Journal of Aaradia's MA Journey

Yay!! ::insert dancing banana::

 

Congratulations!

 

Thanks for all the congratulations.

Let's see if I can get this log caught up.

Thursday, January 25, 2018 -

6:30 - Last half of TCC class. Yay!

7:00 - Hmm, well let's see. It was Tai Sifu class without Tai Sifu again. I think I am going to call this class Advanced CLF class when it isn't Tai Sifu class. That isn't the official name, but it seems silly to call it Tai Sifu class when he isn't teaching it. Anyways, the person - the full time instructor - who has been filling in did so tonight. Assume he is the one teaching the class when I call it Advanced CLF class - unless I mention otherwise.

Anyways, we went over yellow sash kicks and techniques in great detail. He gave some exercises for making the kicks better. Which, black sash or not, I still need. I still need improvement in my kicks and am not satisfied with where they are. I have made improvements, but I need more. His exercises were good. I wasn't too good at them, which is part of what told me I need to practice them! Also, I was a bit banged up. Foot hurting, thumb tendonitis was really bad.

8:00 - Tournament CLF class. Again, yay! I can now go to this class. We worked on kicks, stance training, and some conditioning. We did three star, which is an exercise based on three moves of the 9 star form. Dang it! I did a double block move where you block with the inside of your arm- about midway between the elbow and wrist. And dang if that didn't hurt badly at my thumb!!!! Man, I was already planning on really taking it easy for a bit to heal up, but this hit home that I really need to do so! It sort of scared me- that the pain in my thumbs was so bad when the strike wasn't anywhere close.

We also did our techniques, each level at a time. And the instructor gave us feedback. I did third degree brown sash techniques. I will be competing at our upcoming tournament at that level- not black sash. We are allowed to do this when we test close to tournament time. Thee simply is not enough time to learn the black sash level materials good enough for competition. this year. And I really need a break from pushing myself so hard. I just need to NOT push myself to learn black sash stuff super quickly. I need a time of mental and physical recuperation.

Anyways, the main feedback for ALL of us was to lean/ reach into certain sideways moves more.

9:00 - school closes.


2 hours and 30 minutes

 

Friday, January 26, 2018 -

6:30- came in prepared to help with Mr. C's test. The instructor asked me to gear up for stick fighting. It turns out the test went more quickly than they expected, so they had another student fill in for two person. A bit of a bummer because we had been practicing hard and I think we were doing pretty good with it. And with the new partner, I heard it didn't go exactly smoothly. I think it would have had I been there as we had been practicing a lot. A new partner is hard to get used to. Yes - the ideal is that you can step up and do it with a new partner, but the reality is that is a hard level to reach.

Anyways, stick fighting went well. I definitely had the edge in the match.

Yay, congrats to Mr. C for a successful test to reach brown sash 3rd degree!

Afterwards, I joined Ms. B and Ms. M to do our techniques practice. They hadn't started yet as they had been working on Golden Leopard vs Tiger. I took a few techniques off here and there due to my thumb issue and foot issue. And a bit of overall fatigue.

I really lost track of time. I rested after that. Ms. M and I practiced where she has gotten to in the 24 form- about 9 moves in. I rested some more. I am just taking it easy for a bit. I did the full 24 form after that on my own. I am seeing what forms I remember and what ones I am going to have to go over with my instructor to get back in my brain. This one was fine. Probably because we do it in group class all the time. Then I did the TCC flute. That one I am going to need help with.

Knocking the rust off my TCC. So happy to be able to devote some serious time practicing it again! I really missed it!

What else? I am studying our GM's video of Ng Lun Ma (5 wheel stance) to relearn it. I had learned it when I got my brown sash. But the curriculum changed soon after and this and 5 wheel fist got moved to Black to Senior black sash level. Thing is, my school is sort of odd in having this at such an advanced level. It is usually one of the first forms a CLF student learns. Anyways. it is something I can relearn on my own, then just get corrections from my instructor. And I need to work on stance training, and this form is all about that.

I may have done something else. I feel like I did another CLF form or two, but I can't remember for sure.

Some stretching too.

9:00 - school closes.

2 hours

 

Saturday, January 27, 2018 -

Thumbs still really bad. I had a chance to work with my other 2 person partner, but my thumbs just hurt so bad I decided not to. I need to heal!

