two parts of three

fourteen kung fu classes down, seven to go. except for the part where i can't imagine quitting at 21 anymore. (thinks of being sidelined by injury, knocks wood.)

i have a full uniform now, and shoes. everything is super-comfy. giant clown pants, little soft elf shoes, t-shirt, tightly wrapped sash. and it's all black except for the yellow school logo on my shirt and the yellow tips on the sash. i feel fine wearing the whole thing on the bus on Saturdays.

at this point, doing horse is still rough when i have to hold it for too long. the more i read, the more i understand that everyone who comes to it as an adult has trouble. one of the translations for qi is "breath." like yoga, you hold the awful awful position and visualize sending your qi (in yoga it's breath) to the pain. and like yoga, sometimes i fall into the proper state and shunt energy to the weak places, and sometimes i'm dominated by it. i'm riding the edge of what i can do.

i have ten-sided turn down. it's like being the oblong spirograph piece. (i may need to see if i can draw the foot pattern, i think it would be pretty.) but with blocks and punches.

now i'm working on so sau/fu jau, a circular block and tiger claw combo. it's the thing that inspires the wacky swirly hands things people do when they are pretending to be someone from the movies. but in a practical sense, it's protect groin, smack opponent arm out of way, grab arm.

i'm happiest when i'm in motion. so much of what we do feels like dancing. my legs are leaf springs, and my arms are clicking into place. somehow i do better when my arms and legs are both going than i do when i focus on just arms or just footwork. i'll start to do a ten-sided turn on my own and find that i've done twenty sides or more, i just keep rotating.

( crap about my knees )

i enjoy all the different types in the class. the retired guy, the dancer, the club impresario, the teen sisters who kid around with si hing T (en español), F who also works for My Corporate Masters, the kitten-who-will-kill-you, the three daddy/daughter pairs... retired guy J also volunteers at SAM. we ran into him at the Impressionism exhibit the other night, doing his docent thing. i don't work directly with F at all, but now we always say hi if we pass in the hall. (the first rule of fight club is you don't talk about fight club.) sometime i need to put together a happy hour expedition to sifu's restaurant.

two parts of three

fourteen kung fu classes down, seven to go. except for the part where i can't imagine quitting at 21 anymore. (thinks of being sidelined by injury, knocks wood.)

i have a full uniform now, and shoes. everything is super-comfy. giant clown pants, little soft elf shoes, t-shirt, tightly wrapped sash. and it's all black except for the yellow school logo on my shirt and the yellow tips on the sash. i feel fine wearing the whole thing on the bus on Saturdays.

at this point, doing horse is still rough when i have to hold it for too long. the more i read, the more i understand that everyone who comes to it as an adult has trouble. one of the translations for qi is "breath." like yoga, you hold the awful awful position and visualize sending your qi (in yoga it's breath) to the pain. and like yoga, sometimes i fall into the proper state and shunt energy to the weak places, and sometimes i'm dominated by it. i'm riding the edge of what i can do.

i have ten-sided turn down. it's like being the oblong spirograph piece. (i may need to see if i can draw the foot pattern, i think it would be pretty.) but with blocks and punches.

now i'm working on so sau/fu jau, a circular block and tiger claw combo. it's the thing that inspires the wacky swirly hands things people do when they are pretending to be someone from the movies. but in a practical sense, it's protect groin, smack opponent arm out of way, grab arm.

i'm happiest when i'm in motion. so much of what we do feels like dancing. my legs are leaf springs, and my arms are clicking into place. somehow i do better when my arms and legs are both going than i do when i focus on just arms or just footwork. i'll start to do a ten-sided turn on my own and find that i've done twenty sides or more, i just keep rotating.

( crap about my knees )

i enjoy all the different types in the class. the retired guy, the dancer, the club impresario, the teen sisters who kid around with si hing T (en español), F who also works for My Corporate Masters, the kitten-who-will-kill-you, the three daddy/daughter pairs... retired guy J also volunteers at SAM. we ran into him at the Impressionism exhibit the other night, doing his docent thing. i don't work directly with F at all, but now we always say hi if we pass in the hall. (the first rule of fight club is you don't talk about fight club.) sometime i need to put together a happy hour expedition to sifu's restaurant.