Journal of Aaradia's MA Journey

Discussion in 'Training Logs' started by aaradia, Feb 14, 2015.

  1. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Monday, August 20, 2018 -

    6:30 - Solo practice. CLF - Spear side of spear vs broadsword and TCC 9 dragon spear.

    7:00 - Stick Fighting class. Not my favorite thing tonight. Lots of that slow motion sparring.

    7:30 - TCC Da Lu and Pattern practice with Mr. L. Extra focus on the circling pattern. We are both in need of work on that! I have always found that one the most difficult. I didn't look at a watch- about 20 to 25 minutes estimate? After that, more solo practice. Ping Kuen and 3 section staff. TCC - Wind Chasing Fan, Small Circle Fast Form, Double Gim & 54 Gim. Stuck on 54 gim. (Went home later and watched the video to remember where I was forgetting.) I was focusing on some of the forms needed for my next test.

    I think I did some other CLF, but I can't remember what.

    10:00 - School closes

    3 hours and 30 minutes


    Tuesday, August 21, 2018 -

    6:30 - Two person practice with Ms. B. Both sides of 2 person staff and Golden Leopard vs Tiger.

    7:00 - CLF forms practice with Ms. R and Ms. M. Stick, Staff, Broadsword, Spear and what Ms. M and I know of 3 section staff. Small Five Animal=went pretty well for me. Sup Ji Jit Fu= also went pretty well. Just one or two sticking points in both those forms. Solo Golden Leopard vs Tiger. Whew! That one not so smooth for any of us! We are going to focus on that one the next few sessions until it gets better. Never ceases to amaze me how different doing it solo is. I am much better at it with a partner. What Ms. M and I know of Ping Kuen.

    These Tuesday practice sessions are going well for all of us. I am lucky to have great practice partners!


    8:00 - CLF private lesson. Started off running through Plum Blossom vs Cross Pattern with Ms. R helping out. Then 3 section staff. Darn it! I had been told an exhibition video was the complete form. I thought I was close to the end of learning the sequence. But the video is NOT the complete form, so I have a ways to go yet. The forms at this level are often endlessly long! :p Also review, corrections and a few more steps learned of Ping Kuen.

    8:30 - Practice of what I learned in my lesson for Ping Kuen and 3 section staff. Also TCC spear.

    9:05 - School closes

    2 hours and 35 minutes


    Wednesday, August 22, 2018 - evening shift/ rest day
     
    axelb likes this.
  2. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Thursday, August, 23, 2018 -

    6:30 - last half of TCC class. Some forms- can't remember if it was 24 or 40 or both. Then pattern. Extra focus on discussing moving doing pattern to a more advanced way of doing it and the martial applications.

    7:00 - Advanced TCC class (called that because Tai Sifu wasn't there. It was the usual fill in by our full time instructor.) Forms practice and detailing. Formal Exercise and stick. Also drills for stick and staff.

    8:00 - TCC private lesson. Review, detailing and corrections for Buddha Palm and Small Circle Fast form.

    8:30 - solo TCC practice focusing on details from lesson. Also worked in 9 dragon spear form.

    9:00 - school closes

    2 hours and 30 minutes


    Friday, August 24, 2018 -

    6:30 - Techniques practice with Ms. B and Ms. M. We went over some details Ms. B got from looking at the streaming video over the last week. This was mostly with regards to questions from last weeks quizzing session. Then we quizzed the Black Sash level of techniques - double daggers and cane. Then we practiced several levels of techniques- the two we were talking over the details of from last week.

    Not sure when we finished.

    Two person practice with Ms. M. Broadsword vs spear and Plum Blossom vs Cross pattern. Also the first 5 moves she just learned of the 32 gim.

    I didn't push hard today. I was unfocused. Had a loved one in surgery earlier that day. Was calling and checking in and all. Won't get into more details due to privacy and all.

    2 hours and 30 minutes
     
  3. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Saturday, August 25, 2018 -

    9:40 - Two person practice with Ms. R. Plum Blossom vs Cross Pattern.

    10:00 - TCC class. Review and detailing of weapon forms. Plum Blossom fan & 32 gim. Some stationary push hands as well.

    11:00 - sparring class. Class is bigger, a lot of new people. Lots of kicking drills, then some matches. How to counter kicks and then move in on the opponent too. Couple of the new people are pretty particularly wild and uncontrolled, even for new people. Lots of head punching, when head contact was not allowed.

    12:00 - Advanced push hands/ Moving step class. Some good drills on going right to an attack from a defensive move. Continuing the momentum of the defensive move into the attack. Which is precisely something I need to work on! Matches too.

    1:00 =- Stretching class. A little change from the usual. A lot of stuff on lower back stretches. Again, something I particularly need as my lower back has been acting up again lately.

    1:30 - a bit of a rest and then solo practice. Three section staff and Ping Kuen. Was forgetting a whole chunk of Ping Kuen and then thinking how shorter it seemed! LOL! Then I realized my mistake and practiced it properly! :D Also some wooden dummy. Yikes, really forgot some of what I just learned. Went home later and studied the video.