10:00 - So I did TCC group class instead. We went over most of the sabre, which I badly needed. Then some fixed step push hands.

11:00 - Very bummed, but I skipped sparring class due to thumb issue. Solo practice. CLF stick form. Some Ng Lun Ma. I did some other CLF form or two also, but I can't remember what it was. I think I also did some TCC. Bad memory! Weird that I can remember the days before this easier.

12:00 - push hands/ moving step class. I skipped full matches though. Really bummed, but it was the smart choice.

1:00 - solo practice. See above, can't remember exactly what.

1:30ish???? (really rough estimate) I do remember I WAS working on the exhibition version of the double fan when Ms. D and Ms. R told me I was leaving practice and coming with them. I was like, but I need to practice. They were like, no. You need to put your gear in your car now. Ms. D had said something about celebrating my sash test Saturday on the day of the test. But I barely remembered, and I thought she meant after practice.

Anyways, it was worth missing practice! They took me to a Sushi restaurant. Mr. R Ms. B, and Ms. M met us there and they took me out to this restaurant to celebrate my accomplishment. These were the KEY fellow students who helped me. There were others, but these were my core support group. They gave me a beautiful card signed by them and other students and instructors. I had never eaten in a Sushi restaurant before. I only ate the cooked types, but it was REALLY GOOD!

It just meant so much to me. Great food, but just the BEST of people! It meant so much to me!!!! I am so very fortunate!!!!!

Afterwards, Ms. R, Ms. B and Ms. D and I went to a frozen yogurt place. Also a place I hadn't been to before. We got desert and talked for a long time.

Did I mention how very blessed I am to have these people as my fellow students and friends? What an awesome Kung Fu family I have!

3 hours (Again I did a lot of resting and going easy, so I am taking time off of how long I was there for my workout time.)


Sunday, January 28, 2018 -

10:00 - Double fan exhibition practice session

30 minutes

2018 Week 4 = 13 hours and 30 minutes
2018 Total Hours = 49 hours and 15 minutes

 

Monday, January 29, 2018 -

6:30 - Solo practice. Ng Lun Ma. I have almost all of it re-memorized. It is just rough memory though. Definitely got a direction or two mixed up. Needs a lot of details too. Still, I am happy that I am getting the basic form back in my brain pretty quickly. It is this form. I have more or less gotten up to 2:29.



The forms of formal exercise, but not all together. Was focused on corrections. Still chin nau's in the air hurt my thumbs- NOT good. TCC- working on getting the 108 long form back in my brain too. Worked on the first 30 moves or so. I don't think it will take long to get it back.

8:00 - stick fighting class. Have to hold the stick with my right hand. I prefer the left, but did so for a strike and OUCH! My left thumb is worse, so I have to work on my skills with my other hand for now.

8:30 - solo practice. Kicking practice. Nope, nothing has really changed. My kicks still need improvement to be where I am happier with them. Jeez, what level was that? It was purple sash I think. (Slicing kick, butterfly kick, etc.)Or are those brown 1st degree? I have to look in my manual. Stretching. TCC exhibition double fan. Flute- didn't get far in that one. I will need my instructors help remembering that one. Fajing form, just the beginning. Working on re-memorization. Was happy with my Fajing in the moves though.

9:40ish - school closes.

Easing back into things. I am aware though that with the test out of the way, it is time to think of short, mid, and long term goals again. And to come up with a new work out routine based on those goals. So much of my practice has been about advanced tests the last few years. First the TCC one and now this. Tests gave me a focus for my training. I won't be testing again soon, so I need another focus. I will work on this this weekend.

3 hours and 10 minutes

 

Tuesday, January 30, 2018 -

6:30 - warm up. Then, sigh- I don't remember. Sometimes I worry about my memory.

7:00 - Private CLF lesson. Went over corrections from my test. Did tournament version of Small Five Animal, focusing on corrections. Lots of talk about how to move forward. Setting goals, ways to practice, etc.

8:00 ish. Well, I was lazy. Did a little workout, but not much. Did a bit of Ng Lun Ma. Practiced the corrections from my lesson for Small Five Animal.

I was chatting a lot and paying attention to a situation I can't talk about here yet. I will soon.

