Monk Spade

Well we've started the Monk spade. I have to say it's the most physically demanding form yet... Generally our forms require a lot of physical endurance but this form feels like I have a bar bell I'm attempting to do kung fu with. A weird combo of 'pumping iron' and fluid motion. It's a pretty tricky combination for me.

A lot of the guys in our class are not struggling as much with the physicality of it as my sister and I, but I have faith. We've kept up with them thus far, this will just be a bit more of a slow run from the beginning and a fast sprint later on. Once we've built up some more of the upper body strength we'll be set. The trick with this weapon seems to be that you have to use your whole body together to get the coordination and flow. And being as I'm not so strong, I just have to use my whole body. So in this sense I'm a bit ahead of the game. I don't have enough arm strength to be using just my arms to swing it around my head.

This is me being positive about the whole situation. About half way through every class I'm hoping for rain, just so we can have a class off from practicing the monk spade. Our shifu has an interesting approach to training. We don't start off slow and work our way into building up the strength. He approaches with the attitude that the more you practice it the stronger you get. All I can say is that I hope tomorrow my arms have recovered a little. My poor triceps.

Halloween

This past 'weekend' was something pretty special at our school. Some of the foreign students decided to have a Halloween party for us and the Chinese students. I didn't have very high expectations, because usually our parties consist of some eating and some beer and tonnes of karaoke, which is fun, but gets a little old after a while.

Our kung fu brothers and sisters set up games for everyone, pumpkin carving, and trick or treating for the kids. My favourite part was the pumpkin carving. I was up to my elbows in pumpkin and winter melon(a giant, rock hard, green, squash-like vegetable that I carved) and it made me realize how rarely I use my creative genius. I'm not generally very artistic but I do love hands on projects. My friend Jake also wanted to dress as 'the crow' for his costume and he asked me to paint his face. I've never painted someone's face before but it was awesome. I, of course, dressed as a panda and had a great time playing games and dancing with my clothes stuffed with pillows.

I was very impressed with the organisation of this Halloween event. Generally, when we try to take on some kind of group project, it takes forever and it's an exercise in frustration trying to get everyone in the same place at the same time. And when we do, we're like a dysfunctional family, all talking over each other, while half of us are sitting around making jokes and not paying any attention to what's going on. It's amazing to me to see the difference in how we work together while training, and how we don't work together outside of class. But thanks to a few special individuals, this whole party really came together. It was a great opportunity for us foreigners to bond a little with the Chinese students also. It will be a tough party to top, but it was definitely an occasion to remember!