Running Up the Rocky Steps

Cat People

2012-02-11T17:03:00.002Z

I need this book. And I know that Gus wants me to get it, too.

Maybe this year

2012-01-24T22:23:00.002Z

is the year I finally add to my tattoo, since I've been meaning to for about three years now.

Can you guess what I might get?

Happy New Year!

2012-01-08T17:53:00.001Z

A worrying development

2012-01-06T20:44:00.003Z

For reasons I can't quite explain, I feel like I might do

this

or this

this summer.

Care to join me?

Round 2

2011-12-22T17:57:00.003Z

Only the hardcore can manage two kung fu christmas meals two nights in a row.

(yes, we're fairly predictable in our choice of venues)

Order of the Tiger

2011-11-28T22:28:00.002Z

I'm awarding myself this for completing my self-imposed Tang Lang Quan 200 reps challenge.

(Couldn't find a medal with a Praying mantis on it)

Quite possibly the only one of my targets I am going to meet this year...

Thousand Character Block

2011-11-10T22:00:00.002Z

One of the blocks in the two person PaKua set I know is called the Thousand Character block. This is something similar;

92 reps of the Mantis so far. Two thousand punches on the speed bag in my last session. More repetition...

Firm But Fair

2011-11-06T18:56:00.002Z

In charge of the kids class this weekend, along with the other assistant instructor. And we had those kids working hard...hope they're back next week!

Clocking 'em Up

2011-11-04T20:40:00.000Z

40 out of 200 achieved to date. Plus a few fragments...

Repetition is the mother of skill

2011-10-31T22:27:00.003Z

I've challenged myself to practice the new Mantis form I've just learned 200 times by the end of November, in a bid to get it into my muscle memory for the long term.

7 reps today.

Brings Hot Chip to mind.

Plum Blossom Praying Mantis Kung Fu

2011-10-30T15:17:00.003Z

(Chinese: 梅花螳螂拳; pinyin: méihuā tángláng quán)

My new favourite

Compact and Bijou

2011-10-25T23:26:00.002+01:00

Spent tonight explaining the principles of Wing Chun to a newcomer to my class. Which made me think of this, one of my favourite fight scenes ever;

Just when you're least expecting it...

2011-10-03T22:02:00.002+01:00

...she returns

First bit of lunchtime training today since starting my new job. Felt good.

I've been waiting for soooooo long

2011-07-08T20:54:00.004+01:00

but I am now finally learning a set with the Sai...

...a weapon I have hankered after wielding since I was about eight years old! Sadly it doesn't seem to start with me wearing them crossed on my back, but I think I can improvise that bit.

南刀 Nandao

2011-05-20T22:19:00.003+01:00

One for me, and one for mini-me;

Now that's what I call responsible parenting...

I can resist anything except temptation....

2011-05-18T23:57:00.001+01:00

Have ordered new sword. Eagerly awaiting its arrival. Watch this space....

I'm Mandy, Fly Me...

2011-05-12T00:05:00.002+01:00

It would appear that Hong Kong Airlines have decided to train their cabin crew in Wing Chun to deal with unruly passengers.

It's certainly a style that lends itself to use in confined spaces. Perhaps training cabin crew in safety procedures and the martial arts is an ideal opportunity for me to combine my work and my hobby...

Want!

2011-05-01T22:30:00.001+01:00

...and why have I never thought of that pun before?

Demolition Man

2011-04-16T23:24:00.004+01:00

After a few minutes of side-kick practice on the heavy bag last week I noticed that I was pulling several courses of brick out of the wall of my house. Luckily I noticed before they came right out and bricks plus 70lb of kick bag collapsed on to me, but it looks like I'll need a builder to sort it out (picture is after I've pushed them back into place as much as possible).

Needless to say, other half has banned me from using the kick bag any more.

Called this song to mind - I couldn't decide who's version to post, until last night I heard the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain do a cover of Slave to the Rhythm...

Bananeira

2011-03-12T17:55:00.006Z

Spotted this Fritz Hoffman photo on One Inch Punch, one of my current favorite websites. See more at National Geographic.

Apparently handstands teach you to "eat bitterness"...and here I was thinking they were just a bit more of a fun way to exercise the upperbody than endless press-ups.

Carradine and The Cannibal

2011-03-06T18:12:00.003Z

Well, today I discovered that one of my favorite Jazz artists, Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, once appeared in Kung Fu. Whilst not one of his typical Hard-Bop performances, worth a watch I reckon - he appears around 5:30 in this clip;

A Niche Market?

2011-02-28T21:31:00.001Z

Star Wars Tai Chi

2011-02-06T20:41:00.002Z

Star Wars Tai Chi from John Leo on Vimeo.

Very similar to the 42-Step Straight Sword I learn. Who'd have guessed tai chi belonged to the dark side?

Gōng xī fācái!

2011-02-02T23:56:00.002Z

Hidden Flower Block

2011-01-20T20:53:00.003Z

How many of these techniques do you know?

Tai Chi Chair

2011-01-15T22:08:00.002Z

Can I have one of these to liven up my hours in the office?

2010-12-04T17:41:00.000Z

Cross-training

2010-11-21T17:15:00.006Z

Both of my daughters are preparing for their ballet exams at the moment, so this week I have been to watch both of them training - the teacher's idea being that the pressure of having a few parents watching helps to prepare them for the experience of performing for the examiner.

I was struck, particularly in my elder daughter's class, which is relatively advanced, of how similar many of the warm-up routines and drills are to the kind of thing we do in kung fu - the same muscle groups need strengthening and the same kind of balance and flexibility is useful.

