Journal of Aaradia's MA Journey

Tuesday, February 6, 2018 -

6;30 - Golden Leopard vs Tiger two person practice with Ms. B. we did the opposite sides of what we practiced yesterday. Same basic pattern though. Ran through the whole thing a couple of times, then did it section by section.

7:00 - This one is tough. This was my last private lesson with my long time instructor. She is moving on to other things. She was committed to getting me to my black sash, but I knew for months that that test achievement would also mean the end of her teaching. So, testing was a bit bittersweet. I am so grateful to her. She made me a better person- stronger both physically and mentally - through her teachings. It goes so far beyond martial arts. She improved my life. She took me through from green to black sash in CLF- teaching me for 12 years. And through all the ranks in TCC- teaching me that for about 10 years. I am so fortunate to have been her student.

I am going through a weird mix of emotions right now. I am grieving for the loss- sort of like when your best friend moves away. That is the closest equivalent I can think of. Extreme gratitude.

I am excited for my future too. We talked carefully about who would be my new instructor. It came down to two instructors with the edge going to my new one. And we both had come to the same top two on our own- then compared our thoughts.

So, it was supposed to be a half hour lesson, but she taught me for most of the night. Until about 8:40 or so? Maybe 8:45?

A couple of students who knew stopped into the lesson to say goodbye to her and thank her for teachings they had given her. Either in classes or say, like my two person partner when she taught us both.

We went over my CLF techniques and hand form for the upcoming tournament. No point in her teaching me something new for one week. And we talked a lot about different stuff. Like tips on some things about my future training at this level. Like tips for success when I start to learn the three section staff. More on approaches to training based on our past lessons.

At one point my new instructor was leaving for the night, and my old instructor called him over. It was the first time we all talked together about the change. My long time instructor let my new instructor know she felt completely comfortable with him taking over my training. That is actually quite a huge compliment coming from her. She does not give such confidences easily.

Also, she will not be out of my life. She said we can keep in touch. We both want to. And since she will not be an instructor, there is no "no fraternization" policy to be concerned about.

8:45ish - ran over what i just learned with TCC small circle fast form. A tad of the beginning of Ng Lun Choi.

So, tonight marks the end of one era of my training and the beginning of another. It is weird how one can feel so many different seemingly conflicting emotions at the same time.

I am excited for my future, but will REALLY REALLY MISS HER!

9;00 - school closes

2 hours and 30 minutes


Wednesday, February 7, 2018 - Evening shift/ rest day

 

Thursday, February 8, 2018 -

6:30 - last half of TCC class

7:00 - Tai Sifu CLF class- Went over Purple sash techniques and kicks. Got a really good detail that should help with my spinning rear kick!

8:00 - Tournament Prep CLF class. Only a half hour class tonight. Worked on details for tournament techniques, hand form and weapon form. The instructor elaborated on the correction that he gave me last week that I have been having trouble understanding. I think I understand better now. Still thinking on it.

8:30 - solo practice. Was going to do some kicks, but my right knee is acting up tonight. So I practiced the TCC small circle fast form and the exhibition version of the double fan.

9:00 - school closes

Things feel a little weird for me. Even though I knew the instructor change was coming. I just feel a little off / disjointed and it doesn't quite feel real. I think I just need my first lesson with my new instructor to make it feel real and move forward. It's a little hard.

2 hours and 30 minutes

 

Friday February 9, 2018 -

6:30 - warm up. Solo practice. Siu Moi Fa. Ng Lun Ma and now working my way through re-learning Ng Lun Choi.

7:00 - dress rehearsal for Chinese New Year Exhibition tomorrow. Eh, to be honest, it hadn't gone the smoothest that I have seen for dress rehearsals in the past. I think we needed more of these. Personally, I felt like my performance was coming together better than the last few practices though.

7:50 - Two person practice with Ms. M. 9 star, golden leopard vs tiger and two person staff. Two person staff was REALLY lightly, because of my thumb issues. We remembered the sequence fine. So we talked about just really focusing on details why we have to practice this way. As in, what my (past) instructor always said about working through injuries " don't focus on what you can't do, focus on what you CAN do."

Then, we did a little of her TCC, both the first part of the 24 and a tournament version of it.