    Spent some time on the phone to see if I could visit my family in the hospital. So, my practice was broken up today after the classes.

    3:00 - school closes

    4 hours and 30 minutes


    Sunday, August 26, 2018 - Rest day

    2018 Week 34 = 15 hours and 35 minutes
    2018 Total Hours = 441 hours and 11 minutes
     
    Last edited: Aug 27, 2018
    axelb likes this.
  4. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Monday, August 27, 2018 -

    6:32 - Solo practice. TCC spear. CLF spear side of spear vs broadsword. Solo practice of Cross pattern side of Cross pattern vs Plum Blossom.

    7:00 - Stick Fighting class. Drills and teachings on moving/ flowing from a defensive move right into an attack.

    7:30 - Solo practice. Ng Lun Ma, Ng Lun Choi, Ping Kuen, 3 section staff, Shaolin 5 Animal and Wooden dummy. Going back to getting the memorization down of the wooden dummy again. Studied the video over the weekend and have a lot of it down again. Still some work to do to catch up. Also, had taken time off of practicing Shaolin 5 animal. I was too overloaded. Going back to it again at a slower pace. I am not up to where I was, but am back at it. Going to get certain parts down more fully before moving on. Too many parts of this form are too similar to keep having parts halfway memorized. We will see if this approach works better. I have also been studying this video more lately too.

    I actually watch a lot of my streaming video service from my school. I just don't usually mention it here. Also, some youtube of stuff not on the streaming service yet. The youtube is just for basic memorization, not details.

    TCC - A little Buddha Palm, but not all the way through as the school closed.

    No instructor seminars tonight, due to the school picnic on Sunday. I didn't go to that. Not my kind of thing. So anyways, the school totally closed up at closing time. So, a shorter workout for me for a Monday. And next Monday the school is closed due to the holiday :(

    A good productive session tonight!

    9:00 - school closes

    2 hours and 28 minutes
     
    axelb likes this.
  5. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Tuesday, August 28, 2018 -

    6:30 - Two person practice with Ms. B. Two person staff and Golden Leopard vs Tiger.

    7:00 - Forms practice with Ms. R and Tai Simo. Ms. M won't be able to join us for a few weeks. As for Tai Simo. Well, my Sifu just got married. Tai Simo has been a Sifu in other schools, but is going through our schools curriculum now. Which I respect, she certainly doesn't need to. So, she actually is super advanced (obviously - having been a Sifu) but doesn't know a lot of our school's curriculum. She is a personal friend of Ms. R, so she asked to join in. Which was nice, but nerve wracking! I actually know the curriculum best of the three of us, but having Tai Simo look at me for the memorization made me nervous. She is super nice, it is a me thing - not her. And my nerves aren't rational. But it is the same sort of thing when I test where my nerves make me doubt what I know and I mess up things I normally know better. I talked to my instructor afterwards and he is going to work with me on how to improve and work through my nerves.

    Anyways, we spent a lot of time talking too. And it was nice to get to know Tai Simo a little better. I learned about her MA background a little more and just got to know her a bit. The talking meant we didn't cover as much material as usual though. Small Five Animal, what I know of 3 section staff, stick, staff, spear and broadsword.

    8:00 - Private CLF lesson. Ms. R stayed (as usual lately) and we went through Plum Blossom vs Cross Pattern. It is coming along. Then we went through a good chunk of Spear vs Broadsword. Then, review, corrections and learning more of 3 section staff and Ping Kuen. My lesson went a little long.

    8:38ish- Practiced what I just learned of Ping Kuen and 3 section staff to hopefully get it ingrained in my brain.

    9:00 - school closes


    2 hours
     
    axelb likes this.
  6. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Wednesday, August 29, 2008 - Evening Shift/ Rest Day

    Thursday, August 30, 2018 -

    6:30 - Last half of TCC Class 24, 40 and some pattern practice. Tai Sifu had the more experienced people work with the newer ones. The class broke up half and half this way, so it worked out. The second person I worked with is super new to it, and is struggling with it. So, it taught ME a lot. How to analyze and explain things that have become second nature, and how break down what is most important to focus on and what can wait for later. I see how instructing can really improve ones own understanding and skills. Anyways, Tai Sifu commented several times that night that he thought I did a really good job in this, that made my night! I want to do right by my fellow students, the way others helped me and still help me.

    7:00 - Tai Sifu CLF class. Techniques and kicks today. Break down and detailing them. Blue and Purple sash.

    8:00 - TCC private lesson. Review and detailing of the Wind chasing fan and 9 dragon spear forms, mostly the Wind chasing fan. My instructor mentioned again that we will be reviewing the new materials over the next few weeks, then he will be setting up observations with Tai Sifu. This is the usual pattern preparing to test for higher level tests. After this, we will review some of the older curriculum material that will come up in the test.

    8:30 - went through the Wind chasing fan and wrote down the corrections given in my lesson.

