1/3
I had to work late on Wednesday, so I was late getting to practice. It was raining, of course. I should probably just assume that it will always be raining on Wednesday nights. I thought I was the first one there, but it turned out everyone was on the other side of the memorial. It’s become a rather boisterous crowd lately. As usual, I went through the forms before going over to practice tuishou.
First up was Mr. You. I found I had no energy for some reason. Probably not getting enough sleep recently. I tried to concentrate on his backbone as I had the week before, but it didn’t work. I really think you have to adjust your technique and even your entire frame of mind for each and every opponent. Or perhaps that’s just for beginners.
Next I got pushed by the little guy, a relative newcomer who’s the shortest one there. Built like a fireplug and really eager about everything. Teacher Xu said pushing with the little guy would be a good chance for me to practice evading pushes, and he was right. The little guy pushed faster and faster as his attempts met with little success. Eventually he told me to stop using my hands at all. “That’s the only way to improve,” he said. Yeah, uh-huh, I thought. You mean that’s the only way you can push me. Nonetheless I let him push me and didn’t resist at all except for moving my body. I got pretty tired pretty fast, and he managed to push me over once or twice in this fashion. It seemed to make him happy, anyway.
I didn’t absorb a lot this time; I just wasn’t in the mood, I guess, and I was tired. Tuishou practice usually picks me up a bit after a difficult hump day at the office, and this was no exception, but I’ve had better practices.