Well, we are back now and had failed to post info and photo's from our last few days of training with Di Guo Yong. The biggest reaso had been that we didn't take too many pictures of that training...but we have posted some below...detailing Sundays training location and some of the instruction. Di laoshi was a really enthusiastic teacher who is clearly all about applications, fighting and hands on explanations.
While we were training in the park and young woman showed up dressed for work in an office. She said that she was from the area around the Shaolin Temple, saw us practicing in the park as she was walking down the street, walked 10-15 minutes around to find her way to us, felt nostalgic at seeing people practice wushu, and said how excited she was very happy that westerners were learning chinese martial arts.
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Yesterday (Thursday) was supposed to be our first day of traing with Di GuoYong. Some minor issues and miscommunication had us show up for training BUT no training yesterday with Di laoshi. Instead Andrew and I went into a huge park where people are doing tai chi of all sorts, chi gung, dancing (one group dancing to a chinese version of Great Big Sea's "Run, Run, Away"), playing with giant chinese yo-yo's etc. EVERYWHERE. We will post photo's later today. Andrew's post for WednesdayLast day training with Wang Laoshi Title.Me, (Andrew) working on some staff techniques while members of the Red Army march past in full dress. Title.Wang Laoshi and Josh reviewing some of the Chuo Jiao Pipe, while the Drum ladies practice in the background. Title.A couple of shots of the subway. Don't be decieved by the shots, as most times Josh and I have to force our way through the crowds. ABOVE: Josh getting instruction/correction from Wang HeLing ABOVE: Group picture after Saturday's training: From the left -Andrew, Wu YaJun, Wang HeLing, Lu Yan, Chris Rayner, Me, Tin Ying Its Day 5: Saturday morning. Hurray for my sister Karen’s suggestion-Andrew took gravol last night and actually slept. Prior to that he was only getting an hour or so per night. I was starting to have concerns about his mental health. These are pictures of the entrance to the hotel restaurant Well things are going well, Josh and I are both quite sore but managing. There is a lot to do in such a short time and with new moves each day we try to review at the hotel. It was fun to see Josh get hit on by a rather femine fellow on the highly crowded bus. The young man enjoyed feeling Josh's arms and commenting, in english about his big firm muscles. Josh was way to crowded to move away from him. Meanwhile I managed to get a seat near Corky Bubbles(ie. Life Goes On TV show), with a knack for nose picking and clearing phlem from his throat. Can't wait to ride that bus again this evening. Anyway despite being sore and tired we're having a great time and wish you were all here to share in this wonderful adventure. Andrew This is what 2 hours of sleep in 3 days looks like. Josh and I heading out to train with Wang Laoshi at 7am. Me recieving correction in the Chuo Jiao staff. Learning to protect the knee with the staff. Josh and Chris practicing the Yanqing fanzi while Wang Laoshi looks on. Josh working on a very cool move in front of the Olympic Baseball stadium and next to some ladies practicing Taiji. Wang Laoshi and Chris looking on. Andrew and I trained with Wang laoshi (teacher) for a couple of hours in the morning yesterday and with Lu jiaolian(coach) for a couple of hours last night. The teaching was awesome. We practiced in between and also tried to eat and sleep. We travel to class by bus and subway and the trips are loooong. So we didn't have time to post much and, due to sleep deprivation, we forgot to take pictures. So we will have more to post later today no that are brains are back in gear. So far we have eaten every meal at our hotel as we are always in a rush. Andrew's body has decided that he doesnt need to sleep more than an hour or so per day, however it MIGHT be affecting his brain....I am almost in the same boat... Chris and Andrew just leaving class with Wang Laoshi on the way to the subway. Josh taking care of business in the luxury suit of one of the 3 Si He Yuan's at our hotel. Si He Yuan means "4 house yard" where the buildings our joined in a square creating a small courtyard. Andrew's first Post... We have arrived. Our plane came in on-time (around 5:00 pm), although neither Andrew nor I slept on the flight. When we arrived at the Hotel (around 6:30 pm) many of the staff knew Andrew from his previous visits and were very friendly. Unfortunately we could not get the internet to work in our room so we could not contact anyone. The hotel staff tried to assist us with no success. After unloading our gear we went for a walk around the area-although it was dark and we were groggy and forgot to take the camera. We went back to our room to try to sleep somewhere around 9:00 local time (11 hours ahead of Halifax). Andrew slept for about 5 minutes and I had about 3 hours. We were both giddy and groggy by 6:00 am. At 6:30 am we went to meet Chris Rayner (Lu Yan's husband) at a bus stop as Chris lives in Beijing and trains with Wang He Ling. Chis had purchased bus and subway passes for us and lent us a cell phone for local use. Very helpful of him. Getting on the bus was sort of like an adult version of trying to cram into a volkswagon bug except no one knows each other and they arent doing it for fun. We switched from bus to subway at Tian-An-Men Square. Then we walked to where we were meeting Wang He Ling for instruction. We will post photo's of the training area tomorrow likely. We began training at 8:00 am. The training was very fun and challenging, even though it was supposed to be an easy day to allow us to adjust. Sadly, I popped my left hamstring doing a Mandarin Duck kick-its happened to me before-so I'm hoping for a speedy recovery. It shouldn't prevent much learning on my part, so no big deal, just annoying. The training is outside in a public area and there were LOTS of local gawkers eager to hand out their 2 cents worth on our training. This is the entrance to our hotel. Its in the middle of the Hutong's ("alleyways") located just behind the Forbidden City and Tian-An-Men Square in Downtown Beijing. Its a government owned hotel so there are security guards posted at the gate day and night. This is Andrew at the entrance to our hotel room. #307 if you are calling or stopping by for a visit. We were in #308 last night but the internet didnt work so they moved us to #306 this morning. The bathroom didnt work in #306 so they moved us to #307 with smiles all around. We are very lucky that Andrew has a good rapport with the hotel staff who have been extermely accomodating to date. This is the view of the court yard right outside of our hotel room. Note the water feature which is somewhat confusing as it sounds as if its raining all the time. The lions guard the entranceway to our court yard. We are trying to practice what we learnined this morning so we dont appear too lame tomorrow. I starting learning the 8th Yanqing Fanzi set. Its called "lost track boxing" as it is hard to follow the form. Which will make learning it a challenge! This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar. |
Josh and/or Andrew
Well, I have gotten my shots, taken Dukerol with all of its side effects, recieved my visa, picked up some RMB's, bought some new sweats, tried to forget my age and chronic injuries and am almost ready to go. ![]() ...I did actually practice sanjiegun after Lu Yan left but thats not what we're learning when we are in Beijing... Archives
November 2009
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