April 10th - Eleven Weeks

A Market in Wang Zhuang 王庄

Morning Thoughts ⛅

My thoughts this morning are not about how peaceful it is outside or how quiet the school is in the early morning; they are about how recently I've been a bit lazier on my training and what my "training goals" are. I think this because another grading is next week so I have to hone my skills in so that the masters see improvement.  I have a selection of forms that I can use to train my basics and I've learned many exercises to train my basics as well, I just have to do them instead of thinking about them.

Sour Hot Noodles, one of my favorite dishes in China（三鲜酸辣粉)

• 长拳初级三路
• 少林通背拳
• 集体拳
• 少林梅花单刀
• 五步拳
• 连环拳
• 八极拳-小家

That is a good amount of forms that I know I haven't grasped or mastered yet. Seeing them all written down makes me feel good about what I have learned while I'm here but learning a little bit about a lot of things isn't as good as learning a lot about a few things. Since I will be here for a bit I want to really perform these to the best of my potential, which is something Master Peng talked to us about on Tuesday. [Rough Translation]

"Everybody has the potential to do many things and there are many ways to reach your potential. Some can push themselves and reach their potential by themselves while others need someone to push them forward beyond what they think is possible. Doing it by yourself is slower where having someone push you is quicker but if you don't do either method then you won't reach your potential."

-彭二郎，彭教练

An intersection of Wang Zhuang

Evening Thoughts 🌝

This day of training was relaxing and tough at the same time. We had some crazy power stretching where we stretched our shoulders, back, arms and legs. Normally, we just do legs and shoulders but Master Peng wanted us to do more since it is getting closer and closer to summer. The back stretches were the most painful thing I've done in a while along with having Master Peng stretch my legs... both were very rough. Do you remember in Batman when Bane broke Batman's back? Yea, our back stretch was similar to that. Training went on into Forms where I just reviewed my Broadsword moves as well as my Long Fist Basics.

Alleyway of Wang Zhuang

After Lunch we were met with a surprise. Instead of our 10 km run that we normally do every Friday we were going to do power training because of the bad weather. Heading to the training hall through the wind we were soon told what we were going to do. It was a partner exercise... 10 sets of:

• 20 situps
• 10 situp stand ups
• 20 back ups (reverse sit ups?)

Then you had to carry your partner to the wall and back. It took a long time for me and my partner, Raja, to do all of that 10 times but we "powered" through it. I like the power training that we do here as it is very different than what power training would be like at home. Plus, we do workouts that I normally wouldn't do (like reverse sit ups) which end up working muscles that I definitely don't focus on with normal workouts. These power trainings also give a different kind of struggle. Some days it is the normal tired and sore muscles, other days it is mental exhaustion, and on a few occasions it is the combination of both.

Alleyway of Wang Zhuang

In Conclusion...

This week flew by quickly with a lot of good training and enjoyable moments with the other students here. The masters are now mentioning the upcoming grading so things will be picking up in the next few days. I know that I'll be spending my weekend reviewing my forms in the training hall so that I'm prepared and confident.

What will all of you be doing this weekend?

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Note: These Village Pictures are from exploring Wang Zhuang with JD and Matt on April, 5th