115.5

A review of this year's blogging tells me I clocked up about 115.5 miles of running this year (chances that I'll get out again before New Years Day are slim-to-zero).

Not as much as I might have hoped, but celebrated by treating myself to a new pair of headphones anyway.

My Body is a Temple....

but that won't stop me filling it with plenty of delicious Thai food at tonight's kung fu/tai chi/kick boxing christmas meal.

I still feel quite grotty actually but I think I'm going to dose up on cold remedies and head out anyway, as tonight marks the end of the martial arts year for me - Monday was the last class 'til the new year as I won't be making it to the kids competition on Saturday, too much else going on. I always say I'm going to make time to train by myself through such breaks, but I almost never do. And since it is currently snowing here, I'll probably use that as an excuse.

Come rain or shine

2.5 miles this morning despite a fine freezing cold drizzle. I felt very virtuous afterwards...and very tired also.

100 kpm

Saturday was the last proper kids session of the year - there is going to be a class next weekend but T has decided it's going to be a special - some kind of team competition featuring speed kicking, balancing, stick sparring and forms. But to make it not too competitive I think we're selecting the teams to ensure a good balance from the tinies up to the teenagers in each one, so the result should be a draw. Sounds like it will be chaos to me. Unfortunately the chances are I won't make it anyway as next weekend is shaping up to be quite busy as the christmas social season kicks in properly...

So quite a bit of practicing forms with the kids this week, and also a rehearsal of the speed/endurance padwork. Turns out I can do 100 kpm (kicks per minute), which pleases me..not that I'm competitive about this type of thing, obviously (see earlier post about letting go of the ego, per my zen strivings), but none of the other adults or teens can do that many. Reckon if I were a little fitter I could get it up to 2 kicks a second, as currently I tend to fade in the last 15 seconds.

And through the wonders of the internet I learn that apparently 100 kpm means I can kick along in time to "Dirrty" by sweet little Christina....

A Dancing Wu Li Master?

Last Thursday night training session of the year, so I was mostly focussed on the going to the pub afterwards. I did manage give a little educational chat to the teenagers about physics/conservation of momentum (what do they teach them in schools nowadays!?). The parting shot from one of them was to ask me to explain quantum mechanics to them....a bit more tricky to find examples relevant to kung fu for that one. Perhaps I need to re-read this?

Bog Trotting

With a great effort of will I managed to force myself to go for a run Wednesday lunchtime despite the dank weather. I made the mistake, however, of deciding to make it an off-road one - only to discover that the ground was really soft and boggy. Caked in mud up to the knees, and cold, wet feet. But another 2 miles clocked up....

My New Hobby

Small is Beautiful

I don't know why, but for some reason both classes on Monday night were quite small - especially the kickboxing. But T seemed to be feeling fairly relaxed about it so both classes were actually really enjoyable - no absolute beginners in either which meant we could focus on intermediate-type stuff, and plenty of individual attention for everyone.

T quickly spotted that I'd been practising my flying turning kick quite a bit since Saturday, so I must have made progress with it. I still need to work on getting some height if I want to look really impressive though. Of course it's not really about how it looks, but how powerful it is...I think I still have a way to go before I've lost enough ego not to care about looking flash...maybe next lifetime?

(The cognoscenti amongst you will of course note that this is a flying side kick, not turning kick)

Even N didn't make it so after the class it was just me and T, we went through Ee Sen Tee quite a bit (although I declined to do the cartwheel to get out of the throw on the grounds it would probably hurt my hand too much). Then we went through the 2-person butterfly knives which has had a few more subtle changes since we last tried it, that I think make it make a bit more sense

Up and Running

Went for a run today for the first time in ages (I suppose I could review some old posts to find out exactly how long). Just a quick 2-miler, didn't feel too bad afterwards - I might try to go out mid-week one lunchtime if I can fit it in. My ipod had a flat battery, so borrowed my daughters and maxed out on poppy R'n'B. Her headphones are better than mine though.

Today we let the little ones spar for the first time....

....they loved it!

Got It Taped

Strapped up my fingers for last night's kung fu and tai chi, it worked pretty well so I think that will be the norm for the next couple of weeks. N and I got free choice during the class instead of doing any teaching, which made a nice change, so we went through li pi quite a bit, then some wing chun 2 person stuff.

I also spent quite a while chatting with S, who is having a baby and was keen to get my advice on what to do and what not to do in terms of training whilst pregnant - looks like I'm a role model!

In tai chi my sword technique was a little bit hampered by my strapped hand but it was still manageable except for the most twiddly bits. I guess Anakin must have found it similarly difficult after he lost his hand in a light sabre duel....

Quick Catch Up

Didn't manage to log Monday's training before I flew off to Germany for work, so here goes, better late than never.

Relatively big kick-boxing class which seemed to fly by quite quickly, working on elements of the stuff for blue sash but struggling to remember some of them - really need some time to work on them with T consistently over a few weeks for it to sink in. Managed to hurt my fingers within a couple of minutes of starting, I need some way of reminding myself not to use that hand for any kind of weight bearing - I think I might try taping my fingers together and see if that works...

Taught chang chuan again in kung fu, followed by a bit of application work with the beginners, but I declined to be the throwee/victim in any of the throws as it would potentially aggravate my finger. Then worked on a small change to char chui number 1 which makes it make a lot more sense. No time for any extra practice at the end as I needed to get home to pack...