Thursday 30.9. Morning Taiji - whole form We did the silk reeling under a senior instructor'S lead. I couldn't get into it as well as yesterday, though. I also planned to take it a bit more easy today, since my knees haven't really gotten better, yet. But if they hurt or feel strained, it is a good indicator of what stances or moves are the problem. After the silk reeling, the instructor took away the beginner class. The teacher wasn't here, yet, so we started with the form once as we would have been told anyway. I went through the whole form with the other three advanced students this time! When the teacher arrived, he had us work on the third section of the form as there were people who knew only up to there. Meaning we worked on the 15th - 25th move (though we only had time to work our way to the 21st. When we were going through the whole section, at one time I again got that pleasant feeling of liek numbness in my fingers or how to say it. I was able to get in the flow, but it stopped when we stopped and I wasn't able to get there again when we repeated that. This class was good for my knees, quite relaxed, with plenty of theory and when practicing short sequences, I kept slightly higher stances. It was nice, not a hard work out, but it was exactly the kind of class the head teacher had just told me to skip in favour of practicing the form. Also today's teacher P went into details of some forms. Only once it felt like he wanted us to do something contrary to what I think the head teacher explained. I realized, though, although he was giving general corrections for things I did differently or wrong, too, and told some people in particular, who were doing that, he never once told anything to me. Not that it would be too strange, but not long ago, he used to give me at least a few corrections each class and I was standing closest to him today. Well, at least I won't really have to change what would clast with the head teacher's explanation. I will see if I would go to this class next week or not as we'll be continuing with the 22nd move onwards. I found the class interesting and helpful, but since I was told to practice the whole form more and get rid of my bad habits instead of reviewing the moves one by one for now, I may as well listen to the teacher and do some solo practice at home or something. I decided to skip today's karate. My knees aren't in a state to do seiza, squats and anything when I have to squat down - like stretching or various exercises, I'd be worried to kick properly etc. So instead of doing some half-baked training and regretting it later, possibly worsening my state (my knees feel tender and I am pretty sure if I made an uncontrolled fast move in a certain direction, something bad would happen), I'd better just skip and rest.
Saturday 2.10. Friday was a complete rest day to relieve my knees. Saturday morning, we went to a birdwatching event - Bird Festival - to a large pond we usually go to. We walked around part of it, the first half through the meadows. Altogether it was 6 km and 3 hours (we walked slowly, watching birds) and it wsa nice, but in the meadows my knees were giving me trouble. So far, walking was the worst type of activity for my knees. They do feel better after yesterday's rest, but a long walk in uneven terrain wasn't the best. I planned to still rest and not practice Taiji as I planned originally, but I finally put together my spear and planned to review the spear form and work on my technique. I steeled myself, went into the yard, but just couldn't do it Everyone walking around or the neighbors from above would see and I was too shy. I already practiced Taiji there and though I felt uncomfortable, I could do it, but the spear is way to conspicuous and way too weird XD Aaaah, but I can't just not practice at home now that I have a pretty new spear for that purpose. What to do, what to do?
Took Sunday off completely. Monday 3.10. Knees felt much better, well, they didn't hurt at all when moving aroung the house. I started feeling them a little when walking for the tram, but nothing major. Karate kids - teaching For a warm-up we did three rounds of pushing a partner at the end of the dojo, then pushing them while sitting back to back and one round when one lies on the belly, the partner has to flip them on their back. There was an odd number of kids, so I participated, too. I tried hard enough to make my partners sweat a little and push themselves, but of course, let them win. They did have to work a bit for it. As for the last round of flipping the other person, I was partnered with a fit-looking relatively older boy, so I thought I won't make it too easy for him. I did flip him over, but he struggled well, made me struggle actually. When it was his turn to try and flip me, I thought I'd just lie down and won't fight in any way, but won't like halp him,either, simply lying relaxed. To my slight annoyance, he couldn't even lift my side -_- Am I seriously that heavy? Made me feel kinda bad. This guy needs to get stronger. I'll make sure of it. After a short Junbi Undo Seth took over and we worked on Age Uke and Tsuki. I helped and went aournd with pads or helped with correcting the kids, etc. Karate adults - teaching Just as I went to open the window before the class, I turned on my knee. Not a good movement. It finally started hurting as something