Journal of Aaradia's MA Journey

LOL - Keep in mind that not all the workout time I log is high intensity. Sometimes it is, like when I am running through things in a formatting style. Sometimes it isn't. Like, often when working on kicks, I throw a few- think about my corrections and what could have gone better, throw another one, take a bit of time to think how to improve it, etc. Likewise, classes like Tai Sifu's class might some days be a faster pace, while other days he talks to us more about concepts, history, etc. It is not like I am doing a marathon style all out push the entire time I work out. Although some of my workout time - I am.

 

Monday, November 27, 2017 - Bummer! Unintended rest day! I was putting on some of my Kung Fu clothes under my work clothes on my last break at work. I looked at a bug bite on my left upper arm I had since doing yard work yesterday. It had been itching like crazy. I was shocked to see I had a huge red mark emanating from it! It was only the bite this morning. It was about 6 inches by 2 1/2 inches and bright red. I got all scared about flesh eating bacteria and MRSA and stuff like that. I decided I needed to go to Urgent Care right away. Called the school to cancel my private lesson and left work early. So, it isn't MRSA or anything that scary, but it is a bad reaction to the bug bite- quite possibly an infection. I am now on antibiotics and a cortisone cream for the itching. Also took a Benadryl at night for the itching.

Tuesday, November 28, 2017 - Arm is improved a lot, the red has faded in most of the area affected. Itching better most of the time. Although writing this late at night, it has been bad the last hour. The corisone cream isn't helping as much right now. Not sure what to make of it. The redness is still improved. I am about to take another Benadryl.

Anyways..........

6:30 - Golden Leopard vs Tiger two person practice with Mr. C. Stopped 5 minutes early because he was having some sort of leg cramp/ issue. But the practice went ok. One side is definitely better than the other. We are working on that.

6:55 - Solo practice. Ms. R could not make it to our regular Tuesday practice sessions tonight. Formal Exercise, Siu Moi Fa. Sup Ji Jit Fu, Small 5 Animal, stick, staff, spear, Butterfly knives and Broadsword forms. Memory was a little worse on Sup Ji Jit Fu and Small 5 animal. Worse than it has been for awhile. I think it was due to health stress and another stress going on in my life. Kicking practice. Yellow and Brown Sash 3rd Degree kicks. Most of this went very well. A few issues, particularly with the double and triple front kicks. Those are two where I have had balance issues. Still working on weightedness. Also turning my head and looking back properly and keeping my other leg's knee bent slightly without coming up. Still, I am definitely making improvements without a doubt right now. And that feels great! Also did wall bag form in the air. I could not access the wall bags at the time. And Tai Sifu wants us to also be able to do it in the air.

9:00 - School Closes

2 hours and 30 minutes

 

Wednesday, November 29, 2017 - Evening Shift/ Rest Day


Thursday, November 30, 2017 - This weeks just isn't turning out to be a heavy workout week.

6;30 - Last Half of TCC class

7:00 - Tai Sifu CLF class- well sort of- Tai Sifu had the full time instructor teach it. He had another commitment. It was a really great class, all full of drills and applications of common CLF moves. I am really happy we are doing more of this. I need it for sure. I am not happy with how I get confused in these drills sometimes. Anyways, I had a great partner and it was a really productive class.

One other interesting thing for me- probably won't make sense to non CLF people though. We drilled with the Sow Choi in our Lau Bun lineage. One hits with the first three middle knuckles with the palm towards the target instead of the more common first main knuckle with the fist turned over- back/ side of hand towards opponent. It is a fist like in a Cup Choi, but it is a Sow Choi. The instructor said we have these in our forms from the Lau Bun lineage at black to Senior black level. So while I had heard of this type of Sow Choi before, I actually think from Sifu Ben Gash on here first, I had not really done them before.

8:00 - Did some two person staff with Ms. M. Not a lot though. We ran through both sides several times, but we ended up chatting with a fellow student some too. I am still having to have us hit lightly with the staff, due to my thumb issues.

Then, I should have practiced kicks, but I was just not having a lot of energy. I don't know if it is fatigue from the antibiotics or just me being lazy. So I chatted with my two person partner.

9:00 - School closes

1 hour and 50 minutes


Friday, December 1, 2017 -

I was supposed to have a make up lesson for my missed Monday lesson, but my instructor was not well. So it was cancelled.

