some extra tai chi and turned up for the beginners class. It was good to just do some of the basics for a change, we went through the Yang short form quite a few times, which I haven't done in a class for quite a while - usually we either do the long form or the short form to the left. D took the opportunity of having me there to demonstrate how correct posture/form gives significant mechanical advantage - although I was between 6 inches and a foot shorter than everyone else in the class, he got me to stand in square stance and then hold up the combined weight of all 6 of them leaning onto me trying to push me over.
In the advanced class afterwards we did long form - each section is getting better, but I still have no idea what order the sections are going to arrive in. Then some Chen-style pushing hands, D getting us to warm up for this by pretending to be (should that be aping?) monkeys and getting us one by one to show the class our best monkey-style walks. Cue channeling Helena Bonham-Carter from Planet of the Apes, and remembering some info I learned from an old boy-friend of mine who was a monkey-handler at a zoo (no, really)
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