Better second time around

Back when I was in my twenties (not so very long ago) I used to train in a different martial art.  I studied Lau Gar Kung Fu for around five years or so.  I really enjoyed it and attained my yellow sash (around 6th kup, if I recall correctly).  I still have the certificate.

One thing I found, back then, though, was that I didn't really have the required attitude to be a good fighter.  I was too soft.  Too much of a hippie, maybe.  Or a fragile soul...

Now, some years later I must have grown (or devolved, depending on your viewpoint) as I now feel that I really can enjoy sparring a little more than before.  As such, while I am still not, perhaps, in the prime condition I was back in the 90s, I do feel I have a much better attitude this time around.

I think a lot of people focus purely on the physical side of martial arts and give barely a second thought to the mental side - or, at least, to what attitude they have when they train, or when they spar (if, indeed, they do).

I am going to focus more on trying to develop the kind of attitude and discipline that I hope will help me succeed and get more from my martial arts than the all-too limited time my work and fatherhood allow me to spend on training.  I don't want to sacrifice my family for my training.  Time with them is sacrosanct.

Negativity - my old nemesis...

One of my greatest obstacles to training is my own negativity.

When I have ten minutes, or can only train for a short period, I feel that there is no point training for such a short time and that I might as well not bother.

To combat that train of thought, the following calculation disproves that theory:

10 minutes training, twice a day, six days a week would double the amount of weekly training compared to simply attending one two-hour class each week.

Ten minutes, twice a day - how hard is that?

Three smiles...

Inspired by Luo Dexiu's seminar last weekend, I have determined to take a more fun attitude to my baguazhang practice.

As he suggested, I will "play" with the forms, keep relaxed and smiling, at take notice of what my body is telling me of the movements, my balance and the lines of force.

This weekend, I hope to manage some palm changes when I get time to myself.  I'll log what I find, so keep your eyes peeled for my next post!

Drink sangria in the park...

...and later, when it gets dark, we'll go home

Managed to spend some time in the park near work yesterday.  During my lunch break, I managed to practice some single palm change.  Ostensibly in preparation for Luo Dexiu's visit this weekend.  But the real reason was to reaccustom myself to training outside in public.  Back when I did Lau Gar, I had no qualms about training in the park and could easily shrug of the stares and inevitable attention.  Now I am older, practicing bagua in public seems more difficult - I am very conscious of the things I am doing looking..... ...strange, I suppose.

The sooner I get over that the better, as being able to train while at work will help my practice immensely!

Change of routine

As I am babysitting on Friday, this week I attended the Tuesday night Bagua class.  This class is more fighting oriented.  I enjoyed it immensely, but I realised just how much improvement I need - for one, my timing is awful.

Ideally, I would like to be able to attend both classes each week.  For the time being, two evenings in the week where I get home well after Freyja has gone to bed are just too much.  Especially when I am also getting home late one other evening in the week to do overtime at work (gotta pay those nursery fees).  Wonder if I can get a National Lottery grant to pursue my Bagua?  It is an art, after all...

Still, for now, I will simply attend the Tuesday night class now and then.  On top of that, we have Luo Dexiu's seminar soon that I will try to attend as much of as possible.  Then later, hopefully, I can eventually devote more of my time to my Bagua.

http://www.manchester-bagua.org/

These are the times when it's hard to attend class

Now that my daughter has started nursery, that is a bill of around £175 a week that needs to be paid from somewhere.  The place it is being paid from in our case is a load of overtime that I am doing in the callcentre at work.  I do an extra shift of 9am - 1pm every Saturday, and an extra two hours, 5.30pm - 7.30pm on a Wednesday evening, after my normal working shift.  I may well end up doing more, but even as it is, that all tallies up to quite a bit of time I spend away from home.  Away from my daughter and fiancee.

Last night, Manchester Metrolink was kind enough to fail and cause me to get home about 90 minutes later than usual.  That pretty much puts a stop to what little interaction I do get with my daughter of an evening.  Now, tonight is bagua class.  While this is something I do for myself and my own enjoyment - and I do enjoy it a great deal - when I am missing my time at home, another night where I don't get in until around 9.30pm is not something to which I'm looking forward.

But at the moment I am noticing more and more the benefits I am reaping from what little training I am able to do.  My balance is seemingly infinitely better.  My stamina is much improved, I even run for the tram now and then (when they are working!) and this is something I never did before.  Add to that the exercises I had difficulty with a year ago being much easier (or less difficult, might be a better way to put it!) and I see that, long term, attending my bagua class (at least) once a week is a sacrifice well worth making.

My daughter is 8 months old and will soon be running around.  Being fit enough to play with her and keep up will pay its own dividends soon enough.

Nappies Before NeiGong II: The Training Montage

Okay, so my '100 days of Bagua' is taking a really beating as often I find myself doing little more than some basic leg-strengthening or even ten minutes of stancework as my daily practice.

When you have a baby (8 months old and already into everything), there are simply many more pressing issues than perfecting your crashing palm that have to be attend.  Even once they have been attended to, often exhaustion means the last thing you feel like doing is racking up an hour of stance work.

But here are a few ways I have managed to combine training into my daily routine/babycare regimen.

1. Chickenstep whenever pushing baby's pram.
2. Engaging calf muscles whenever walking or pushing pram.
3. Practicing Jiben shou fa in toilet cubicles at work (not ideal, and strive for the cleanest cubicle possible, but saves embarrassment and awkward questions).
4. Squatting rather than bending down to pick things up/access low shelves.
5. Holding various (innocuous) stances on tram to and from work.
6. Sitting down and getting up from chairs using one leg at a time.
7. Standing on one leg whenever motionless for a while.
8. Lying with kwa open while watching tv.

They are hardly in-depth exercises that will unlock bagua's secrets for me (with the possible exception of the jiben shou fa), but they do allow me to maintain momentum in my improvement more than if I had simply done nothing between those all too infrequent training sessions.

Forthcoming seminar

http://www.yizong.org/uk/classes-seminars-information.htm

The above is a link to the english language version of Luo Dexiu's website, detailing his itinerary for this year's seminars.

Just as last year, he will be giving seminars in both Manchester and London, though earlier this time, due to the timing of the Olympics.

Please note that the Manchester seminar will be closed-door, so only Yi Zong school students and instructors will be allowed to attend.  The London dates, however, are open to all.

 I was lucky enough to attend last year and found Luo Laoshi to be a very gifted and yet amazingly accessible teacher.  Despite my being a newcomer (at that time, training at the Manchester classes for less than a year), I found him happy to demonstrate techniques to/on me and he took great pains to communicate some very valuable tips and concepts to both myself individually and the class as a whole.

Anyone interested should use the contact details on the site to contact the instructors/organisers of the classes to arrange either a class or attendance at one or more of the seminar sessions.