Invincible

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

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

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

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

And the moral of this story is....

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

Holiday Cover

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

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.