6:32 - Techniques practice with Ms. M and Ms. B. Formatting pace and style. I called it out. I took a stopwatch to make sure I called it out quickly enough. We finished at 7:18. That is about how long it should take to format through them all. All techniques.

7:18 - Golden leopard vs tiger practice with Ms. M and Ms. B. both Ms. M and I helping out Ms. B, who is new to the form. After that we did a few moves for TCC- Parting the wild horses mane and Brush Knee. Ms. M is starting TCC so wanted to run through these moves with us.

I am not sure when it ended, but I went to solo practice. TCC double fan. Fajing form. Still struggling with the sequence in a few places, I may be doing a few moves in the wrong order.

Kicking practice. Blue and Brown sash 1st degree kicks. This session was not as great as my last couple of kicking practices. Some kicks I am happy with how they are coming along, but a few I wasn't happy with. My slicing kick in particular was worse than usual. Not sure why.

8:57 - school closes. Ok, to tell the truth, I left three minutes early.

2 hours and 28 minutes

 

Saturday, December 2, 2017 -

Not a typical Saturday for training. It was the school's Xmas sale! There are usually seminars with this sale. As I mentioned in the "So there" thread, Tai Sifu decided there were not enough of the Lau Bun lineage sets in our curriculum before black sash level. So he taught one of what my GM calls the 8 Principal forms of CLF- the Cheong Kuen or Long Fist form. This is considered a "training form." A term I find misleading because all forms are training forms. But by this I think it means - not a flashy or particularly showy form. Lots of foundational moves repeated a lot. Not one to do in a tournament. Some people find these forms boring or redundant, but I LOVE the ones I have learned so far! I really do! This is a form I am completely enjoying.

We only learned the first half. It is over 200 moves long. But a lot of the moves are repeated. We got to about 1:05 into this clip. We are going to learn the rest of it in Tai Sifu's Thursday CLF class- along with application drills with moves from the form.

I feel really excited and inspired right now.


As for the sale, I bought some weapons that I will need for my next sash level. I bought a three section staff. They have to order it, but I got to pay for it at the sale price. And that is ok to wait as I don't need it yet. They don't keep them in stock because so few people get to the black sash level where you need them. I also bought a new thicker handled spear. At the next level we learn a two person form that is broadsword vs spear. Even though a wooden broadsword is used when practicing that form, it can still beat up a spear. I like my current spear, so I bought another one specifically to use for when I learn the two person form. I also bought a new staff. I like my current one, it is one of the first weapons I ever bought, but my Sifu said it is actually too short. So I bought a longer one.

I wanted to buy another two person staff as a back up. Mine is getting beat up. It has already been repaired once and is taped up. But none of the staffs were thick enough. Tai Sifu said they are looking to get some in stock. So I will have to wait for that one.

I also bought a new T-shirt for combatives classes. And some new chin guards. The Velcro on my current ones isn't very strong. I have to use painter's tape to keep it from getting detached in class. It is very annoying when I forget to put on the tape and it gets detached in the middle of class. It is also annoying for my partners when I have to stop and fix it or get the tape. Also, these ones are thinner. I like my other ones, but they are a bit too thick.

Also a couple of pins with my school logo and name on it.

Ok, I am not actually sure how long that seminar ran, but I think it was an hour.

1 hour

Sunday, December 3, 2017 - Rest day

Yeah, a super light workout week. I will make an extra effort to get in a heavier week next week!

(Restart of tracking) 2017
Week 5 - 7 hours and 48 minutes
Total = 63 hours and 50 minutes

 

Monday, December 4, 2017 -

6:35 - Warm up. Beginning of Longfist form we studied in the seminar last Saturday.

6:45 - Private lesson. Still details and corrections, but more and more a formatting style of lesson. When I run through something, if it is good enough that day to be considered a pass if it was during a black sash test, I will put a (p) after it. My instructor decides this. It does not mean it is perfect- oh heck no. But good enough to pass this test. And it doesn't mean I pass it for good. That is for each lesson. I might pass it one day, but not next lesson. However, when I show the consistency of passing it several weeks in a row, well that bodes well for me testing.

I am doing this from memory. I seem to have left my sheet in my car. I may need to make adjustments once I look at it.