Obviously the intent of the two arts is quite different, but I guess that this kind of "formal" dance with prescribed movements, and the wushu routines we practice in our kids kung fu classes, are both really just learning body co-ordination and control.

And the two seem to compliment each other well - certainly when I observe my girls in kung fu it is apparent to me that they can understand the instructions, and remember lengthy routines much more easily than some of the other kids, who's other hobbies run more to football/basketball. And from the remarks of their ballet teacher, the same is true in their dance lessons. So it looks like this bit of cross-training is paying off.

Punchbag

2010-11-20T17:38:00.000Z

Songs like this distract me when I'm supposed to be being fierce...

Bodhidharma

2010-11-14T22:02:00.002Z

Bodhidharma was a Buddhist Monk who is attributed with bringing Zen (or Ch'an) Buddhism to China, and with introducing the monks of the Shaolin Temple to Kung Fu. So something of a pin-up for me.

Remind you of anyone?

David Blandy The Way of the Barefoot Lone Pilgrim - Samurai Story (extract)

2010-11-13T18:15:00.000Z

In it for the money?

2010-11-03T23:30:00.005Z

So this week saw the start of my new Kung Fu class in Derby. Having failed to get the advertising sorted in a timely manner it was a small start, but mighty oaks etc....

Having taught classes on numerous occasions now it was no big deal to be in charge and at the front - what was weird was the end of the class when people paid me - very strange to be given money for doing something that I enjoy (and that until only a few weeks ago I was paying someone else for the privilege of doing).

Which means now I could be called a professional...

I will try to do better...

2010-10-17T20:11:00.002+01:00

I promise to start blogging more frequently again once I'm back from my hols - not least because it will be the start of a new era, with no more Nottingham training (except the kids classes) but much more Derby focus.

In the meantime, thanks to BI for this, which made me smile;

More reasons for healthy eating

2010-10-01T20:51:00.002+01:00

Montana Woman Fends Off Bear Attack With Zucchini

You can call me Al

2010-09-28T23:42:00.003+01:00

After last week's trip, I'm now officially recognised as an instructor.

But no, really, there's no need to call me Sifu or Laoshi - Snafu is probably more appropriate

Not quite Million Dollar Baby...

2010-09-11T18:31:00.004+01:00

...but a million kopeks maybe?

My birthday pressie to myself is now installed, and I ran it through a commissioning test this morning...shouldn't really use it "in anger" until it's my birthday though, should I?

Crazy Legs

2010-09-06T22:47:00.003+01:00

Learning a new bit in the ground-fighting set at the moment. It involves starting from the floor and windmilling the legs in a break-dance stylee until you can use your momentum to spring to your feet.

Looks really impressive when T does it. I'm struggling with it a bit so far though, and it's not exactly the sort of move you can practice at the drop of a hat.

Wishlist

2010-08-24T22:24:00.004+01:00

It's not long 'til my birthday, and I am pondering asking the other half to get me what I've always wanted - a heavy-weight punchbag.

The problem is where to install it - I don't have a garage or anywhere inside with enough space to do proper kicking, so it's going to have to go outside, and therefore be freestanding. This means a possible choice is a BOB (Body Opponent Bag).

The problem is, Bob is ugly. Fugly. And would probably scare the kids/neighbours/cat. Any ideas how to beautify him a little?

The Reviews Are In...

2010-08-15T22:32:00.003+01:00

We all enjoyed the Karate Kid. J liked the plot, S liked the athletics and I liked the fighting - except there wasn't enough of Jackie Chan doing his thing...

I suspect we were the family you don't want to sit next to at the movies. All the sequences in the kung fu school the kids were spotting forms that they know and shouting out their names, all the location shots in China I was saying "I've been there" and in all the fight scenes we were debating whether we could beat them or not - something for all the family.

The Karate Kid

2010-08-14T15:15:00.003+01:00

Combined kids class this morning was fun, not least because N was here on a visit and that always livens things up a bit. My youngest is completely taken with him and his flashy Wushu stylings ... perhaps it will inspire her to great things?

Off to see the remake of the Karate Kid with my little'uns later today. I've high hopes of it being better than the original - not least because it's Kung Fu, not Karate, and it doesn't feature Ralph Macchio (although young Jaden seems capable of similar "smouldering" (!) postures)

Extreme Ping Pong

2010-07-27T20:37:00.002+01:00

Doubt this is real...but love it anyway;

End of Term Feeling

2010-07-25T22:55:00.003+01:00

This weekend was a grading for the kids and some of the beginner grades adults, and it had a real end-of-term feeling - not least because T had prepared a "report" on each of the kids for their parents. J and S both got high praise...

And then I got a pressie as a thanks for my help during the year - a hand-printed T-shirt with the Chang Quan foundation set on it. Bit of a limited edition, only 3 in existance as far as we know.

Neato!

This sounds like what it feels like

2010-07-11T12:11:00.004+01:00

...to learn a tai chi form. Lots of separate things going on that initially seem out of kilter but then all come together to make something fantastic.

(For some reason I can't seem to embed vids properly today...so you have to click on the picture...)

Human Pyramid

2010-07-03T20:41:00.005+01:00

This Wednesday's class featured D (who is not exactly a small guy - at least 6 foot and circa 15 stone he says) demonstrating the strength of my Tai Chi square stance by standing on one of my legs. To my surprise, it actually took no effort at all to stay in position - as he had been explaining what he was going to do I had been having visions of my knees buckling and ending up in an injured heap on the floor.

He then got me to go around the room and do the same thing to anyone in the class who dared have a try. Obviously I'm more of a beginner's model.

