Wishlist

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...

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

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

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

End of Term Feeling

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

...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

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.