Black sash kicks, black sash techniques (P). I have more power in my kicks, but they still are not consistently balanced enough. Also, I need to fix my return crane on some kicks to have it cover my center more.
Small 5 Animal,
Butterfly knives (p),
Golden Leopard vs Tiger solo. Augh,. I switched sides on the attacking side- had to stop in the middle and do the correct side! Was not good from that point on. My instructor talked about how if I messed up a sequence in a test and couldn't go on and had to re do a bit, the main thing was to NOT let that mess me up in the quality of it once restarting it. Hopefully, I won't make that mistake in the test, but I know how to deal with it if I do. She had me restart from the point where I messed up and I did better.
Brown sash 3rd degree kicks, brown sash 3rd degree techniques. Only thing keeping me from passing the techniques was I need more extension in my arms. Also, needed in several moves to mirror the animal fist with that same animal guard. So, Tiger claw guard when throwing a Fu Jow, etc. I had a regular guard hand.
Spear. Need more ging in my moves at the end. Also, bigger circles still! Also, Tai Sifu was in the area and saw the end and wants to go over a couple of things - mostly help me with the spin. He is going on vacation, so I am to ask him about it after Tai Sifu class in 2 weeks.

Still working on expansion and being into letting my mind not overthink things and feel the body connection more. When I do it, I can feel that - in the zone- sort of feeling and things are better. But it is so easy to get into my head. And when I am in my head too much, I don't do as well.

We are moving to longer lessons starting next week. I think the lesson ran a bit long.

7:55 estimate - geared up for Stick Fighting class.

8:00 - stick fighting class. We drilled on strategies to well, the instructor didn't call it this, but to set up and bait your opponent and then switch up the attack on them.

8:30 - did a bit of talking and then worked on brown sash 2nd degree kicks.

Also in this, I was asked if I wanted to be part of a group TCC performance of the double fan for the Chinese New Year Celebration. I was taught to always do things like this to put myself under pressure. That it helps one grow as a MAist, so I said yes.

9:00 - school closed. No instructor training where I could stay later tonight. They got the night off because most of them worked extra during the weekend. They set up for the sale Friday night, worked the sale on Saturday, and broke it down as well.

2 hours and 15 minutes

 

Tuesday, December 5, 2017 -

6;30 - Golden Leopard vs Tiger two person practice with Mr, C. Went well. Be careful what you ask for though. I needed a partner to get more conditioning of my arms and boy do I get it with him. My arms are banged up pretty good! Gonna need some Dit Da Jow tonight!

7:00 - Forms practice with Ms. R. This was only until 7:30, because she had a private lesson. We picked up again at 8:30. Other partner in this is injured and could not join us tonight. Small 5 animal and Sup Ji Jit Fu. On these, we did it slowly once and then full speed. Golden Leopard vs Tiger solo.

7:30 - solo practice. spear and butterfly knives. Kicking practice. Yellow and Brown sash 3rd degree kicks. Pretty good kicking session. As always not happy with some of them. But getting there.

8:30 - more practice with Ms. R. Siu Moi Fa, Broadsword, staff, stick, formal exercise. Overall my memory (re; not having sticking points in the forms) has been getting better since practicing the newer way. Shorter times with a form, but more frequently during the week. Tonight was a bit of a backslide. Had a lot of memory lapses and confusion. Not happy about this.

Also talked about some stuff relating to Black sash testing. Good insight as Ms, R is a long time black sash.

9:05ish - School closes.

2 hours and 35 minutes


Wednesday, December 6, 2017 - Evening shift/ Rest day

 

Thursday, December 7, 2017 -

6:30 - last half of TCC class

7:00 - Tai Sifu is on vacation, so no Tai Sifu CLF class. Met with Ms. M earlier for two person practice. Two person staff, Golden Leopard vs Tiger, 9 star. The KT tape I am using for my hands seems to he helping with my hand pain. I am pretty sure the reverberation from hitting staffs is one reason for my hand issues. So, we will see how it feels tomorrow, but I am pretty sure the taping has helped. We also did a couple of TCC moves- walking across the room doing them.

8:00 - solo practice. Some time chatting with Ms. M. Kicking practice. Green and blue sash kicks. Went good, but not great. Also, TCC double fan and Sup Ji Jit Fu.

9:00 - School closes

2 hours and 30 minutes

 

Friday, December 8, 2017 -

5:00 - Two person practice with Ms, M. 9 star, Golden Leopard vs Tiger and two person staff. Well, wasn't one of our better practice sessions. Some days are just like that.

6:00 - Weapon forms class - stick form.