    9:00 - school closes


    2 hours and 30 minutes
     
    axelb likes this.
  7. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Friday, August 31, 2018 -

    5:02 - Solo practice. TCC - Buddha Palm. Went over and practiced corrections from last lesson. Having it written down is really helpful! CLF - 3 Section staff. Whacked myself in the head once, but not too badly. Solo practice of Spear side of spear vs broadsword. It is starting to flow a bit better. It still needs to get better, but I am making progress. TCC - 9 Dragon spear. Looking at script to iron out some memory details- mostly when is a spear thrust straight to the solar plexus and when is it an angled up throat strike.

    6:00 - TCC Tai Sifu class for those with a certain membership. Just two of us in the class. Tai Sifu detailed out the saber form. I like the clip of it below, because it puts together our GM doing it in varous performances over the years. I think it must be one of his favorite forms, as he does it a LOT in exhibitions.

    Also, asked Tai Sifu to remind me of the first couple of moves of the two person Tai Chi Saber. I need to get that re-memorized. It is short, shouldn't be too hard.

    6:30 - Solo practice. No partners today. Ms. M is out of town for a few weeks. Ms. B wanted to take a break from techniques practice. So...............
    CLF - Ng Lun Ma, Ng Lun Choi. Solo practice of Cross Pattern side of Plum Blossom vs Cross Pattern. Getting the Wooden dummy down again. I have been studying the video again. Got a big chunk of it down again. What I know of Ping Kuen.

    I am working on/ practicing Shaolin Five Animal again. Not back to where I was, taking it slower this time. Not so worried about learning 5 moves a week. Instead I am getting a part down thoroughly, without confusion- THEN adding more. However long that takes. I think this approach will work better.

    TCC- Wind Chasing Fan. Again studying notes of corrections from a recent lesson. Double Gim. Small Circle Fast form. Studied the script on that some too.

    I also mixed in 2 rounds of Shadow boxing/ well shadow CLF work. And two rounds of light power bag work. Wearing MMA gloves, not the usual boxing gloves. I don't know- the rounds were between about 45 seconds and 1 min and 45 seconds. Going to work my way back into more of this. Didn't do much as I want to see how my thumbs do after the bag work. If it hurts tomorrow, I will do more shadow boxing only.

    I also did the drill where one kicks with a power thrust, chambers back, but does not put their foot down before kicking again. My form needed improvement, I needed to chamber back further, but otherwise it was weird. I did really well. Like I once got in 4 kicks and it wasn't very hard. I haven't done this in ages, so I am not sure why it is improved after a break! But it is better for sure.

    So, I got in all my new forms in both CLF and TCC that I am working on. I love doing partner work, and it is helpful. But it was also nice to have a night to myself, except one class. It was a really good night - very productive.

    9:05 - School closes


    4 hours and 3 minutes

    Saturday, September 1, 2018 - Work day/ rest day

    Sunday, September 2, 2018 - Rest day

    2018 Week 35 = 11 hours and 01 minutes
    2018 Total Hours = 452 hours and 12 minutes


     
    Last edited: Sep 3, 2018
    axelb likes this.
  8. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Monday, September 3. 2018 - Labor Day Holiday/ school closed/ rest day


    Tuesday, September 4, 2018 -

    Well, darn it. I thought I did this day. Let's see what I can remember now. hmmm. 6:30 - Two person Staff practice with Ms. B.

    7:00 - No forms practice with Ms. R. or Ms. M. Ms. M is still on vacation and Ms. R was sick. :( So, solo practice. Too many days of practice afterward to remember what exactly. But I think I focused on new curriculum materials. CLF - Wooden Dummy, 3 section staff and Ping Kuen I think. I could be wrong. Maybe some TCC?

    8:00 - Private CLF lesson. Review, corrections and learned more of Three section staff and Ping Kuen. Seems like there will never be an end to me saying this. These forms are long! But not even the longest in this level's materials. So, I am at this part in the three section staff that isn't on the clip I posted. Turned out the clip I thought was complete was not. Lots of spinning the staff around my neck, around my body and under my legs. Yikes! The new Ping Kuen part wasn't so hard.

    My instructor thinks we will finish learning the moves of the three section staff next lesson. We'll see if that actually happens, but it means I am close. Then comes the making it look decent part!

    8:30 - practiced what I learned in my lesson to cement it into my brain- hopefully!

    9:00 - school closes

    2 hours and 30 minutes


    Wednesday, September 5, 2018 - Evening shift/ rest day


    Thursday, September 6, 2018 -

    6:30 - Last half of TCC class. We did the 32 gim. Then *sigh* I can't remember what else.

    7:00 - Advanced TCC class with the usual full time instructor filling in for Tai Sifu. Tai Sifu is on vacation. Seems like a LOT of people are on vacation this week as the school and classes are emptier than usual. Only two of us for this class- me and one other student. Worked on formal exercise, stick and staff forms.

    8:00 - Private TCC lesson. Went through Wind Chasing fan again with more details! THIS is exactly what I wanted! I can't remember if I mentioned it before......

