lean back some more

oh yangshen yunshou, the very bane of my existence! training was so hard last night, not just for me, either. everyone had to muster up more chi! first i realize that i left my feiyues on the windowsill at home & quan tuo had to come to temple earlier to bring them. then i got warmed up so fast & already my uniform was damp from sweat. people started to trickle in at half past but there were so few, a couple walked in with mere minutes to change, sign in & get in line. more chi! it was a small class & line drills went fast. i made it all the way to, you guessed it, yangshen yunshou, carefully avoiding sifu's eye when he called me out to practice on the side. the stretch was good, heng mo & i stretched with another newbie, to teach him the 3man stretch. right after, during the pidgeon stretch, nausea came at me in waves & i had to go splash my face because i thought i was going to hurl! but i kept going & once the 2nd half of class began, i felt better until sifu pulled me off again for bending my arm & had heng han work yangshen yunshou with me for an hour!

here is what heng han focused on with me: i need to lean back some more. this is very hard as it tweaks the lower back & frankly i feel like i am going to fall right over. the lean back & the higher kick go hand in had, along with watching your hand the whole time. she said the reason my arm bends is that it is overcompensating for my lack of back bend. she suggested some exercises that will help my back get used to what pains i am doing to it. my hip & groin area were in pain (especially since i am only doing one side right now) & suggested i stay light on my supporting foot for the pivot & to relieve the stress. holding the body up & not collapsing also relieves some pain. heng han did say i finish strong & have great balance so i have to just take things slowly. when it seemed like i was going to die (i was close) she asked if there was something else i can work on & when i told her sifu always sends me back for yangshen yunshou she said it's because he knows you can do it, otherwise he'd let me slide. thanks alot, sifu, for believing in me (i am choking on my own sarcasm here). frankly i am not sure how to take that right now. either way, more chi.

the passing thunderstorm was lovely & provided the temple with a much needed breeze (one) plus it invigorated us to keep going. it was cool out when we departed after push ups, sit ups, backbends (which helped me alot) & cleaning meditation.

soup with a small group was delightful. mostly we discussed the beach outing quan tuo, bill & i have been planning. looks like it will be a good bunch after training on saturday. i love kung fu on the beach & intend to have many more such outings this summer.

i think i have to work on getting zen during training. especially when the pain kicks in. turning the mind off completely is not an easy task by any means but i must practice further to go to that place where i can relax the body & the mind while performing these somewhat unusual movements with my body.

last but certainly not least is kung fu movie night on the usual first friday of the month & on the schedule is my favourite (i suggested this to sifu a while back!) shaolin master killer aka 36 chambers! it is gonna be great! must spread the word, spread the love, spread the chi! i really feel like the upstate temple will be in my lifetime!

amituofo!