moved there, I guess. But not too much, if I took care not to turn it again, I should probably be fine. Although this class is about adults, apart from me and Sett, there was actually only one more adult gyu, the rest being teenagers, usually on the younger side... I opted for the same warm-up (without the flipping to not take too much time). I first partnered with the two biggest teenagers and then with the adult guy. I thought he'd be tough to beat, but I wasn't willing to get pushed and lose. He's a bit taller than me, though not much, over 40 yo and fit-looking. I knew this would be a tough battle, but I was determined to give it my all. He first pushed me back, and I had a bad posture - my back bend. I gave in one more step and did my best to adjust my position, straighten my back and take my center of gravity a bir lower. When I managed that, I pushed him back and won (hehehe, a little proud of myself ^^). It completely exhausted me, though! After Junbi Undo Sett took over again, we quickly went through mawashi and yoko geri as that was practiced last week, but without much explanation. In the second half of the class, we split the people in two groups - those who don't know the first kata and those who need to work on their - second or third kata. I took the beginner group, which was a majority and taught them the first 8 steps. There were a couple of young boys, who didn't know Age, harai and yoko uke that appear there, so I briefly explained and had them try to copy as best as they could. The fact that they couldn't do the techniques was expected, but even more they struggled with which foot is in front in which step, etc. I repeated that every single repetition, but... it was hard. Probably too much info at once, or they would just need some time to let it "soak". The rest got it very well, so I didn't want to completely stop this training to stick with teaching them which foot is right and which is left. We warned the parents that while they can let the kids into the adult class, it is still the adult class and we can't slow it down too much. We did several exercises with these first 8 steps to not make it a completely boring repetition and to help remember in various ways. A few push-ups in between. We then did the kata demo - each group showed the kata they've been working on to the rest. As I was sitting in seiza while watching, my knee got a bit worse. We had 5 mins left till the end of the class, so I quickly had to come up with something nasty. We did our sensei's favourite exercise when we sit in circle, each person counts to 10 and everyone does sit-ups. There were I think 14 of us, so it was nice 140 sit-ups. People started protesting at around 50... By 70 most of the kids used their hands to help pull themselves up. Well, this was mostly about spirit! I think only Sett and I lasted throughout. Sensei didn't come today, and my knee hurt quite a bit after hte seiza at the end of the class, so we didn't go for advanced training - it was only us two, anyway. We at least went once through Sanseru and Sepai kata. I didn't overdo it with the stances because of the knee. Aaah, I just really hope it gets better till tommorrow Over 1000 kcal burned today, max HR 182 (the pushing match with the guy).
Tuesday 5.10. Morning Taiji So the knee didn't stop hurting at all overnight. It seems to be more or less the same thing I did with my other knee nearly a couple of months ago... I have trouble putting my weight on it when the leg is straight, so I walk with a limp, not stretching the knee. Walking is thus quite tiring. On my way in a tram, I was standing in the middle joint and all the sudden movements of the floor made me put all my weight only on the right leg, which was tiring as well. The instructor for the morning class is home today, taking care of his newborn twins. I was asked to do the silk-reeling then. I got a correction afterward that my hands weren't closing and opening clearly enough. And there I even focused on it specifically from time to time. Maybe just not when the teacher was watching, so I was asked to wotrk on this and improve it in the silk reeling as well as in the whole form. Today, however, I was a little preoccupied with worrying about my knees. Just as last time, neither one hurt during Taiji practice, but I could feel them being a bit tenders, so a twist would probably result in something not nice. Therefore I was being careful. Our group worked on the end of the form - last maybe 7-8 moves. Over and over, the teacher giving each of us some corrections. I tried to work on the corrections from the seminar as well, but realised I first needed to get into it, I couldn't do everything as well as I did on the seminar. Either because I wasn't practicing much since then or because I was careful with my knees. On the other hand, the rest I got proved useful. While my nees felt tender and I had trouble walking on one, I could bend them much muhc better, so some stances came easier. Overall I am pretty tired after just the morning class - because of yesterday's karate and me putting much more weight on the right leg. I am starting to get sore around the shoulders and I pulled a muscle in one - all from the pushing match with the guy in the dojo. I wonder how the evening classes would go. I would be happy as long as at least my knee got a tiny bit better.