    But I got to choose my curriculum materials for this level. From categories, like hand form, short weapon form, etc. I had to fight a bit to get to do the Wind Chasing fan. It used to be in the curriculum and I learned it then. But it got taken out with a curriculum change. I chose this and had a similar situation with Buddha palm. One's instructor and Tai Sifu have to approve your choices and my instructor was reluctant because they weren't new to me. Two reasons I wanted them and I made my case successfully. I wanted to have them back as part of my formal curriculum. Also, at this point, I like learning new forms, but I already know more TCC forms than most people. I was and am into learning new ones, but I also am not in a hurry at this point. I was more interested in peeling back the layers in greater depth on these forms than learning new ones. Also in line with that, I wanted the eye and corrections of this instructor, as I learned them before with my last one.

    So, the extreme super nit-picky detailing is what I asked for and what I am getting! :):eek::D:cool:

    8:30 - well I went to the front desk to get pen and paper to write down the details form the lesson, but I ended up in a discussion with my TCC instructor about various MA things. It was nice to have a long conversation and bond a bit. He has been my instructor for several years. minus the 10 or so month hiatus due to focusing on my CLF black sash test. But that is still relatively new to me. I had 12+ years of bonding with my long term instructor. And I miss the level of us knowing each other we had built through all those years. So, it is nice to have had a little forging of that with this instructor.

    9:00 - School closes

    2 hours
     
  9. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Friday, September 7, 2018 -

    6:30 - All solo practice today! For reasons mentioned in last Friday's log.

    TCC- spent a LONG time on the 9 Dragon spear. A lot of time studying the script, then practicing, then back to the script, then practicing. So, I am developing my Chinese terminology understanding and the ability to read and decipher the scripts as well as practice this form. Spent almost an hour on it. I feel like I made a lot of progress. Biggest points of confusion that I was ironing out is when the spear poke is a straight one to the solar plexus and when is it an upward thrust to the throat. Also, when is a move a Kum and when is it a gort. Kum being as small circular move and gort being a more straight downward one. D

    Also Wind Chasing fan. Focusing on the corrections from the last two weeks of lessons. ouble Gim. Also started Small circle fast form, but didn't get very far as that was when the school closed.

    CLF - Three section staff. Whew! Not good! I was all confused about directions and which hand to let go when! The full time instructor tried to help me, but I just wasn't getting it. I got more confused, to the point that going forward was just more detrimental than helpful. Practiced the behind thee back flowering too. The instructor helped me with tips on that that sunk in better. Wooden Dummy. Not all back yet, but getting there. Ping Kuen I think. Pretty sure I did that.

    Lots of details on a few forms in today's practice.

    9:17 - school closes

    2 hours and 47 minutes.
     
  10. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Saturday, September 8, 2018 -

    9:40ish - Two person practice with Ms. R. I was a bit late, sadly as usual on Saturdays. Also, I took my new spear that I bought just for two person forms for the first time today. I had had it wrapped up in saran wrap. And it was harder and more time consuming to take that all off! Ms. D had to get some scissors and help. It was still hard with scissors! So, bad thing is that my school has had weapons corrupted by termites in the past. They have had to get rid of whole bunches of weapons for sale. So, as I didn't want my house infested, just in case. I wrapped it up tightly so that if there were termites, they weren't getting out. I bought it about 8 months ago and there was no termite damage.

    We did mostly the Broadsword vs spear, and then a little bit of Plum Blossom vs Cross Pattern. At one point, we asked my CLF instructor to look at a part because (it turned out) I had the footwork a bit off. He corrected it.

    10:00 - TCC class. Mostly detailing out the 108 long form. A bit of Plum Blossom fan at the very end.

    11:00 - Sparring class. Decent sized group, considering how many are students are on vacation this week. Lots of kicking partner drills. Also some drills where one moved in and clinched in defense of a hand strike. Then some 1 minute matches. A lot of those.

    12:00 - Advanced Push Hands and Moving Step class. Push hands was mostly matches. More drills in moving step. The focus was how to get in the range YOU find optimal and not the one the opponent does. A couple of matches at the end.

    1:00 - I didn't go to stretching class. The usual instructor was not in today. No disrespect to any other instructors, but they mostly do standard stretching. And well, I don't need a class for that. The usual instructor does extra special stuff. Really unique and focused especially on combining strength building with stretching.

    Rested for a bit. Pretty tired by this point and the heat waves are coming back.:( Practices from this point on were not super intense and I took a lot of breaks. . TCC- flute and 54 gim. CLF - wooden dummy.

    My CLF instructor is the one who teaches the advanced push hands/ moving step class. After the class, I had told him of my woes and confusion with the 3 section staff. He said he would come help me later this day when he was free. In the meantime, Ms. R offered to help. But she was a bit confused too, so we decided it needed my instructor to get me through the sticking points. He came and helped me around 2:30 and I think I got it now. :) I practiced this after he left- to try to get it down. I feel much less confused.

    The thing is, it is all a challenge, but I find that the hardest parts of the form are not what I thought they would be watching it in the past.

    3:00 - school closes. Well actually I could have stayed later, but I had called in some Mediterranean food to pick up just after the usual closing time. So I left.

