Almost March

It was fairly uneventful as all things go, but at the same time a lot of things happened. I guess that's one of the reasons I find blogging such a struggle is because I need some kind of starting point. We finished learning Ba Xian Jian (eight immortals sword) this week, which is exciting because I am curious to find out what will be next. I assume we won't be starting anything right away, we all need some time to absorb everything we've learned in the past few weeks. So this next week will probably be spent with a lot of review of the rest of our forms that we haven't drilled yet.

My body isn't too destroyed yet. This year while I was home, I brought back maybe one of the smartest things ever. A FOAM ROLLER! Yep, it's totally amazing, I didn't even know what I was missing. I am blessed with a family full of healers, and I have taken their suggestions to heart. Hopefully by the time 6 months has gone, my knee won't be excruciating, and I will have been able to keep the shin splints at bay. I have high hopes for my future here. *insert crazy cackle*

A few deep breaths

Since we had four days off for Chinese New Year, this week was a long one. Eight days later and I'm so physically exhausted walking up the stairs is an ordeal. I had a very productive week though and feel like I made some serious inroads into working through my forms. Shifu was away for a few days which gave us all some free time to work on our own.

I really noticed when I was training for the tournament in Huang Shan last year, how many movements from my forms get kind of glossed over while training in the group. I see the benefit in training as a group, it pushes you to work on your speed, and really keeps up the intensity of your training when you're just pushed along with the group drilling form after form. But I have also noticed, that over time, some small details get lost in the drive.

So I really tried to take advantage of my independence this week and go through the movements of each form consciously, thinking about the details in the arm motions and the timing of my stepping. I noticed that generally the forms that I'm more confident in, I have clearer understanding of my body and the coordination of my movements, whereas the forms that I feel less confident with, the more blurred my movements are. This gave me a great perspective on the forms I need to work on the most and where I'm most lacking in my training. All in all, great week.

Back at it!

Well, this is day 3 back to training. I'm sore. Every year I try to mentally prepare myself for this level of pain, but really it's not possible. There's just no way to smoothly transition from moderate activity to extreme amount of exercise in the allotted time. Which is pretty much none. The rule is once you're back from break you have to attend all classes.

This break was amazing. I've really learned to appreciate the comforts of home. Having friends and family that I can call on at any moment. The warmth and comfort of home. The food. Silent River. I know I have a somewhat skewed perspective considering I don't work while I'm home. But I've even learned to appreciate all of my free time. It sometimes seems like there's so many hours in a day that I can do anything I want to.

I'm looking forward to moving back home. Not because I don't love the training, but I'm just tired of China. I know lots of people that love it here, but I prefer a quieter life. One things for sure, it will be nice to not live in the same room as my sister for a while. Hahaha....