Totally Rad, Dude!

2010-06-29T23:50:00.006+01:00

T is learning a Sai set. Which means I'll get to learn it soon too. I've been wanting to learn a double sword type of set since watching the Water Margin as a child (the coolest female character always used two short swords at once). Then that was reinforced by Elektra (and, if I'm honest, by the Ninja Turtles also). Bring it on!

Invincible

2010-06-21T23:36:00.004+01:00

I've been cutting back on blogging lately as I was afraid that the blog was just becoming a litany of my injuries. But I have to mention this one 'cos it's an injury I accidentally inflicted on someone else...my teacher to be precise! I wasn't even really aware of doing it but apparently I blocked a knee strike of his and managed to hit him right above his knee cap with my elbow. Within a few minutes it was swelling and turning a dodgy shade of blue-black, and despite me taking over the class while he went to get some ice for it, before too long he was having a bit of trouble weight-bearing. It's made me realise that I had built up the idea in my mind that T was some kind of indestructible superman when it came to fighting, and the fact that in fact he's as vulnerable to a (un)lucky strike as the rest of us is a sobering thought. However much you train, the body still has some weak points.

Han's Martial Arts Tournament 1973

2010-06-15T22:31:00.003+01:00

New T-shirt has arrived! (strictly for my lone training - I have to present the appropriate image when I'm instructing by wearing something at least vaguely like the school "uniform", although we're pretty relaxed about that)

The cognoscenti amongst you will, of course, immediately recognise the symbology and the geeky reference to the tournament Bruce Lee's character is competing in in Enter the Dragon. But what I really like about it is it matches my shoes...

Jack Sprat

2010-06-13T22:03:00.004+01:00

My other half is underweight. Since he started running more seriously a year or so ago he has lost quite a bit of weight. He's not the type to build up bulky muscle, since he's an ectomorph (although he does have quite a six-pack since I taught him how to do sit-ups and crunches properly) and since he now has next to no body fat he looks like he's just skin and bone. Anyway, the doctor has told him he needs to gain some weight, so he has embarked on a weightlifter / bodybuilder diet, including taking some high calorie supplements.

I've never really cared for that kind of thing, although I know a lot of fighters do use them (I believe Bruce Lee went in for the high-calorie milk shake kind of thing in his prime). For me if your kung fu technique is good enough, strength and weight aren't important - you can use your opponents momentum against them without needing to apply much effort. And most of the martial artists I'm most impressed by are pretty skinny. So I don't think I'll be trying to bulk up any time soon.

It's pretty tough watching him scarf down 5 meals a day while I'm cutting down on carbs though...

Traditional Sun Style

2010-06-08T19:48:00.005+01:00

Pretty much like the Sun-style Taiji I've been taught :

And the moral of this story is....

2010-06-06T21:54:00.003+01:00

...do not practise pole forms in your living room when it's raining out.

Holiday Cover

2010-06-05T18:05:00.005+01:00

I've been too busy to blog this week as I have been teaching all the kung fu lessons in Derby and Nottingham - both T and D have gone away on their holidays, leaving me (who hasn't been away, nor have I got anything planned which is a bit of a downer) as the holiday cover. I still get slightly nervous before taking a class single-handedly, but I think they've all gone pretty well, even the kids this morning which is always tough for one adult to do. Fortunately my eldest helped me out with the tinies, and then A came to help out with the older ones He's got a good way with the kids and if I ever started up a kids class of my own he'd be my first pick for assistant.

Not sure how much kung fu was learned (especially in the first class), but everyone had fun, no injuries and plenty enough running about to tire them all out, for which, if it gives them a quieter kid for the rest of the day, their parent's should thank me...

Den Mother

2010-05-30T18:28:00.005+01:00

Smaller classes than of late this Saturday, presumably because of the school holidays. Much more enjoyable than last week because I could give each of them a bit more individual attention and so they behaved a bit better. The new kid in the small one's class also seems to have taken to me and only mentioned going to find his mum once this week and was quickly distracted and forgot about it. Think I'm becoming some kind of Den Mother to the little pack of wild things...

Next week I have to look after them all solo 'cos T is away, so let's hope it's another holiday weekend.

Muscle Memory

2010-05-30T18:16:00.004+01:00

Called on at short notice (about 30 seconds of notice in fact) to perform the Yang style tai chi set in full in front of an audience. Nothing quite like that for making your mind go completely blank. But is that the mental state I should be striving for when doing tai chi anyway, since it is really supposed to be a "moving meditation"?

Fortunately my body remembered it even if my mind didn't.

Odd Legs

2010-05-27T19:03:00.004+01:00

Hard impact shin-on-shin on Monday at kickboxing. Didn't think too much about it after the initial swearing had stopped, busy looking after a couple of new people then working on bokken at kung fu (in a confined space with people swinging bokkens it pays to be focussed on where they all are or something worse than a bruised shin may result). Went through the stick set with T and N afterwards, I think my Sunday solo training in my garden has paid off.

Tuesday morning however I woke up noticing that my leg was hurting thanks to the weight of the covers, which seemed like a bad sign, and indeed on inspection the whole of my lower leg was quite badly swollen - although strangely there isn't much discolouration. Fortunately load bearing doesn't seem to be a problem so I was able to carry on pretty much as normal (to the extent that I went training at lunchtime again - stick, biu jeet, char chuan) but I think it will be a couple of weeks before I can wear anything but trousers or boots without getting odd looks.