Tuesday 5.10. So while my left knee hurt quite a bit in the morning and through the first half of the day, shortly before class when I stood up and walked I realised it almost didn't hurt anymore! On my way to Taiji in the evening, while it previously hurt most while walking, suddenly, on the way there it stopped hurting altogether. What magic was this? Or the power of faith? Anyway, I was elated! I actually started the class pain-free and it felt like I was flying - so comfortable! Last week both my knees hurt when bending them with weight on them, so I couldn't do some stances too well, but that was gone today, although I still felt the knees to be a bit tender, so I did some movements with caution. Taiji - Kung-fu The two hour class focused on applications. After a warm-up - silk reeling with practicing fajins, we started where we left off last time - by pushing the hips of a partner and see who can throw the other off balance first. I paired up with the instructor. She's a female, too, but a little shorter and significantly lighter. I always let her try first before I pushed her. I achieved that using more fore than technique probably, although I tried otherwise. She complained she can't move me if I am maybe some 10 kg heavier. I couldn't help but laugh: "If it was only 10 kg, that would be nice." It turned out to be 20.... She found it funny too and I think gave up mentally a little. After we tried the same thing as a drill - one side pushes, the other tries to throw them off balance. I had no reason to struggle there, so I was compliant and relaxed, usually getting thrown sideways as soon as I pushed. It became obvious my technique was very lacking. I could do this well a few times, but haven't figured it out completely. When we changed the drill to holding and pushing each other at the arms near the shoulders and throwing the partner off with a focus of not just turning, but also shifting way, I was lost. Couldn't do it well no matter what advises my partner gave me. As soon as she pushed a little, my structure collapsed - back bent, and there was nothing I could do anymore. When the teacher came by, he saw this problem - not being able to turn and shift the weight at the same time under pressure - was related to the corrections of silk reeling and hip movement the way I was doing it in the form. Aaah, I'll really have to learn this! It frustrated me to no end that I couldn't figure it out... If I can work on my structure, it would help my karate, too, like the pushing fights we did on Monday. We worked on this for the first hour. When a parallel class working on Lao Jia Er Lu - the Cannon Fist form started at the other side of the gym, those who knew the whole Lao Jia Yi Lu were told to join for the warm-up - going once through the form. After we paired up - I did with a different friend, to try and practice the first type of push hands. I practiced this on a seminar about a month ago adn had a good partner, who practiced this with me, so I think it went quite well. The teacher tried with every single person a couple of times and apart from telling me to straighten my fingers, he judged we did it well enough. I think we actually practiced this till the end of the class. Taiji - 50 moves After yesterday's exhausting karate and today's three hours of Taiji, I was very tired by this point, but since I was already there, I didn't want to skip the class. We did the silk reeling, then the form up to the 50th movement or so. My knees were... well not exactly hurting, but felt very tired. Taiji is quite a work-out for the thighs, but probably since practicing enough, my thighs haven't felt sore for quite a while, but the soreness all moved to the knees. A t some point, some (actually those high) stances hurt a little. This time the right knee. I think it was just tired, as I used the right leg to do most of the work today when the left knee hurt. Ah, it feels like I was falling apart. But I was sure I just needed some rest. We worked on Fair Maiden Works Shuttles this class again. There is a leap in this move, but my knees didn't have trouble with that. When I left the class, I was completely exhausted. Sore around my shoulders, nearly the whole of my back - from yesterday's karate and today's 4 hours of Taiji doing my best to keep the back straight. I actually felt, maybe also partly due to the improvement of my knees, that I could do the stances more easily even for my back. But of course, the muscles were tired. I wanted nothing more than to eat, drink, and go to sleep. I didn't even have the energy for a good retort to the receptioninst at the Taiji school who asked teasingly: Leaving already? Why not stay for the last class of the day as well? -_-
Wednesday 6.10. My knees didn't hurt anymore today, only occassioonaly when in a higher position with bend knees, and I didn't feel like running yet. Also vary of twisting my knees accidentaly. That would hurt. I am also not as sore anymore. Taiji - 15 moves, assisting I arrived 25 mins early for a short solo practice. I went to the smaller room with a mirror, which was empty and went throught the form once, trying to improve some of the things, but as I wasn't warmed up or anything, I mainly focused not to make too terrible mistakes. Towards the end, a guy came in, probably also looking for a space to practice. I said he can join me, ther was space for both of us, but he actually just sat down to watch, as he would wait for the later class so he'd still have an hour to practice. I felt just a tiny bit awkward being watched like that, but I didn't let it disrupt my focus. When the class started, I was tasked with the warm-up and with going through the 14 moves 2x. Then the teacher explained some theory and we practiced a few sewuences with him, then worked on the 15 move. He had us hold the position while going around, correcting. It hurt... But we got a break, he said, while he'd explain the posture, etc. As soon as he started saying that, I had a bad premonition and sure enough: Nachi, come here, I'll show it on you -_-" Ahh, my leg hurt! But how could I suddenly make a higher stance cowardly? Then we went through the 15 movements again a couple of times. I already started feeling stiff. I had some trouble getting in the flow today, especially toward the end of the class. It went well yesterday, not so well today. When I was leaving, I actually saw two familiar faces at the door. It was my former CrossFit coach and his partner coming to try a class! They were watching probably just the end of the class asd said they were wondering if it was me or not. The girl was looking forward to it, the coach seemed not as enthusiastic, but when I preciously told him I was starting with Taiji, he did comment that Taiji was good. Haha, who would have thought I'd meet him here a couple of years later! I wonder if they'll like the class and I'll see them around. That would be cool. The world is such a small place
Thursday 7.10. Morning solo Taiji I skipped today's class in favour of a solo training - drilling the form as the teacher told me to. I usually have trouble to find motivation to practice at home, but what point would there be in skipping class if I then didn't get myself to work? I did a short silk reeling, very slow, focusing on figuring out how to move the hips - one thing I was told to improve. It is always hard as I can't imagine what exactly I do wrong and how to correct it. I can see the difference clearly when the teacher shows it, but to do so myself is another matter altogether. After I went through the form 3 times. First very slowly, no fast moements, focusing on the details I need to work on. This form took 19 mins. The second one was at a more normal pace - around 13 mins, and I did one more, fastest, with (well, attempts at) fajins and so on. The teacher advises to practice forms at varying paces - from 20 to 7 mins. I aimed for this today. I forgot to look at the watch when I started the last one, but it probably took longer than 7 mins as I stopped at several places that I felt I made a mistake at - didn't do the move very smoothly. On the other hand, speeding up the form after the slow ones was good, I think some places done fast felt really well. If they went smootly, without much effort form me, I guess that is a good sign. I should work on making the whole form as smooth as that. But that is a long-term goal, obviously. I stretched a little at the end, the practice took an hour. This would be a perfect regular practice I would love to do Thursday - Sunday, but... yeah, there's that "but" Well, at least Thursday-Friday or 30 mins would be good.
