Stick Together

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.

Conditioning

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!)

Dizzy

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!

Stick with it

Kids kung fu this morning, didn't feel much like going especially since my two were not around, but dragged myself down there anyway. Turned out to be not too bad - couple of new kids in the tinies class who were trying really hard and having lots of fun, then the new style combined over 8s class which was fairly well behaved.

Also D turned up to use a bit of the hall to practice his stuff because he struggles to get to the weeknight classes, which meant I got to spend a little bit of the time helping him with choy li fut.

Went through the start of nam chuan towards the end, which I'm keen to get sorted - it was actually the first kung fu form I learnt all those years ago (coming up for 10 years soon!) - I'd been doing some lightweight tai chi for a few weeks when someone persuaded me to go along to a seminar with the head of our school where I got thrown in at the deep end with nam chuan which is a very bold and energetic form, very unlike the internal stuff I was used to - but I was instantly hooked!

Didn't stay for too long afterwards because both T and I are still recovering from a virus, but did manage to revise the second stick set and the 2 person mantis set ("Mantis grasps Cicada"). Slowly but surely getting back into shape....

Crane Spreads Wings

More kids than ever on Thursday night, they're virtually outnumbering the adults now which gives a very different feel to the whole session. Trying to manage 2 groups doing siu lim tao and one doing chang chuan all at the same time was something of a challenge, but fortunately it didn't last too long and I then got to do the single person and two person choy li fut sets. After the class S, J and me went through biu jeet with T, then J and I went over it a couple more times. It's starting to feel quite powerful now for the main part, although there's still a couple of sections I need to work on some more.

Down to tai chi to find them playing "guess the application" with a section of the yang short form. I was able to contribute the Crane Spreads Wings throw that we've learnt in kung fu. Led through the pole a couple of times, then we did a lot of rows of Hsing-I "pi" practice with P.

After the class I had a long talk with D about whether his "Tai Chi on Prescription" class would be suitable for my little brother - sounds quite promising....

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.

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.

Cat Stance

We had the fire doors open in the training hall yesterday morning during the kids classes. Just after we'd started training a cute cat wandered in and sat to watch us for a while, much to the amusement of the kids. I was surprised it didn't run away- my own cat at home seems to freak out when I practise - generally he will hide behind some furniture for a while and then after he's screwed up his courage leap out and attack my ankles, almost always managing to draw blood!

My new training regime started yesterday too, so after the kids T and I did an hour and a half of training together, going over choy li fut, kwok sau thay, some throws and chum ku in detail. Lots of little subtleties for me to think about.

(I've resisted the lolcats for a long time, but today I have weakened. Let's call it a birthday treat)

Setting the Pace

Mainly Choy Li Fut in Kung Fu, which made a nice change, followed by trying to teach the "two step" bokken set, which initially filled me full of dread as I thought it was pretty sketchy, but actually turned out much better than I'd expected and even got a rare "good" out of T when we showed him what we'd learnt.

A scary stick drill paired up with T that put my knuckles in a lot of danger, then sparring with the padded sticks at the end. For some reason I am absolutely hopeless at stick sparring, I think it's partly that I feel constrained by the limited targets you're allowed to aim for and partly that you're not allowed to use your free hand to grab or block your opponents stick. If it were a real free-for-all I think I'd do better.

Arrived at Tai Chi just in time for D to ask me to lead through the short yang form while he observed. This is a first in Tai Chi, and although it wouldn't make me bat an eye-lid in kung fu, and although I've been doing the yang form for longer than anything else in martial arts, this filled me with fear/paranoia that I was going to get it wrong. Thankfully after the first few moves I managed to relax into it a bit and concentrate on my tan tien a little, so I think it wasn't too bad. It was however at a (relatively) fast pace as I was still a little hyper from kung fu, which was commented on as a bit of a change for most of the tai chi guys who tend to take it fairly sedately. (I wish I knew the long form well enough to try to go through it at a faster pace. I've heard that it can be done in around 10 minutes if you step it up a bit....).

After that I taught one of the new-comers to the advanced class a portion of the sword set (teaching is another first for me in tai chi), then we all went through some drills from "Living Pole" which I haven't done for a long time. Anyway, by the end of the night I was feeling a little more confident about my Tai Chi than I have done for a while.

Bo and Pi

Arrived early to Kung Fu to make sure I got chance to go through a bit of the Wing Chun Pole, for some reason I felt nervous about teaching it to the Tai Chi guys even though I think I could probably do that particular form in my sleep. Incredibly hot and sticky in the training hall as it was warm but rainy, everyone was fading fast, but still a good lesson. Plenty of Choy Li Fut and then a little work on Sui Lim Tao with a beginner, finishing off with some double stick work. I've been finding that much easier since doing the butterfly knives set.

After a little more Char Chuan, down to Tai Chi. Since D was away, he had asked R to take the class and me to help out by continuing with the pole set that the class are learning. Having dug a couple of make-shift poles out of my shed (including one that's actually a piece of electrical conduit - bringing traditional Wing Chun into the 21st century!), we had quite a room full and struggled a bit for space, but I think it went well generally. Then P took us through some Hsing I, practising the "metal, splitting" pi move. I think I made some progress on it, as by the end when we were paired up I was fairly effectively driving my partner back, which given the height/size difference is not too shoddy....

Where's it coming from?

