Coming soon to a zoo near you

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 :-(

Feint / Faint

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.

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

The Mighty Atom Returns

My youngest made it back to kung fu today for the first time since she broke her arm. Just to be on the safe side I strapped up her wrist with some old kick-boxing hand-wraps I've got, which she was really chuffed about. I was concerned she would be a bit cautious and not try stuff out of fear it would hurt, but I needn't have worried - she was full on straight away!

After the kids classes T and I went through some stuff, working on the 2-person choy li fut set and the 2-person butterfly knives. Then T showed me some of the stuff he'd learnt on his trip down to Southampton last Friday - some good wing chun stuff. Also apparently he's discovered that the bokken vs pole that we've been trying hard to revise is in fact only half of the set - so lots more to work on there.

Not Dancing

Missed kickboxing tonight as had birthday presents to open and cake to eat with my newly-six year old. I did manage to make it to kung fu though, through a spectacular thunder storm.

Went through Siu Lim Tao with the beginners, including showing them a couple of the applications of the moves from the set, then through the basic pak sau kick drill. Then I got to teach the first half of the stick set to the yellows, giving them the same advice as I was given when I was first taught it - remember that you're not Morris Dancing with your opponent, you're trying to kill them. I think it sunk in because the set was looking quite purposeful by the end.

A little bit of sparring, wearing my mitts rather than my big gloves for a change, which was

good as it gave me more chance to practice the mantis-type hooks and grabs, and throw in a few finger strikes. Like at the end of Dumbo when he drops the magic feather, I seem to have finally realised that I can spar reasonably well even without my "lucky" pink gloves.

Afterwards I went over the Char Chuan again and then the two-person butterfly knives, which was not too bad given that it's a couple of months since we last did it.

Last Chance Thursday

Thursday was my last Kung Fu session before the grading at the weekend, so I was hoping to spend much of it revising the higher sashes stuff like choy li fut, wing chun pole and so on. That hope was quickly thwarted though by it turning out to be one of the biggest Thursday classes I can remember, with close to thirty there, including half a dozen from the kids class wanting one last practice before their grading on Saturday too. Also a couple of first-timers. So plenty to keep me busy. I did manage to briefly go through Biu Jeet and the knives after it was over though, along with the kids wushu pole set, which was very rusty!

Tai Chi was two-person sword, we got right to the end of it this week, with me actually making a useful contribution for a change, suggesting a small footwork subtlety to D when we were working together that he liked so much he taught it to everyone else. Then we did some Hsing I for the first time for an age, which was good. And a promise of more to come next week...

Future Rulers of the Earth

No, not the Wutan students, but the ants that have invaded the downstairs room where we train on Monday nights. Throughout the evening they were remorselessly ploughing back and forth, thankfully along the skirting board rather than across the centre of the hall. None of them seemed to be carrying any food (I got quite a close view of them whilst grovelling about on the floor during the stretches) but they all looked very busy. I find their "hive mind" somehow troubling. But maybe that just means I'm too wrapped up in my own ego and sense of self?

Good training tonight, a few new faces who seemed to enjoy themselves, including one guy who must have been at least 6'4" tall and presented something of a challenge to me during the kicking drills! Sticking with an insect theme, we did some Mantis drills, then I went through butterfly knives again at the end with T to try to consolidate, I think some of it is finally starting to sink in, but then again I've thought that before.

Good to be Back

Back to business tonight after a couple of weeks lay-off, reminding me just how much I love Kung Fu. Went through Chang Chuan quite a few times, then some 2 person stuff, including the new version of the basic wing chun throw with cat stance rather than mountain stance. I think I'm starting to find the new version easier, although you have to put it on pretty quickly for it to be effective.

After the rest of the class had gone I went through Li Pi with T a few times, then we did a lot of work on the Butterfly Knives, both single and 2 person. By the time we'd been through the 2 person set a few times we were really going at it, metal on metal making very impressive sound effects, I wish I knew whether it looked as cool as it sounded.

Down to Tai Chi and straight in to 2 person sword which is one of my favorites, so good stuff there too. The only bad news of the night is that Master Wu has postponed his visit to England and therefore there won't be a seminar/grading next weekend. Slightly mixed feelings about that because I wasn't sure I would be ready for the grading anyway, but it's definitely a shame about the seminars.

Must Try Harder

Just 5 including me and T at Kickboxing Monday night - cue a fairly intense hour of training including lots of elbow strikes and plenty of pad work. Discovered fairly early on that Sunday's run had left me with a bit of a groin strain, but gritted my teeth and worked through it.

Then Kung Fu, worked on Chum Ku and the Mantis 2-person set, then char chui 2 and the first stick set. During the sparring I was being so cautious because of Thursday's incident that I ended up getting hit by one of the beginners - there's a middle ground somewhere between passivity and attack that I need to find!

After the beginners had left worked on 2-person Butterfly Knives, Mantis 6-punch and Li Pi. It's starting to take some kind of shape I think - how long 'til my grading?