I gave myself a week or so to be lazy after my test. That week is up. I will step it up after this. Not quite full on, because I am still giving myself time to heal up, but more intense than I have been doing most of this last week.

9:00 - school closes

1 hour and 30 minutes


Wednesday, January 31, 2018 - Evening shift/ Rest day

 

Thursday, February 1, 20198 -

6:30 - last half of TCC class. 24 step and some pattern push hands.

7:00 - Tai Sifu CLF class - Tai Sifu theme tonight was talking about taking forms performance to a more advanced level. Adding the art to it more. Focusing mostly on combinations and pauses used to the best advantage. Tournament season is kicking off- as in our School's tournament is in a couple of months, so focus around the school is on tournament related themes more than usual. It was a great class. Different.

8:00 - Tournament CLF class. More talk from the instructor on the same theme as Tai Sifu class. Also other details for doing forms or techniques for tournament. We practiced some and then we did performances of our hand forms. Then got critiques and corrections and ways to improve. Frankly, I am not sure I thoroughly understood my critique. I am mulling it over. I may need to go to the instructor to have him explain it so I can understand better.

8:40ish - Solo practice. Ng Lun Ma. Black sash kicks- well most of them. I didn't do the jumping double kick. TCC double fan for exhibition.

Thumbs still bad. Doing stuff in the air with power hurts them. I had a Dr look at them yesterday too. Just need to give more time to rest them from the stuff that REALLY aggravates them and continue icing. Honestly, I am a little inconsistent on icing. I need to get better about that.

9:00 - school closes.

2 hours and 30 minutes

 

Friday, February 2, 2018 -

4:36 - Warm up and stretching. Talked to an instructor who asked about how I felt my test went. Gave me good information in this conversation.

5:00 - Relearning TCC 108 form. worked my way up to the first half. I am happy with how fast it is coming back. I should definitely have the whole thing back within - oh - I would say two more weeks.

5:25 - Ng Lun Ma. It is rough, but I think I have the whole thing re-memorized. A few glitches along the way. Next to get it down without glitches, and then to really focus on the quality of the form. Deep stances and all. I am focusing on some details now, but not as much as I could be as I am just trying to remember the whole thing. Also worked on tournament version of small five animal.

Talked to same instructor I mentioned earlier. About something I can't talk about here yet. I will soon.

6:00 - Weapon forms class. Chau Sot staff form. First time I have been to this class since this go around on the staff. Nice to be back in this class!

6:30 - Techniques practice with Ms. B and Ms. M. All techniques in 45 minutes. Then we worked on Golden Leopard vs Tiger with Ms. B.

7:45ish - two person practice with Ms. M. Took the night off of staff due to my thumb issues. So we worked on 9 star and Golden Leopard vs Tiger. Focused on details given my my instructor just before my test. We were getting it, but it was inconsistent. Still, we both had a good feel for when we were getting it and when we weren't, so I am confident we will improve with practice. The focus is on making it look more like a fight than a two person form. Intention and the way we move into our strikes and blocks. Sticking energy instead of bouncing off each other. It was a productive practice. Soon we will get to start learning new two person sets, since we both recently tested.

After that, we worked on her newly learned TCC. Both her curriculum and the tournament version of her hand form.

Then we chatted for a bit

Sigh, I have been lazy about kicking practice this week. I am getting back into full workouts - almost back to normal. But I need to get back to my half hour or so of kicking practice most days.

9:00 - school closes

4 hours

 

Saturday, February 3, 2018 -

10:00 - TCC class. We worked on the solo Sabre form again. Really good for helping me remember this one! Then some push hands drills and matches. Since it has been awhile since I talked or practiced the Yang TCC sabre, here is a clip of the form. This is being done by my GM. It is a cut of him doing it in various exhibitions for my school over the years. Yeah, he likes to do this one a lot.



11:00 - I told Tai Sifu I didn't think I could do sparring class with my thumb issue. He said we were working on kicks in the drills part, with a little blocking. So I joined the first half of class for drills. Lots of power thrust drills. So, my thumbs were fine until the last drill that had a Chi Sau (sp?) kicking deflection. It hurt a bit.But it ended right when I decided I couldn't do it. Skipped matches

11:30 - Didn't really do much of anything. Watched some of the matches and talked to a fellow student.