Thursday 7.10 Karate adults My second class with sensei this semester! He had Seth do the warm-up and Junbi Undo as he had to take care of something first, but then arrived and we worked on partner drills - always going forward/backward with different steps and different techniques, some work-out in between. Later we worked on San Dan Gi Ichi. Lastly was a work-out - walking as a duck and tsuki. My knees didn't feel too great today again, I had trouble squatting down, unless I took some weight with my arms, so I did this walking forward in shiko dachi instead. Last was a work-out in three groups of four people. We had a mostly female group and were told to do 80 mountain climbers. My knees didn't feel great duing this, either, but I saw the group next to us was doing crunches, so I thought I could do that. And had to go really fast to be able to catch up to the count of mountain climbers. Luckily the others weren't too fast and took a rest from time to time, so I managed to do 80 crunches, too. To my surprise, however, sensei then said: "Great, you're done, now change the stations." Ahh, I didn't realize this was supposed to be circuit training and there would still come more crunches! Sensei saw my surprised face and he totally knew and laughed a little -_- Well, no matter, the crunches station was only about 40 crunches... I ended up doing 50 as one girl couldn't go very fast and counted seriously slow. Honestly, doing slow crunches is even more exhausting, so I chose to do 2 crunches per one count of hers. After the class finished, Sett and I went through Tensho kata twice. My knees hurt again. From seiza, most likely, that was the worst. Not sure how I could avoid that, though
Regarding your knees in Seiza, do you practise on a wooden floor? Could you use a mat or towel just to lessen the pressure - I know some places are super strict on etiquette but it shouldn’t be to the detriment of your health. I used to find it painful too, especially on a hard floor. Hope your knees get better soon!
No, actually we have the soft mats. The problem isn't the hard surface, but putting my weight on the joint when bent like that. Indeed, I think I am over seiza for now. I will try kneeling and hope it works better. If not, I will probably go for standing bow only. I hope sensei would understand... Thank you
I did nothing at all Friday - Sunday. My knee hurt quite a lot. Well, it got a bit better each day, but my goal was to be training-ready on Monday, so I chose to rest, except for some walking and chores. I really wanted to practice Taiji, but that really wouldn't have been a good idea. I am already a bit angry with myself when I imagine myself being not too ready for doing the form well. Ah, I just hope the knees will get better. Monday 11.10. The knees hurt only very little today and got better throughout the day again. Karate Kids - teaching Sett and I lead the class and since he also ahs some knee trouble, we decided to skip seiza altogether for once We did a game for a warm-up, then Junbi Uno, then I brought the notebook with a list of techniques to master for each grade. We did some Kihon and Kihon ido for the beginner grades. Karate adults - teaching For a warm-up I came up with a very light sparring - three rounds, 1 min each - open hands, trying ot slap shoulders and body. For the fourht round I wanted everyone to find a partner not of similar height this time, but more of similar weight. Apart from Sett, who stayed out since there was an odd number of us and he wasn't feeling the best today, there was again only one adult today - the guy I paired up with last time. He's not much bigger than me, so he just became my obvious favourite parnter One person laid of the floor, face down, the other had one minute to turn them on their back. I had to use quite some stranght to win this, but I wasn't flipped. As expected, I didn't flip the guy, either, but I tried as hard as I could and got the max HR of todays training again - 178 bpm. Junbi Undo with leg stretching, 5 Neko Undo. Then the rest of the class went to Sett. We agian did some Kihon for the lower gradings. Then we split the class - he took the two orange belt boys and I took the rest to go through different levels of kihon ido with them. I reserved the last 5 mins of the class for a little work out. As soon as I did, Sett became suspicious immediately I wanted to play Bring Sally Up, Bring Sally Down (it's been a while!). But I found out my phone didn't have reception, so I went to ask Sett to find the song for me. When the boys heard what I wanted Sett to do, they started protesting. Ha, too bad! We didn't di push-ups, but rather lying on the back, on "up" we lifted legs to vertical position, on down, we kept them a few cm above the floor, straight. Unlike push-ups, this is doable. Well, it turned out it was only doable for the two of us again, but... I guess still better than push-ups! Some parents were watching and the moms of two regular boys obviously had fun watching us and immediately asked for a link to the song. Poor guys! In the adult class, we did seiza normally. It was better today. It usually hurts at the end of the training, but I didn't strain my knees today, so it didn't actually hurt! I had to be very careful with the kicks, but look like today I managed to keep my knees safe!
