The Weekly Wushu Recap (8/16)

Another week of wushu has passed!  I didn’t get quite as much training in this week as I would have liked, but thats okay.  I will take what I can get.

The Recap

Tuesday evening I was feeling a bit worn down physically, so after basics got started I took it relatively easy for most of the class, focusing instead on teaching.  I did work a bit on my 3rd section of nanquan though, which was good.  I continued to help Jonny and Pierre with some more of their new nanquan form and everyone else with whatever they are doing.

Originally Wednesday evening I was going to head to Ding Wei’s to train, but I was still not feeling so great, so I rescheduled it to Saturday instead.

Thursday was a good class for me.  I was able to train the whole time, perhaps helped by the fact that my sister was visiting and watched the first half of class.  Nothing to motivate you to train like a family member in the room!    We did lots of good conditioning at the end of class.  I came up with a good leg training exercise that combines frog leaps with wall sits.  Brutal, but great for the legs.

Saturday was class at Ding Wei’s.  This time Tiffany was there too!  And a few other people like M. Wu, whom I haven’t seen in forever.  It is much easier to train when there are more than 4 people in the class.   I got lots more good tips on my form from Ding Wei, which will probably take me at least the next week to integrate into my form.  I think Tiffany took some video footage of my stuff, which I’ll try to post up at some point in the future.  No rush though, because I took a look at it and it wasn’t so hot. hahaha.

After workout we went to a nearby restaurant to grab some lunch.  Good food and good friends and lots of wushu talk as usual.

Sunday’s Day of Kung Fu

Sunday’s class my calves were really sore and tight so I opted out of practice.  I think it was the gymnastics floor at Ding Wei’s.  It works your calves a bit more than I’m used to so I thought it best to just let my body rest a bit and focus on a more basics/conditioning centered class.

It was pretty brutal.  We did basically 3 or 4 basics during the whole class.   I was sort of in a mood myself, so I really just got frustrated with some of the problems a few of the students have with their basics and just kept having them do front stretch kicks over and over.  Pretty much 30 minutes of front stretch kick practice.  First for synchronization. Then for precision and technique.  Then with a balance.  Then with more synchronization.

I was of the mind-set that, if they can’t do front stretch kick correctly, why should I move them on to something else?  It is one of the most fundamental kicks in wushu, and too many people have the mentality of just getting through practice so they can learn more forms and practice more jumps.  But that doesn’t increase your skill level (your “kung fu”, if you will) at all.  In fact, it makes your wushu look like crap.

So, today was a “let’s develop some kung fu” day.  And by the end I did see some improvement on their front stretch kicks.  But I really think that some of them need to do this sort of stuff more often.  When the coach glosses over focusing on the fundamentals, then the students will pick up that habit too.  You have to demand more from yourself each time, and work on perfecting those aspects of wushu that show a deeper understanding of the art.

After front stretch kick we worked on punching.  Lots of waggly elbows and chicken arms and lack of extension and power.  I was surprised at how many of the “advanced” students can’t even do a correct wushu punch.  Half of them were doing karate punches with the shoulders not turning. Loooooong fist, right?  LONG arms.  Anyway, we spent a long time doing that, both standing, with palms, in horse stance.

So, Sunday was pretty much just front stretch kick, punches and that was it.  I don’t run that kind of class very often, but once in a while it is a good idea to really focus on the fundamentals.  I remember James Yang telling me about the time he was training with the Beijing Team and Cui Ya Hui (I think) had them do wu bu quan for half of the class.   The world’s best wushu athletes and they spend an hour going through wu bu quan.  If it is good enough for them, it is certainly good enough for us.

Conditioning at the end of class was pretty brutal too.  I’m more and more convinced that frog leaps are one of the best ways to develop your legs for wushu, not just for jumping, for for all aspects of stance work and other things.  I’ve noticed a marked improvement in student’s leg strength and power generation after all of the frog leaps we’ve been doing.  And, of course, it helps with their jumps and, more importantly, the ability to absorb impact when landing from jumps.

Anyway, this week I did manage to finish up the choreography on my form, but there are still a TON of details I need to get down and improve upon.  But I’m happy with what I have so far and the improvements I’ve made to date.

The Plan

This week I am planning on the following:

*Tuesday: Wushu West – Nangun 2-3, Nanquan 3-4

*Thursday: Wushu West – Nangun 3-4, Nanquan 3-4

*Saturday: Ding Wei – Nanquan 1-4

*Sunday: Wushu west – Nanquan 1-4, Nangun 1-4

Specifically, I would like to finally get my nanquan and nangun forms completely finalized, so that while I’m off on my own I can focus on more detail work and figuring out the specifics of technique.

Sunday will also be my last wushu class for a while (along with a wushu BBQ in Orinda!  YAY!).  The next possibility of wushu might be the evening of September 10th in Seattle. (a VERY slim possibility).  After that I might train in L.A. around the 23rd of September.  And then I will be in Xi’an by the 1st of October, and will hopefully find a place to train there.  I have a few possibilities …

First, I have a connection or two with the Shaanxi Wushu Team which, I believe, trains about 2 or 3 miles south of where I’ll be living.  However, they are probabl preparing for the All China Games in October, so it might be best to approach them after the competition (and after Wu Di or Yang Yu Hong have been able to introduce me to some of the athletes at All China Games).

Second, the sports university in Xi’an is located about 2 miles from my home as well, but this time to the east.  I have looked online and their prices seem reasonable.  I would consider training there long-term if I can’t get a good situation with the Shaanxi Team.  I will probably go to this school after some research and talking with their admissions people.

Third, and probably the best option for me right when I arrive in Xi’an, is a school run by Su Ku Feng, a former Asia Games nanquan champion.  He has his own school in Xi’an which is “foreigner friendly”, and he specializes in my style, which is a bonus.  This is a video of him:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_T3azSCY3s

(This was 2004, during that time when they used music for nanquan forms.  I’m glad that didn’t last too long)

In the meantime I’m going to focus a lot more on conditioning, flexibility and endurance.  A program of running, strength training and stretching will be the order of the month from August 25 – September 25.  I am also going to try to get at least two personal wushu training day in each week, but with all the travelling that might be a tad optomistic.  Plus, apparently I’m getting married in 2 weeks, so I have that to focus on as well.

But, I’m not going to think about my next month until  after next week.  For now, I have another week of wushu training to do, so wish me luck!

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