12:00 - Advanced Push hands/ moving step class. Ouch! Somehow, I didn't avoid moves that aggravated my thumb issue in push hands. I have the last couple of weeks, don't know what I did differently. But I am a bit upset with myself because it WAS feeling a tad better and now it is worse. So I just watched and listened to the instructor for the moving step part of class. So frustrating - this tendinitis issue is!

1:00 - Stretching class. Almost exactly the same pattern as last week's class- so awesome and so hard! I really need this class and to work on what it is teaching during the week!

1:30 - rested and chatted with fellow students.

estimate - 2:00ish? Solo practice. Ng Lun Ma. Basically re-memorized now. So I started to try to focus on better form and lower stances during at least some of it. TCC 108 long form. Still working on the first half. Once I can run through it without looking at the manual, I will start adding the second half. Eh, I really slowed down this last half hour in intensity. Even after a half hour break. But I don't feel bad about it as I did 4 hours last night and then several hours today.

3:00 - school closes

4 hours

 

Sunday, February 4. 2018 -

10:00 - 10:30ish - Practice of exhibition 2 person fan. Well, the instructor's tire blew out on the way there. So the school wasn't open and he wasn't there. But we practiced in back anyways. It is an experienced group, we got in a good productive last practice.

30 minutes

2018 Week 5 = 15 hours and 40 minutes
2018 Total Hours = 64 hours and 55 minutes

 

Monday, February 5, 2018 -

6:30 - Golden Leopard vs Tiger two person practice with Ms. B. We focused on one side. Did it all the way through several times, then broke it down in sections the way my instructor teaches me to do two person forms. I think it helped. It was a productive session.

7:00 - Solo practice. TCC exhibition double fan. CLF small five animal.

7:30ish. TCC private lesson!!!!! It actually started a couple of minutes late because my instructor had to do some business stuff. That happens when your instructor is a full time of Assistant Chief or Chief instructor. The lost lesson time does get made up. In this case, my CLF instructor gave a lot of free extra time leading up to my test in the way of lessons that ran extra long. So I wasn't worried.

Just chomping at the bit because it was my first TCC private lesson in about 9 months! I am a full fledged TCC student again! And I am so happy about it! Had to put the TCC on hold mostly because of the CLF test. But now I get to spend equal time devoted to both arts.

And..................as promised by my instructor................my reward for getting my CLF black sash...............................

I started learning the Yang small circle fast form tonight! Woo Hoo!!!!!! It is a form that focuses on - as the name states- doing the moves smaller. As in, more practical and real for fighting. Just like in CLF, all moves start big and as you get more advanced, they become smaller. But in TCC at my school, the time to get to smaller moves in TCC is longer than CLF. You have to be pretty advanced before it becomes a focal point in the forms training. It is mentioned earlier, but not a lot of emphasis on it. So, smaller moves and fajing energy in some moves. Learning this was a long term goal finally being realized. I am very happy right now!

8:00 - stick fighting class. Well, I still have to fight with my less coordinated hand. Because the thumb on my left hand hurts to much wielding the stick. Oh well, good for developing my weaker hand. But the temptation to switch is really there. Well, until I do it and it HURTS!

8:30 - rested and chatted with a fellow student a bit. A newer student. Tried to encourage him to have a more positive attitude about doing our upcoming tournament.

8:45 - Solo practice. TCC - working on re-memorizing the 108 long form. Only had to look at the booklet one time for the first half. So I added another 12 moves starting on the second half. Stuck at the directions for "fair lady works the shuttle in 8 directions" not sure I had it right. I will either look at the video or ask an instructor. Also went over what I learned in my private lesson with the small circle fast form.

CLF - About 15 minutes of kicking practice. Brown sash third degree kicks. Was feeling lazy, but I told myself this was the week to get back into it, so I made myself do it. Still, got to get back to about a half hour of kicking practice a session. But at least I made myself do something. Trying to focus on getting my crane up higher before throwing certain kicks. Ng Lun Ma. Started the beginning of Ng Lun Choi too. That is five animal fist. Another beginning training form that for some reason, my school teaches at an advanced level. Again, I learned this before the curriculum change at brown sash. Then set it aside after the curriculum change. I didn't practice it a lot before the change, but I did learn it.

Finished off with some stretching.

10:00 - school closes

3 hours and 30 minutes