9:00 - school closes

2 hours and 30 minutes

Thanks Nachi and Xue Sheng. I appreciated the kind words of support. Nachi, no she didn't move. I was just trying to find a suitable kind of analogy for the kind of grief and other emotions I was feeling. She is just moving onto other things. We will keep in touch, which makes me very happy.

So, my school is a bit different than many. We have our Sifu at each location. Then a bunch of instructors. Each student has a personal instructor to guide them through their curriculum and development through private lessons each week. We also have a wide variety of group classes, taught by the instructors, or a few taught by Sifu. I think it is similar to how advanced students in other schools teach, but it is far more formalized. And I think they may get more specific teaching training than some of the advanced students who teach, from what I have read here and on other forums.

So, I know my new instructor. As I mentioned, my previous instructor and I both agreed he was the best choice. It was very close between him and one other. I know I will be in good hands. I think most highly of him. I think he is one of the best instructors I have seen at the school in my years there. In a field of excellent instructors, he still stands out. He is the one that started the advanced push hands/ moving step class that I talk about here. And the one that has been leading the Sunday practices for the upcoming exhibition. He is one I went to a lot with questions when my previous instructor was not at the school. He has a very clear concise way of explaining things. My previous instructor feels completely comfortable with him taking over my instruction, and she is REALLY picky! I look forward to learning from him as my personal instructor.

But it will be a change. When you work with the same person for 12 years, you get to know each other. She could read me in training because she has trained me for so long. There will be a getting to know each other, and me getting used to a different style of teaching. He will have to learn to figure me out as his student too.

And I will just really miss her as my instructor!

 

Saturday, February 10, 2018 - Tai Sigung Seminars! The founder and head of our schools holds an annual seminar for students with a certain membership package. Today is the day for 2018! Woo-Hoo!

10:00 - 12:00 - CLF seminar! Focused on some self defense techniques that aren't part of our regular curriculum. Lots of hands on drilling them with a partner. I was partnered with Ms. M, my main two person partner.

12:00 - Break- got lunch.

1:00 - 3:00 - TCC seminar. Which this year was push hands! Yay! So, a little pattern to start off, but mostly moving step! Again, lots of partner drilling what he was showing us. At the end, a few students volunteered for moving step matches to be observed and critiqued by Tai Sigung for us all to learn from. I didn't volunteer because of my thumb issue.

After them, I asked Tai Sigung for some strength building/ stretching advice to work on getting my knees better. I am pretty sure I have a weakness and tightness in my front quads that is a major contributor to my knee problems. He gave me some ideas.

Great seminars! They were held at the Mira Mesa location. So, afterwards, back to my school location for our Chinese New Year exhibition/ celebration! It actually went pretty great overall! I expressed yesterday that I had some concerns after the dress rehearsal, which just had a lot of issues. But it looks like everyone was just working out any problems so that the performance would be great, because it was. Everything went very smoothly! The TCC double fan group, that I was a part of, went really well. I felt good about my part in it. I remembered to fix the couple of issues I sometimes had. And my kicking balance was good. We were really synced well.

I barely felt nervous at all. I was actually worried about how I didn't feel nervous at all for a long time. I feel like I SHOULD have some nerves. But I didn't until about 10 minutes before. And then it was really slight. Talking to some fellow students, they said maybe because I had done a lot of these? But I don't think so, I mean that is part of it, but that would account for handling the nerves and some lessening, but not as little as I felt. After all, high level instructors were getting nerves, and they had far more experience than I do.

I think part of it is I only had one performance, and it was not solo, but part of a group of six.

Another thing some fellow students said is that after the stress of my recent test, maybe after THAT stress, this just didn't compare, Like I was so stressed out about that, that this feels light by comparison. I think that was part of it too.

Now, to apply that handling of stress to my next test. I have a few years to work on that!

Good day, but long!

4 hours and 5 minutes


Sunday, February 11, 2018 - Rest day

2018 Week 6 = 16 hours and 05 minutes
2018 Total Hours = 80 hours and 00 minutes

 

Monday, February 12, 2018 -

6:30 - Golden Leopard vs Tiger two person practice with Ms. B. We focused on one side tonight. Same basic practice pattern as last week. Went through the whole thing a couple of times, then focused on sections.

7:00 - Solo practice. CLF. Ng Lun Ma and what I know of Ng Lun Choi. Dang it! I think I did something else, but can't remember what.