6:30 - techniques practice with Ms. M and Ms. B. All techniques in a format style. Did it in 47 minutes- again that is the window of the desired time. Then we practiced Golden Leopard vs Tiger. Taking turns practicing with Ms. B- who is just learning it. Then we did a couple of TCC moves because Ms. M is just learning TCC.

7:50ish? Rough estimate- Solo practice. Sup Ji Jit Fu and Small 5 animal. Had a couple of memory issues with Sup Ji Jit Fu. I think I am just psyching myself out and that is why I am having the old memory issues come back. I know all the forms well. I just get in my head too much and start getting mind freezes. I will make a point to practice it more frequently during the weekly practices. Also kicking practice. Purple sash level kicks. Started to do black sash kicks, but ran out of time before school closed.

9:11 school closes. I spent some time chatting so...........

3 hours and 50 minutes

Oh and during my time chatting, I was told that our GM has a DVD of the form we are learning- starting with that seminar during the sale. The Long Fist form. I looked at my DVD collection and it turns out I had bought it years ago and forgot! Awesome! Super happy about that!

 

Saturday, December 9, 2017 - Normally a work day. But I had taken the day off in advance. Making sure I had the day off for the sale before knowing the date. Turned out the sale was last week, but I kept the day off as it had been approved. Why not?

11:15ish - Sparring class. REALLY annoyed with myself because I am pulling up to the school and I realize I forgot to put my knee braces on. So I had to go home and get them. That is why I was 15 minutes late to sparring class.

The class itself was fine. Tai Sifu is out of town, but one of my favorite instructors for sparring class taught it. He is our regular stick fighting instructor. Two things I was really happy about in our sparring matches. 1. I actually remembered to block head strikes! Feedback from a fellow student later was that I could have positioned my hand better, because I blocked some of my vision, which he took advantage of, but hey, just remembering to protect my head is a big deal! I will work on refining the position, but getting this ingrained in protecting myself is so important. 2. I saw openings for something I never saw before twice today. Elbows to the head. Now, this would not be legal in our sparring to make contact this way, but we can get within an inch to simulate it. Of course, with an elbow, I had to be really careful! I didn't try to get that close. But it was a new opening that I never saw before.

I am trying to get more creative in my sparring. setting up new openings, being less predictable. My best move is a power jab. Now I am trying to use it to set up my other hand in new ways than a jab, cross. So, it was a productive class. Really wish I hadn't been late though. I have to remember to put some in my bag right away, rather than leave them around my house after taking them off.

12:00 - push hands/ moving step class. Always a great class. Drilled what to do in fixed step when your opponent is using a lot of brute force in the opening circles and coming right at you after them. It was good because I actually have run into that at tournaments and in practice fairly regularly. Moving step was drilling how to create space from your opponent in a couple of types of close in underhooks. Also, something I particularly need to practice. In the moving step matches, I am seeing openings, but not able to pull them off. I remember this in developing sparring. Seeing the moves before being able to do them. So I see it as progress. Next step will hopefully be to pull them off sometimes.

1:00- rested and chatted way too long. A bit of rest is fine, but I got distracted from working out for too long. Some chatting is ok, but not too much.

2:00 ish- Did Golden Leopard vs Tiger in Mr. C's lesson again. Got good feedback and corrections. Then solo practice. What else? Kicking practice! Brown sash 1st degree, Black Sash, and a few problem kicks.

3:00 - School closes.

2 hours and 45 minutes

Sunday, December 10, 2017 - Rest day

(Restart of tracking) 2017
Week 6 - 13 hours and 55 minutes
Total = 77 hours and 45 minutes

 

Ah well, I stopped keeping up in this again for a few weeks. Let's see if I can be more consistent with the new year!

Monday, January 1, 2018 - New Year's Holiday- school closed. Rest day



Tuesday, January 2, 2018 -

6:30 - Golden Leopard vs Tiger two person practice with Mr. C. It's coming along quite nicely. One side is still stronger than the other side, which is normal in two person sets. But the second side is catching up.

7:00 - 9:00 Private CLF lesson. Yep, two hour lessons to prepare for my test. Formatting, although it isn't like past test formats, which had been confusing me. Anyways, we run through a bunch of the test. I am still - will always - get corrections. Sigh* I am trying to not let it stress me out. I know one always gets corrections, no matter what. But part of it has me feeling like I am not ready/ good enough for testing. Part of this test is the mental part, Overcoming feelings like this.

