Windchill

Just been out for a three mile run, and it was cold....so cold I can scarcely feel my fingers to type this, even though I was wearing gloves. How come it seems colder this week than it did when it was snowing a couple of weeks ago? Took a real effort of will not to turn back after about 50 yards. Let's hope it's warmed up a bit by mid-week

Grounded

Kids kung fu today, slightly less manic than next week because T was "on" them right from the start of the class. One of the littlest ones was still a bit of a pain though, really I think he's too little and needs to be at least 6 months older before he can concentrate well enough to join in properly. Little I is coming on well though - she managed a scissor kick for the first time today and was really chuffed!

During the older ones class my kicking seemed to be flowing really well for once, and I was very aware of the feeling of the floor under my supporting leg grounding me. I was conscious of being rooted and force starting in my grounded leg and flowing up through my hips to make the kicks powerful. Let's hope that's here to stay.

Poster Girl

Good Kung Fu class on Thursday night, first teaching some biu jeet, then the first char chui 2-person drill and then a short mantis 2-person thing I don't have a name for. Afterwards T, N and I went through the bokken versus pole a few times, then down to Tai Chi.

2-person pole work in tai chi, with D making me work really hard on technique (which is good, because I tend to coast a little bit when we do pole in tai chi because I know it pretty well). Plenty of focus on waist-turning and using technique and speed rather than arm strength.

Then a little pa kua, concentrating on the two new changes we've learnt (unfortunately I don't know what either of them are called, so they just have the stupid names I've made up for them in my head - "the swimming one" and "exploding monkey").

Then D called me and a couple of the others over to one side in order to take some photos of us for the poster and leaflet campaign in Derby for the new classes. So it looks like I might be the poster girl for kung fu, striking a very fetching pose with my pole - just call me the monkey king......

Full Steam Ahead

Went to check out our potential venue in Derby with D earlier tonight, it looks like a goer, so it's full steam ahead in the preparations for the new class. Looks like we're going to do a Kung Fu followed by a Tai Chi, with a possibility of a kickboxing squeezed in earlier in the future if there's a market. Now we just have to sort out the advertising - there must be hordes of frustrated martial artists out there waiting for us.

It's all in the wrist

Two big classes on Monday night with newcomers at both kickboxing and kung fu. In Kung Fu T asked me to teach the Chi Nar wrist locks to the beginners, which I duly did, only to discover, when one of the lads reacted rather more strongly than I was expecting to the fairly gentle lock I put on him that he had several bits of metal work in his wrist as it had been broken in about a dozen places a couple of years ago. Don't think I hurt him too much though as he was enquiring afterwards whether he could come to the Thursday class as well as the Mondays.

Char chuan afterwards, and more bokken.

Careful with that bodypaint

Three and a half miles this morning, hard going. I reckon I run much better (or at least it feels much easier) after I've had lunch, but the layout of the rest of the day was such that going fairly soon after breakfast was my only option.

I seem to have lost a couple of pounds this week, not as much as I would have hoped, but better than nothing. It set me to thinking though about why statues of Buddha are sometimes fat, when the buddhist way is "the middle way" with restraint in all things, including eating and drinking. Anyway, a bit of internet research tells me that despite the common misconception, the guy on the left isn't actually supposed to be Buddha - It's a Buddhist monk called Budai (or Hotei, maybe, depending where I look).

The skinny one (from Thailand) is probably meant to be Buddha during his fasting stage, following which he is supposed to have decided that the extremism of that kind of fanatically ascetic way of life wasn't useful, and developed the whole middle way theory.

So I guess I'm aiming for something in between, like the last one, maybe.

Or maybe more like this?

.....but not so dead.

Restraint in all things

Happily T was around yesterday so I didn't have to take the kids classes myself. Even with him there both classes were pretty hyper and therefore pretty exhausting mentally.