    4 hours and 45 minutes (ish)


    Sunday, September 9, 2018 - Rest day


    2018 Week 36 = 12 hours and 02 minutes
    2018 Total Hours = 464 hours and 14 minutes
     
    Last edited: Sep 9, 2018
  11. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Monday, September 10, 2018 - I had the day off work. I just ask for random days off sometimes. Way in advance. Planned mental health days - so to speak.

    4:34 - Solo practice
    TCC - 9 Dragon Spear. It coming along well. I am happy with my progress. Spent about 25 minutes or so on this one. 54 Gim.

    CLF - Went through all my new stuff tonight. Wooden Dummy. I almost have this one back in my brain cells. Yay! Ng Lun Ma and Ng Lun Choi. Spear side of spear vs broadsword. Cross Pattern side of Plum Blossom vs Cross Pattern. Ping Kuen. Shaolin Five Animal. Tried to start solo practice of two person sabre, but didn't get very far.

    So, I actually did Shaolin Five animal several times LAST week as well. I forgot to write it down. I am almost at the point where I was when I stopped for awhile. I am almost clear and not getting confused all the way though up to what I know. I am tempted to add a few moves, but I won't. I vow this time to stick to going slowly. To not move forward until all confusion is gone on the moves I know. The clip below just came out. It is the basic form, although some of the details are different than how I am taught. For example: the waving around in his stances thing, my school doesn't do that. But this does give you a basic idea of what I am learning. As this Sifu originally learned it from my GM, before they parted ways, I wonder about him saying this is a public version. I need to ask about that. My GM has a DVD and that is on our school's streaming service and it is what I am studying. I have not learned this from my instructor yet. So, I don't know about this............... Anyways, it is the whole thing and it does give one an idea of what I am doing. I am up to 3:39 in this clip as far as what I know. See how long and confusing it is?:eek::D



    Spent a few minutes asking and getting answers to a Chinese Terminology question. And later was discussing tests and curriculum stuff with that instructor.

    6:00 - Stick Fighting class. 4 students. A little bigger, but still too small. At least it was more than two. Drills on hitting the hands and range. Drills on that, but adding the person avoiding the hand hit and then coming back with a strike. Then a few matches at medium speed.

    6:30 - Back to Solo Practice. CLF - 3 Section Staff. TCC - Double Gim, Wind Chasing Fan, Buddha Palm Small Circle Fast form. Hung Sing Flute. 48 Combination. Whew, this one needs a lot of work! Basically, focusing on stuff for my next test. But I also tried a little Fajing form. But, also didn't get very far in that one. Need to study the video clips to remember.

    Did a little shadow boxing- CLF style. 3 rounds of 1 to 1-1/2 minutes. I will build up to more. It was hard as I was on the mats by that time, but yikes the mats were slippery tonight! I don't know what they used when they cleaned them, but it made them way too slippery. It was weird.

    Also, my back was really bugging me tonight. :( Really tight and hurt. But otherwise it was a good night of working out.

    9:55ish - school closes


    5 hours and 21 minutes
     
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2018
    axelb likes this.
  12. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Tuesday, September 11, 2018 -

    6:30 - Two person staff and Golden Leopard vs Tiger two person forms practice with Ms. B. We went a bit longer in our practice.

    7:15 ish? - Ms. R's private lesson ran late, so we started our practice late. 3 Section staff. Plum Blossom vs Cross Pattern and what we know together of Broadsword vs spear- eh- about 3/4 of the way through it? We ran through the two person stuff more than once. Throat Locking spear. We were working on Shaolin Five amimal when my instructor came over for my private lesson to start. Huh, writing this, we didn't cover a lot of different stuff, but that is ok. Got in some good (and needed for me) two person practice.

    8:00 - Private CLF lesson. Ms. R stayed and we went over the two person stuff. Got further in the spear vs broadsword. Then, review, corrections, and learned more of 3 section staff. Actually, I finished learning all the moves tonight! Woo Hoo!:D I have a long long way to go to make this form look decent. But learning the whole sequence is a big step! Also, there is a move at the end, where you swing it up and have all three parts fold in in the air and catch it with one hand. I thought it would take weeks to successfully do this, but I did it multiple times tonight! It's ridiculous how happy that one small thing made me!:D:D:):) My instructor is awesome!

    8:30 - practiced three section staff, extra focus on what I just learned.

    9:10ish? - school closes. I am estimating. I am pretty sure I left late, but I didn't look at the time right away.

    2 hours and 40 minutes


    Wednesday, September 12, 2018 - Evening Shift/ rest day
     
    Last edited: Sep 12, 2018
    axelb likes this.
  13. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Thursday, September 13, 2018 -

    6:30 - Last half of TCC class

    7:00 - Tai Sifu class - forms review and detailing today. Lately in practice, I want to turn all King Mui Lineage forms into Ping Kuen! Yikes, kept starting to do Ping Kuen moves in other forms in formal exercise. Sheesh! Formal Exercise, Siu Moi Fa, Sup Ji Jit Fu, Stick and Staff. Also 9 star two person form.