Tuesday 12.10. Morning Taiji I had the warm-up. The silk reeling felt awkward today, I couldn't relax into it and I tried on improving some mistakes and I ended up just being frustrated a little. I should have practiced. We then went through the whole form once. Knees felt alright (though I had to be careful in turns, etc.) and since they didn't limit me much, I could do stances properly and it felt nice. There weren't too many people once the beginners formed a group of their own and there was one person with us, who was at aound the 20th form, so we practiced that with her. The Stepping back and Wrapping Upper Arms. I was told to be the lead, which I wasn't happy about at all. This move is hard. And we were asked to practice it also with Stepping three steps, which is actually even worse. I can somewhat do it in the form, but separately, many steps in a row like that and alternating these two moves, I couldn't do it well. Also as for the stepping back, I learned a slightly different version of wrapping the arms. The teacher explained the why to practice this or that way and I tried to change my ways, which was somewhat ok for my right arm, but the left was terrible. Furthermore I got three corrections and I just couldn't do the move well. Ah, I wish I at least practiced the Taiji moves in general during the weekend! We spent the rest of the class like this - walking back and forward, trying to figure the movement. But didn't. At least in my case.
Tuesday 12.10. Taiji Kung-fu Started with silk reeling with fajins as usual led by teacher P. We were then told to stretch on our own. Everyone used the windowsils to put a foot on, so the wall-bars, which offer a bit more of a challenge were free for me. When teacher R arrived, he went straight to me, correcting my hip position in the stretch. I had my hips tilted when trying to reach the highest place I could, and was told this was wrong. I didn't know that, but it did make sense. I can reach slightly above my head with the foot now, but I can't lie flat on the leg. The teacher then told me to try to touch my forehead to the foot next. The hell? That is physically impossible, isnt it? He said if I could straighten my back and stretch a bit more, it should work. Well, I doubt that, but, ahhh, why would he set such challenges to me? It's like a fish hook for me to catch on. Except I haven't been able to improve my flexibility in the splits much for the past several years, so... The rest of the first hour of the class we spent practicing two moves over and over again with a focus on the correct hip movement and body rotation - more or less the thing I am trying to work on. Plus a tricky step that we were to try in a freeform and improvised version. I didn't get it much, but slowly managed to improve it after first teacher P and then teacher R came by and showed and explained again. I can be quite dense sometimes. The second hour of the class we worked in pairs again - one partner pushing, the other absorbing the push and returning it back. I partnered up with my usual partner - a fellow junior instructor. We didn't get it much in the beginning, but tried to help each other figure it out. We were first taught by teacher R, then teacher P. Both came by and as I hoped tried with us so we could better understand. I really hoped I could try with a teacher, so I would get the feeling of what it's supposed to do and how. I then understood theretically, but,well.... We then tried more or less the same thing with steps. When teacher P was demonstrating this with a guy, he was only explaining the closing. He was holding arms with his partner and I only saw him close his elbows and body in quite slowly, but the guy completely lost balance and nearly fell to the side. What? How??? Towards the end we reviewed the first form on Tui Show for a bit. Two hours passed fairly quickly. Knees felt ok, today didn't feel very tiring so far. Maybe I finally didn't completely tire myseld out in Monday karate class for once? My partner sounded exhausted already throughout. I went to the changing room quickly between classes and she didn't want to continue, calling me masochist. Well, I guess all this training did bear some fruits. My things haven't like hurt for quite a while now - as in being sore. They do hurt acutely when I have to hold a position for long. Taiji - 50 or so moves Anyway, I left the changing room quickly to go back to the gym, when teacher R was just about to close the door, so I quickly squeezed in. The gym was full - there was our class, plus a beginner course with quite a number of people. They were already meditating. The teacher asked me if I was going to do the silk-reeling. Well, obviously I was, but I was unsure if he meant just do the silk reeling or lead the silk reeling. There are usually like three choices of people before me in this class and I couldn't see to the front of the crowd if there already was someone or not. But the answer was close, as the teacher remarked: "There's no difference if you do your silk reeling in the back or in front of the class, right?" and before I knew it, I was gently pushed towards the front -_- I was nicely warmed up form the previous class, knees didn't hurt and I felt strong. I was able to do a slightly wider stance even though the silk-reeling was probably a tiny bit longer, as per instructions. Also just like last week after the Taiji kung-fu class, I felt like alighning my back felt easier and more comfortable than usual. So I felt nice and would have enjoyed the silk reeling quite a bit if not for my inability to get the hip rotation right, which led to some frustration again, disturbing my ineer peace Then we split into the beginner and advanced group. Ours was taught by teacher P. We went through the form up to the 5éth or so move, reviewed Fair Maiden Works Shuttles and learned Double Wave like Lotus and Fall into Split (we count it as one move). The Fall into Split is a nasty move (as can be imagined from the name). Not sure if teacher P can do it, but at least he didn't show it - in the split form. He did explain in theory, though, and urged people to be mindful of their age and physical condition and not to try unless conditioned well. He, however, added: "On the other hand, if you are in a good shape, you should try to push yourself." I had a bad premonition and sure enough, the teacher turned to me. I previously learned this from teacher R and he also wanted me to try. Even if he hadn't, I already knew this was completely beyond my ability. But I still wanted to hear the explanation again and perhaps try sometime to try and practice towards this. The teacher had me first sit down - like on my heel, then do a hurdle sit, then get up. I couldn't. Either my calf wasn't flexible enough, or my butt was too heavy, resulting in my center of gravity falling back too much, unable to get up. I was also quite worried about my knee. It usually hurts when I bend it with weight on it and when I want to get up from that. I could feel some tension now, but it was more or less ok. I tried to lower myself into as deep a stance as possible when we were practicing the move after that and curiously, despite my worries about my knee, the knee actually loosened and felt better than before! In the end, I left slightly tired, but not exhausted and my knees tired a bit, but not hurting. Only slightly stiff, no sharp or other pain. Awesome! Also, my pants felt slightly looser today. I haven't lost weight, but maybe I did lose some fat? Awesome!