7:30 - TCC Private lesson. Working on learning Small Circle Fast form. Love it! I am doing pretty good at the basic sequence, but it is pretty ugly right now. The Fajing isn't right in the small moves for sure. But, I have only had one week's of practice. It just needs more time and practice. Apparently it is a short form. I am about halfway through it. I think about 100 moves? If I remember what my instructor said correctly.

8:00 - stick fighting class.

8:30 - solo practice. Kicking practice. Didn't have my stopwatch, so I am not sure how long. Yellow sash kicks. TCC. practiced small circle fast form. Also working still on relearning the 108 long form. Got up to 3/4 of the way through. Still on track to have it basically re-memorized in another week - eh maybe two. Flute form, memory isn't so good. Started Fajing form, got distracted.

9:50 - school closes. Dang it, I forgot to stretch! I am really trying to do more of that!

3 hours and 20 minutes

 

Tuesday, February 13, 2018 -

6:30 - Golden Leopard vs Tiger two person practice with Ms. B. Did the other side tonight. Again, good productive session.

7:00 - solo practice. CLF stick form and staff form. Ng Lun Ma and some of Ng Lun Choi.

7;30 - CLF private lesson. Was supposed to be at 8:00, but my instructor's 7:30 cancelled, so we moved it up tonight. So, first private lesson with my new instructor. It was a great lesson! I feel relieved to have had this lesson to make the change real. And I come away from this lesson knowing I made the right choice. We reviewed my tournament techniques and forms. I got some great new corrections. It is always interesting to get a fresh new eye looking at your material. So, some of the same corrections I have received before, but some new ones too.

One thing I worried about was if I would get the same level of detail as I am used to. LOL! No need to worry about that! Which makes me very happy! I mean, again, I knew this instructor, so I expected it would be fine and good details, but you just never know 100% until experiencing it.

Then, I started learning the Cross Pattern side of the two person hand form "Cross pattern vs Plum Blossom." Literally, my partner and I flipped a coin to see which sides we learned first. It really doesn't matter as you end up learning both sides. So, I learned the first 7 or so moves. It is a short form, just over 60 moves or so. Mind you that is each side.

It is this form here. Bleah, I don't like the music, but I am a big fan of Sifu Kuttel's Kung Fu and I love that he films forms out in nature. I am learning the side of the person in the black uniform - Sihing Wong. (He could also be a Sifu by now. I need to see if I can find out.)



I also talked to him about wanting to get serious about really learning Chinese terminology. He was fine with that. LOL! More than fine as he started me in on it big time right away! I thought we would ease into it, but it was more a jump than an easing. And I am happy about that! So, where I have gone wrong before is I just tried to learn each move's name before. It was too much memorization of a lot of moves and I got frustrated and sort of quit. I do know some terms, but just not anywhere near completely.

He told me that the thing is to learn themes and concepts. So, (and my spelling on some of these may be off- it will get better) learn that Geuk means foot, Sow means sweeping, Choi means fist, Jeung means palm. Then you can hear combinations of names and put together what it is. Sow Choi=sweeping fist. A move with Sow in it will always be a sweeping move, whether it is a choi/ fist or sow Jeung= sweeping palm. I am not sure if I am explaining it clearly as I am just getting it. But this approach seems far better than memorizing each specific move's name.

Anyways, I think he may be happy to have a student want to learn this in detail. He said that most students don't.

Another thing I talked to him about is that I want to keep reviewing kicks, as I am still not confident in my kicking ability and want to get far better. Even though Kicks alone are not in advanced tests. And again, if I am going to have a new instructor, it would be good to get his new eye on my kicks. He was fine with that, but he wants to wait to mix in some kicking reviews until after tournament. He wants to make sure we have enough time to learn some new stuff and get me ready for tournament. I am fine with that.

I felt completely happy with his teachings and our communication. I feel like we are on the same page. It's a good match of student and instructor. I am excited for my future training. (But I still miss my previous teacher.)

8:00 - solo practice. Dang it, I need to write out a workout routine. I keep forgetting to do things I mean to do. Tonight I got so excited to go over the new form and corrections on my tournament stuff that I lost track of time and forgot to do TCC and kicks! So yeah, I spent the rest of the night going over corrections and new stuff from my lesson. A bit of stretching at the end.