9:00 - School closes

2 hours and 30 minutes.



Wedneday, January 3, 2018 - Evening shift/ Rest day.



Thursday, January 4, 2018 -

6:30 - skipped last half of TCC class. Again due to upcoming test. I need all my time for that! Golden Leopard vs Tiger solo. And some Sup Ji Jit Fu.

7:00 - Tai Sifu CLF class. Although again it wasn't Tai Sifu teaching it. The full time instructor went over formal exercise in great minute detail. It was a good class.

8:00 - Mr. C Tournament Prep class. First one! So, Mr. C is my TCC instructor. And he started a tournament prep class. Other students can join, but it is mostly for his students. I get in there as his TCC student, although it is a CLF class. I am getting in on a technicality. He asked if I wanted to join and I was all gung ho! This tournament prep class idea was really something my CLF instructor started years ago. But she hasn't done it the last few years because she had so few students. So, it is nice to do this again. First class was him talking about the layout of the class the next couple of months. Then we worked on stances and stretches.

Thing is, I think I really have to skip the next couple of classes. Again until after I test. I really need every minute for that! I have to talk to him about it. I am sure he will be ok with it, considering the circumstances. And he knows I will be there every class after that.

9:00 - School closes

2 hours and 30 minutes.

 

Friday, January 5, 2018 -

3:45ish - Warm up

4:00 - 6:15ish? Two hour CLF lesson. Test formatting. Same as before. Went through lots of stuff and she wrote down corrections for me to focus on for the test. Near the end, I snapped a bit at another student. I am not proud of this. On the other hand, she sort of deserved it. I may start a separate thread about this, so I won't get into more detail here. She apologized afterwards and I did also, for losing my temper a bit. I think we are ok. Actually, my lesson ran longer than 6:00. Ms. M showed up near the end and my instructor wanted to see our two person stuff. Our golden Leopard vs tiger was not at its best. My partner thinks she is getting confused and out of sync because she is now practicing it with another partner too. I am so used to multiple partners and have done it with more partners and longer than she has. But I remember it used to take awhile longer to get used to new partners. That doesn't phase me nearly as much as it used to. She is not getting that experience under her belt. The rest was better.

Rested and recouped my brain a bit.

6:30 - 7:20ish? - Techniques practice with Ms. M and Ms. B. All techniques. It was hard. The formatting lesson had used up most of my energy- both physical and mental. Plus, I overdid it a bit and my right leg was feeling it. So, I did the right kicks softly and eased up on a few moves. I don't need to injure myself - not now!

7:20 - Golden Leopard vs Tiger two person practice with Ms. B. Ms. M watched. Then all two person forms practice with Ms. M. Rested some and chatted because I was SO TIRED! Not much in the gas tank. Didn't do kicks, even though I wanted to, because of my leg bugging me. Tried to practice this backwars summersault at the end of one technique I am having an issue with, but I just -my martial spirit failed me- I just couldn't. Did Sup Ji Jit Fu. I may have done some other forms practice too, but I can't remember.

9:00 - school closes.

Taking off a bit of time for resting..............I would say that made my workout about............

5 hours.



Saturday, January 6, 2018 - Work day/ Rest day



Sunday, January 7, 2018 - Normally a rest day. But not the next few Sundays. I am going to be part of a group performance of the Two person Fan form for our Chinese New Year Celebration. It will be 6 of us, plus an instructor. We all had trouble finding a time we could all practice. And it turned out that the best day for all of us is Sunday. So, even though the school is officially closed, it was opened for us for this practice.

10:00 - Two person Fan performance class.

10:30. The instructor said he was going to work out a bit, and we could stay if we wanted to work out too. I overdid things a bit on Friday, and my right leg is feeling it, so I didn't take advantage of this as much as I wanted to. But I did run through the performance version of the double fan form for awhile. And then I helped out Ms. B with Golden Leopard vs Tiger practice. I think I did this for about a half hour? Chatted a bit too.

1 hour


2018 Week 1 = 11 hours
2018 Total Hours = 11 hours

 

Monday, January 8, 2018 -
6:30 - warm up. Then solo practice. Looking at corrections my instructor wrote down the last few lessons. Trying to fix as much as possible in time for my test. Knowing I won't fix it all, but trying to keep a positive attitude and do as much as I can.

