23 of 52 Enjoying the weekly challenges

So the elbow is still a problem, and what's weird is that straightening it is where it gets really painfull.  Back to knee push ups ... Sigh!

The challenge for last week involved meditation which is something I struggle with, however, while waiting at a job site I was reading the book called 'Savour' and there is mindful meditation on page 85 called the 'Love Meditation' which outlines a focused 'mindful' meditation.  So this is what I did!  It is/was really cool and I felt very much at peace afterwards.   Even my multitasking brain could handle it and found it beneficial.  Yeah!

This weeks challenge of practicing forms & sparring in such a small space is something I can actually pull off at work.  The floor space in my office is about that size ... close the door and away I go and no gawkers!   Good idea ... be aware of sharp corners on desks its gotten painful once or twice so far.

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So due to my efforts to catch up on my pushups and situps I have actually done something to my right elbow ... it really hurts to straighten it out completely, and it kind of looks swollen. So for the last few days I have been iceing, appling stinky chinese medicine and modifying my pushups to more on my left side and not actually straightening it to the point of locking the joint. Not sure how it will go ... will keep you posted. Thats why I picked the challenge of hidden leg technique ... no arms required.

Thanks to whoever picked mu long koon as a challenge, one of my faves!

While in China I started learning a form called Tei Hua (not 100% sure of the spelling). I learned the basic movements up to the part called ba gua walking and have been practicing it to that point.

The girls have been answering my questions like "what is the hand position here? and where should my weight be? and what kind of stance is here?" during our skype calls for the last 4 months. Now thanks to our discovery of an internet feature called 'Dropbox' the girls and I can share photos and videos much more easily. (Their access is pretty limited and slow) My daughter Melanie who is one of the two sweetest children ever ... video recorded this form for me. She does it very slowly and emphasizes the hand positions and videoed it front and back so I can see everything no matter what direction she is facing. The quality is excellent and I am sure that is due to the group of foreign students that she trains with. Thanks everyone! This will help me huge in getting Tei Hua looking like what I know it should look and feel like. Thanks Mel for caring and taking the time to do this for me.

Give me a week to tweek this form and I hope to have it mastered to the point that I am willing to show it off.

Sifu Beckett.

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This week I plan on catching up on my reading the I Ho Chuan member blogs, I really missed this part ... it helps keep me in touch with everyone and appreciate the struggles everyone is going thru.  I learn a lot from all you guys. 
 
Just wanted to say that I am really impressed with the efforts that the team has put into the demos, the ipad raffle, snow shoveling, finding more demo opportunities and the way the group is coming together ... the cheerleaders are the glue that keep everyone engaged and forging onwards, Kudos to you!  

 
Sifu Brinker uses the analogy of baby birds sometimes so I am going to add to that and say when a baby bird first tries to fly sometimes the first few attempts involve some painful landings, its part of the learning curve.  Eventually you will be launching from the nest and swooping across the finish line in a truly spectacular demonstration of aerodynamics, I can see it!  You just need to decide when, and until then the I Ho Chuan team will pick you up, dust you off and encourage you to try again.  How do I know this ... personal experience.

My shoulders are really sore from all the additional push-ups I needed to do to catch up what I missed doing on holidays (for some reason the sit-ups don’t hurt as much). Dancing with the hubby, he had to keep telling me to hold my own arms up and not rest on him. Pretty sad!