Stick Together

2010-05-23T12:38:00.004+01:00

More solo practice on Friday lunchtime, it was pretty warm and by the end of an hour I was regretting wearing all black - trouble is I don't really have anything else. Spent some good time on li pi, choy li fut and biu jeet. Then, since I had risked the wrath of the security guards by smuggling my sticks in to work, I tried to work on the stick set I'm learning, but realised fairly quickly that halfway through I was morphing into a straight-sword form I know, and that I wouldn't be able to go any further without checking with T - practicing it wrong would probably be worse than not practising it at all.

On Saturday the little ones kids class was completely manic and it seemed like one of those lessons where all we do is tell the kids off for various types of messing around. It got a little better right at the end when we got the beams out for some balancing/footwork practice though, so I think most of them went home happy - just me and T felt emotionally drained! The next class went a lot better, more work on the Baby Tiger set which I'm quite enjoying.

A pleasant change afterwards, instead of just me and T, A and J came along too, so we spent some quality time going over the higher grade stuff together - biu jeet again, and the 2-person stuff, along with some revision of the first part of the char chuan that A and J are starting to learn. Then T helped me with the stick I had forgotten and added a bit more, so that I now have the complete form. I must try to practice it later today just to check I have it in memory at least, if not in my muscles yet.

Kicks like a mule

2010-05-20T21:32:00.004+01:00

Another good night for the Derby classes, the people we have coming at the moment are a real pleasure to teach - and some of them have obviously been practising between lessons which is a very good sign.

We also had a mother and daughter turn up to check out the kung fu with an eye to joining next week - I hope they liked what they saw, as we could do with a few more girls in the classes.

Talking with D after we tried to dissect my side kick, which I'm still not really happy with even after all this time; while I have come to accept it will never be as impressively high as I'd like, I still think it lacks a bit of power most of the time, with the exception of my wing chun sidekick, which is more downwards than outwards in direction, and which feels, to me at least, like it could do some real damage if it connected with someone's knee or ankle. I think the problem is with the angle of my thigh/knee in the drawback before the kick, so I need to carefully observe some of the kickers that I admire to see exactly how they do it.

Happily I do have something in common with the guy doing the kicking in these pictures - I have the same sort of shoes...

Sunshine Shone Brightly

2010-05-18T21:46:00.006+01:00

Got through kickboxing without acquiring any new bruises last night, mostly pad work and a bit of syllabus stuff. I'm still having extraordinary difficulty remembering one kickboxing 2-person set from another, a problem I never seem to have in kung fu. Fortunately at the moment we're doing the beginners part of the syllabus so I only need to be shown them once to catch on, at least in the short term.

Taught a bit of bokken/miao dao in the kung fu, then kwok sau thay again. Tried a mantis approach to the sparring with quite a lot of success. The stamping and moving forward but not stepping through seems to fox my opponent fairly successfully - I just need to be careful not to become a one trick pony.

Went through the Chen tai chi a few times after the class, and again this lunchtime at work, when I spent a good hour out in the sunshine going over a few bits and pieces. Definitely better than a desultory trip to the canteen.

2010-05-15T23:39:00.002+01:00

Knocked this up earlier today as a gift tag for a pressie for a kung fu friend of mine. I like it quite a lot - need to think for a further use for it.

Spade Work

2010-05-15T23:13:00.005+01:00

Some good training with T today after the kids classes, a bit more of the stick set I'm learning, then brushing up on lots of two person sets. I didn't have my pole with me, so when we got to the bokken vs pole set we had to improvise - with the handle of an old mop.

Which was strangely reminiscent of an old traditional chinese weapon known as a Monk's Spade...

Deep and Meaningful

2010-05-13T23:35:00.003+01:00

Some solo lunchtime practice on Tuesday, then two really enjoyable classes on Wednesday evening. A few of the guys that are coming along seem to really enjoy the training, and they are also very keen to get in to the more esoteric and "internal" side of martial arts, so we had some interesting conversations in the breaks. I hope that they come along to my class when it starts...which is looking fairly certain for September now. Master Wu had some interesting things to say about controlling one's thoughts whilst doing martial arts that caught my attention. Need to work more on emptying my mind

From the Sublime...

2010-05-10T23:41:00.004+01:00

In stark contrast to the complexity and subtlety of yesterday's Chen seminar, tonight's Chinese Kickboxing training was pretty full on, and has once again resulted in a fresh set of bruises all across my forearms and shins. Not sure why I keep doing this to myself...the fact that part of me enjoys getting completely mashed up says something deep about my psyche I expect. I did learn however that our kickboxing syllabus is drawn from 3 different chinese martial arts, the main one being Tibetan White Crane style, also sometimes called Lion's Roar

Taught a bit of Siu Lim Tao and then the Kwok Sau Thay at kung fu, then afterwards went through the Chen with those who had come along to the seminar. Between the group of us we seem to have most of it fairly well recalled.

Chen Seminar

2010-05-10T23:29:00.003+01:00

Fantastic seminar with Master Wu on Sunday. I think I get a bit more out of it every time I get to train with him - there's so much going on in the tiniest subtleties of the way that he moves that most of it passes you by at first. Need to work hard on the Chen that we learned - the Lifting Dragon move alone is complicated enough to keep me busy for a few months...

Baby Tiger Shows its Claws

2010-05-08T15:21:00.002+01:00

Busy kids class today. With the older ones we did some more of the new 5 animals form we're learning, which I think is called Baby Tiger Shows Its Claws. The remarkable thing was that because we were all learning it together it was really quiet, you could hear a pin drop. A refreshing change for the Saturday lessons.