Yellow and green sash techniques. Sup Ji Jit Fu, Form 1. Some of form 2. I really lost track of time with Sup Ji Jit Fu. I took far too long on this one form. I am not supposed to obsess on one form by doing it too long. I failed in this tonight. I should have gotten through a lot more material.

8:00 - Stick Fighting class. Yay! We practiced stick vs unarmed drills. It was awesome! I love doing this.

8:30 - Solo practice. Took some time to look through some of those corrections I mentioned before- to study them. Wall bag form. Then Brown Sash 1st degree and Brown Sash 2nd degree kicks. A bit of TCC double fan practice - the shortened version for the upcoming performance.

Practiced the summersault for that one techique. Thanks Knee Rider, but I don't deserve kudos, I failed miserably. Well the first one I thought I got, the next 6 or so I failed. So frustrating! I used to be able to do it a few years ago! And then my back started acting up, so I stopped. Sigh* I may have to learn the alternative way of ending that technique. I don't like admitting failure, but I just might have to.

9:45 - school closed up.

3 hours and 15 minutes.

 

The listings for the next couple of weeks are not going to be as detailed as I normally am. I can say that most of it was preparing for my Black Sash test. The two hour formatting lessons were filled with my instructor taking me through one thing after another and giving me corrections. The pace was mostly test level, but a little slower when she was giving me detail after detail. It was grueling and one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. I had mental points where I was on the edge of what I could handle. Times where I felt like I just couldn't do it. Sometimes my two person partner came in for some of the lesson to go over our two person stuff. One time BOTH of my two person partners were there and I did each two person form with each partner.

Tuesday, January 9, 2018 -

6:30 - 7:00- Warm up. Mr. C and I cancelled our two person practice. It was raining quite hard. He works all night. I called to let him know I could not guarantee if I could make it in time because of the traffic in my city. We literally have some of the mildest and best weather in the world, which means when we actually get rain, things are a mess. Many people here don't know how to handle driving in weather. So we cancelled, but the traffic wasn't that bad. Well, we made the best decision we could with what we knew.
So, warm up and some practice.

7:00 - 9:00 - Formatting lesson for CLF

9:00 - School closes

2 hours and 30 minutes


Wednesday, January 10, 2018 - Evening shift/ rest day.


Thursday, January 11, 2018 - Normally, I would go to TCC group class from 6:30 to 7:00. Also, there is a CLF tournament prep class my instructor started - mostly for his students, but with some other serious students - that I would have gone to at 8:00 to closing. But I was focused on using whatever time I had for test preparation.

Also, I didn't go to Tai Sifu class tonight because it was the full time instructor teaching it again. His classes are great, but for right now, if it isn't Tai Sifu reviewing my materials, I again have one focus right now- the test.

6:30 - test preparation practice. Going over kicks, techniques, and forms. Using the corrections my instructor has recently written down as the guideline on what to be focusing on improving. Focusing more on forms I have more trouble with and of course always- kicks.

Also doing stretching at the end.

9:00 - School closes.

2 hours and 30 minutes



Friday, January 12, 2018 -

6:30 - Warm up

6:45 - 8:45 - Formatting lesson for CLF. See above description of formatting lessons. I can't remember if the lesson went longer or I stretched afterwards.

9:00 - School closes

2 hours and 30 minutes

Saturday, January 13, 2018 -

11:00 - did the drills for sparring class. Skipped sparring the last half of class. It is common for students to not spar so close to a test. No point risking injury, even though the rate of injury is very low. It may be over cautious, but it really stinks to get that close and have some freak injury.

11:30 - left sparring class and did some practice.

12:00 - Push hands/ Moving step class. I did do limited step, but skipped the moving step matches for the same reason I mention above in sparring class. I did do all the drills. And I did watch the matches.

1:00 - more of the same. Practice. Last few chances for practice! Yikes! More rest than usual.

3:00 - school closes.

4 hours



Sunday, January 14, 2018 - went to the school for special exhibition practice of the double fan.

30 minutes


2018 Week 2 = 15 hours and 15 minutes
2018 Total Hours = 26 hours and 15 minutes

 

Monday, January 15, 2018 - had the day off of work, due to the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday.

4:15ish. Starting a bit later than originally planned, as I remembered a few days before that I had a dental appointment. Warm up.

4:30 - 6:40ish. Another formatting lesson. Again, doing things in a test format, except for my instructor giving me lots of corrections at points. Ms. M came in around the last half hour to do two person stuff. We ended up running past the two hour lesson with the two person stuff.