I was full of energy for Thursday night's classes, literally bouncing around all over the place, even though it was hot as an oven in the training hall. Lots of Tiger Claw Zi Chi in the warm up, including the wushu warm up we sometimes do with the kids. Went through chang chuan with the yellow belts, then bokken with the greens. I was trying to watch the choy li fut out of the corner of my eye because there's quite a lot of fine tuning I think I could do with. Then it was those flying kicks again, this time I was a bit more sensible and managed not to hurt myself. T had to leave straight after the class, but I stayed for quite a while going through choy li fut 5 or 6 times, then char chuan more times than I can remember, starting to get a proper flow to it, it's the type of form that just makes me feel really happy when I do it... a feeling that's hard to explain to someone who's never felt it.

Then just to top things off, down to Tai Chi, where we started doing some pole (I should call it "bo" I think, but it's pole or staff to me), we're going to learn the Wing Chun set that I once won a medal at back when I was more competitive. The pole has to be my favorite weapon, so things are looking up.

The Comeback Kid

Despite finding breathing a bit of a challenge on occasions, I decided to venture to Kung Fu on Thursday night, thinking that the Dan Dien breathing and general "chi" cultivation would do me good. And sure enough after the first couple of minutes I was fine (although I seem to have pulled something in my left thigh - quite how I did that during my days on my sickbed I don't know).

Went over the first section of the Choy Li Fut Celebration set with the Orange sashes, then through some Wing Chun (Chum Ku) with the Blues. We were then supposed to go through some bokken/miao dao with the whole class, but T and I had brain fade at first and couldn't remeber which sequences were in which set until after the class had offically ended (although most people stayed on in the hope that we would recall it eventually). What is it with the bokken sets?

Arrived at Tai Chi just in time to go over a portion of the straight sword set that I've always been a bit rusty on. I really want to find an opportunity to practice the whole set in a vast space so that I can really do it justice. My garden isn't really quite big enough (not to mention I'd probably impale at least one of the kids), but I can't really do it in a park 'cos I'd probably get arrested....

After sword we did some more Hsing I, including a new two person drill for practising "pi". Woke up this morning to find my forearms covered in bruises, which hasn't happened for a long time.

Saturday

Three kids classes, and then, since I didn't have to dash off to take the eldest to swimming lessons since she was at ballet instead, T and I did about another hour of work on 2 person sets like Ee Sen Tee, 2 person Choy li fut, Kwok Sau Thay and Mantis 6-punch. So just the four hours practice...

T is keen for me to try harder in the two person work to kind of intimidate my opponent, that is to throw the punches/kicks so that they would actually make contact if they weren't blocked. I'm fine with that when I'm working with him, or one of the other senior students, but I'm reluctant to be too hard on the lower grades 'cos I'm afraid I might scare them off. At the same time I know that if I'm not testing them, they'll get into bad (and ineffective) habits. A fine balance needs to be struck.

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...

Blitzing It

Busy Monday, getting some of the kickboxers ready for their first grading this Saturday, then doing the same with the Kung Fu beginners, although they have a little longer to prepare. Then once they'd gone home went through lots of more advanced stuff with T, A and N to prepare for my own grading. In very rapid succession we went through two person Choy Li Fut, Ee Sen Tee, Biu Jeet and Li Pi. Having a bit of a crisis with Biu Jeet, the minor changes seem to make sense but I'm struggling with some of the bits that haven't changed! I'll need to go through it again on Thursday I think.

On Tuesday I came down with a really bad stomach bug, which made me worry I would be ill for the grading (and also made me slow in updating this blog) but now I think I'm on the mend, so should be OK for tomorrow's last chance to blitz stuff

Hurts so Good

Fast paced kick-boxing last night, working with R mostly which means I can punch and kick hard during the pad work - when I'm with one of the girls I always feel like I have to hold back a bit so I don't knock them over! T was being hard on me about getting my turning kicks right, making sure I'm turning my hip over properly. This means that by the end of the session my hips were aching, but in a good sort of way that I quite like really (is there something wrong with me to feel that way?) I also managed to trip myself up and fall over during some spinning kicks!

Then Kung Fu, tried to teach the yellow sashes some more Chang Chuan, the problem being that it was the bit that I struggle with myself nowadays because it starts the same as a section of Yang Fan Chuan and I always end up doing that instead 'cos I practise it much more often. I think I got it straight in the end though.

Sparring at the end, I'm enjoying it more and more lately. Paired up with the guy who knows Mok Gar Kung Fu and we gave each other a good fight I think, although I was a bit nervous because we weren't wearing gloves.

After the lesson I went through two-person choy li fut, mantis six-punch and the single person butterfly knives. Still lots to brush up on.

Rap it up - I'll take it

Thursday's Kung Fu - T introduced a new routine for doing stance work which was pretty good, similar to chang chuan really. Then I got to do single and 2-person pole with the purple sashes who'll be grading on it soon, and revise Choy Li Fut a few times, then Mi Chong. So basically all my favorite forms in one night! I also went through a two-person double sticks drill with the beginners, which is fun, and only got my knuckles rapped once.

One of the guys who use to train with another part of the school in Bath is going to show me his Double Sai form next week. I've always wanted to learn the Sai's, and didn't know that Wutan had a form for them, so there's something to look forward to for some point in the future, hopefully.

Downstairs to Tai Chi, managed to get a short break between which helps a lot, then short form to the left. Single person sword this week, learnt a few more moves, feeling quite comfortable with it this time (I should be as this must be about the fourth time I've been taught it). Double pushing hands to finish, which was difficult as always - not least because everyone else there is about a foot taller than me.