Afterwards T didn't stay for long so I went through some stuff by myself for a while, did some good work on the Li Pi, a bit of Baji and then dusted off the Char Chuan...unfortunately there's a bit in the middle I seem to have forgotten.

Resting up now ready for tomorrow's exertions at the Wu seminar.

2010-05-07T20:19:00.001+01:00

Looking forward to some more time with Master Wu this weekend

Legwork

2010-05-02T16:31:00.005+01:00

After the kids classes this Saturday went through the baji and li pi with T for an hour and a bit. Brutally hard on the legs. I need to just do the baji drills 'til I can hardly stand up every day for a couple of months I reckon. Luckily since it can be done in quite a small space and doesn't feature spectacular leg kicks I can practice it in normal clothes at any spare moment - like whilst brushing my teeth in the morning. So hopefully this is that bit in any martial arts movie where the hero goes off on his own for a bit for some serious practice (ideally whilst in solitary confinement in prison) and comes back transformed into a great fighter....

On the Horns

2010-05-01T20:51:00.008+01:00

The Wednesday class is gaining a small core of dedicated keen attendees and is becoming quite a nice class to be part of - which helps because I'm still slightly missing the Thursday sessions. Some of them are even training in both kung fu and tai chi, which is very positive.

With the prospect of a Tuesday class looming I need to give some serious thought to which other class I'm going to give up. Don't want to drop Wednesdays because the class is still immature and I think it helps D having me there as an assistant...and also the longer term plan is that we will encourage the students in Derby to train more than once a week, so it will help if they know who I am.

On the other hand, I don't want to stop Mondays in Nottingham either - firstly I'm still learning new things at the kickboxing, which I enjoy, and also I don't want to lose touch with the Nottingham people I've been training with for ages, not to mention I think (hope?) T kind of depends on me as his assistant because the kung fu is a busy class with a wide range of abilities.

Obviously I'd love to carry on with all three nights but I would never see my kids (and my other half would be peeved) so something has to go. Hmmmmm - bit of a dilemma.

Tang Lang

2010-04-27T22:40:00.003+01:00

Late to kickboxing last night because of work stuff, so worked extra hard once I got there, especially on the punch pads.

Then kung fu. Lots of people there, not really enough room in the small hall so it was hard to find a spot to take some of the green belts through basic bokken moves. Then over to help out with the beginners - one of whom was having extraordinary difficulty with the start of the wing chun.

Despite taking him through it really slowly about 20 times (no, I'm not exaggerating, that's probably an underestimate), he was still finding it very difficult. Never had such difficulties with an adult before, not sure if the problem was with me or him.

In the sparring, still on a buzz from the weekend, I decided to try out some mantis techniques. They seemed to work quite well so I think I'll work on that for a while.

Went through Li Pi and Pa Chi after the class, then this lunchtime put in a good 40 more minutes just going through Li Pi again, trying to bed it in properly.

Seminar - Part 1 of 2

2010-04-24T23:06:00.007+01:00

Down to Southampton today for a seminar with the international head of the school who is on his two-yearly visit to the UK. He is the real deal - a genuinely great martial artist and also a great teacher and it really feels like an honour and a privilege to be taught by him. Today's seminar was for advanced students only, so moved at a fairly quick pace, but fortunately the first half of the day was a form that I already know, Mantis Li Pi. Lots of improvements to make now.... the afternoon was an introduction to Pa Chi (Baji). A very powerful style that takes literally years and years of practice to get good at, even when you already know plenty of kung fu. And now my legs hurt - a lot!

But I'm already looking forward to the next seminar with him in a couple of weeks time.

Opportunity Knocks

2010-04-24T23:01:00.002+01:00

Derby on Wednesday, then a relatively rare Nottingham Thursday. And just as well I did go - turns out P and D have hatched a plot, which they related to me in the pub after, that involves me starting a class in a month or two rather than the 6 months I had in mind. But we've been handed an opportunity to get a hall on a Tuesday night that looks too good to turn down, so it seems like I'll be giving it a go.

It's an ill wind...

2010-04-19T15:08:00.004+01:00

Having spent the last little while at work fielding questions about volcanic ash, this weekend the flight ban meant that I didn't have to take the kids class single handed after all, which I must admit was something of a relief.

The problem with the kids class is that it is very easy, especially with the littlest ones, for them to start misbehaving and I worry that I don't yet have the authority of T to get them to settle down and behave, so there is always the vision in my mind of the class just becoming an hour of me trying to stop them hurting themselves/each other, instead of teaching. Significantly less of a problem with the adults...which is one of the reasons I can't see myself ever setting up a kids class in Derby.

Lots of practice of 5-animal related drills, which was fun but hard on the legs!

Target Audience

2010-04-15T19:09:00.003+01:00

Bunch of guys in their early twenties (I reckon) came to the Derby kung fu class last night and seemed to enjoy it. I think it's a good sign - up till now we seem to have had either end of the age spectrum - tween/teenagers on the one hand and late thirties/forties on the other, but no-one in the middle ground that really ought to be our main constituency. If we can crack that "market" then the class should become pretty stable.

They mentioned, with no prompting from either me or D, that they'd like to train more than once a week - which is a good sign for the further class I'll be starting soon....

Vote of Confidence

2010-04-13T22:41:00.002+01:00

Still reeling slightly from the shock of T suggesting on Monday night that I could grade some of the junior beginners. Guess that means he's treating me like one of the pukka instructors now, rather than the trainee.

Nearly time to cut off my padawan braid?

Double Header

2010-04-02T18:53:00.005+01:00

Because it's the school holidays this week I got the chance to go to Kung Fu on both Wednesday and Thursday night.

