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That was harsh. Forty hours of that a week? Oof.
I'm thinking of cheating on my kwoon. Another school offers kung fu classes on Monday night: my only free weeknight. Maybe I'll try it out for a month and see. I don't even know what style is taught there, or if it will make me even more confused with my current knowledge. I'll call and see if I can try one class out and make a judgement on that. I'd much rather continue studying with my current Sifus, but it may be months before I again get the chance.
Why do I feel like an adulteress for considering training elsewhere?
Yeah, here are your links. Enjoy.
One Man's Eye: Photographs from the Alan Siegel Collection: Magnificent photography spanning decades.
Mastiff Delivers Massive Litter Of Puppies: Twenty-four, to be precise. Yikes!
Yoga: Just an Exercise or Something More?: The JWs take on yoga, and how it leaves your body and mind open to demonic possession. Eeee!
The Biology of B-Movie Monsters: "Size has been one of the most popular themes in monster movies, especially those from my favorite era, the 1950s. The premise is invariably to take something out of its usual context--make people small or something else (gorillas, grasshoppers, amoebae, etc.) large--and then play with the consequences. However, Hollywood's approach to the concept has been, from a biologist's perspective, hopelessly naïve." What? You mean a 100-tonne spider is impossible? Oh no!
Muscle Champion Galleries: "Photographic image archive of Victorian and Edwardian-age bodybuilders and strongmen." I think these vignettes are fascinating. Didja know, for example, that the term "rippling muscles" originated with a body builder by the name of Maxick (Mack Sick)?
Scatdolls: And no, they're definitely NSFW. I wonder how many kids have brought these dollies to school....
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Hi
Date: 2005-01-25 01:29 am (UTC)From:I wanted to comment on your kwoon issue. I'm a black belt, and I hoped I could help ya out.
When I first started it was explained to me, that the journey thru the ranks was like gradeschool. Learning to color inside the lines, etc. and that getting my black belt was like being able to paint what ever I wanted with out the lines. (meaning, they'd support me when it was time for me to go study somewhere else and broaden my horizons.)
So my question to you is this, If you go to this new kwoon, are you cheating on your old one, or are you cheating on yourself by not going?
You have an obligation to yourself to keep yourself happy and your practice fulfilling. I'm not sure why you started kung fu. Whether it was for fitness, discipline, or self defense, or what have you, but loyalty is wonderful untill it starts costing you your happiness in your art.
I hope this helps!
blessed be,
Amy
Re: Hi
Date: 2005-01-25 02:20 am (UTC)From:What style do you have your black belt in? I've studied several martial arts, but kung fu is my favourite. I'd like to stay with my kwoon because I really want to finish the forms I've been working on, and I'm happy with the instruction I've been receiving. A good teacher is hard to find, and I've been pretty lucky.
I should be able to continue training with some of the same people in the afternoons, but not with the same Sifus. Maybe this will be enough. I don't know.
I'd like to check out this other guy and see what his classes are like. Maybe they'll be great. Maybe they'll suck. Maybe they'll be close enough to my own style to make things confusing (like when I was studying both Goju-Ryu karate-do and Hung Gar kung fu), or maybe they'll be different enough that they won't mix my scrambled brains up even more.
I study martial arts because I like the discipline and think it's a beautiful way of moving. I want better control of my body, and this is an excellent way to pursue that goal. The fitness and self-defense aspects are pleasant side effects.
Re: Hi
Date: 2005-01-25 02:36 am (UTC)From:I started because I wanted the self defense. (I was molested at 7 and abused until I was 14, then recieved a few death threats at 16 & 17 when prejudiced people in my school found out I was Wiccan.) So I could justify it to myself.
I kept going and got my black belt, for the discipline, and the Movement. (I love feeling that, that word when used to talk about MA needs to be capitalized.) :)
Plus when I was a child I was terribly shy and stuttered. Both of these vanished when I hit Blue belt.
Re: Hi
Date: 2005-01-25 02:48 am (UTC)From:What style of t'ai chi chu'an did you study? I did a bit of Wu-style for a while until I ran out of time and money. I'd like to get back to it, sometime. Now that I think about it, maybe that's what I'll be able to do with my current time table. If I remember correctly, there are classes held at lunchtime, and they're more to my liking than the newbie class with it's very slow pacing. The lunchtime classes are more martial and cater to a mixed crowd, so the warmup is at least invigorating.
I can understand wanting to study martial arts for the self-defense aspect. I was a chickenshit kid, and never fought back all the bullying until I reached high school. If I knew then what I know now, I doubt I would have had half the contusions and scrapes experienced at school and on the schoolbus.
Re: Hi
Date: 2005-01-25 02:59 am (UTC)From:I did pretty good in school by talking my way out of a lot of fights, but I still got shit for not standing up for myself.
Bleah!
Date: 2005-01-25 01:48 am (UTC)From:Re: Bleah!
Date: 2005-01-25 02:15 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2005-01-25 02:18 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2005-01-25 02:22 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2005-01-25 02:42 am (UTC)From:A lot of care and artistry went into making these dolls. That doesn't excuse their wrongness, though.
no subject
Date: 2005-01-25 02:50 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2005-01-25 03:04 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2005-01-26 02:29 am (UTC)From:Even when I was with the JWs, I never saw the harm in yoga.
My dad is the same way about certain martial arts. When I told him I was interested in studying ninjitsu, he asked me which martial art that was. I said, "It's the one ninjas practice."
After a sharp, seething intake of breath he said, "Oh, you definitely want to stay away from that stuff. You're opening yourself to demons."
"Whaaat? How is this any worse than karate?"
"Ninjas have supernatural powers. They can disappear and reappear by means of sorcery, and they can appear in more than one place at once."
Something tells me my Dad has issues with reality. Either that, or he's been watching far too many ninja movies on the sly!