I learned new erluquan moves today!!! yay yay yay....

Room to Breathe - On the Side

I was on the wider side of the carpet yesterday during the basics. I intentionally picked that side because I didn't like the dry hot air blowing from the heater above the changing room. It was wide and comfortable at the beginning. Towards the end when a few people got sent to the side, things got a little tighter.

I got sent to the side once when we first moved to the new temple. It was almost impossible (for me) to do tenkongfanyao in that space. So this time - I tried to give them space. The problem was that the space that was left in the middle got so narrow I could do only 2 or 3 moves and I would run out of space.

So I would like to ask anybody who happens to read this and trains on the wider side of the carpet next time to turn the line a little sooner - to be mindful of people training on the side while waiting for our turn in the line.

And for the people in front of the line - please be aware that the space gets narrower - if you can, please move a little bit toward the middle - try not rush people in the back of the line or yell at us to move to the side - because there's not much space on the side...

Stretch Harder!

Last night in class, I learned some new stretches.

First, I stretched with Neo and Ren. We did this one stretch that's good for the hamstrings and the back of the legs in general. I sat on the floor with legs out straight in front and feet pointed up. Ren sat facing me, with her feet against mine, and her feet pushed down against mine, so mine were bending towards me. In the meanwhile, Neo put his back to mine and leaned backwards onto me, so that I was folding in half at the waist towards my legs, and back straight, as always. See crude illustration number 1 below:

Fig. 1

Next I met up with Branden who taught me yet another stretch, this time for two people. You basically sit with your legs on the floor in V formation facing each other. You grab ahold of each other's forearms. Then, the person assisting in the stretching places his feet closer in along your legs, leans backwards and pulls you and your arms back towards him, so you lean forward and your legs stretch out wider. And then you can reposition yourselves and go the other way to torture the other person! See crude illustration number 2 below:

Fig. 2

It's good to mix it up!

Know Your Place in Line -- Turtle Style

Yesterday was a small class -- 19 of us, led by Joshua. Yowza!

So, normally I'm more of a back of the line kind of girl, lately inching up a few people up just because there are so many new people. I guess that happens when one has been training for over a year now. So when we split into two lines on Saturday to do basics, somehow I ended up second in line behind Branden. Yikes! I had never been that close to the front of the line, and I debated dropping back, but given number of relatively new people in my line, it was kinda appropriate that I stay put. So, I decided to challenge myself and run with it, quite literally.

I did okay, sticking tough through caijiao, gong bu, lunbi caijiao etc., but I found myself trying to keep pace with Branden who was ahead of me and who is always consistently either first or second in line. And it was rough, I realized, because not only has Branden been training longer than I have, but he is also taller than I am, so that in itself made it difficult to keep up. As a result, I found myself not going the full length of the carpet, as I usually try to do, and being sloppy.

So by the time we got a few of the basics in -- I think it was maybe around lihetui -- I decided to drop back and settle into 4th place in line, where I was much more comfortable and was able to do everything properly.

I am pleased that I tried the challenge and understood myself. I know I probably ought to push myself to move up in line a little bit more, but I also want to make sure I'm not rushing for the sake of looking speedy.

(This is a classic rendering of the Chinese character for Turtle, pronounced Gu or Gui. The turtle is a symbol of longevity, an animal who can neither run nor jump yet makes steady, unrelenting progress toward his goal.)

high on chi

Anybody seeing me and Ellen in the line waiting to do form last night might think we were high. We were jumping around - clapping - shouting - giggling. We were high on chi. We were happy - well at least I was.

For me it started from me doing Erluquan for the first time in the carpet. Although it was only 2 moves - I felt this sense of accomplishment. I was happy. And then the next round, Hannah shouted 'Yeah! Sucheela' and I could feel my chi level went up 30%. It's probably the effect that Mo talked about in this blog last week. So I told myself that I'll do the same thing to other people. I'll give them chi simply by shouting their names - encouraging them (and myself.)

And it was fun. At least it made me forget that I couldn't move my legs anymore...

Moral of the story: ummmm.... be happy?

Meet Ted!

What did I learn today in class? Sucheela and I stretched with a guy who's been training for a while but whose name I didn't know. He's a really tall white dude probably in his 20s, brown hair, goatee, wears different training shoes which are also white, but I think they're leather, has been training for a short while, and um, really tall. So say amituofo to Ted!

Excellent!

A Valentine's Greeting From Q to U

Okay, so I was kinda stuck as to what lesson I learned last night other than do not accidentally drop your sportsbra into the toilet and as a result, have to train with your regular bra on instead, but grabbing a nice meal after class, and talking to beautiful kf people all day reminded me that Temple is a special place, but it would be nothing without you lovelies.

No matter how complicated life can be, you can always count on (1) training, and (2) awesome kung fu peeps.

Love you all...

Happy Valentine's Day, my friends! Amituofo!

never trust the weather man

Amituofo from Miami!

1. Beach + Forms = Sand-in-Eyes

2. It is raining.

3. Ok, people. We all know that "dried plumbs" are PRUNES! Do not fear the prune. Embrace the prune.

Over and out.

The MTA is not my friend...

On Saturday I made it to training...just barely. I left my apartment around 10:10 like I usually do and got all the way to the platform for the R train, only to find out that no R trains were running to Manhattan from my station that weekend. I had to go back outside and flag down a cab to Chinatown. Happily, I got to Temple with time to spare, but I was $10 poorer.

So the first lesson of the day -- check the MTA website for any diversions, especially on the weekend while eating my breakfast and before I get all the way to the platform, so that I can plan an alternate route to Temple if need be! I'm adding a link to the MTA service advisories on the side of this blog right now!

Oh, and as for training itself, it was a small class -- where was everyone? Only 24 of us or so came to class, and quite a few beginners, so Shifu avoided a potentially brutal pace and slowed down basics by making us all stand in place and practice lunbi caijiao together for a long time. He emphasized the importance of popping the kick in the air versus thudding the lead foot on the ground. And while you slap your hands together just before kicking your palm, make sure you are standing straight so that you're extending properly.

So, don't hunch over. Pay attention to detail. Don't be sloppy. Be proud of how we express ourselves! It is great to get back to the nitty-gritty basics every once in a while, so to speak.