Supporting joints

So Dragon Dancing is alot of fun, unfortunately it appears to be hard on knees, ankles and feet.  So although the sprained left toes are now fine (wearing shoes to play safe).  I find the sudden stops and sharp turns are tough on my knees.  Should I mention my age?  Nah other people younger than me have strains as well.  So I have been investigating support products for knees ... don't really like the brace as it really restricts the actual movement of the joint,  tensor bandages don't stay in place but ah hah! I found something called KT Tape.   Its a tape, so it stays in place, but with elasticity and wow what a difference.  Two strips on the outside of my knee provides support and you don't feel any restriction of movement.  Just be careful when removing it,  it will remove hair if not done correctly.

Video Recordings

I really enjoyed the snake/horse team meeting on saturday.  A lot of very good insights and suggestions.  Ms Csillags idea of video recording on a monthly basis so everyone could see their progress was a great one. This is a valuable tool that the hubby and I use when preparing for dance performances, sometimes what you feel you are expressing is not translating visually.  It helps with developing an eye for detail I think because you get comfortable with bad technique / habits and don't necessarily realize that your foot position is not correct or the movements are not 'big' enough when doing a performance.  Once you have identified it visually you can make yourself concious of it physically, if that makes any kind of sense.  I am looking forward to using this in my kung fu.

Dragon Dance & Other Stuff

So the practice on Saturday at the school gym (thanks to sifu bryant) was awesome.  We worked on the stack (very high ceilings at the school gym) and after a number of attempts got the bugs worked out and it looks awesome.  What a relief!

Worked on a Tai Chi demo that we are putting together and it is starting to look pretty good and the timing of the performance is coming together.  Hope it gets put into the chinese new year celebration!

I must admit I am excited and anxious about the chinese new year performances ... got butterflies in my stomach and as a result I am scattered.   Left half my stuff at the studio on Saturday and have not been able to focus on things very well this weekend.   I keep reminding myself to breath deeply to see if that will help but not so far.  This is always the scariest thing,  for weeks I am anxious, I loose my focus, rush my performances.  And then after I get through it I am ... well that wasn't so bad, no one died or got injured, I didn't humiliate myself too badly, no one laughed, and I tell myself next time I will be less scared it will be easier.  But it dosen't, I do it anyway and go thru the whole cycle everytime.  Sigh!