Wednesday 13.10. Today is the class I am attending as an instructor. I planned to turn up 30 min earlier to do some solo practice in the side room. Suddenly, it got quite late, so I came only very shortly before class. I saw another instructor - the one who was supposed to be teaching in the ongoing class - just walking around leasurely. It was weird, considering I saw the teacher away from the gym, too. Who's teaching then? I asked the instructor how come she isn't in the class. She said she wasn't teaching the kids and her class is just about to start now. What? Then it occured to me - I was here actually an hour earlier *facepalm*. Well, I guess I am lucky I came an hour earlier rather than an hour late. I seem to be confused today. Since a new parallel course is starting today and they started in the small room, I didn't do any solo practice, but joined the regular class instead. Taiji - 7 moves Silk reeling and then 5 moves to four directions, 3 rounds in a row. I used the chance to work on deep stances and the transition from the 5th to the 1st move again that we practiced yesterday. Then we reviewed the 6th move and the beginning of the 7th. Also worked on the basic silk reling within those moves, together with the beginners for a bit. Taiji - 16 moves - assisting Silk reeling (my thighs hurt a bit, so I stayed a little higher, focusing on the hip rotation, still struggling and not getting it right). Then we went through the 16 moves. The teacher took over then and explained the 16th move and we worked on that most of the class. Later he asked me to again go though the whole 16 movess once, but he hasn't returned by the time we finished, so we did one more round. I think that was mostly it for the class. One of my knees hurt slightly at one point, but I adjusted the position. By the time we finished, my knees were tired and a bit stiff, but not hurting. I really hope they have just been going through a phase of adjusting to the Taiji specific movement and the amount of training and they will start doing their job properly soon
Thursday 14.10. Morning Taiji Knees are a little stiff and tender again. A slight sudder rotation would result in a feeling like the knee joint would like to get out of place. I practiced carefully today, but after class the knees are still stiff and started hurting a bit again when suddenly stretched. I am skipping karate today. There is a seminar on Saturnday and I have a feeling if I went today, my knees wouldn't be able to take it. In class today we worked mostly on Flashing Turn to Back (22nd or so move). Paying attention to the knees and with legs and back generally tired from previous days, I didn't get to relax and enjoy the training as I usually would have. But it wasn't too bad, either.
Skipped evening class on Thursday. Partially planned due to time and knees as I planned to attend a Saturday Gekisai Dai Ichi seminar or our sister dojo. Howwever, Sett cought some kind of cold the last weekend and as expected, I finally started feeling it, too. I didn't started coughing like him, luckily, but I felt tired since Thursday evening and had some headaaches. Due to this, both of us decided to not go to the seminar. I felt better on Sunday, we spent it mostly working around the parents' house. No training done at all. Monday 17.10. Karate kids - teaching Did a bit of theory - told the kids the name of our style (Goju) and explained the brief history - the pictures of the four masters we have on the front wall. After warm-up and Junbi Uno we reviewd Age uke and also did some pads. Karate adults - teaching After some running in various ways for a warm-up and a Junbi Undo where I focused on leg stretching, including stretching with a partner, we worked 15 mins on mawashi geri -first the kick stepby step, then as a whole in the air, then with a partner - a feint to leg, then kick high. Then we tried three kicks without putting the leg downn - from low to mid to high level. I didn't participate in teh first round, but in the second, Sett and I went to split a pair that was a short boy with a fairly tall new guy who came today to try a class. I thought Sett could partner up with the guy and I'll take the boy as he's of a similar height, but Sett sent me to the tall guy since I kick higher. Still, he was very tall, so I did struggle a bit. We then worked on San Dan Gi Ichi. Only later did we learn that this was actually also the topic of the last Thursday class.. I told Sett who taight this to leave me last 5 mins for a work-out as we usually do. I originally planned some squats, but since we already worked the legs in the kicks and I don't think my knees would be able to take it well, I decided to again focus on belly. We made four groups of three people, each challenging one another. The firs person among the three would make one cruch, the second two crunches, third three, first four, etc. The first one to give up would do 20 push-ups, the second to give up would do 10. Those over 15 yo would do V-ups instead of cruches. Unfortunately, there were only two adult men + me and Sett. Me and Sett didn't have a thuird person so we joined the team of the adult guys adn a 14 old boy. A partnered up with the boy to act as one person, Sett with one of the guys. The boy and I started with one crunch for him, one V-up for me. We went through a few rounds, got up to I think 18. Sett was the last one lasting apart from me and the boy and I thought he'd still throw the challenge back, but he didn't even try and did his push-ups. Ah, what a relief. I would be able to pull one more round, but anything more would be a big struggle. Still, it was 69 V-ups altogether. I think a couple of years ago we got to 20/21 round. I should work on improving myself. Knees did quite well today. The last seiza was uncomfortable again, but not too bad. They didn't really hurt after training, so mission accomplished!
