Pa Kua

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.

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......

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.

Forgotten Steps

Thursday night kung fu, I got to take the higher group initially and teach them the single person bokken drill. Then a bit of time with the beginners (mostly kids now) working on Char Chui 1.

Quite a few rounds of sparring which made a nice change.

Then a brief run through of Li Pi with T - all my problems solved just by the addition of a forgotten step in 2 places. I must write it down this time while it's fresh in my mind.

Went through bokken vs pole a few times with N, which was just as well because when we went down to Tai Chi D asked us to give a demonstration of it to the rest of the class. After that lots of time working on pole which is always fun, then the 2-person pa kua - starting to get quite reasonable I think, providing I'm paired up with someone who can keep their end up.

Grabbed D at the end to run through the first part of the Chen style that was getting a bit rusty. As we were leaving D asked me if I wanted to start going to the Southampton training days. I'm quite keen except it means using up lots of precious holiday days at work. I'll have to try to figure out how much I can spare.

Upper Class

Managed to get out at lunchtime and do some practice - quite an intense session with quite a bit of wing chun and a couple of more open forms.

Then Thursday night kung fu - I got to teach the senior students, first taking everyone through choy li fut, then splitting them up and rotating round the different groups. I think I handled it fairly well, the trickiest bit was teaching part of the biu jeet that's really hard to explain (although physically not the hardest part to do, strangely enough). Then afterwards more bokken vs pole with T, this time with me trying the pole part - quite tricky!

Down to tai chi, went through a small section of the sword in fine detail, then practised the

relevant applications. Went through the 2 person pa kua set too. D slipped in the promise of some revision of the tai chi fan in the near future which I'm looking forward to.

Normal Service is Resumed

T back from holidays so a "normal" Thursday training session today. I spent most of it with the beginners taking them through Sui Lim Tao and then the first 2 person set, glancing enviously at the choy li fut going on at the other end of the room. I have a bad feeling that the introduction of more kids into the Thursday session is going to mean I spend most weeks with the beginners. I hope not though, as I've always considered Thursday the day when I do training for me on the more advanced stuff, rather than as an instructor going over the basics - Mondays session is for that....

After the session D appeared and we went through Char Chuan a few times. He brings a slightly different flavour to it than T, which gave me a few things to think about. Then down to Tai Chi, and the long Yang form, which is slowly but surely getting better. I still have no idea what order things are going to happen in, but now at least I recognise each individual section. Spent a while chatting about the practicality of using Tai Chi in a real self-defense situation, then did some Pa Kua, in which I think I had a bit of a breakthrough moment on the latest 2 changes we've been learning. D is trying to organise a seminar with Master They later this year on Pa Kua, so I'm keen to get fairly solid on what I know so far.

Four Forms

Well, three short Yang forms (two right, one left) and one long Yang form. Also some mi chong, some pa kua, single and two person pole and a sneaky bit of char chuan. So although there was no kung fu this Thursday I still managed to get a fair bit of practice in.

Off to the big smoke for a few days so no more 'til next week though....

Self Help

Thursday night kung fu was in the small hall, and as it was pretty hot the floor wax had done its usual trick of going slightly tacky so that it was next to impossible to pivot on your feet, which cramped my style a little. After recovering from the rather disturbing images brought to mind when T opened a letter addressed to our club that turned out to be from the "How to look good naked" TV  programme asking if a bunch of us wanted to appear (presumably with no clothes on - we've decided to decline their kind offer) I taught some Chang Chuan to the yellow belts and then some kwok sau thay to the blues and above.

T had to leave on time but I stayed by myself for a while and went through all the single person empty hand forms I could remember.

Then Tai Chi. D is on holiday so N was notionally taking the class but in fact it was more of a collaborative effort / self help group for Pa Kua and Hsing I. Then because I was a free agent for the night (the rest of the family being up north visiting their granma) I went to the pub with a couple of the guys, which is a rare event indeed.

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....