day 184: a somber time

concepts:

• softness

lessons:

• forest palm
• kyudo
  

this post will stay on the trends of the previous 2 posts in terms of brevity. i'm starting to feel better in terms of my recovery from the food poisoning last week, but not so much that i'm up to devoting as much time writing as i ordinarily do. also, i had to cancel the chang quan lesson last Friday, since i was still feeling weak at the time, and so will omit that portion of this post.

at this point, i should note that this week things were pretty somber. Sifu started class with the announcement that had already been posted via email and the Yahoo! group--one of Sifu's students from his time in Boston, Jim Lavoie, had passed away earlier in the week after a long battle with cancer, leaving behind a wife and 2 young children. Art had brought a condolence card for the group to sign, and Sifu said we were also taking donations for the family. Art was quite affected by things, as were a number of other people, and altogether it made for a pretty subdued day.

forest palms

Sifu advanced us further into forest palms, teaching 2 additional segments of the form, with the 1st following announcements and the 2nd near the end of class after we'd had a chance to practice the 1st. in addition, he also gave us some time to help some people who'd missed the previous class to catch up. that, and it also let me work at a slower pace and rest up--i wasn't at full speed, and just wasn't ready for any strenuous activity today, with me having to stop at numerous points to catch my breath and restore blood flow to my head.

after watching me for awhile, Sifu noted that 1 good thing about my sickness was that it had finally made me soft...a little too soft. he said that i was doing things better, except that now i was allowing my wrists and hands to become soft, and devoting much of my focus on them. he said that i should instead put my attention on the elbows and arms, and to do so in relation to the rest of my body. he reminded me to think about my body as a single unit--a unit that is not hard, nor rigid, but instead flexible and elastic, that can turn, twist, bend, flex, and compress in a way that stores and releases energy (kind of the way a spring compresses and releases, or jello compresses and then bounces).

we finished class with a somber collection of donations and final messages for the condolence card, and then went to a typical post-class lunch that was a little more sober than usual.

kyudo

i went to kyudo class, although my energy levels were running a bit low. i decided i'd stay until the end of the formal class, which is usually around 8:30, and then go home to rest. i arrived early enough to help clean and set up the dojo, which i see is the usual custom for students in a formal martial arts school. i'm starting to become better with names, since i now know more of the regular students in the class--Jackie, Gene, Trini, and Star, who all appear to be the junior students, and Leslie, Matt, Aaron, Marcus, and Doc, who appear to be the more senior students.

this class, Sensei suggested that i start incorporating myself into the formal practice of the dojo, and to work my way into things. he said he'd help me out with the practices, as would other students. this is just as well, since i'm still largely clueless about a good number of things, and still trying to figure things out--at this point, my attention is consumed less by the spirit of the art and more by the learning of the formalities of practice. there's quite a bit, and i can see why it takes awhile.

things were a little rough today. not only was i following the pre-shooting meditation and walk-through, but Sensei also had me do a passive run-through of actual shooting (i.e., join a group of archers, and go through the act of shooting, but without holding a bow or an arrow). there was a bit of information overload, and it probably didn't help that i wasn't at 100%. hopefully i'll do a little better next time...although, i suppose, every beginner is a little rough at the start, and so i should expect this. but at the very least, i hope to be operating at a healthier level next week.

just as i figured, my energy levels pretty much started dipping after 8pm, and i asked Sensei to excuse me from the remainder of the session. i felt a little guilty, since ordinarily i would stay to help clean things and disassemble the dojo equipment, but Sensei recognized that i was not doing so well and let me go.