Tuesday 18.10. Morning Taiji The usual instructor is expected to finally come next week, but today, the warm-up was on me still. On Friday I bought new indoor MA shoes with a thin sole and I tried them out today (I normally practice barefeeted - if that is a word...). They were quite nice, a little bit more slippery than my feet which is good for pivots, but not slippery like my previous cheap shoes where my feet would keep drifting apart during silk reeling, which was very annoying. So that was a good surprise! Still, it is not as comfortable as without shoes. My toes were pushed into the tip in silk reeling and in wider stances where there's weight on the outer edge of my feet, I could feel my foot going over the side of the sole (technically I should keep my weight on my heel, so this may have been my fault), and my feet felt uncomfortably warm But to get used to practicing in shoes, I shall probably wear them for some (especially these morning) classes. After the warm-up we went throught the whole form once. This time the groups were split and we had one for only those knowingt the whole form. We worked on Flashing Turn to Back since someone had a question and then, probably also because of me, on the end of the form - especially on Dragon on the Ground, Stepping Forward to Form the Seven Stars and Stepping Back to Rid the Tiger. I got some corrections for I think all these forms. I should try to get those corrections sorted out before the end of October, since the last days of October I am going for a 4 day seminar again I am already looking forward to it
Tuesday 18.10. Taiji Kung-fu Again started with meditation and silk reeling with fajins. Even just this short once-a-week practice helps, I think! I think it is by nearly non-registerable steps, but I think my fajins are getting tiny bit better. After warm-up we practiced moves 6-14 and stuck with the 14th for some time, practicing the supposedly harder variation of the move. I thought it would be something crazy, but it turned out it was the variation I do normally. I guess there probably is an easier version, but I thought that was only taught until the person remembered the rough movement? Anyway the teacher explain some dtails that helped me sort it out a bit better. Before I knew it, the first hour of the class was gone. In the second, we used the motion from the 14th move we had just been practicing to do another form of Tui Shou. I was first paired with the instructor I was usually paired with. While the movement looked relatively easy, there were a lot of tiny bit I did srong that resulted in the loss of my structure and no strenght applied where it should have. It was again not easy to improve it according to instructions as it was just tiny movements or fine synchronizations of some movements etc. After a while the instructor went to join the parallel class to practice Lao Jia Er Lu and I was paired with a guy who did this for the first time. I think I might have tried this once before, but I am not sure. If I did, it was very briefly. The guy was previously practicing with another instructor, so we shared the info and instructions we have both gotten and tried our best. It was of course, not as easy as with the instructor previously and not being able to rely on the correct for of the other person, I think I started messing up some of the finer details again. The teacher came by a couple of times and paired with me to show me how to di steps with this. It was easy to let myself get led by the teacher. Doing it as the leading person with my partner not as much, but we did try and I think more or less succeeded a few times. It's incredible how fast time always passes during these classes. It turned out we practiced this one move with the partner for an hour. Taiji - 54 moves I am seriously losing count of the moves now... I have to check the list wehn I try to write down some notes... Silk reeling. In the morning, unlike now, I led the silk reeling and stood in form of the mirror. The teacher previously told me to use the chance when I am in front to not mind other people, but focus on improving my silk reeling, taking the advantage of me dictating the pace. When I looked myself in the mirror today, I think I had a small enlightment - I saw precisely what the teacher meant when he keeps telling me I move in the ankles instead of hips. I looked exacly like when he was demonstrating how I was doing it and then how it should be doen correctly. Seeing myself in the mirror, switching to doing it correctly was a breeze! Also the teachers advises what to focus on or try to do to get it done well made sense now, I could feel what he meant! Well, I am not really sure if the way I tried was actually correct (and I for sure wasn't able to keep it correct the whole time), but at least it looked better than before. I tried to remember the sensation and the movement pattern - what to do not to switch back. I focused on trying to recall the sensation now, far from any mirror, but warmed up from the previous class, having an easier time with a lower stance as well as keeping my back straight. The movement wasn't very fluent, I was also tired after all and the shole silk reeling is tiring, but I think I am getting on the right track, though thre's still a lot of work to be done to completely change the movin pattern first in silk reeling, then in the whole form accordinly. I am still happy, though! This class we focused on the last two moves: Double Wave