3/14 at the park

Thanks to the Chinese New Year break and a number of other factors, it had been over a month before I went to practice last Sunday at the park. The weather was very nice and the grounds pretty dry; I’d been worried they’d still be muddy after Saturday’s rains. The only people there besides Teacher X, however, were Mr. V and NL Guy, who were grappling as usual. I talked with Teacher X for a while before going through the empty-handed form just to get back into the swing of things. I was quite rusty, and Teacher X gave me a lot of pointers and reminders. He also added some things, including a little spin that I’d never learned before.

We practiced some tuishou, and while he said I’d improved, I suspect he was trying to make me feel better as I’ve been stuck on the form for quite a long time. I need to practice lower stances to make retreating more effective. It’s not a really technical problem, just a matter of doing it more.

Then I did some swordwork, which always makes me feel better. While I enjoy the empty-handed form, the sword form feels better.

Mr. V and NL Guy finished their epic grapple, and announced that they’d been at it for an hour and a half. It turns out that they’re trying to break a record or something; their longest time is three hours and 25 minutes without stopping for rest. I’m not sure what the point of all this is.