My left hand
I was practicing tuishou with Teacher X today, and, surprisingly, doing pretty well. I think he was just taking it easy on me, and he confirmed this by mentioning that my right hand is “stupid”. “You’re very good with your left hand,” he said. “But that’s not only due to the fact that you’re left-handed, but also, all of your partners are right-handed, so that side gets a lot of practice.” He made his point by showing me just how easy it was to push me over on that side. I spent the next half an hour concentrating on my right side. He’s got a point; I need to shore things up over there.
Yang Qing-feng showed up today; I haven’t seen him in years, I think. I always had the hardest time practicing with him, as he is lightning quick, nimble and flexible; it’s like pushing cotton. We began with fixed-feet tuishou, and though I’ve improved and am able to gain the advantage once in a while, he’s still nearly as difficult to deal with; he spends most of his time bent back, out of my reach.
That all changed when we switched to moving tuishou. When I was able to advance and retreat, I found him surprisingly easy prey, at least until he fixed on the technique of grabbing my left hand and just not letting GO. Things got fairly intense, and I have the bruises on my arm to prove it. Still, it was amicable, and he didn’t, as so many people do, resort to simple quick shoves.
So today was a good workout, and I learned a few things. I also got empty-handed and sword practice in, though thunder was threatening as the afternoon wore on.