lik Lotus and Fall into Split - especially the former. As for Falling into Split, I'd love to learn the proper move - actually fall into split, but for now I am just trying to get as low as possible. Although tired, my legs are thoroughly warmed up now and stretched. I managed to sit - lower my butt to my heel - with effort, but I am still leaning forward too much, I can tell. I tried to streighten myself and also lift the furtner toes off the ground, which messed up my balance and that was about it for now. We weren't trying this more than a few time, so I guess I would have to practice at home. Too bad it can't be just practiced casually while waiting for the water to boil or while I am heating up my lunch, since this needs a proper warm-up beforehand. Surprisingly, when going down, I could feel my knees again, but if I simply went past it, the knee relaxed, something moved in there and it actually got better (just like last week)! So I made sure to properly stretch my legs after the class. Knees are stiff and I will probably feel them somewhat tommorrow, but it isn't too bad, yet. I left the training with most of my body sore (also partly from karate yesterday or maybe using some of the same muscles today), with kind of tired out, but on the other hand feeling strong and nice What a nice workout! Funny enough, one of the few things not hurting are actually my thighs I've been using the most. Looks like they really are conditioned quite well, now!
Wednesday 20.10. Taiji - 16 moves, assisting I arroved maybe 20 mins earlier, planning to get a bit of practice by myself. However, the small room was occupied by one of the classes. I therefore went into the big one and as silent as possible went to occupy the smaller mirror that had been free, while the class was running on the other side. I hope it didn't matter. I planned to ask the teacher if it was alright, but I didn't want to interrupt the class for that and it shouldn't have been a problem, I guess. I didn't go through the whole form, only go to about half, practicing some places that didn't go well. Althought in the morning, my whole person hurt, feeling sore, it got better throughout the day and now I didn't feel stiff, but soft. However, when the class where I am assisting began, just a little into the silk reeling my thighs started burning. I was trying to get my hips to move correctly, but adopted a higher stance then usual and still, about halfway through, the hips became the least of my worries. I was stiff and tried to move as softly as possible nad had trouble keeping my back straight and weight more to the back. My muscles were just tired for that. The teacher instructed me to do the silk reeling and then go through the first 14 moves twice with the class. He returned just than, about 30 mins later. The rest of the class we were reviewing and practicing the 15th and 16th move. A couple of times we were asked to do the whole 16 moves from the beginning, which was left to me and the teacher would watch. Or leave for a bit. Which unfortunately resulted in me finishing sooner than he came back, so I had the class go through just the new 15th and 16th move 2-3 times before the teacher came back. Other than the initial struggle, while doing the form, where the weight shifts often, my legs felt good enough, so I was able to relax and actually focus on the movements themsleves, rather than on how much my legs hurt That was good.
21.10. This week I've so far been unable to get a desired amount of sleep. I tend to fall asleep later and wake up unnecessarily soon. Same thing today. 5-6 hours of sleep each day this week. Morning Taiji Silk reeling with the usual instructor, my legs aren't as tired anymore. Not completely fresh, but I was able to better focus of technique. Then we split into groups - beginners learning the silk reeling and the rest. Of the group of those who know the whole form and usually come to these classes, I was the only one today. There was also one lady at around 25 moves and an old man I met a week or two ago, who knew the whole form, and even more forms, but didn't practice in the past year and wanted to join the beginners. I kind of encouraged him to come with us, though, he can catch up easily with so few people around, and he did. Two more people arrived a bit later. Looking at the group, the teacher decided we'd all be practicing the 25 moves today, which was an obvious decision. I was put in front and tasked with going through the 25 moves twice. The teacher watched for a bit and decided to review three of the more difficult moves - those with turn. We worked on those most of the class and at the end, he again asked me to go to the front and do the 25 moves again with the rest. As for this last form, I already felt nicely relaxed and felt happy about the flow of the form. Well, except some of the more complicated places - mostly those we've just been practicing. As for the old man, I talked with him briefly after class. It's obvious he's no newbie. Though he was the oldest person in the room, his stances were lower than most and from the brief instances when I saw him practice, his form looked really nice. When I asked he said he's been doing Taiji for 13 years already. Since, as he said, he's 78 (though I honestly thought he was jstu 60 something), he started at 65 and got to such a level! It was very inspiring to see him work hard and go for the wide stances even after a long break. So cool. I hope to see him around.