I rested a lot after that. Just too tired after that lesson to do much. I know I talked to Ms. M about test stuff. As she recently tested herself. I know I did do some practice. I can't remember what exactly, but I think anyone reading this gets the picture of this couple of weeks of practice.

8:00 - Stick fighting class

8:30 - a little TCC. the exhibition version for the upcoming Chinese New Year's celebration. Lots of stretching. Some talking to instructors about advice for testing.

I honestly can't remember. I know I left earlier than usual. I am going to estimate I left at 9:20ish?

Estimate - hard to say as I can't remember how long I rested.

4 hours.



Tuesday, January 16, 2018 -

6:30 - Golden Leopard vs Tiger two person practice with Mr. C. I was actually quite pleased. Our GL V T was coming along quite nicely.

7:00 - more of the same. Looking at corrections to focus on and practicing. Trying to spend more time on the things I felt less confident on for the test.

9:00 - school closes

2 hours and 30 minutes


Wednesday, January 17, 2018 - Evening shift/ rest day



Thursday, January 18, 2018 -

6:30 - One last time. Skipped TCC class and the tournament preparation class to focus on test practice.

9:00 - School closes

2 hours and 30 minutes

 

Friday, January 19, 2018 -

3:45 - Warm up

4:00 - 6:30ish Last full format lesson! With not much time to spare, my mental outlook was better. I remember thinking at the end. "I CAN do this" instead of - well - worried that I couldn't and I wouldn't do well. Yes, the lesson ran about a half hour longer. We usually ran out of time and skipped a couple of things. But my instructor wanted to make sure we did absolutely everything tonight. And I did.

I know I rested a long time to recuperate after that. Then some light practice. A bit of the double fan TCC exhibition practice. some stretching. Some two person practice with Ms. M. And some talking to her and instructors. Yes, redundantly, advice and all.

I think I stopped working out before the school closed, but again this is an estimate.

9:00 - school closes.

4 hours

Saturday, January 20, 2018 - Work day/ rest day

Sunday, January 21, 2018 - Did the practice session for the upcoming Chinese New Year Exhibition- double fan group performance.

30 minutes

2018 Week 3 = 13 hours and 30 minutes
2018 Total Hours = 35 hours and 45 minutes

 

Monday, January 22, 2018 -

6:45 - Warm up

7:00 - Last lesson before test. Not a full format. It is too close and the decision was to have me be fully fresh and rested for it. A full two hour format a day and a half before and I would not be fully rested. Again, Ms. M came in. The whole lesson ended up being two person stuff. This sort of surprised me. I thought we would go over more. But my instructor has more black sashes/ fringes than any other instructor besides Tai Sifu, so whatever she thought best is fine by me. The lesson was supposed to be an hour. I think it was almost an hour and a half.

8:30ish- ended up not doing much physically. Nothing at this point is going to make a difference, so I took it easy. Talked to my instructor a lot. Won't go into much detail, except to say that at one point I told her part of my concern is that I just wanted to do right by her and make her proud of me. She replied that no matter how the test went, she WAS proud of me. And that meant the world to me. And it gave me a confidence boost going into this.

I left earlier than usual. Can't say exactly when.

1 hour and 45 minutes


Tuesday, January 23, 2018 -

6:30 - Two person Golden Leopard vs Tiger practice with Mr. C. Mr. C's instructor came over and was like "what are you doing here! You should be home resting tonight! I explained a little guiltily that I was working with his student, who was testing this Friday. He replied, but you are testing tomorrow. I told him after this, I was just going to stretch and REALLY LIGHTLY go over some forms. I have this mental thing before tests and tournaments. To prepare I just need to go over them to reassure myself that I DO know the forms. I always worry about forgetting them. So, this reassurance helps me mentally. It's nice he was looking out for me.

7:00 - I did just what I describe above. Went over some forms VERY lightly, to just reassure myself I do know them. Some stretching. Some last minute chatting with some instructors. Some stretching.

Left at about 8:45ish.

1 hours and 45 minutes (estimate)

What else can I say about the last couple of months practice? A core group of the students I have been closest too have been so very supportive of me. Whether it be talking or practicing, they are just the best! I am so fortunate! One of the reasons I love my school is that it just attracts some real amazing fellow students.

