taste that bitterness! just kidding! i was bumped off to "practice" fanyao & for the first time i didn't get "that" dizzy. although i can only do fanyao so much before the spins kick in. of the photos on the left, it is the 2nd from the top on the right. sifu was cutting everyone left & right leaving only 8 people to do the forms (quan tuo being one of them). the rest of the 30+ had to practice what they got pulled off for & then some. it was a fast class & being on the "side", we decided to do one line then walk back up the wood path. we could have actually done two lines & if sifu is going to continue doing this & i am sent back, i will make 2 lines so that we don't have to wait too too long to get our turn on the carpet. you cool off too much waiting. i didn't learn anything new but i did get a "beautiful" from sifu on my lunbi caijiao, now that i am popping & practically doing the limbo. his words can make you happy or tear you down in a sec if you let it. good stretch with qbertplaya & heng mo, we practiced shaolin inches which meant we stretched further than we originally wanted to. i love the 3 man stretch.
there was a new girl yesterday & although she said she's studied shaolin before in DC, she was completely overwhelmed. i actually went up to sifu to tell him she wasn't looking too good so he had her rest. i remember feeling like that. it happens here & there these days, usually starting with a cramp or me not being able to catch my breath. but we train wisely & monitor ourselves as best as we can. we also train harder so we have to know ourselves. sifu says that often: know yourself, master yourself. it's everyday, not just at training but in life.
a lovely group went to thai food after training. for the first time in a long time everyone had soup. albeit qbertplaya had #7 & me #5. most had #1 soup. #1 soup is the soup of choice - it is basically a combination of beef soup including tendons & tripe. it is a lot of soup & meat. very hearty. a tad too hearty for me. i really like the broth & some noodles & some of the meat but overall it's much too much for me. we had fun conversations & lots of laughs. our after training meals do not disappoint.
quan tuo, billy of the vipers & i went to a local bar in our hood thereafter. the place looked like someone's basement rec room complete with pool table, only a small selection of spirits & a fridge like cabinet for beers. also billy idol was on the jukebox, rebel yell kind of fun. they talked level 2 a bit. i feel priviledged to be around such chatter & to learn about new upcoming (when i get to level 2) moves. quan tuo was actually cautioned by heng li not to show level 1 folks level 2 moves. too late! i am learning by osmossis & maybe one of these days by practice. great stuff but there is always room for improvement in level 1 too!
more shaolin related fun this weekend. i hope we can train both days. our brother heng jian is having a small group over for his fantastic pesto at his place (formerly quan tuo's) so that should be great. also we may pop in on hannah's bday dance party. i have been meaning to go dancing for far too long! kung fu & dancing are cut from the same mold.
shaolin fun isn't the only kind of fun - other activities include a reunion of the old dogrun guard (fri), brunch with my bloodbrother stavros (sat) & bbq in LIC (sun). ah the good times never cease & for that MORE CHI! TRAIN HARDER!
