yiluquan

due to a late night of drinking & dinner, miscommunication & related tummy aches, i woke up too late to make training saturday. i still had to walk the boyos which i hate to curtail on the weekend so quan tuo went without me. i spent near 3 hours in the glorious morning at the park & around the hood with the dogs. man, they were tired! i did manage to do some stretching which is so needed.
the morning was just like being an episode on SESAME STREET - we ran into a whole bunch of friends we haven't seen in a while (some all winter). it's pretty nice when this happens. boyos are always happy to see friends - man or beast. it was nice to catch up with some folks & to see their actual bodies (away with the winter gear!) in the sunshine. it's funny how you forget what people really look like underneath the hats, coats & other protective gear. it's a sign of good things to come, i feel.
i spent the afternoon in chinatown for a bit supply shopping then tidying up the flat. i was just finishing brushing the boyos on the balcony when quan tuo came home. we had a nice afternoon nap though i must admit it wasn't well-deserved.
i made a rockin' dinner of spicy pork, artichokes & store-bought hand-wrapped prossiuto & mozzarella i added tomato, fresh oregano & rosemary & olive oil too. we watched y tu mama tambien (again for me) & that movie just tickles all your senses. it's a hell of a road trip film.
frankly, i hate to miss training & particularly because of waking up late. moreover, i hate to rob me & the boyos of our fun time together. i must actually get up when i wake up instead of laying about & falling back to sleep. the time change is actually quite conducive to this.

sunday i was all excited about training after the dog walk only to find out quan tuo wasn't feeling that great from overdoing it at training saturday. so i went to temple & trained hard! weekends are typically smaller classes & this one was no exception. sifu generally doesn't teach on sundays but he did yesterday & boy was it GO! GO! GO! the whole time. i have to laugh now when i hear sifu say "take your time" & "move it" in practically the same breath! he yelled to many of us, including me, on a host of things we were doing or not doing. i was sucking wind! smoking a lot the night before doesn't really help, dammit! but i managed to make it through the line completely switching from 3rd to 4th place (because one of my brothers is annoying & wants to be ahead for some moves & lag back for others - know your place, people!).
stretching was especially painful for some reason. it could be that i was being pushed down instead of bouncing to get lower. it could be that i was just wicked stiff!
when we practiced the form together as a group, sifu was pretty raw: physically adjusting people & asking us brusquely whether we are looking at the (imaginary) dolphins. he yelled to me: "look at the dolphins! they are dancing across the street!" of course all got the: "lower, go lower!" for the gongbu stance. i just kept trying to relax into it. i need a serious brush up on dingu, xiebu, zuopan & pubu stances. i know them but i want to make sure i have the transitions down since i am sure i will be expected to perform them for testing!
i was able to practice chuji quantao quite a bit. i clocked it - everyone on line (about 12) did their form in 6 minutes. this meant i did chuji quantao once very 6 minutes. pretty good. then sifu pulled me & another off the line & asked us to show him what we know of yiluquan. i didn't know any of it! sifu looked at me a tad suspiciously (or so i guiltily felt since he probably knows quan tuo teaches me!) thentold one of our brothers,michael, to teach me yiluquan. so cool! so i learned the first 8 moves which is frankly the same move but on both sides so that was a tad confusing! it's a much longer form than chuji quantao! but i am very happy. sifu thinks i am ready to learn it. yippee!
i had lunch with qbertplayer at pho na tran & poked around chinatown with her a bit. so fun. of course, after both the coca cola & then the vietnamese iced coffee i was all zippy! we even tried to check out this tai chi master our other brother the pushy monk told us about but to no avail! maybe i had the dates wrong?
finally i get back to the hood & learn that quan tuo, skarbakka & i are to meet at a park near my flat for more training. it was so lovely! the boyos ran around & i played with them in between practicing forms: chuji quantao, pubu chuanzhang lunbi zaquan & what i learned of yiluquan. quan tuo taught skarbakka the last 2 moves to erluquan (the 3rd form) & helped him sharpen his moves & transitions. we were out a bit over 2 hours (until it began to get chilly). i only got to practice a bit of my chuji quantao with quan tuo but i understand what i need to work on: those damned arms again!!! oh & i need to tuck my arse in more for mabu which is so brutal! so few actually do mabu correctly. i aim to be one of those. a dogowner friend came by with her dogs & actually got to see some of our kung fu which is always great! i have been inviting her & others to check the temple out! no better advertising!
the rest of the evening was mellow. made some pork sinigang & hard green mango, watched the simpsons. quan tuo & i stretched a bit too. we tried a new thing: one of us lay on the floor while the other stood above by the head. the one on the floor gripped the other's ankles & brought the legs, toes pointed, up then the other pushed it down fast. you aren't to let your feet touch the ground. 20 of these were murder!! the pain in my stomach was unbelievable! my hamstrings too are shot, i tell you! it's all good. i feel good today, just a bit achey. more chi!
managed to catch at least 1 episode (rebroadcasted at midnight) of planet earth that we have been looking so forward to. great stuff, nature is. it inspires me to travel & see these all close - up if ever possible.