Ah, the thrills of training a new animal. In Beijing, we've been doing nothing but Phoenix since Huairou last April. As much as I like training any new aspect of the art, I can't help feeling like it's 2003 and I'm throwing out my first sweeping strike. You know, like when you realize "this ain't your daddy's ka-ra-te Pile!". As is the same for back then when I was lost searching for the power of my waist, I'm now lost searching for the power in my shoulder. I still find myself depending on my waist for strength which I don't believe is incorrect, but I definitely feel that there is room for improvement in my shoulder. The best ways I've found to remedy this problem so far have been to put most of my focus into my shoulder, extending my arm, and
practicing a few key strike combinations....
1. forcing transforming - inside dodging
2. forcing transforming - whirling extending
3. whirling extending - transforming and removing stabbing
I've found that any strike coming from that forcing transforming strike is going to make you use your shoulder. It's next to impossible to lead with the waist coming from that angle.
Both 2 and 3 are from the Interlocking Extending Strike form. I like to practice these in both a two strike line drill, or combine them into a three strike line drill. I definitely feel the burn in my shoulders after working these.
-Blade
Monday, 18 January 2010
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Happy New Years!--Snow in Beijing
The streets are full of Snow in Beijing.
It's the second time I've seen it snow substantially in my time here, and this time it isn't melting.
The snow is the best thing that has ever happened to this city (save perhaps for when the Americans were here, overseeing the return home of millions of Japanese soldiers whose homeland had so recently folded).
About 2+ feet of snow in 24 hours in a city that is not prepared to handle an inch.
The city has effectively shutdown, save for the public transportation that goes on seemly undaunted. Few citizens dare to drive today; the roads have a tenth of the regular traffic.
The air is the cleanest it has been in months...it actually looks like air today, even hinting at a sort of transparency...the thick, endless soup of smog ephemerally absent.
People are even spitting less too, because of the cold; the men still make awful snot-gurgling noises, but as their faces are covered, they are unable to spit upon the streets.
The only problem is that the people seem to be too lazy to walk on the sidewalks, so they're walking all over the streets as the cars drive; in the best cases, this means they slow down traffic even further; in the worse cases, cars, sliding, are unable to break in time--thwack!
I just saw a whole pack of Chinese almost completely wiped out by a sliding car.
Even so, I must say,
Like a tourniquet struggling against an irremediable wound,
Beijing life is comfortable today.
-Eric C.
It's the second time I've seen it snow substantially in my time here, and this time it isn't melting.
The snow is the best thing that has ever happened to this city (save perhaps for when the Americans were here, overseeing the return home of millions of Japanese soldiers whose homeland had so recently folded).
About 2+ feet of snow in 24 hours in a city that is not prepared to handle an inch.
The city has effectively shutdown, save for the public transportation that goes on seemly undaunted. Few citizens dare to drive today; the roads have a tenth of the regular traffic.
The air is the cleanest it has been in months...it actually looks like air today, even hinting at a sort of transparency...the thick, endless soup of smog ephemerally absent.
People are even spitting less too, because of the cold; the men still make awful snot-gurgling noises, but as their faces are covered, they are unable to spit upon the streets.
The only problem is that the people seem to be too lazy to walk on the sidewalks, so they're walking all over the streets as the cars drive; in the best cases, this means they slow down traffic even further; in the worse cases, cars, sliding, are unable to break in time--thwack!
I just saw a whole pack of Chinese almost completely wiped out by a sliding car.
Even so, I must say,
Like a tourniquet struggling against an irremediable wound,
Beijing life is comfortable today.
-Eric C.
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