I am happy to be both studying TCC and CLF again, but I need to figure out how to balance my workout time between the two. I sort of forgot that this is not easy.

9:00 - school closes.

2 hours and 30 minutes

 

Wednesday, February 14, 2018- Evening Shift/ Rest day



Thursday, February 15, 2018 -

6:30 - last half of TCC class- 40 and 24 form. Then a push hands drill.

7:00 - Tai Sifu CLF class. Today was forms review. Formal exercise and stick form.

8:00 - Tournament Preparation class. Techniques and hand form. I was trying to integrate the corrections from my Tuesday lesson. So I got stuck in a particular place on my hand form. Not worried. I just need a little more practice to integrate it. A lot of the other corrections are coming along better.

8:50ish - solo practice. CLF Cross pattern vs Plum blossom- first moves I just learned. Then TCC Small circle fast form. Whew, that did not go smoothly. Had memorization problems worse than last few times I practiced it.

9:00 - school closes


2 hours and 30 minutes

 

Friday, February 16, 2018 -

5:20ish - Solo practice of beginning of Cross pattern vs Plum Blossom form. Then, Ng Lun Ma and what I know of Ng Lun Choi.

5;45ish - practiced some TCC with Ms. R*. (R* to discern between TCC only Ms. R and the other Ms. R that I practice with regularly.) Haven't practiced with her in a long long time. It was nice to be able to do so. She is learning some forms that I am trying to rememorize. So, we worked on the 5 elements flute form and the 48 combination form.

I skipped weapons class to give my thumb issues a rest. Trying to go light on using weapons for now.

6:30 - techniques practice with Ms. B and Ms. M. Got done in about 45 minutes.

Rested and talked for a tiny bit.

7:20 ish - Ms. B and I had our CLF instructor look at our Golden Leopard vs Tiger two person set. Got some good feedback. More feedback for her, as she is rather new to it and is trying to get it test ready. But any two person feedback affects both people doing it.

Not sure how long that took - 15 minutes estimate? Rough estimate?

Then solo practice. TCC - Small circle fast form. Memorization still needs work, but was better than yesterday. 108 long form. Working on the whole thing now. CLF - more cross pattern vs Plum blossom. Tournament version of small five animal- focusing on corrections from last private lesson. Kicking practice - 20 to 25 minutes - Blue sash kicks.

No two person practice. My partner is having shoulder issues, so she want home to rest it. Well, Ms. B and I had to tell her to go home and rest it. We do that with each other when someone isn't taking care of themselves- being martial stupid instead of having martial spirit.

9:00 - school closes

3 hours and 40 minutes


Saturday, February 17, 2018 - work all day, rest day

Sunday, February 18, 2018 - Rest day


2018 Week 7 = 12 hours and 00 minutes
2018 Total Hours = 92 hours and 00 minutes

 

Monday, February 19, 2018 - Day off of work due to President's Day Holiday!

4:00 - TCC Private lesson. Moved to this time due to mega group Tournament class during my usual lesson time. Finished learning the Small Circle Fast form. Well sort of. We went through it during my lesson. But when I went to write it down afterwards, I forgot parts at the end. I got a lot of it though. It is a fairly short form. That and I do seem to learn forms faster than I used to.

4:30 - Solo practice. TCC - Practiced and wrote down notes for the Small circle fast form. Then, what I remembered of the Five elements flute form from my practice last week with Ms. R*. Tried to work on the double gim, but I can't even remember how to get it started. I am going to need to go over that next private lesson as it is what I plan on doing for the tournament. I think it will come back quickly once I am reminded of the moves.

Worked on figuring out a tournament length version of Small circle fast form and the double fan.

CLF - Ng Lun Ma and what I know of Ng Lun Choi. I am about 15 moves from the end of Ng Lun Choi. Tournament version of small five animal, focusing on recent corrections.

7:00 - First Mega Group class for this year! This is our tournament preparation class. Tai Sifu was teaching the Brown 2nd and Brown 3rd degree. That was one of each. I am going into the tournament at brown 3rd degree because there isn't enough time to learn the Black Sash materials and get them tournament ready. We focused on techniques. Got some great corrections! In particular, some tips on making my cat stance lower and better. Had to do with how I turned and used my upper body. Made a point to volunteer to do techniques during the performance part.