In the second class one of the older boys came up to me and, only half jokingly, asked if he could be paired up with one of the younger and particularly annoying ones so that he could "make him stop messing around". Fearing blood and/or broken limbs I declined his kind offer and gave him a little speech about how learning patience and restraint was a key part of martial arts....definitely not the aspect that I have found easiest myself. When I first started training I was very impatient to move on and learn more and more, and felt like waiting for other people to "get it" and the whole grading structure was holding me back. Happily I seem to have moved past this now and I'm content to go over and over the stuff I already know to perfect it. But beginning teaching is showing me that there are still some patience issues I need to work on.

Improvisation

Bit of a surprise for me on Thursday night - arrived at Kung Fu to find a message from T asking me to take the class 'cos he couldn't make it. I have taken the class before, but with at least a week's notice, so I have time to draw up a lesson plan. Yesterday it was straight in with about 2 minutes notice.

So I was pretty much making it up as I went along last night, trying to do the warm up and the communal stuff so that it was manageable for everybody but challenging too, before splitting them up into the various grades to work on syllabus stuff while I went from group to group "plate spinning". Actually quite enjoyable.

Afterwards plenty of pole in Tai Chi, and some pa kua. Not a bad night. Just hope that T can make it to the kids classes tomorrow, because taking their lessons is a different kettle of fish altogether.

Speeding Up

Another 3 mile lunchtime run today, this time a lot faster than the last one because all the snow and ice has finally cleared. So fast in fact that by the last half mile I was really struggling...but I kept going, mostly thanks to pride (not wanting to seem pathetic in front of the boss). Thankfully it was a short afternoon for me at work because it was one of my days to fetch the kids, but even so I was struggling to keep my eyes open towards the end.

What's all the fuss about?

Tuesday saw me visit a gym for the first time ever. No, really - up until now I have never ventured into that particular domain of the modern day middle classes (and the odd body-building steroid junkie wearing brightly coloured weight-lifting trousers or, god forbid, revealing lycra).

On the whole I'd have to say I wasn't really over impressed with the whole experience - the treadmill running is even more tedious and repetitive than actually running somewhere outside (ditto the cycling machines) and the bizarre nordic ski thing made me feel all un-coordinated and like I was about to fall over because it made my arms move out of sync with my legs.

The weights machines are OK and I quite liked the way they can focus on particular muscle groups....but they did feel like they could easily cause damage if used with even a slightly poor technique which was a bit worrying, and I could imagine they get quite boring if used regularly.

I did like the rowing machine though, and I could imagine putting in a few miles on that especially if I had my ipod on.

All in all I couldn't imagine paying the enormous fees most gyms charge for stuff that I can do for free with a bit of space and a little imagination at home. But since the gym I used on Tuesday is for free, I might pop in now and again if I've been slacking off on the running.

Sticky Hands

Big classes for both kung fu and kickboxing on Monday, and a first for me, being asked to teach chi sao (sticky hands) for the first time. Admittedly it was just the start of single chi sao, not double, but they seemed to get the hang pretty well, understanding that it's really all about sensitivity training and learning to feel and anticipate what your opponent is going to do. When I'm feeling confident I like to do sticky hands with my eyes closed, it allows me to focus better, but I didn't think I'd try that out on them on their first try.

Don't have nightmares

Despite the disappointment of not having lost any weight this week (even though I ate like a flea and exercised every day!) I haven't given up and forced myself out for a run this afternoon. 2.5 miles, fairly easy going, I could probably have gone further but the sun was going down and I'm not keen on running once it's dark - too scared of all those ninja vampires out there, especially if I'm unarmed.

Spring(board) Madness

By popular demand we got the springboard and trampette out in the tinies kung fu class on Saturday - they like nothing better than throwing themselves off it onto the crash mats. One or two of them can nearly do a full somersault when they hit the board right which is quite impressive in a seven/eight year old. Conversely my youngest is such a lightweight that she can't even depress the board and doesn't get any added spring out of it at all! Not quite sure what it's supposed to be teaching them from a martial arts perspective (although we did try to get them to attempt some flying kicks) but I suppose just improving their co-ordination and confidence is good.

