Tuesday, Feb 22, 2022 - Day off due to rain. Wednesday, Feb 23. 2022 - 6:30 p.m. - CLF format style workout with Ms. M. We did everything but two person forms (Broadsword vs spear, two person staff, Golden Leopard vs Tiger and Plum Blossom vs Cross Pattern.) Forgot to do the solo style of Golden Leopard vs Tiger we usually do. Also, did not do 3 section staff because of the cold spell we are experiencing. There are two forms where the ends of the weapon catch in my hoodie. I took off my hoodie for the other one, the butterfly knives. And it was COLD!. I just didn't want to take off my jacket again! We really are experiencing a cold spell the likes that San Diego rarely gets. San Diego weather has been getting very different the last few years. Climate change is real! And the cold is affecting my knee issues, affecting my workout quality. 8:20ish - Solo practice. TCC test format. Well I skipped the Kwan Dao. 8:50 - left early. 2 Hours and 20 Minutes Thursday, Feb 24, 2022 - 6:35ish - Worked on the Kwan-Yin seated form. Meant to run through my full TCC format. But I had a weird brain lapse on the sequence of the seated form. Took me awhile to figure it out. Go figure. 7:00 - CLF Tai Sifu class - He started with detailing out different styles of Fui Sing Tek Tau. And you know what? I misspelled that. I need to look up how the first word is spelled. Anyways, there are two ways of doing it. It is a common thing in the beginning of many CLF forms. It is the wind up position before a kick. Here is Siu Moi Fa by my GM when he was much younger. The move is at 20 seconds in. Then we worked on Siu Moi Fa (the form in the video above.) Chau Sot staff, and formal exercise. 8:00 - Solo practice. Cold is still affecting my very stiff and painful knee right now. TCC -Kwan Dao. I am trying to get used to doing this form with the heavier non-wushu Kwan Dao. CLF - Ping Kuen. 8:30 - TCC Private Lesson. Went over a few correction from the last High level instructor testing. I was told to expect a lot of corrections to the Kwan Dao, but when we went through it, there really weren't that many. Then the double Cudgels. There was one move that had some discrepancies between instructors. Found out the right way to do it during the test. (Something got confused in translation and there were a couple of script differences that caused this.) Finished up with the seated form. I fixed my brain lapse from earlier today. DID I MENTION IT WAS COLD????? I felt bad for making my instructor teach me out in the cold. But I still want to mostly avoid inside due to Covid. I may have gone in if the mask mandate was still in place, but they lifted it for vaccinated people. Issue is, the way that works in the USA is they trust the honor system. And I know several unvaccinated people who take off the mask too. So, outside it is for me still. 9;00 - left school 2 hours and 25 minutes
Friday, Feb 25, 2022 - 5:00 - CLF observation with Tai Sifu. An observation in my school is when your instructor brings in Tai Sifu to review parts of your curriculum to see what he thinks needs to be corrected before testing. There is usually a series of them before an advanced test. This was my first CLF observation for this test level. And my first one with this instructor. I got some of my old nerves back. Not as bad as before, but worse than my last few TCC observations. I guess I really am more advanced in TCC, because nothing really phases me in TCC anymore. I had trouble picking up where I left off after Tai Sifu stopped with a correction. And I got flustered and made mistakes in remembering sequence where I normally don't. I was kind of upset with myself for a bit afterwards. But upon thinking about it more, it really didn't go so badly as I first thought. I can be overly critical of myself sometimes. We went over Ping Kuen. Ping Kuen is the first form I learned at this curriculum level, and it is still one of the hardest, maybe THE hardest form at this level. This is where I got most flustered. Afterwards it was 3 section staff, which went much better. I was glad for the corrections, I am excited to see how I can improve. And upon reflection, it really wasn't that many corrections, just the same few concepts throughout. It boiled down to more waist turning- particularly in Sei Ping Ma Chuin Nau's. I realized I need to think of my elbow lining up with my heel, not my mid line on the side to get the right position. And turning more in Ding Ji Ma Sow Choi's. I still T-rex my Gwa Choi's - particularly in Gwa Kup combinations. And I also need more reaching and turning in Tsang Jeung's. Particularly reaching back with my non striking hand to get more reach WITH the striking hand. More energy in my guard hand, particularly flicking it up instead of just putting it there. On the positive, Tai Sifu said my strikes overall looked very crisp and sharp! And that they had the right Ging/ energy! He also thought my stances were looking lower, which surprised me because my knees are very stiff from the cold weather this week. My instructor was more pleased with the observation than I was. (Re: being overly self critical). He said Tai - Sifu reiterated to him alone later that he was liking the crispness in my strikes and the Ging. (Gosh, not sure if that should be spelled Jing.) My instructor mentioned that THIS is actually the hardest thing to get down at this test level, and so he feels the other corrections are easier and that we have accomplished a major hurdle to the test. And it is true that he always talks about the Ging in the Tuesday black to senior black class. I really am fortunate to get feedback on improving in observations like this. 5:30 - Two person practice with Ms. M and Ms. B. Solo versions of 9 star, Golden Leopard vs Tiger, and two person staff. It took awhile longer than usual to run through this because I talked to them about my observation, and then I messed up a few times because my mind was still mulling over the observation. Ha! We all have our days where one or the other mess up more than the others. Today was my turn! Then, we went straight to facing each other, mostly Ms. M and I taking turns with Ms. B as she gets the Broadsword side down of broadsword vs Spear. It is coming along. I think next week she will finish the sequence! 7:00 - Private CLF lesson. This is where some of the conversation with my instructor about the observation took place. It just seemed easier to write it all in the same spot. Then, we reviewed Sup Ji Kau Da. Focusing on the corrections from the observation. 7:30 - Solo practice. TCC format. The usual five I have listed before. Also Fajing form. I think I did a couple other TCC forms too- can't remember. CLF - Small 5 Animal, focusing again on the corrections from the observation. Also Hung Sing Stick form. I can't remember what else. It was merely cold out- not abnormally bone chilling hard to move freezing cold! It was a good day pf practice! Very enlightening! 4 Hours Saturday, Feb 26, 2022 - Rest Day 2022 -Week 9 = 12 Hours & 15 Minutes 2022 Total Hours = 93 Hours & 48 Minutes
