shanmonster | Hoe Lee Ouch!

Man, am I ever sore! Between the sitting all day (which I'm not used to) and the intense kung fu classes (which I am), I'm a wreck! Even my bruises have bruises. Last night, Sifu Danny taught my very last class (sigh), and it was probably his best class, ever. We did a lot of stretching exercises, which are probably my favourite thing. After doing some brutal kicking/strength exercises, it felt like my legs were no longer attached to my body. They felt like free-hanging dead weights, and that's when I knew I'd achieve maximum flexibility. And I was right. I was able to do the splits with ease. Well, the left leg forward splits, at least. I'm not as flexible leading with my right leg, but I still got down nice and low, even on that side.

We also did the stretch where you stand with your back to the wall, and your partner hoists your leg higher and higher until you tap the wall behind you with your toe. Well, no one got quite that far, but I did manage to bring my toe a measley six inches from that wall. I heard a strange snopping noise when it happened, but no harm was done. I guess it was just my tendons freeing up a bit more space.

Afterwards, we worked on forms. Holding low stances felt extra challenging, considering how dead my legs were by that point. And when we were through with that, we did some sparring. Hoorah!

At the end of class, a bunch of us went out to the local Irish pub and had a couple of drinks. I probably won't get to see Sifu Danny for several months, and that really sucks. He's a fun guy. At least I'll be able to see my fellow students on occasion. I should be getting together with a bunch of them tomorrow and on Wednesday for some training. And then on Monday, I start training with Sifu Chang. I hope I enjoy his classes.

And now I'm off to get some movies with