8:00- I don't know WHAT was wrong with me. I just forgot about stick fighting class and chatted with a couple of students until I saw the class going on! It was like my pattern got disrupted with mega group class and I just forgot! Doh!. Anyways, I joined in as soon as I saw. I apologized to the instructor, who said he almost forgot to teach the class after mega group. That made me feel a little better. It was one of my favorite things too. Unarmed defense against a stick. How to keep distance, then move in and jam up and control when possible.

8:30 - more solo practice. Brown sash 3rd degree kicks for about 25 minutes. Mind you a slow pace of practice. Sup Ji Jit Fu. A good amount of stretching. Finished off with 8 pieces of Brocade.

10:00 - School closes.

6 hours

 

Tuesday, February 20, 2018 -

6:30 - Golden Leopard vs Tiger two person practice with Ms. B.

7:00 - Solo practice. Cross pattern vs Plum blossom beginning. Small Five Animal- full version, not tournament. Ng Lun Ma and what I know if Ng Lun Choi.

7:45ish- Ms. R joined in and we practiced Ng Lun Choi and Small Five Animal.

8:00 - Private CLF lesson. Second lesson with new instructor. Went over tournament materials. I told him corrections Tai Sifu gave me at Mega group class last night. We went over corrections he gave me last week and he added a few more. Also, some advanced details. As in, some moves are taught one way, but now that I am at this level, he is showing me the more advanced way to do them. . Then review of what I learned of Cross pattern vs Plum blossom and some new moves added. I am 14 moves into it. Still liking it. Looking forward to my partner starting to learn it so we can practice together.

8:30. Solo practice. Went over new moves just learned a few times. Then onto working on memorizing the TCC new form I am learning. Small Circle Fast form.

9:00 - School closes


2 hours and 30 minutes

 

Wednesday, February 21. 2018 - Jury duty. And they dismissed us after only two hours. So then I went to work, but it was a day shift, instead of my usual evening shift.

6:00 - Solo practice. Started feeling a cold coming on in the afternoon. I was in denial. But I didn't do much CLF because I had no energy. Some, but slow and for memorization primarily. Part I have learned of Cross pattern vs Plum Blossom. Then part of Ng Lun Choi. I focused on some TCC. 108 Long form. Still working on re-memorizing. It's coming along.

Also worked a lot on the small circle fast form. I don't have a lot of time to get it tournament ready. I could go with a form I know better, but I want to challenge myself and do this one.

Somewhere in this practice I worked on the 5 elements TCC flute form with Mr. D. He literally just learned the last half. We tried to stumble through it together. He was given a huge chunk. I haven't done the last half in 10 or so months. Parts of it he showed me just felt off. Like my muscle memory said it wasn't it. So, after he left, when I found an instructor, I asked him about the parts that felt off. And I was right. We just had the order/ sequence of things a bit off. I had one move wrong. So, the instructor, who actually is my and Mr. D's TCC instructor clarified things. I wrote him on FaceBook when I got home. I think I have it now. The whole thing back.

I started feeling the cold get worse by the minute, so I gave up and went home early. Such a bummer. But I felt awful! Could no longer be in denial.

Had the feeling that that was the end of my workout the rest of the week. Such a bummer! This is my Saturday off and my workouts have been going so well!

Left around 8:10

2 hours and 10 minutes.


Thursday, February, 22, 2018 - Really sick! Bad head cold. At least it seems to be a cold and not the flu. There has been a MAJOR flu epidemic here this year. I didn't go to work. Stayed home and couldn't do much at home either. Just slept a lot. Couldn't even sit at my computer for long stints. I am pretty darn sure I won't be better tomorrow.

Friday, February 23, 2018 - Just going to go ahead and write in that I will be sick the rest of the week. I can always go in and edit it if I get better faster than anticipated. Day off- sick.

Saturday, February 24, 2018 - day off- sick.

Sunday, February, 25, 2018 - Usual rest day. Will still be probably recovering from cold anyways.


2018 Week 8 = 10 hours and 40 minutes
2018 Total Hours = 102 hours and 40 minutes

 

Monday, February 26, 2018 - home from work, still sick! Rest day. And by that I mean either in bed or sitting at my computer all bundled up.

Tuesday, February 27, 2018 - Same as yesterday.

