Okay .. is this the journal entry where I write three or four pages with pictures talking all about my experience at the Berkeley tournament?
No .. it’s not.
As much as I’d like to give a blow-by-blow detailing of my activities over the weekend, I’m actually kinda tired. I will say a few things though:
1) Competition was fun. My first (official) time judging and I actually enjoyed it. Taxing on the brain but really quite interesting to do. I might consider doing it again in the future, if I’m not competing at the same tournament or something. I don’t know how people manage to do both sometimes.
2) Cal Wushu deserves a standing ovation for having the best run tournament I’ve been to since my former life as a professional wushu athlete in China. Oh wait .. sorry. I was dreaming again.
3) The Master’s Demo was .. how do you say? … Off the HOOK. Some day, if I’m really really lucky, the blinking of my eyes might be faster than 3 of He Jing De’s broadsword wraps. But probably not.
4) After Party was a blast. Yes, I know I was sitting in the back yard with people just chilling .. but honestly .. that’s my definition of a blast. (Yes .. I’m old … I know.)
5) I went to Wushu West Sunday morning for their 10:30 – 12:00 class. It was fun and I had a good time doing a bit of coaching of the kids there. Some of them are pretty good, but who can’t use lots and lots of fun basics training? 😉
6) He Jing De’s nan quan seminar was great! He’s a fun guy to learn from and does the most amazing job of copying the incorrect movements of students. We all learned the demo set that he performed the night before at the Master’s Demo. Some good moves in there. I’m going to incorporate some of them into my individual since they’re a bit easier on the knees.
Anyway .. those are the wushu highlights from the weekend.
Tonight I went to wushu class, which I almost didn’t do because I was so incredibly tired during the afternoon. I had to go to set today for a meeting and ended up being there all day until right before class. The meeting was good, but waiting around was tiring. I don’t know how those extras in the movie do it. They just stand around for like 12 hours a day.
Anyway, tonight it was basically 2 hours of basics. I think most of us who went to Berkeley were still pretty jazzed so we all worked pretty hard. I’m amazed on an almost daily basis at how much stronger and more flexible my legs and body is getting. I don’t get it. I didn’t think I was really doing anything that much different from last year when I trained. I guess I’m focusing on stretching a bit more, but my legs feel really quite strong.
Sure … I can’t hold that wall leaning stance for more than 45 seconds .. but aside from that, I feel pretty strong. My drop stance push palm is better than it’s ever felt in my life. That has to mean something, right?
Well .. I guess I’ll ponder that for the next day or two until Wednesday’s wushu class. Goodnight for now.