time enough

i was so bummed to hear that one of our senior brothers, heng chi'eh, taught class last night in sifu's absence & that i missed it! he is such a great guy to be around! his kung fu is awesome! i had the pleasure of hanging out with him during the demolition phase of our new temple construction. he took out walls with his palm strikes & rapid kicks. i tried this myself & let me tell you: owwie! it was such fun talking to him. great vibe from this guy. i heard it was a great class with lots of jumps & new variations of training & stretching. best of all, as quan tuo related, he wished everyone testing for the first time good luck & advised that we relax, do our best & have a great time!
sifu is away with his family for spring break (word has it) so i am hoping that on thursday, heng chi'eh will teach again! plus it would be nice to see him.

my new black feiyues have arrived! they look a lot sportier than the white ones we use at temple. i think the top part may last a lot longer! the tops of mine are breaking apart, finally. it's like a badge of honour - to wear your shoes out from training! - i think it's a better measure than ripping your uniform which can be caused by or a result of a host of other things! i bought black feiyues for both quan tuo & i as early presents for testing (THIS SATURDAY!). if they are comfy & fit correctly (mine seem a bit larger than i thought but then again i am not wearing socks at the moment), we will order another pair to use outside of temple. street gear. they are also known as WUSHU shoes. they are shaolin kung fu shoes, baby!

another present i got us is a book on WING CHUN Dummy Techniques & Application. It's no surprise, really. I rather enjoyed all the grappling & strikes i learned in ZUJITSU with master chaka zulu & sensei lutak. since we don't actually have a dummy at home, not that quan tuo couldn't make one but the likelihood of his making one next week is slim, we can use each other to practice. i think it will be good fun. learning something & being able to practice it with control is paramount to really utilizing a move well. somehow we'll have to incorporate that. more chi!

it's been a week since i trained last thursday. i think i am atrophying! [is that even a word?] my sportier friends say it takes 2 weeks for the muscles to, not so much atrophy but, lose composition & to forget (think muscle memory). it's not as if i am not walking around with the boyos or doing other physical activities, it's just not as aerobically demanding as training. just the amount of stairs i climb daily in the commute & to the flat, is a lot. we are just used to it, of course, since most of it is a necessity. i need to stretch tonight. quan tuo promised to help me sharpen up my chuji quantao. still some corrections needed. those cursed arms! higher! higher!!

had a great time hanging out with my girlfriend rosa yesterday in the hood. it had been a long while since we have had time to hang out. strange that our schedules have been so jammed packed. it was soo good to catch up.

i don't feel like my schedule has changed all that much even if it really has. training is usually 3 days week. that's 2 nights & 1 day less than i had before. i suppose it is because i enjoy training so much that i don't feel the loss of time. i do miss the lacksidaisical weekend mornings with my dogs. but i make up for these in spades with other walks, playing & romping about. to my friends, it is much more apparent & controversial. [here another benefit of dog's not speaking]. as much as they are happy i love training & everything associated with it, they notice that i am not around more & they mention it.

but like i was just saying, i feel like i have so much time or that my availability is still pretty abundant. perhaps it's just perspective. then again, not everyone can hang out or meet up on my free days. really, it isn't all about me.

it's all about balance. i firmly believe that i can: spend time with my dogs, train, hang out with friends, chill with my cousins, write, have time with quan tuo in & out of the house, read, have dinner parties, see my dog owner friends, blog, work to afford all this & more.

one thing that has fallen off has been my reading habit. let's just say, i an not in the mood to read anything involving. perhaps it's just that i have nothing great to read. i am a typically a voracious reader. no silly new york times best sellers for this girl. the last thing i read & loved was ZORBA THE GREEK. i hope to run into something that will tickle my interest again soon.

time enough for everything. MORE CHI!