October 26th - I Need to Practice

 

Monday and I'm back to training for my last week. I ran four kilometers this morning because I wanted to be warmed up when I got back. Basics and more Jian practice filled my morning.  Master Bao taught me some Wushu combinations and told me that I'm still too stiff. He explained two things to me that could get me to the "next level" of Kung Fu.

1) The way I use force (发力) is too stiff. I need to be relaxed and at the last moment stiffen the whole body. When doing forms and combinations you should be relaxed, stiff, relaxed, stiff. Following this method your forms will look better and you'll be able to save energy. Relaxed doesn't mean slow. Master Bao said relaxed means your muscles and whole body is "soft".

2) When doing jumps I need to be able to control myself in the air. You want to land lightly on the ground after the jump. Also, you want to be able to "stop" in the air when doing a jumping move (ie, tornado kick, single leg kick etc). With this control, stop, and lightly landing your jumps will look nice and won't use much energy. (Coach Qi told me I need to work on my five basic jumps a lot more)

After getting back into the routine my weekend of laziness, I realized that I really do need to train every single day. My body is real stiff today from not stretching and my hip/groin hurts. This journey that I've gotten myself into is going to be a long one. I tried reviewing my previous forms and I realized that they are really rough. I remember Master Peng saying we've studied enough for one year and I honestly think he's right.

As far as my future plans go... I might be able to continue my Kung Fu Journey at a new Kung Fu School once the winter is over. 

But we will see.

First step in a long journey is almost over...