Blitzing It

Busy Monday, getting some of the kickboxers ready for their first grading this Saturday, then doing the same with the Kung Fu beginners, although they have a little longer to prepare. Then once they'd gone home went through lots of more advanced stuff with T, A and N to prepare for my own grading. In very rapid succession we went through two person Choy Li Fut, Ee Sen Tee, Biu Jeet and Li Pi. Having a bit of a crisis with Biu Jeet, the minor changes seem to make sense but I'm struggling with some of the bits that haven't changed! I'll need to go through it again on Thursday I think.

On Tuesday I came down with a really bad stomach bug, which made me worry I would be ill for the grading (and also made me slow in updating this blog) but now I think I'm on the mend, so should be OK for tomorrow's last chance to blitz stuff

TIme is getting short, sport.

Kids classes this morning, all three classes a good size and also all well behaved and civilised. Since it's the Junior grading next week we mostly concentrated on the forms, so lots of wushu, Yang Fan Chuan and some Broadsword for me this morning. Unfortunately I didn't get to practice Nam Chuan today though.

The big news is that Master They is coming up next weekend, he should arrive towards

 the end of the Junior grading and so he'll get to see how we're getting along teaching the kids. But even more nerve-wracking than that is that he'll be doing the Senior grading in the afternoon! So I have just less than a week to get everything into shape.....hopefully I can pack some extra practice in after the Monday and Thursday sessions - might have to give Tai Chi a miss this week. But more importantly I have to try to remember that it's not really THAT important, and even if I don't get it this time, I've had lots of fun training for it, which is what it's all about really.

Making it up

I took the kickboxing class on Friday, notionally using my own lesson plan. Unfortunately I didn't have much time to prepare it (working too hard at the office!) or go through it with T, so I had little confidence in it. Anyway, there were nine punters plus me, started off ok but then I decided to depart from the plan, because I got worried that I hadn't put enough stuff in it to keep us busy. So I kept slipping extra things in - and sure enough I over ran by about ten minutes. I probably also confused them a little by throwing in new stuff they hadn't tried before. 

The moral is stick to the plan I guess. But they seemed to enjoy it which is the main thing.

Keep Calm

Kung Fu tonight. Quite a big class, and at one point we were all doing Bokken together, which was a bit fraught, although I don't think anyone actually whacked anyone else.

The class was interrupted at one point by a really p*&sed-up guy who wandered around the hall challenging us to fight him and claiming he would kill us all. T eventually managed to persuade him to leave, staying calm and collected and reasonable sounding (but firm) throughout the 5 minute episode. I was really glad that I wasn't in charge of the class at that point because I'm not sure I'd have handled it quite so well. And just how out of it must you have to be to go in to a room full of 20-odd martial artists (some of whom were wielding swords and poles) and try to start a fight with them?

Anyway, after that interlude we got back to training, I went through Siu Lim Tao with the beginners and the first two person set, then went through the Mantis two person set with the purples. Plenty of kicking in today's lesson too, I decided to go for it during the Zi Chi drills and was doing them as fast and high as possible, so I was distinctly flagging by the end. Then after everyone else had left I ended up going through one of the kids wushu sets with a couple of people who come to the Saturdays too to help them catch up in time for the forth-coming grading.

Down to Tai Chi, today we did the long form and I managed to get to do what I've been meaning to for a while, which was sit and watch and write some notes. Who knows if they'll make sense when I look at them tomorrow, but it's a start. Then more sword form and a bit more of the two-person sword which if my favorite, finishing off with the two person pa kua.

At the end I was still so hyper that I managed to persuade P to fight with me and we did a bit of Mantis vs Pa Kua sparring. Inevitably enough he won, (next time I'll choose Wing Chun I think) but that's not the point. Hopefully I can persuade him and D to make it a habit and we'll have a scrap at the end every week....

Future Rulers of the Earth

No, not the Wutan students, but the ants that have invaded the downstairs room where we train on Monday nights. Throughout the evening they were remorselessly ploughing back and forth, thankfully along the skirting board rather than across the centre of the hall. None of them seemed to be carrying any food (I got quite a close view of them whilst grovelling about on the floor during the stretches) but they all looked very busy. I find their "hive mind" somehow troubling. But maybe that just means I'm too wrapped up in my own ego and sense of self?

Good training tonight, a few new faces who seemed to enjoy themselves, including one guy who must have been at least 6'4" tall and presented something of a challenge to me during the kicking drills! Sticking with an insect theme, we did some Mantis drills, then I went through butterfly knives again at the end with T to try to consolidate, I think some of it is finally starting to sink in, but then again I've thought that before.