Likewise, the instructors have all been so excited for me to reach this point and so supportive in so many ways. They too, are the best!

 

Wednesday, January 24, 2018 -

Took the day off of work because it is finally here. My Choy Li Fut black sash test.

Test is 11:00 to 1:00.

10:30 - The school didn't officially open early, but there were instructors there early because of the test. I got in, set up my gear and warmed up and stretched. Had some last minute words with my instructor.

I tested with one other student from the Encinitas location.It was a 16 year old young man who had been studying since he was 5 years old. His family is a Kung Fu Family. His mother is a black sash. His brother is a student too. He was there as a sparring and grappling partner, so I didn't see his rank. Nice family! Other family members were there to watch his test. Afterwards, another Encinitas student tested for his black fringe in TCC.

My sister could not get off of work to be at my test. She comes to them whenever possible.

So, the test instructors there were, my instructor, Tai Sifu - the head of my school. The Sifu from the Encinitas location. I am assuming he is the other students instructor because otherwise there would be another instructor- his - there too. And of course, black sash tests are watched by Tai Sigung Fisher, the head and founder of my school.

I can't tell you in detail about the test, because, frankly, I don't remember more than impressions. I had been warned by fellow students that this happens. That you are in the moment and just may not recall details afterwards. This was true for me.

I remember parts that I wasn't happy with. And the trick there was to not dwell on it and let it affect the rest of the test. I feel I succeeded in this. Other parts I remember feeling went well. Moments where I was aware I was fixing things I had been working on and doing them well. I had trouble with my breathing, slowing it down. Despite working on this extensively with my instructor, I think the stress, no matter how much I did the slow down exercises, it wasn't working as well as usual. I know from working on this in the past that it is more a mental thing than a physical conditioning thing.

I definitely improved on handling it over my Black Fringe test, but handling stress is still something I need to continue to work on. I think parts of it are tied to managing my OCD.

I wish I had done better, but I think I did ok? I base this on things said and attitudes of instructors afterwards. My instructor was happy. My Sifu seemed happy. When he watches a bad test, I can see the signs and I didn't see them. I talked to him afterwards about the breath thing and he told me that he thought my pacing was good! That I kept the same pace throughout and did not get slower or worse at the end, which often happens. So, that was good to hear.

I did do my stress thing where a couple of times I started the wrong technique- goofy stuff like that. But I fixed it quickly. But I didn't do what I feared and totally mess up on the sequence of a form or have my mind go blank.

My two person partner said our two person stuff went well. I had that impression too. Not quite as good as at her test,but good.

I was pretty darn happy with my sparring and stick fighting. Ms. D came in for that. She is half my age and wins medals all the time in sparring at our tournaments. She had the edge on me, but it was close and I got in some good solid strikes. We had good exchanges. I held my own.

I did get corrections from Tai Sigung at the end, but that is to be expected no matter what. Part of the point is to get feedback from him. A couple of things he mentioned were things I know are an issue. Needing full extension of my back hand in some moves for example. I will continue to work on that.

My instructor and I talked afterwards. She gave me stuff too, but honestly I don't remember most of it. We will go over it again at my next lesson. I do remember her saying that I kicked as high as the other student most of the time. No small accomplishment considering he is 16 and I am 52! I also remember her saying I need to work angles more in sparring, which is something I knew and am working on already.

Finally, a few days later the Chief instructor said that Tai Sigung was in a good mood the rest of the day. And that is a good indication, because he isn't in a good mood if there are bad tests. And another instructor told me later she heard I had a good test. I am very self critical, having a positive attitude towards myself is something I am working on. So, it is hard for me to say how I did. I tend to remember when I am not happy with something more than the good.

Tai Sigung did not say phenomenal things, so I know it wasn't like a top level test. But I think I did well enough. And it is 13 + years of hard training, and I got somewhere very few students have. There are now 5 black sashes (besides instructors) in my location. We have somewhere around 250 students. They don't give out black sashes easily at my school. I have watched people with more talent quit over the years. But I persevered and worked hard. And have now accomplished a long term goal.

I earned my Choy Li Fut black sash this day! Woo- Hoo! (Where is that dancing banana smiley?)

A couple of other things.

I was the sparring partner for limited step push hands with the TCC student testing after my test. That was fun! He was a good challenge!

Tai Sigung took us all out to eat at a Thai Food place afterwards. It was a very nice time and great food.

approximately..........

2 hours & 30 minutes