18 May 2002 (updated 18 May 2002 at 20:18 UTC)
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Today I experienced my first kung fu class. It hurt like
hell, but was loads of fun.
The instructor (Eo Omwake -- http://www.flowinghands.com/)
apparently mixes a large base of Shaolin style with northern
long-fist, southern praying mantis, kempo, and a bunch of
other techniques. But today I just learned the basic
stances, watched the first form in Qigong (chee-gong), and
learned a couple self-defense techniques and a short-range
upward kick with a name I forget. All with lots of
repetition and movement.
"Practice big, apply small" is a Shaolin saying that expend
more energy in grander motions than when you fight, so when
you fight, you can explode. It makes sense, but my thighs
are burning because of the very low, very very wide basic
stance -- and the continuous getting up and going down into
it. My vocabulary obviously isn't that descriptive, so
here's the gist:
My sweat soaked all the way through my two shirts, through
the band of my pants, and through my silk waist sash. My
legs burned yet felt like noodles. And it was so much
fun.
update
Next class is Monday evening. Hopefully I'll have recovered
by then :)