Shine On, Shine Off

Kids classes were a bit strange on Saturday. the first class for the tinies was very quiet - in fact only two kids and one of those was one of mine. But we had a good fun class, in fact because there was only two we got the balance beams out and had fun climbing about on them. My little one seems pretty fearless and was able to happily stand on one leg on the beam whilst kicking with the other. Reminiscent of the scene on the beach from Karate Kid.

The middle class was much more lively, pretty much as busy as usual, but then the last class was looking like being just two again until luckily C and his two boys turned up 5 minutes late. We did some good form revision, then worked on the two person set, which is the 2nd kickboxing set (or at least the first 15-odd moves from it).

In the evening I had an urge to watch a kung fu movie, and happily "Unleashed - Danny the Dog" was on, so settled down in the evening to watch Jet Li. Fantastic fight scenes, interspersed with sentimentalism...but the best part for me is the bit where they fight in the confined space of the bathroom - wing chun's finest hour?

Hall of Mirrors

In the dance studio for Women's KickBoxing tonight. I still don't like it when I catch sight of myself in the mirrors, although it was informative to look at myself whilst stretching to see how low I was managing to get. Not too bad for an old-timer like me, I thought....

Couple of new people, a mother and daughter I think, the daughter in particular seemed to really enjoy it, so I think they'll be back. I'm probably going to start taking my eldest to these sessions for the next few weeks because she's going to have to miss the Saturday kids classes for a while - she has a ballet exam coming up and needs to do some extra classes to prepare (serious stuff!), which clash with KF. I think she'll probably like the kickboxing as it's pretty much what we teach the kids anyway, apart from the Wushu forms.

I'll be taking the lesson next week, and T has asked me to try to draw up my own plan for the lesson and go through it with him beforehand. Getting the timings right will be the biggest challenge I think.

Good to be Back

Back to business tonight after a couple of weeks lay-off, reminding me just how much I love Kung Fu. Went through Chang Chuan quite a few times, then some 2 person stuff, including the new version of the basic wing chun throw with cat stance rather than mountain stance. I think I'm starting to find the new version easier, although you have to put it on pretty quickly for it to be effective.

After the rest of the class had gone I went through Li Pi with T a few times, then we did a lot of work on the Butterfly Knives, both single and 2 person. By the time we'd been through the 2 person set a few times we were really going at it, metal on metal making very impressive sound effects, I wish I knew whether it looked as cool as it sounded.

Down to Tai Chi and straight in to 2 person sword which is one of my favorites, so good stuff there too. The only bad news of the night is that Master Wu has postponed his visit to England and therefore there won't be a seminar/grading next weekend. Slightly mixed feelings about that because I wasn't sure I would be ready for the grading anyway, but it's definitely a shame about the seminars.

Forgot to mention

The results are in from the race at work - my team won the "vets"
category, so we get a trophy!

Uh Oh

Woke on Thursday to a painful knee. It freed up a bit after I had got ready for work, but then spending the morning in a training course (i.e. enforced sitting down for 4 straight hours) made it bad again - it seems much better if I keep moving. I was in two minds over wether to do Kung Fu etc or not, but given that it was my last chance before my holiday I decided to give it a try. Mostly it wasn't too bad, but whenever I shock loaded it, like landing from a jump, or being the supporting leg in a spinning kick, it gave me some jip.

Decided to soldier on to Tai Chi too, where C cheered me up by telling me horror stories about knee injuries and telling me I'd probably damaged the tendon that holds my knee-cap in place....yikes!

Iced it for a while after I got home, and now it's going to get a rest because I'm off to Scotland for some R&R.

Point to Pointing

Wednesday night was the inter-departmental Broome Cup race - a 3.5 mile cross-country affair supposed to be run in teams of 4 with the 3 fastest times counting. Let down by my own collegues (!) I managed to get a place in the R&T team as a ringer. The other three guys were very experienced runners who were all much faster than me, but it was still fun. Also entering, to my surprise, was a team from the marine division including the dad of two girls I teach Kung Fu to on Saturdays. I would have dearly loved to have finished ahead of him, but it was not to be.

The highlight of the course was a water-filled ditch we had to leap. Throwing myself across, I landed badly on the far side and barely escaped getting wet. And I think I twisted my knee, because waking up on Thursday morning it was really hurting.