Good session with T afterward, going through most of the empty handed 2-person sets from the syllabus. My shin is a world of pain following a high-speed impact with his elbow though....

Slippin' and Slidin'

Went out for a run on Friday lunchtime with A, the big thaw seemed to be on so we went out across the fields for about 3 miles. The roads were OK, but lots of standing water where the ice had melted then not soaked away and one part of the lane was still so icey we were reduced to a walking-pace shuffle for a hundred yards or so, slithering all over the place.

Needed a nice hot shower after, what with wet feet and cold extremities. Showers in the changing room took a very long time to run warm though - brrrrrrr!

Storyville - Cage Fighting Women

Got in from Kung Fu/Tai Chi on Thursday night to find that this was on the TV.

Really a bit too brutal for me, but an interesting watch - particularly the bit where the family of one of the women is trying to understand why she does it and persuade her to give it up. I think I can understand the urge to take part and "prove" your fighting skills - what I find less appealing is the motivations of the audience at a cage fight - I suspect it's slightly pervy, especially when it's women fighting, but also when it's men, too.

Sun style at Tai Chi for the first time in ages, it was nice to revisit it as I've always found the circling/shoulder rolling aspects of it very pleasing. Then we did quite a bit of pole, including start of the "living pole" set, which I seem to finally be able to do now without cracking myself in the ribs.

Strengthening Their Resolve

Monday night saw a host of newcomers, particularly in the kickboxing. I assume that it's a wave of people who have made themselves a new year's resolution to start getting fit. Let's just hope they keep it up....history tells me that the majority of them won't stick at it, but I hope to be proved wrong.

The decision to postpone starting the new class in Derby 'til late Feb/early March is partly to try to avoid just picking up the NYR people (and partly that we're so shockingly lackadaisical about organisational stuff that it would have been a struggle to get it sorted for a January start, anyway)

Mostly a wing chun night for me, with plenty of siu lim tao, biu jeet and 2 person work

Winter comes to Wudang Mountain

Fresh snowfall overnight meant lots of wellies in the dojo this morning at kids kung fu (and no, we didn't make them train outside bare-foot in the snow)

In my head I was here;

Metal, Water, Earth, Wood, Fire

Just a small group of us at kung fu on Thursday, and all fairly advanced, so we spent the evening going over some of the intermediate bits of the syllabus in great detail and practising the relevant applications. Having decided that this year I'm going to take training more seriously I was working really hard, and even managed to get a compliment out of T, which is rare indeed!

He and I went through the bokken vs pole at full throttle, in a kind of you'd-better-block-this-like-you're-supposed-to-or-I-will-hit-you kind of way that is really quite scary when weapons are involved - but focusses the mind very effectively. Both sides of the form are fairly well embedded for me now I'm pleased to say.

Then Tai Chi which was all Hsing-I, first the pi chuan (metal, splitting, lungs) and zu'an chuan (water, drilling, kidneys) drills and then the short two-person set we know. Good stuff, but I have very bruised forearms today. Looking forward to learning the other elements in due course.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

No sleigh bells, but plenty of glistening virgin snow for running in this lunchtime. I went out and did a couple of miles across the fields near work and it was really beautiful - why go skiing when you can get fresh powdery snow, bright sunlight and blue skies right here?

Tough on the legs though - like running on sand

More of the Same

So it looks like I'm going to blog this year as well, even though in essence I expect that this year will be exactly the same as the last. It's certainly started the same with a Monday night of kickboxing and kung fu

Having said that this year should see me start to teach kung fu as a pukka instructor rather than just an assistant....and also see work get a lot more hectic as stuff starts to turn and burn.

And new year's resolutions? Just one or two - to live like a Zen Buddhist, to lose 10% of my body weight and to train more than ever. No sweat.