Poagao's Journal

Absolutely Not Your Monkey

Aug 13 2008

8/9-8/13

Saturday was interesting. I got some good advice on my form stances, mainly that I shouldn’t go up and down so much. I have bridges where I should have on-ramps, in road-terms.

Little Mountain Pig and I practiced moving tuishou, which was a real chore for me. Incorporating footwork into the equation really shakes things up, at least if you’re not used to it. Pig was performing quick, forceful attacks as well.

After class we went to a nearby apartment building so that NL Guy could pick up a new sword. The woman who operates the place let us in after Teacher X called her from the stairwell where we were all congregated, earning us a few curious stares from the other residents. The apartment, about the size of mine at a bit over 20 pings, was full of swords and other weapons. We all got to try out many different swords and other things. I was tempted to get another sword, but I can’t really justify spending the money, and my swords suit me just fine already.

That was Saturday. On Wednesday night, everyone was already at the park at 8:30pm, which is early for them. I practiced with Guo for a bit before being able to go through the form, working on correcting my stance and other problems Teacher X had pointed out. Then I practiced with one of the new guys, who adopted a prizefighter stance, sans the bouncing, for his pushing. All I had to do was wait for him to unbalance himself, but it was interesting anyway. I practiced with Weeble, who apparently has gone out to Tucheng to challenge a group out there, and “won”. “You should try it,” he said to me again. “You’d do well.”

Yang Qing-feng was there, and I practiced with him a bit. Practicing with Qing-feng is different than it is with the others, as we both know when the breaking point is about to be reached, and he stops before pushing me over most of the time. It was more like a game of chess than a wrestling bout.

Teacher X told us that pushing should be without force, as force destroys the very thing you’re trying to achieve, force simply creates more opportunities for your opponent. “So it’s kind of like pushing bubbles,” I said, and he nodded. “Like pushing very expensive, million-dollar bubbles up onto a shelf,” he said. He also reiterated the fact that in general straight lines are easier to manipulate than curves, and it’s not a bad idea to keep this in mind when considering one’s stance and strategy. “Why concentrate only on the points of resistance?” he said. “There are so many other points to use!”

He also cautioned us against signaling our intentions with our hands. “Just place them,” he said. “Energy flows towards emptiness on its own.”

posted by Poagao at 12:20 pm  

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