day 297: a little harder than it seems

concepts:

• dragon
• tiger
• monkey
  

lessons:

• hsing-yi
• kyudo
  

this post is for last Saturday. things got a little busy again this past week, and so i'm a little slow posting.

hsing-yi

we followed the customary agenda for the class with a review of the 5 lines and the 12 animals we've done so far (dragon and tiger). Sifu had another pop quiz, with everyone doing the 12 animals individually in front of the class to check on form and fine-tune movements. this was straightforward, and so i won't go into any more detail here beyond what i've previously posted.

the new animal for today was monkey. Sifu said that this employs the characteristics often associated with the monkey in Chinese culture: an animal that is attentive, inquisitive, active to the point of being hyper, and always engaged in misdirection and unpredictable activity. if there was ever an animal that could be perceived as having ADD, this is it.

in keeping with the Chinese take on monkey, Sifu noted that TCMA uses of the animal refer to the same qualities. he repeated the point he's made in the past that TCMA doesn't mean you actually behave like a monkey (i.e., roll of the floor, make monkey sounds, etc.), but that you employ some of the characteristics relevant for fighting. for TCMA, this means the qualities described above, in particular:

• the hands and arms do not always engage to project power, but instead act to sense out the opponent or confuse the opponent;
• you are not actually always using the hands, but instead more the arms;
• the footwork is light, and always active;
• the body is supple and loose;
• you are always changing direction;
• you are always unpredictable.
  

the form for this involves actions that are vaguely reminiscent of mantis (tang lang). Sifu reminded us that mantis (tang lang) uses monkey footwork, and so that this should be familiar for those students who studied mantis before.

i should also note that the form for monkey is much more intricate than for dragon or tiger. it involves moving into position facing 6 different directions. Sifu noted that for each direction, you can change the intent in the movements, so that each direction you are emphasizing different techniques.

this was a little harder than it seemed, and i found myself getting lost. this is going to take some work--at least, more than dragon or tiger.

i'll put the video of the form here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85sqPL0vhsg


kyudo

kyudo this evening had a lot of new people. out of the 18 people in attendance, i think 10 were either new or visitors.

things went okay for me this evening. i'm starting to find it easier to draw the bow, and i've been able to feel my way around the form more. Sensei asked me to work on my alignment, since this would help send the arrow out straight.

i've been aware of this problem and have been trying to correct it, but i think tonight i finally started to get a sense as to what's been wrong. viewed from the top, my shoulders are turning to face the target (not square, but are tending that direction). this is a problem, since it prevents full extension of the bow, and it also means that the arrow goes at an angle out of the bow. as i go into zanshin, i need to make sure my shoulders follow a line perpendicular to the plan of the target face.

this, however, once again, is a little harder than it seems, since it requires that i acquire the body sensitivity to know which way my structure is facing while i am moving through the form. this is going to take some work.