my temple

yesterday i wrapped up work & ran over to the temple to stretch & loosen the damned calves a bit. having missed tuesday class, i was in dire need to sweat a little, often it makes me feel much, much better! typically MWF evenings are L2 nights but there is an open session,immediately after the kid's class, where we can warm up & work out if we wish. these are the times when i feel like the temple is really mine (apart from during the demo/construction which was only completed because of the sweat & love of our kf brothers). although sifu always tells us that this is OUR temple, i have to say, it's moments i spend at temple when there are no classes or events that i really feel part of the USA Shaolin Temple. MORE CHI!

so, i called first which is good & proper then i showed up at the tail end of the kid's class (how i wish i learned shaolin as a kid, the flexibility my god!), changed & immediately started with ceshoufans. this gets the dizzies out of the way right away. ceshoufan on the other side, the weird side, isn't as fun as it was on the grass. but i had most of the floor to myself until other die-hards or as the gang says "kung fu dorks" arrived - quan tuo & richu - well in advance of their L2 class. their enthusiasm & energy is always great to have around. they are learning the first form in L2 so it's a treat for me to see. i then did a couple of chuji quantaos followed by yiluquan a few times. my cross-caijao is feeling a lot better, more pop! my poor achy lungs though! i am gonna die when i start learning erluquan since it's so damned long. train harder, lungs, more chi! i also took the time to work on my bent arms which sifu always calls my attention to. i need to get used to keeping them flexed, even hyperextended, until i get the hang of it. it's an endless thing for me. somehow sifu always notices when i am doing it. that man has eyes everywhere.
it's also nice to be there while sifu is relaxed & people come & visit. i left 12 minutes or so before L2, more of those students were just arriving & i did not want to be in the way. then i had a little pep in my step before walking the boyos & kayla for over 90 minutes around our new hood. i still had lots of energy last night when quan tuo arrived with delicious thai food for us.

with tom arriving any day now, i really feel that i should train as much as humanly possible. while tom is here, i will train yiluquan on the roofdeck since it doesn't require jumping around. i hate missing class for tom but what can i say? some people are blessed with a light tom & i am not. more chi! it will be nice to take advantage of these beautiful evenings too & let the dogs run around on the roofdeck while i practice. plus they can patrol.

shaolin in everything i do. that's really how i try to live my life. more chi! train harder!