Wednesday Derby class was good, tai chi class especially seems to be growing quite well.

Thursday was the Nottingham grading for the adults, so it was quite hard work, nearly 3 hours long, although at least with the adults when they display their forms they have to do it by themselves so I get a chance to have a bit of a rest, unlike the kids gradings where I have to lead them through it. Down to catch the very end of tai chi, where we went through the second 2-person stick set. I've only ever done that set in kung fu before, where it has a subtly different emphasis, so a few new nuances to learn there.

A long chat in the pub afterwards with D and R about training and teaching. D is pushing me hard to start my own class this September. While I still have mixed feelings about whether I can commit to it, I'm starting to realise that there will always be some work-related reason why it seems a little risky, so really if I'm ever going to start teaching it might as well be soon...

I'll meditate on it a little while I'm on my hols this week.

Crash Landing

2010-03-30T21:44:00.002+01:00

Lots of throwing at both kick-boxing and kung fu last night, with me in the role of rag doll / crash test dummy. Took one particular slam that knocked the breath right out of me. I can't seem to get used to be thrown however much it happens. I am, however, getting gradually more proficient at throwing other people and can now get T down without too much trouble when the opportunity arises.

Good news on the Master Wu seminar front. It looks like I will definitely be going to the Li Pi / Pa Chi one with both T and D (the more of us from Nottingham who go together the better - it's much easier to retain what we learn when there is someone else to practise with). There's also a strong possibility that I'll get chance the following weekend to go down to Southampton again to do the fourth part of the Chen Tai Chi set that Master Wu has been gradually teaching to us for the last few years...but I still need final buy-in from the other half to that one, so I'm concentrating on building up brownie points.

Junior Grading

2010-03-28T19:00:00.002+01:00

Grading for the juniors this weekend, a busy session with around 30 youngsters (and one or two parents) taking part. Behaviour was very good, and the standard of kung fu pretty high. My two both did well, making me proud.

By chance N was back in Nottingham for the weekend so he came along, which helped, although not that many of the kids can remember him any more - he's helping with a kids class down in Portsmouth now, as well as his own training in both traditional and wushu.

After the kids had gone we did a quick kick-boxing grading which was pretty full on and hi-energy, so I was fairly exhausted by the end of the 4 hours. Spent much of the rest of the day feeling grotty, and today my ankles are hurting, which is a new one....

Nurturing the Green Shoots

2010-03-25T20:26:00.002Z

A handful more new people at both Kung Fu and Tai Chi last night, although also a few previous visitors didn't show up...but most of them so far have come back which I think is a good sign. If we could get them all there at once the class would definitely be a healthy size. Mustn't be impatient though, it will take a while for the class to grow and gather its own momentum.

Pa Kua

2010-03-23T22:24:00.003Z

I've been trying hard to use some pa kua techniques in my sparring, with some success, but need lots more practice. I really look forward to the sparring at the moment which is quite a change from a year or so ago when I would generally avoid it if I could.

Guns and Sharp Swords in the Hands of Young Children

2010-03-20T21:49:00.006Z

Last kids classes before their grading this morning, so no messing and lots of form practice. Both of my two are grading, S to her green belt and J to her 2nd brown (or is it 3rd? I've lost track and I never remember to sew the badges on her sash!). She is doing the first part of the straight sword form that I learnt around 5 years ago in the adults class and haven't really done since, and she looks pretty good at it to me. I'm wondering if I should buy her a special small sword - she's currently using a stick as both of my straight swords are too long for her to wield properly (marginally too long for me too if the truth be told). I'll have to see what I can find in the corners of the internet...

Frustration

2010-03-18T22:16:00.006Z

Frustrated on two counts tonight - first, I haven't yet got in to the rhythm of training on Wednesdays, not Thursdays, so I'm on edge feeling like I've forgotten to do something important. Secondly the wireless card in my computer seems to have an intermittant fault and every few minutes I lose my internet connection which is very annoying. Working hard on cultivating a zen-like attitude about it, but obviously buddhism was dreamt up before the challenges of IT.

So a short post tonight - a few new faces at the Derby Wednesday last night and also quite a few of last week's punters back for more, which is a good sign. Still a way to go to build the class up to a decent size though. Chatted to one of the guys afterwards for a few minutes, he's been doing various martial arts for a while and was keen to talk, especially about Wing Chun. Perhaps I'll suggest to D that we try one of the simpler 2-person wing chun drills out in the near future.

Ball of Contusions...

2010-03-16T21:55:00.006Z

...that what my arms are today.

Serious scrapping at kickboxing last night without any pads, and today I've felt the need to explain to everyone at work that no, I'm not a victim of domestic abuse, and that you should have seen the other guy.

Maybe I need one of these?

Now this I can just about comprehend, although it's really not the type of training I'm into;

Whereas this is really just madness, isn't it?

Coming soon to a zoo near you

2010-03-13T17:57:00.006Z

Two good kids classes again this morning. Having some of the bigger lads there is really helping the little ones class have a bit more structure, and with the older ones I got to go over some of the adult's syllabus with the higher grades who have started crossing over into learning that.

It looks like we're going to start adding some new stuff into the kid's syllabus after the grading at the end of the month - forms and 2 person sets from the 5 animals style. That will be new for me, so I'm looking forward to it.

Good training session with T afterwards, too - some more of the stick set I'm learning, butterfly knives, char chuan and then pretty much all the 2 person sets in the syllabus. I expect I'll be covered in bruises tomorrow.

