'm doing wrong, and I don't know why it's manifesting as a pain in my calf instead of a shin splint or something. Still, I will make a concerted effort to figure out the logic of hurting the floor since the last thing I want to do is limp through testing. Or really limp anywhere. If I have to, I will stomp right through to the cafe below us. More chi! Stomp harder!

This and that...

I have shin splints... I also, somehow, have forearm splints.... that's a new one. I'm going through one of those cycles after not being sore for a few weeks to working through a brand new set of aches and pains...but I love it because it means I'm learning something new and hence building new muscles that will make me mighty, like Mighty Mouse. 'Course, I'd feel a little more confident about that theory if Sifu didn't yell at me three times today...... Still, embrace the pain!

Also, during the ol' 5 kicks, I think I may have gotten my first pang of the infamous but heretofore un-experienced shaolin butt sword. I guess it was only a matter of time.... Maybe it was just leftover from doing 7 rounds of caijiao at the beginning of class. I just hope it's not here to stay.

One other note, my middle splits are slowly getting lower, but I usually don't like to get a pull until the third round. Unfortunately, I feel as though stretching time has gotten shorter, because I don't always make it to the third round before Sifu says, "Let's go!" Sometimes I used to get to a fourth round, even when there were four people in the group, and then go do other stretches. Now, with only three people in the stretch, each of us still doesn't always get to go three times. Are we taking longer or does stretching seem shorter to anyone else?

Here's hoping Sunday's class is full of chi, my inexplicable forearm splints are gone, plenty of stretch time, and Sifu doesn't yell at me. Or glower at me. I feel like kfk is in my near future......