Shoulder Rolls

One of the things I love about our training is the amount of time I get to spend in the open air. Yesterday because it was raining we were stuck training inside. So our coach decided that we should practice rolls, which was cool because I don't get much time to work on them, and I've never been super comfortable with my rolls.

I had an accident when I was younger, and besides a minor neck injury I came out fine physically, but mentally, well not so much. I was so afraid to fall, roll, and be thrown, or even throw another person. Yesterday was fun for me, because although my rolls are a little rusty, I realized that my mind has changed a lot. I'm much less afraid of injury in general. The interesting thing is that since I started training here, I've been injured so many times. And although the recovery period usually really sucks, my body's a lot heartier than I ever gave it credit for when I was younger. I just find ways to be more resourceful.

I also feel like in my time here that my self confidence has really improved. And considering the emotional strain I'm sometimes under, I'm glad that I've come out stronger. Of course I still have my confidence issues sometimes, but I always have, and now I can really see that I've made some changes for the better. Of course as I write this I feel like I'm tempting fate... We shall see.

The Mountain

I had a pretty great birthday weekend. Since Wednesday/Thursday is the time I have off, I went with some friends for a very long hike up the mountain. I'm not sure when the last time I've walked that far is. I can't think of a time I ever have. I'm not sure it exists, it seems so crazy. Myself and three friends left at 5am on Wednesday morning and arrived at the area with the cable car at 2pm. So it ended up being a good 9 hours of walking. Finishing off with a very large number of stairs. Of course that's including a few breaks for food and water, and a good foot soak in the very 'refreshing' stream.

My intention was to sleep at the cable car and climb to the peak the next day, but unfortunately, it was raining and I had a big blister on my foot. So I didn't make it to the peak, but I was pretty happy with the walk I had. The thing about China is, climbing a mountain basically means climbing what feels like a neverending staircase. It was beautiful though. I don't have any pictures because I don't have a camera, but I'm hoping to get some from my friends for a keepsake. All in all, a great time to be had. Welcome 29!

Yay April!

Well I missed my blog last week for the first time this year. Kind of a bummer, but I had a great holiday and I feel like a lot has happened since I wrote the last one.

Xi'an was awesome, I've been there before, but I had a great time just spending some time relaxing with my classmates. Some of my class members are pretty much already on their way out (heading back for university etc.) so it was nice to get the chance to spend some time together outside of training.

My calligraphy is going really great at the moment. Started moving on from the basic characters to a bit more cursive style which is challenging, therefore interesting.

I've learned a new guitar song including a solo which I've never tried to tackle before. Thanks to a friend from Israel, I've got a better understanding of reading tabs now too.

I've had to make some adjustments to my personal goals. I've unfortunately had to admit that I can't handle the 150 pushups a day. It's nothing to do with the time, or the discipline, but my body is just not recovering enough and I'm hurting myself. It got to the point where not just my shoulders hurt, but my elbows and wrists were also giving me problems before I had to face the facts that it's just too much for me.

I've decided to keep the number 150, but I'll throw some other exercises into the mix. Squats, calves and some glute exercises. I want to keep the practice of doing extra strength building stuff, so I'll just have to listen to my body. I don't want to spend the next 5 months recovering from injuries.

It's my 29th birthday in a week. I'm looking forward to spending next weekend hiking up to the mountain peak. Give me a sense of accomplishment on my birthday.

Vacation Time!

We're leaving on a trip tomorrow to Xi'an. I'm looking forward to it, and I'm also kind of looking forward to testing myself to see how I can keep up with my requirements. It will be pretty interesting to stay mindful of my training. I also hurt my wrist a little bit, so I'll be modifying some of my pushups. But anyways, I hope to come back feeling refreshed.

Trash

So living in a small Chinese town(city?) has it's pros and cons. As I think of things to do on my day off I'm always saying to myself "why don't they have more parks with grass and trees like at home?" Most of the areas in town where people congregate are just concrete and stone and I find them very uncomfortable and uninviting. In the past year or two they've finished renovating the temple that we train at. They've planted gardens and grass and all kinds of beautiful trees and now on the weekends there's literally hundreds of people who just want to spend some time outside. The people can be irritating when you're trying to train, but because there's not really any other parks, I've always understood the attraction of coming to the temple.

On Sunday we had the day off for our annual disciple ceremony. When we went back to the temple on Monday, I walked through the doors and I was shocked and disappointed. There was trash everywhere. It really brought down my spirits. I was thinking about littering and about how China in some ways is so far behind the West. But then I started thinking about it more and I realized that in so many ways we're no better. Just because we pick up our trash and put it in the bin doesn't make us smarter or more conscious consumers. At home, so often the mentality is out of sight out of mind, so once it's out of our garbage bins, people don't want to think about where it's going to. So many people don't think about taking their own bags to the grocery store, or how the things they're buying are packaged, or produced. Maybe it's better that you can see the garbage on the ground. Once in a while it might inspire a change of heart.

MoMo

I'm not normally the type that's a sucker for small children, but I've been completely sucked in by the cutest 4 year old Chinese boy. His name, as you can guess, is MoMo and he's ridiculously adorable. He's staying at the school with his mom and dad and has been training full time with the traditional Chinese kids' class. He's incredible coordinated for his age, but certainly more than a little spacey, so if you watch him in training he varies between being amazing and looking really silly staring off into the distance.

Funny story. I made him cry. Not just a little, but slightly hysterically. That cry where his face just crumpled and he slowly lost his composure. Boogers running out of his nose, while he's trying to eat his lunch and explain to his mom why he's so upset. So, I might have just very lightly scolded him for hitting our mangy kitchen cat on the head with a metal plate. But I think because there were a lot of people around he was very embarrassed and cried about it for at least 10 minutes. I don't know when I've ever felt that guilty. But my friend pointed out that it showed that he had a conscience, which was a good sign. Made me think even better of him. I was afraid he'd never speak to me again, but luckily he's 4 and has a short memory.

Next day, it's like we're the best of friends again. Although half the time I can't understand the things he says to me. The real kicker is that shy smile he gives. You all know the one. The cute shy kid that just looks at you and smiles but can barely contain themselves. It was his birthday on Wednesday and he gave everyone candy in class. Such a cutie. He makes me smile every day.

Break the Routine

This week was a great week in terms of keeping things fresh, not a great week though in terms of my goals. Again I really struggled to keep up with my numbers when my routine changed. On Saturday we went to a movie in they city, so that was fun and everything, but I didn't complete even half of my pushups and situps. Then two days later I was lucky enough to catch a cold that's been going around and so again, didn't complete my pushups. Pretty frustrating. But this is a new week, I can do better.