The only bad news is it looks like various family and other social things are conspiring through April and early May to make it unlikely I'm going to get to a Master Wu seminar even though I'd decided I was willing to travel down to Southampton or Bristol for the opportunity :-(

First Night

2010-03-12T19:39:00.004Z

Wednesday night finally saw the start of our Derby venture, with a kung fu class followed by Tai Chi. Not as many people as I'd hoped, but enough that it wasn't embarrassing. Hopefully word of mouth will spread and more will start coming along soon. Possibly a good sign - today somebody I haven't talked to for ages called me at work to ask if it was me in the poster he'd seen - so at least people are noticing the advertising!

A little odd to be doing kung fu with D again as it's a good few years since he used to be my teacher and he was looking to me at several points in the class to check he was doing OK and keeping it at the right level as it's a long time since he's taught a beginners class.

I'll need to try to keep the differences between his emphasis/technique and T's clear in my mind to make sure I don't start mixing them up, which may be a bit of a challenge.

Feint / Faint

2010-03-09T22:17:00.004Z

One of the kickboxers fainted fairly spectacularly last night during some structured sparring drills! My first thought was that she'd taken a kick to the head (not from me, I hasten to add!), but it turns out that it was probably because she'd skipped lunch and the room was quite hot (despite sub-zero temperatures outside). She was OK after a brief rest and some sports drink, and joined in happily - hope it hasn't put her off too much.

I was happy with the quality of my sparring in both kickboxing and kung fu, my kicks are definitely improving and becoming quite difficult to handle I think...and I managed to survive both sessions without aggravating my finger again, which is a bonus. I'm not convinced it will ever properly mend though, I think it's just something I'm going to have to live with/adapt to.

After the classes T, me and N went through the Wing Chun Butterfly Knives and then the new stick set I'm starting to learn. The knives sets are starting to re-surface in my memory, but that probably just means that something else is being moved to deep storage to make room for them...

New sparring gloves (pink, of course!) arrived for my eldest in today's post, so a bit of impromptu practice before tea ensued. Younger one also tried them. It still amazes me how hard she can punch - she seems to just naturally have fantastic technique.

Bartitsu and the JiuJitsuffragettes

2010-03-06T18:12:00.009Z

My legs were like lead in this morning's kids classes, I don't think I warmed up properly until we'd been going for about 2 hours - obviously a week off on a business trip hasn't done me much good.

We've decided to have a grading in 3 weeks time, for the kids, the kick-boxers and the lower kung fu grades. Getting these disparate groups together and grading them all within a 3 hour period will be a bit of a challenge - T and I need to figure out a plan, particularly regarding what to do with the littler kids who don't know much of the syllabus yet (and also have a short attention span!)

Went through plenty of wing chun 2-person drills again today after the kids had gone, culminating in some wing chun sparring, which I really enjoy. Then I started learning a new single person form using a stick, just the first few moves today but it's nice to have something new to work on.

Whilst searching for a suitable picture of stick fighting, I came across this, which appears to be an old form of mixed martial arts for the victorian/edwardian gentlemen.

After the class T was pondering whether to incorporate more of the 5-animal forms into the kids syllabus instead of the more modern wushu forms we do at the moment...I'd like it if it did go that way as eventually I'd get to do a sai set which I've always wanted to learn.

The bad news is that it looks like Master Wu isn't going to make it up to Nottingham on his brief UK tour next month. So if I want to do one of the seminars it looks like a trip to Southampton or Bristol will be needed.

Conditioning

2010-02-28T21:17:00.010Z

Busy kids classes on Saturday. T has decided to recruit a couple of the early teens from the second class to help out in the little ones class earlier on. This seems like a good move as it allows us to delegate stuff like holding the kick pads to them so that we can circulate and help the little ones work on technique. It also seems to have fostered a more responsible attitude in the two older kids which then paid off in their class when they're with their peers.

After the class T was keen to go through the new stuff he'd picked up the day before at the headquarters, so we spent a good hour-and-a-half going through bits and pieces - some corrections to the choy li fut 2-person set (which is called "Crane teases Tiger" apparently) and then a host of new wing chun drills including some arm toughening / conditioning ones. Some of the 2-person stuff was quite tough to do for me with a bigger and heavier opponent, which was making me focus really hard on my chi sao and using whole body technique rather than just using my arms - it was the only way to prevent being completely overwhelmed. Most of my body is aching today, so I must have been working hard. I feel like I have made something of an improvement in my wing chun technique of late, and I'd really like to do the conditioning drills with someone every day to really build on my improvements... chance would be a fine thing. Maybe I'll have to build myself a mook jong?

Spent some time with D today discussing the Derby classes, what my longer-term teaching ambitions are and picking up the leaflets and posters for me to distribute - mostly around work to start with. Unfortunately I won't have a lot of time for advertising because I'm off on a 4 day work trip overseas this week which promises to be fairly hostile and unpleasant. (And it means missing 4 classes!)

Last Thursday

2010-02-26T19:58:00.007Z

Neck felt good enough to go to training last night, and since it was the last opportunity I'll have to go to a Thursday kung fu/tai chi combo for a while, I decided to strap up my fingers to protect my painful knuckle and go along to see how I felt.

Last residues of stiffness in my neck disappeared once I'd warmed up and I had a good class, other than the fact that we focussed quite a bit on mantis, where it's quite tricky to get the requisite "hook" hand shape when your fingers are taped together. After kung fu first D came up from tai chi to get my help with a section of char chuan he'd forgotten, then I had a good chat with one of the intermediate guys about plateauing in training and having to work through it to start seeing more improvement.