    8:00 - Private TCC lesson. Review and detailing of 9 Dragon Spear and Buddha Palm. I wasn't too happy with my Buddha Palm. I kept getting confused on moves I normally know. I don't know why. I was happy with how my spear is coming along. Also got partly through Small Circle Fast form.

    8:30 - more TCC practice. Finished Small Circle Fast form. Also did the 48 combination form. Was Starting the Stick when the school closed.

    9:00- spent some time just practicing the catch move from three section staff.

    9:10ish - School closes


    2 hours and 40 minutes
     
    axelb likes this.
  14. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Friday, September 14, 2018 -

    6:30 - Weapon class- stick techniques. This is exactly why one should never think one is at a level above needing a class. I am an advanced student by my school's standards, but I picked up some good details to refine these techniques. See, I don't even need to do techniques in further tests anymore. But it isn't about testing and getting ranks for me. It is about learning in depth and I still do that by practicing techniques. There is always a deeper layer to what you learn.

    7:00 - solo practice. Focus on my current curriculum level in CLF and what I need to know for my next test in TCC. (That means current and last level materials.)

    CLF- solo practice of two person set - Cross pattern side of cross pattern vs plum blossom. Solo practice of spear side of two person set - spear vs broadsword. Wooden dummy. Ng Lun Ma and Ng Lun Choi. I am still getting confused about the endings for those two. Otherwise they are coming along well. Ping Kuen. Ack! Can't remember the last 3 or 4 moves I learned. 3 section staff. Shaolin Five Animal.

    TCC - Double Gim, 9 dragon spear, 54 Gim, flute, Small Circle Fast form, and Buddha Palm. I may have done 48 combination form. Can't remember for sure.

    Ended by doing some CLF style shadow boxing. 3 rounds of about 1 minute and 15 seconds. I meant to do a couple more rounds, but ran out of time before the school closed. I am gradually increasing my rounds and time in rounds. Someday, my thumbs will heal enough to do some bag workouts too.

    (I am trying to get an appointment scheduled to see a specialist for my thumbs. All indications are I will try a cortisone shot for them. I had an appointment, but they moved it to another location that did not work for me. So I left a message to get a new appointment scheduled. It is annoying that I have to wait. Because I am on call all month for Federal Jury duty. So I can't schedule anything for a couple of weeks into October. My jury duty call ins last until the 28th of this month. But I could get on a several week long trial on the last day. I don't mind doing my duty, but the Federal way of doing it is pretty lame. Medical and dental appointments are all on hold.)

    9:05ish - school closes.


    2 hours and 35 minutes

    Saturday, September 15, 2018 - work all day. rest day

    Sunday, September 16, 2018 - rest day


    2018 Week 37 = 13 hours and 16 minutes
    2018 Total Hours = 477 hours and 30 minutes
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2018
  15. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Monday, September 17, 2018 -

    6:30 - Solo practice. CLF - Ng Lun Ma and Ng Lun Choi. Cross pattern side of Cross Pattern vs Plum Blossom.

    7:00 - Stick Fighting class. Several different drills.

    7:30 - Back to Solo practice. CLF - Wooden Dummy. spear side of spear vs broadsword. 3 Section staff. TCC - 9 dragon spear. Double Gim, Wind Chasing fan, Buddha Palm. 54 gim.

    A few rounds of CLF style shadow boxing.

    Not a lot exciting (to others) to say. I am just focusing on getting my new materials down. And to start to get into the testing mindset with my TCC practice.

    9:51 - School closes


    3 hours and 21 minutes
     
    Last edited: Sep 20, 2018
  16. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Tuesday, September 18, 2018 -

    6:30 - Two person practice with Ms. B. Two person staff and Golden Leopard vs Tiger. Well, whew- this was an off day! It just wan't our best. After Last Friday, where I forgot to write down Our CLF instructor did an observation and gave feedback and corrections, we did some of our best work to date. But we backtracked today! Eh, some days are just off. I have learned this over the years. Not worried about it.

    7:00 - Forms practice with Ms. R. 3 section staff, spear, Broadsword, up to what I know of Shaolin Five Animal. Two person practice of Plum Blossom vs Cross Pattern and spear vs broadsword. There may have been something else that I can't remember right now.

    8:00 - Private CLF lesson. Ms. R stayed to help work on two person stuff. Then review and corrections of 3 section staff. I am having some issues with transitions between moves of the end that I learned last week. My instructor helped me with those. Then review, corrections and more of Ping Kuen. Looking at a video clip, I only have about 10 or so more moves to learn of Ping Kuen now. So I may finish learning basic moves next lesson?

    8:30 - practiced the new part (and the parts I learned the last couple of weeks) of Ping Kuen. Also the catch at the end of the 3 section staff.

    9:05 - School closes


    2 hours and 35 minutes


    Wednesday, September 19, 2018 - Evening shift/ rest day
     
    axelb likes this.
  17. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Thursday, September 20, 2018 -

    6:30 - last half of TCC class. Detailing of the 32 Gim.

