amituofo! for the first time in what seems like a long time (due to missing so much training & kung fu kindergarten), i made it all the way to forms yesterday & i even learned a bit more yiluquan! i got to temple with half a hour to go before class so there was time for the usual shaolin hair (pigtails & braids!) & movements to warm me up so i could stretch. sifu watched a bit of the gongbu pubu stretch i have been trying to work at more since quan tuo taught it to me. i helps square my shoulders to my hips (so needed). i was feeling more tight than tuesdays class & there was a pinch in my arse that i had to sort out!
when class started there was good chi but it was a small class. line drills went fast & sifu didn't yell at me. though everytime he spoke i shouted back yes sifu! i got that scared feeling when we hit yangshen yonshou but i opted to take it slower & it somewhat helped. i did chuji quantao with the group & that i haven't worked on in a while too!
the 3man stretch with heng mo & qbertplaya was great, am really trying to grab the outside of my foot & pull myself towards my legs without (much) help. the forward stretch still hurts like a mofo but i just have to remember to breathe! i moved all the way towards where sifu was sitting since he was talking to himself & to us & he was in a funny mood so it was entertaining.
then it was waibaitui & i tried desperately to command my jelly legs, then zhengtutui which for some reason always give me good chi! maybe it's because it's the end of the line drills & it's exciting to make it to the end. always. then the group did yiluquan & as usual i stopped at the point i was taught until though i could have easily mimicked incorrectly the next moves. i then went to the side & sat in mabu until they did it again & i joined for the same portion then headed back to mabu pose. of course i joined again for xiebu, pubu & zuopan though those movements tires me out so fast.
for forms i did chuji quantao over & over again at different speeds, with different emphasis, working on different specific transitions & trying for ever lower gongbus & mabus. good chi though. we had lots of fun in class. we did this for a straight 40 minutes at least!
then sifu came over & started asking where we were in the last form we learned & assigned teachers to individuals so i said sifu me too! so i worked with heng han on yiluquan & she taught me a few moves. she actually wanted to go further but i wanted to make sure i have the ones she taught me down pat (since i cannot remember the last time i got taught yiluquan at temple, even quan tuo hasn't been drilling me or teaching me more on that). i got to right before the first jump, the moves were very particular. i drilled it a few times & i've got it. i just need to practice more & han suggested that i: keep my arm straight (like in mabu), raise my knee higher before the kicks, go full gong-bu (sometimes in transition i don't square those hips) & that i look back where required (i forget to when focusing on the next move). had a bit of a duh! moment when doing the slap to xubu but i finally got it. it helps not to think too too much. so i practiced it back in line a few rotations before push ups, sit ups & back bends. for the first time ever that i have seen, sifu did all the moves with us in the middle of the carpet while we were spread around the wood floor. unlike us, sifu doesn't seem to sweat & therefore won't get the carpet all gross.
cleaning meditation was fun although i stepped on something sharp & had yelled out: OW mee toe foe! it was funny. we got a good crowd to train soup with us (14 people) including quan tuo who was sitting outside in our rental ride, the mustang convertible! righteous! i opted for actual rice & meat instead of soup but i did help quan tuo with his spicy broth! he was sweating eating it like we were in training! we drove qbertplaya & billy of the blue vipers home with the top down, it was so great on the brooklyn bridge & bqe! it was a tad chilly but we were all warm from training (soup & shaolin).
quan tuo & i chilled for a bit then we did some stretching. the front split stretch is so painful. so you go as low as you can into a split, in our case we had a table & chair to hold on to for support, then one of us would pull the front leg out slowly until you could take no more pain! we did a couple of reps of this, each of us, each leg. murder! then the zhengtutui stretch with foot twists keeping knees strainght, oh so painful but you must keep the hip down no matter what. more chi! forward bends, on your tippy toes practically, back straight as can be, loosening up the hips. gongbu & mabu also. i cannot tell you how much this helps! stretching is an integral part of training & it should be for life. i am not as sore as i should be or have been due to this stretching. also while you are assisting you can work different things like squatting low (to the floor if possible) & keeping the back straight, not to mention practicing control with the pulling or pushing so you don't hurt each other. quan tuo & i are our own stretch posse at the moment.
we will be missing heng zu's fruit vodka party in the hood tomorrow but we are off to lake george for cc & ss wedding in our spanking, rental ride! so fun! there are always shaolin parties & we have a beach outing planned for the following weekend right after training. shaolin on the beach baby!
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