In Tai chi we worked on the Yang Long form, then some chen and some mi cheong, which I haven't done for ages, but D helped me revise the opening few moves which I've always found particularly tricky. D wanted to talk about me becoming a proper instructor, he wants us plan out my "development", start applying for my CRB checks, getting my first aid qualifications and so on....

Off to the pub afterwards with a couple of the guys because it will be a while before I get the opportunity again, given that I'm going to have to (at least temporarily) give up Thursday's for a while to concentrate on the Wednesday night classes we're starting up in Derby. I'll particularly miss the tai chi guys, since I get to see most of the kung fu lot on either Monday or Saturday at the other classes.

Totaliser

2010-02-20T11:45:00.002Z

Just 3 miles run this week before being struck down with my neck injury which means it could be a couple of weeks before I get out again....no martial arts for a bit either I suspect. Slightly spaced out on painkillers and muscle relaxants/sleeping pills, so fighting would probably be a bad idea. Still, the anti-inflammatories seem to be doing my finger some good.

Oops!...I did it again

2010-02-15T22:52:00.002Z

Typing this with one hand 'cos I've probably re-broken my finger. Should have known better, it was still not fully recovered from last time but I got a bit too into my sparring tonight and managed to suffer almost exactly the same injury as last time. Currently it's wrapped in an ice pack to try to reduce the swelling a bit, who knows what it will be like in the morning.

Year of the Tiger

2010-02-13T21:48:00.003Z

Resisting the obvious Survivor link, a different Tiger song to celebrate the Chinese New Year

Catch Up

2010-02-13T21:27:00.004Z

For some reason I don't seem to have got around to blogging much this week - must be overwork I guess, lots of unusual distractions in addition to the usual day job.Training as usual Monday, Thursday and Saturday.

Highlights include my sparring on Thursday, which was pretty good for once, and practice with T after the kids classes today, where we went through quite a bit of stuff and had a good discussion about how things might shape up when I start to branch out on my own in Derby.

Low light was Wu-style pushing hands in Tai Chi on Thursday, which made me have a minor freak-out, as I'm never very comfortable with that particular routine - it seems to involve far to much intrusion into my personal space before taking any kind of defensive action, and for some

reason this week it was just more than I could allow and so I couldn't let it happen properly. Very relieved when D spotted my discomfort and gave me something else to do instead.

Acrobatics

2010-02-07T17:25:00.007Z

Kids Kung Fu on Saturday and T was concentrating on gymnastics/acrobatic stuff, which most of the kids really enjoy. Fun with forward and backward rolls, working up to some diving forward rolls over a stick for the better ones. But I was surprised at how few of them can do handstands against a wall or bridges ("crabs" as we would have called them). When I was eight or nine most of my playtimes at school were spent practising handstands and walk-overs. Maybe we'll work on some cartwheels next week, in preparation for one of the adult forms we do that involves cartwheeling out of a throw?

Looking for a piccie to go with this I came across this sculpture, which I rather like - it captures something of the joy of being upside down....

Apparently this is Handstanding by Martin Heron somewhere in Ipswich. I might look it up next time I'm over in Suffolk.

Dizzy

2010-02-05T19:49:00.003Z

I read on the BBC earlier this week that the first week of February is the top week in the year for people to be off work ill - either genuinely or spuriously. And this Thursday's Kung Fu was certainly the smallest for a while. Not that that's a bad thing from my point of view, as I tend to get to work on the intermediate and advanced stuff a bit more when it's quiet - choy li fut and some bokken work.

We also worked on some more difficult kicks, particularly the jumping spinning inward crescent kick. I can actually do it reasonably well now, but when we have to do repeated ones down the length of the hall (about 5 or 6 kicks in a row, which amounts to a dozen high speed spins without pausing) I get so incredibly dizzy it's as if I've done that thing you see on "hilarious" home videos where people put their forehead on a broom and run round in circles, then stagger about a lot and fall over....I didn't actually fall down, but I was having distinct trouble walking in a straight line when going back to the other end of the hall.

Tai chi was yang style to the left, Hsing-I drills and living pole. D said we were nearly at the end of it but in my recollection we're less than a quarter of the way through it - so he must be planning on teaching it in discrete chunks. More photos at the end for the publicity - damn paparazzi!

Slight Change

2010-02-05T19:47:00.003Z

Since I can't think of anything at all interesting, profound or amusing to say about my running I've decided just to post once a week a tally of miles clocked up, purely so I can total it up at the end of the year

So this week, two runs, one 3-miler and one 2.5miles

Lacking the Killer Instinct

2010-02-02T21:12:00.004Z

Two big classes again on Monday night, with all our newbies back for more.

Sat out the sparring because I was feeling a bit light headed (I think because I managed to miss lunch due to over-running meetings, and I don't have dinner 'til after the classes, so a bit short on calories after 2 back-to-back sessions).

Also sitting it out was one of the women who has been coming for about 6 months now and still has something of a mental block about sparring. We had quite a good discussion about why she finds it difficult. It comes down to being so imprinted with nice middle-class values that it seems awfully impolite to try to hit someone and thus it has to be done in a lighthearted manner...but if you don't take it seriously, you'll get soundly trounced by your opponent, which can be quite unpleasant. I've had to work through the same "issues" myself and I've probably still got some way to go. My problem now is finding the balance between taking it too lightly and taking it way too seriously. Still searching for that just seriously enough...

Windchill

2010-01-31T17:55:00.003Z

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

2010-01-30T18:00:00.002Z

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

2010-01-30T17:47:00.003Z

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

2010-01-27T21:45:00.002Z

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

2010-01-27T21:33:00.004Z

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

2010-01-24T15:08:00.011Z

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.