    7:00- Tai Sifu/ Advanced CLF class. Tai Sifu taught the first part, then the usual other instructor took over the last part of class. It started off with only 3 students - all advanced. So we worked on more advanced techniques than we can usually do in this class. A couple of students joined in late, but the class plan was already in motion. So they followed along and were introduced to some stuff for their future curriculum. Techniques and kicks. Black sash. The details for the kicks was particularly helpful. Tai Sifu had us setting the foot down with certain kick combinations out further than what I was doing. And it helped my kicks a lot! Can't wait to practice with this new information! Third Degree brown sash kicks and techniques.

    8:00 - TCC private lesson. Reviewed and corrections for Buddha Palm. Then some 9 dragon spear afterwards. My instructor scheduled an observation with Tai Sifu for next week. This is something done regularly for students to prepare for advanced tests. Get Tai Sifu's input and corrections.

    So, I guess I am in the beginning stages of test preparation. Weird. Not sure how I ended up here. I was adamant about NOT worrying about testing for awhile. I was burned out after being in test mode for black fringe, and then soon after for black sash. But in my relaxed state, not worrying about tests, and just having lots of fun learning, well, that led to me learning rather quickly. I am in a great training groove right now (except for my thumb issues). The NOT trying led to me doing better. And so in the very act of NOT trying to do anything but have fun, I put myself into test mode. Go figure. I am , so far, being successful of staying focused on what got me here. Just in a good mental state. My thing to learn is how to stay here and not switch into a more stressful mode as I get closer to testing. We will see how it goes.

    8:30 - focused on Small Circle fast form. That is what will be looked at first in my observation, and I want to make sure Tai Sifu can focus on advanced details, and not have to tell me dumb corrections that I should already know and do.

    9:05 - School closes

    2 hours and 35 Minutes


    Friday, September 21, 2018 -

    6:30 - Techniques practice with Ms. M and Ms. B. Yay! Because Ms. is back from being out of town! We ran through everything twice. A few that someone had trouble with, we did 3 times.

    7:30ish - Two person practice with Ms. M. Again- YAY! Started off with Plum Blossom vs Cross Pattern, but didn't get very far. Ms. M just got back from 3 weeks off, and had memory issues with this one. I couldn't help much as we don't know each others sides yet. So, she will watch the video's from our school's streaming service and possibly review with her instructor. It will come back. She is a hard worker, I am not worried. Just glad she is back. Her memory was better on Broadsword vs spear. We are about 2/3 of the way through that. Then some two person staff.

    We did what she has learned so far of TCC 32 gim. Did it a few times.

    8:30 - solo Practice. Mostly Small circle fast form - for the reasons I mentioned in my log for yesterdays practice. Also, the double gim. A little CLF practice of catching the 3 section staff - the end of the form.

    9:08 - School closes

    2 Hours and 38 minutes.
     
  18. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Saturday, September 22, 2018 -

    9:35ish - Two person forms practice with Ms. R. Mostly Plum Blossom vs Cross Pattern. We seem to have the pattern down well enough that we started more detail work today. Re-working certain sections and fixing spacing issues. Then we did a bit of spear vs broadsword at the end.

    10:00 - TCC class. Detailed out the first half of the 108. Then worked on most of the 32 Gim. Some changes were gone over. Apparently some corrections from higher up - I presume Tai Sigung, but don't know that for a fact - came down to the instructors and he passed them along in this class. Just a couple of finesse details. Where some things were being done like the 54 gim, but are different or vice versa. Sword angle and angle of some crane stances.

    11:00 - Sparring class. Some drills at the beginning, then some light medium speed matches. Then we did something I haven't done before. Ms. R said she had, so it must be something they did a LONG time ago and are bringing back. Took off most of our gear and did some CLF specfic sparring drills. Meaning strikes and blocks - with the strikes being CLF moves like a leopard fist that one can't do with gloves on. Also, targeting areas we don't normally do in sparring class. I hope we do this on a regular basis- it was awesome! I thoroughly enjoyed it. And the instructor gave us permission to do this type of drill on our own without an instructor present. Some sparring stuff we aren't allowed to do without an instructor present (or instructor permission) for safety reasons. Idea being that when trying to attack each other, a qualified instructor should be supervising. But when you are advanced enough, and show enough control and knowledge, one can get permission to do stuff without an instructor.

    12:00 - advanced push hands/ moving step class. Mostly matches today for advanced push hands. I got to go twice against the instructor, which was great! Moving step was drills of various moves, not a lot of people could do matches today, but I got to go against Ms. R for a match near the end of class.

    1:00 - Stretching class. Grueling and great, as always.

    1:30 - Whew! almost 4 hours of working out, so I took a break.

    1:50ish - back to work, but I was still tired, so an easy workout/ light and slow pace for the rest of the day. TCC - worked on stuff for upcoming observation. Small Circle Fast form. If Tai Sifu gets through that, the next thing for review will be Wind Chasing Fan, so I worked on that too. I don't expect to get past Small Circle Fast form in the observation though. CLF - worked on the memory of the last few weeks of what I have been taught in Ping Kuen.