Wednesday, February 28, 2018 - Got back to work, wasn't easy but made it through the day. Evening shift/ still sick/ rest day.

Thursday, March 1, 2018 - at work. Recovering from this cold, but really really slowly. Still sick. Right now, making through work and not missing more work is my priority. So, rest day from working out.

Friday, March 2, 2018 - had the day off of work. Still sick, but better enough to try a light day of working out. Nothing fast, and mostly Tai Chi. Because of the nothing fast part.
Can't remember exactly when I got there. Sheesh, my memory is so bad sometimes. I blame the codeine cough syrup. I think it was about..................

5:15ish - was going to do a solo workout, but Ms. R was there, so we worked on the TCC 5 elements flute together. Yay! I may be missing a detail or two, but I have the memorization back! I'll need my instructor to look at it and see if there is anything off from the layoff working on it. But that will have to wait as right now our lessons are focused on the new form and tournament preparation. Anyways, I think most of the details are pretty decently back too. There is just one area I am not so sure about. Anyways, it is nice to be working with Ms. R regularly again.

5:50 ish- found my CLF instructor. I talked to him and got permission to use the Ching Jong (wooden dummy). I told him I studied all the video's of the curriculum at my level when I was sick. I said that I thought I could learn the basic memorization of it from the streaming video our Tai Sifu has of it on our school's streaming site (open only to students of the school). Not all the video's are detailed enough to do so. Some are only good for studying to remind one of what was gone over in a lesson. But this video is super detailed. I told him that to me, private lessons are like gold. And if I could maximize what I learn from an instructor by getting basics down myself, freeing up the lesson time for details and corrections, I wanted to do that. But I asked if he was ok with me doing this. You know, new instructor and all. I am still getting a feeling for him and what he is ok with and all. He was totally ok with it when he knew Tai Sifu did the video. Actually, in all the questions I have asked so far, his approach and attitude is very similar to my previous instructor. His teaching style is different, personality different, but the basic attitude on a lot of things is very similar. I mean, I suspected this to be the case. But so far my thoughts have turned out to be accurate.

6:00 - Accelerated membership TCC class. This is a class Tai Sifu teaches for a certain type of membership for TCC students once a month. It sometimes conflicts with my work schedule, but today it didn't. We went over the 108 long form. I did pretty good. Really do have it almost all the way memorized again. Just a few minor sticking points. But I am pleased with how quickly it is coming back. He had some good corrections for it. Wish I could always get to this class.

6:30 - My and Ms. B's CLF instructor asked me to do Golden Leopard vs Tiger with Ms. B. As I mentioned before, the focus is getting this form test ready for her. I said I was willing to, but he should check and see if Ms. B wanted to be touching me, getting over being sick and all. She was ok, just asked me to stop if I needed a coughing break so as not to cough on her. Agreed! So, we went through it. A few minor corrections, but overall our instructor was happy with how the details are coming along. He said now we need to start making it faster, more powerful, more sounds. So, I think the both of us are happy it is coming along well. I am not sure how long that took, estimate about 15 minutes?

Then solo practice. Like I said, nothing fast. I am still congested pretty badly and coughing and low energy. So, I went back and forth between doing the CLF Ching Jong wooden dummy set for the first time and working on the TCC slow circle fast form. The whole thing is approximately a hundred moves. I am up to about the first 33.

Ching Jong. Here is a video of Sifu Kuttel doing parts of it.


Things I learned about it tonight. It is a GOOD thing I listened to Tai sifu saying to go easier then you thought you needed to. I swear I barely touched the thing, but my arms were feeling sore at the end. Wood is very unforgiving to hit or even to not strike, but pull down on. Yikes!

I mean, I knew it before, but now I really get why it is an advanced form. It is going to take awhile to make it look good, have good decisive moves, proper spacing, and good power.

But I really like it! It was the form I most looked forward to learning at this level. The form that motivated me to get here. Because to me sash levels are all about "what do I get to learn next?" And it isn't letting me down. There is a lot this form can teach me.

I took a few breaks, because of recovering and still not being fully over this cold. And one of those breaks was talking to Ms. R for an estimated half hour or so?

8:55 - I packed up a couple of minutes early. I actually stayed longer than I meant to, recovering and all. But I was having so much fun! Felt kind of exhausting, but good to sweat out the cold some.

