We've started learning the 108 and well I must say it's definitely intense. Our Shifu gave us a bit of a lecture on Tai Ji that I found really interesting. He said that there's two ways to practice Tai Ji. One is for feeling, so for instance I would say the way people practice normally, working on fluid movement and continuous motion and learning to feel the chi in the movement.
He explained that the other way is to practice similarly to have fluid movement and continuous motion but also to have incredibly low stances. This builds up strength and flexibility together. He said that lifting weights and doing other things like push ups, sit ups, and squats etc., make your body strong but also tend to make your tendons and ligaments stiff. He said practicing Tai Ji with stances as low and as wide as possible helps build up what he calls elastic power. So it's not just the power in your muscles but also improves the power in your tendons and ligaments helping to prevent future injury. He feels that this kind of practice is very important.
I'm not going to go so far as to say that I really like practicing Tai Ji in this fashion but I can see and feel the difference in my body already and it's only been a couple of weeks. I'm really looking forward to the improvement.
Sunday 31 October 2010
Wednesday 20 October 2010
Eating Meat
So I've broke my vegetarianism.
I'm a little sad about it I won't lie. I think I lasted... about 4 years. Not bad. The reasons I chose to become a vegetarian still exist and I still feel strongly about them so I do find myself feeling guilty at times. I read in a book called the thrive diet a lot about the acidity of meat and the fact that it's really hard for the body to digest and often times sits in your intestines for a undetermined amount of time (which I really hate to think about). There is also the environmental reasons behind my choice that are really the reasons that make me feel guilty. I just try to make decisions to eat little meat. Although the diet here isn't formed so largely of meat as it seems to be in the prairies of Alberta. Also the meat in China is not so commonly mass produced and farmed like it is at home. You're more likely to be eating beef or chicken from a local farm.
It's really difficult where we're living to keep a vegetarian diet and not be lacking in protein. If I was just living a regular life here and not training for 8 hours and some per day then I think it wouldn't be a problem. Eggs and tofu are not totally uncommon. But I also have been living at the school for over a year now and I have to say that not eating meat here is pretty brutal. There is very little variety in the vegetables cooked at the school and eating cabbage, beansprouts, and squash really loses it's appeal after some point. You would think, living in the country that invented a lot of meat supplements, that there would be a lot of options for meat replacement. But maybe it's because we're living in a smaller town that these things are not available. It's frustrating never the less.
My mom did make the point that once I return home I always have the option of going back to being vegetarian. The initial transition was pretty hard last time but there's so many more option for delicious vegetarian food, and I generally cook my own food a lot when I'm living at home I have more of a choice of the things I need to eat.
I'm a little sad about it I won't lie. I think I lasted... about 4 years. Not bad. The reasons I chose to become a vegetarian still exist and I still feel strongly about them so I do find myself feeling guilty at times. I read in a book called the thrive diet a lot about the acidity of meat and the fact that it's really hard for the body to digest and often times sits in your intestines for a undetermined amount of time (which I really hate to think about). There is also the environmental reasons behind my choice that are really the reasons that make me feel guilty. I just try to make decisions to eat little meat. Although the diet here isn't formed so largely of meat as it seems to be in the prairies of Alberta. Also the meat in China is not so commonly mass produced and farmed like it is at home. You're more likely to be eating beef or chicken from a local farm.
It's really difficult where we're living to keep a vegetarian diet and not be lacking in protein. If I was just living a regular life here and not training for 8 hours and some per day then I think it wouldn't be a problem. Eggs and tofu are not totally uncommon. But I also have been living at the school for over a year now and I have to say that not eating meat here is pretty brutal. There is very little variety in the vegetables cooked at the school and eating cabbage, beansprouts, and squash really loses it's appeal after some point. You would think, living in the country that invented a lot of meat supplements, that there would be a lot of options for meat replacement. But maybe it's because we're living in a smaller town that these things are not available. It's frustrating never the less.
My mom did make the point that once I return home I always have the option of going back to being vegetarian. The initial transition was pretty hard last time but there's so many more option for delicious vegetarian food, and I generally cook my own food a lot when I'm living at home I have more of a choice of the things I need to eat.
Sunday 17 October 2010
Another performance...
SO we just finished another performance with Jackie Chan which was pretty cool. We've spent the past week 'rehearsing' for our performance at the opening ceremony of the international wushu competition. Although I still do find it exciting to be in the presence of an amazing celebrity, I'm pretty much at my end of tolerance for dealing with Chinese culture. I've been swarmed by tourists asking to take pictures with me.
This morning we had to take a bus up the mountain to a temple at the top and do two more performances on the mountain. And once we were up there we found out that we would be doing the same thing for the next three days. I'm just exhausted by being a tourist attraction. I've never been in a situation like this before. How long do you let the government walk all over you before you have to draw the line somewhere? What options does a person really have in this situation?
This morning we had to take a bus up the mountain to a temple at the top and do two more performances on the mountain. And once we were up there we found out that we would be doing the same thing for the next three days. I'm just exhausted by being a tourist attraction. I've never been in a situation like this before. How long do you let the government walk all over you before you have to draw the line somewhere? What options does a person really have in this situation?
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