    Thumbs hurting worse today. Very frustrating! This has been going on a long time. :(:mad:

    2:53 - just done. Couldn't make it to 3:00. Chatted a bit.

    3:00 - school closes

    4 hours and 58 Minutes

    Sunday, September 23, 2018 - Rest Day

    Should add that I added about 7 new moves in practicing Shaolin 5 Animal this week. First time I have added new moves in awhile!


    2018 Week 38 = 16 hours and 07 minutes

    2018 Total Hours = 493 hours and 37 minutes
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2018
  19. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Monday, September 24, 2018 -

    6:30 - TCC Small Circle Fast Form - to prepare for my observation.

    7:00 - Stick Fighting class. Honestly, can't remember what we did. My brain is full of Observation thoughts. It was a good class though.

    7:30 - TCC observation of Small Circle Fast Form. So, this is when Tai Sifu comes in and gives feedback. It is usually done when an instructor wants his feedback in seeing what one still needs from Tai Sifu's view before testing. You always get a million corrections. My goal is that the corrections are of a more advanced nature. That Tai Sifu is stepping up your MA's to another level, not just giving the same corrections you should already know. And I succeeded in this tonight.

    It was GREAT! He gave all sorts of details on the concepts of this form. My instructor gave me a good foundation in it, but Tai Sifu took it to a whole other level! The whole reason I wanted to learn this form is that it is the idea of being more advanced and taking the principles of TCC to a more practical fighting ready way of doing things. Just like in CLF, start with big movements and as you get the concepts down, get more practical with smaller movements. Concepts that my instructor, and my past instructor talked about - I started to grasp them on a deeper level. Coiling energy, for example.

    Tai Sifu had always said that the concepts of other internal arts were in Yang style, and tonight I saw that. The sort of Chen style small Fajing movements, they are in here too. We got to 40 of the 98 moves in this form. And that is plenty to work on for now.

    I love how you can always go deeper into the art, peel pack into deeper layers of understanding. I am totally excited and inspired to work on my Yang TCC. Not that I wasn't before, but it is extra motivation for sure!

    8:00 - Solo practice. Stuck to working on what I was just taught. Lots and lots of this form tonight. I did break it up with some other TCC practice though. Because I can obsess one one thing and my previous instructor and I figured out it isn't always the most efficient thing for me. So I did some 54 gim, Double Gim. I think I did another form or two, but can't remember what.

    A bit of stretching too.

    I forgot to look at when the school closed. Totally forgot! So this is a rough estimate.

    9:45ish - School closes


    3 hours and 15 minutes
     
  20. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Tuesday, September 24, 2018 -

    6:30 - Two person staff and Golden Leopard vs Tiger two person practice with Ms. B

    7:00 - CLF forms practice. Ms. R is out of town, but Ms. M is back in town and practiced with me. Before she joined me, I did Ng Lun Ma and Ng Lun Choi. Tai Sifu walked by and gave me a correction on Ng Lun Choi. I may not have finished the last bit of that one. Can't remember. Then, Ping Kuen, Small Five Animal and Sup Ji Jit Fu. We had some conflicting ideas of a bit of that last one. So we got an instructor out to help. The last two were a bit rough. We need to focus on them next couple of practices. Stick and butterfly knives. I haven't done butterfly knives much for awhile. So I was happy that I remembered it pretty well. Except for the proper footwork on a series of 4 moves. I will ask an instructor to help me with that.

    8:00 - Private CLF lesson. Asked my instructor if we could skip 3 section staff for a week or two. My thumbs have been bad lately. So I need to be smart and rest them from the things that aggravate them and the flowers do aggravate them. That is also why I haven't practiced them much the last few days. It is frustrating because I just finished learning the full sequence of the form. And now I will probably have to backtrack a bit and relearn bits of it. :mad::( I need to practice new things a lot to get it ingrained in my head. But, I also need to be smart and listen when my body is hurting/ injured. Anyways, my instructor understood the need to not do it.

    I finished learning the sequence to Ping Kuen tonight! That is an accomplishment! It is a long form.

    Then, he started teaching me the Hand Breaking Fan form. About the first 18 moves. Now this one is technically a re-learning of the form. I learned it in weapon forms class WAY back when. It was the first weapon I learned and I was a yellow sash- which is a beginner- first rank above white. It was extremely difficult at the time. Let's see if it is easier 13 years later. And let's see if any memory of it is still deep in my brain or not. It's a cool form. I like it.:)

    It is from GGM Wong Gong lineage. Buddha Palm is as well. I can see some similarities with both forms.



    I finally have an appointment with a specialist for my thumbs on Friday! Will probably be getting cortisone shots. I hope I get them the same day,but as this is my initial consultation, I may have to wait.

    8:30 - practiced end parts of Ping Kuen. Not just this weeks new stuff, but the last couple of weeks. Also, what I just re-learned of hand breaking fan.

    9:10ish - School closes


    2 Hours and 40 Minutes

    Wednesday, September 26, 2018 - Evening shift/ Rest day

     
    Last edited: Sep 30, 2018
    axelb likes this.

Share This Page