Considering I took an extended break and some shorter ones.....

3 hours


Saturday, March 3, 2018 - work and recovering from being sick/ rest day

Sunday, March 4, 2018 - rest day.


2018 Week 9 =3 hours and 00 minutes
2018 Total Hours = 105 hours and 40 minutes

 

Over there too? The flu has been really bad in the US this year. It was so bad here in San Diego that the medical ER I would go to had an article in the news. They had such an overrun of patients that they set up a tent outside the ER! This is part of why I didn't see a Dr. I don't know what they could do and I didn't want to risk getting the flu at the office while being treated for a cold.

It's been a bad year for colds too. This cold going around is hanging on a long time for others too. I found out it is going all around my school right now. I wasn't the only one hit. Both students and instructors have been hit with it at the same time I got it. Or soon after. I don't know if that is also nationwide or just around here.

 

Monday, March 5, 2018 -

6:30- Golden leopard vs tiger two person practice with Ms. B. One side is definitely behind the other. We are going to focus on that side more until it catches up.

7:00- Group/Tournament preparation class. So they started this last year. Honestly, I am not sure I like it. Combining the two types of classes. First half was a basic group class. I struggled with it as I am still recovering from this cold - yeah still - and the pace was hard for me still being sick. Normally it would not be an issue at all. Second half was performances. I managed to do both my weapon and hand form for CLF. They went ok, not my best. I didn't get in most of the recent corrections for Small 5 animal. I haven't practiced much the last two weeks and the corrections aren't integrated enough. So I went into automatic mode, which is without said corrections.

TCC private lesson was cancelled because it conflicted with the tournament class.

8:00 - Stick Fighting class. Small class. Just me and Ms. B.

8:30- solo practice. TCC. Trying to get my TCC ready for tournament, which it isn't yet. Tournament version of double fan. Small circle fast form. Some stretching at the end.

9:45 - school closes

3 Hours and 15 minutes

 

Tuesday, March 6, 2018 - Got to leave work early for the TCC tournament prep class. I got time off of work for all the tournament prep classes this year! My boss was very cool about working with me on this.

5:40ish - did some push hands with Mr. D

6:00 - Tai Chi Chuan tournament prep class. Like the CLF one, half was a typical group class, the other set aside for tournament performances. I managed to do two performances. I did the small circle fast form. It turns out that where I had been trying to figure out where the minute and a half ends in the form was dead on target! A minute and a half being what one does for the tournament.I managed to do the whole bit without memory glitches, which I was pretty happy with - considering I am just now learning it AND I have been sick the last couple of weeks with barely any practice time! The critique I got was that I was doing weird little adjustments with my feet. Not setting them down and being set. Also, some of my moves are still too big. I also did the double fan. Need to work on the minute and a half version. My instructor, who taught this class, will work with me on that. I still need to relearn my double gim for the tournament. I am a bit stressed about not remembering it and tournament being about 2 months away. I am used to being further along at this point for tournament. Again, I hope to relearn it next private lesson. I hope and think it will come back fast.

7:00 - Golden Leopard vs Tiger two person practice with Ms. B

7:30ish - solo practice - wooden dummy and tournament version of Small 5 animal.

8:00 - private CLF lesson. Actually ended up doing my regular lesson and the make up lesson (for being sick last week). Reviewed tournament material. Then learned some more moves in the Plum Blossom vs Cross Pattern two person form. Some more complicated footwork in this part. Then my instructor went over Ng Lun Ma and Ng Lun Choi with me. My memory wasn't as good as I wanted, I had just relearned it and the two weeks off from doing it took it's toll. When I just learn something, I need to consistently practice it or I forget what I just learned. So he helped me when I got stuck, and he had some really good details to go over with me. So glad we got a chance for him to go over it with me. And my goal of learning as much as I could myself paid off, he mostly was able to focus on details because of this. Then he went over what I know of the wooden dummy. It was a great lesson! I am definitely happy with my new instructor.

9:00 - school closes.

I am definitely not fully recovered, but felt like I had some energy today. My stamina is still bad, but better than even yesterday. Practicing outside, where it is a bit cold, made my cough worse.So I think I need to try to be inside more while I still recover.

3 hours and 20 minutes


Wednesday, March 7, 2018 - Evening shift/ rest day