![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I just got back from a kung fu sleepover. It was actually a kung fu seminar held out in the middle of nowhere, but I ended up sleeping over for two nights. I had a lot of fun, and worked very freakin' hard. I probably sweat a few dozen pounds off. Here are the highlights:
* Watching drunken kung fu--real drunken kung fu--on wet grass around midnight. It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. There were several mid-air collisions, lots of wipeouts, and a few minor sparring mishaps. But despite the inebriation, there was still a lot of grace and fluidity in their movement. I tried doing a form with them, but quickly jumped out when I realized the drunkest guys were adding quite a few embellishments. I had to leap out of the way when an unprescribed jump came perilously close to my knee.
* Training with several dozen kung fu and t'ai chi chu'an practitioners from around the province. It was my first time meeting several of them, and I ended up training very closely with a couple of them.
* When the sun came out and the heat cooked the water off the grass, we were bathed in sweat and humidity. At the hottest point of the day, we began doing low spinning sweeps. The spinning motion combined with the heat just about made me pass out, so I had to go down to the river for a couple of minutes to cool off. The cold water helped, and I was fine for the rest of the day.
* Learning the practical applications of the Fook Fu form. I'm especially fond of the breaks and takedowns.
* Watching Stacey and Dmitrii earn their blue sashes. I fought with Stacey as part of her testing. She clocked me good in the kisser. Yes, mouthguards really work. Otherwise, I'm sure I'd have been spitting several teeth. I got her a good one in the nose, but I know she beat me fair and square. She knocked me on my arse twice, and got in three solid blows to the ribs before I decided enough with that and stopped letting her hit me.
* Learning the first half of a longstaff form. Sifu Danny took all the women aside to teach them this, and there were many jokes about chicks with sticks....
* Having an impromptu drunken sword "fight" with Pete. I'd really like to work more with sword. Maybe I can take up fencing lessons again.
* After the workshop was over, I taught several kung fu folks some belly dance moves. I had them doing floorwork, playing zills, shimmying, and doing Mayas, rib isolations, figure 8s, and undulations all over the cabin and yard.
* Relaxing and dining on a post-seminar repast of steak, potatos, and a strawberry daquiri while watching silver rain misting down on an evergreen forest. Leonard Cohen music played in the background. This was a perfect moment.
* Babysitting an extremely large, extremely drunk man who wanted to wade up the river which has an extremely fast current with plenty of rapids at 2:00 in the morning. We used a high-power flashlight to keep an eye on him. Although he fell many times and got pretty bunged up, he was very pleased at his aquatic trek. Although I'm a lousy swimmer, I'd like to try it myself, in the daytime while sober.
* Attempting various feats of strength, including iron arches, back bends, and gripping ahold of an upright support beam and raising my body and legs up so they were perpendicular to the floor. Actually, I couldn't do that last one--yet. I was able to raise my feet and torso up a bit, but I'm not quite ready to level out. Several of the others were able to, though, and some even went past the perpendicular point, raising their bodies up so they pointed about thirty degrees up from level. Not too shabby!
* Discovering all my bruises, scrapes, split lips, and sore muscles the next morning. At least I didn't get a black eye! One or two others did....
Afterwards, I drove home, in a car reeking of unwashed bodies. There were no showers, and since I didn't get to swim, I stank. On the ride home, we listened to Metallica and Guns and Roses, cranked so high my ears almost bled. When I got home, I had a long, blessed shower. I no longer look or smell like Courtney Love.
* Watching drunken kung fu--real drunken kung fu--on wet grass around midnight. It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. There were several mid-air collisions, lots of wipeouts, and a few minor sparring mishaps. But despite the inebriation, there was still a lot of grace and fluidity in their movement. I tried doing a form with them, but quickly jumped out when I realized the drunkest guys were adding quite a few embellishments. I had to leap out of the way when an unprescribed jump came perilously close to my knee.
* Training with several dozen kung fu and t'ai chi chu'an practitioners from around the province. It was my first time meeting several of them, and I ended up training very closely with a couple of them.
* When the sun came out and the heat cooked the water off the grass, we were bathed in sweat and humidity. At the hottest point of the day, we began doing low spinning sweeps. The spinning motion combined with the heat just about made me pass out, so I had to go down to the river for a couple of minutes to cool off. The cold water helped, and I was fine for the rest of the day.
* Learning the practical applications of the Fook Fu form. I'm especially fond of the breaks and takedowns.
* Watching Stacey and Dmitrii earn their blue sashes. I fought with Stacey as part of her testing. She clocked me good in the kisser. Yes, mouthguards really work. Otherwise, I'm sure I'd have been spitting several teeth. I got her a good one in the nose, but I know she beat me fair and square. She knocked me on my arse twice, and got in three solid blows to the ribs before I decided enough with that and stopped letting her hit me.
* Learning the first half of a longstaff form. Sifu Danny took all the women aside to teach them this, and there were many jokes about chicks with sticks....
* Having an impromptu drunken sword "fight" with Pete. I'd really like to work more with sword. Maybe I can take up fencing lessons again.
* After the workshop was over, I taught several kung fu folks some belly dance moves. I had them doing floorwork, playing zills, shimmying, and doing Mayas, rib isolations, figure 8s, and undulations all over the cabin and yard.
* Relaxing and dining on a post-seminar repast of steak, potatos, and a strawberry daquiri while watching silver rain misting down on an evergreen forest. Leonard Cohen music played in the background. This was a perfect moment.
* Babysitting an extremely large, extremely drunk man who wanted to wade up the river which has an extremely fast current with plenty of rapids at 2:00 in the morning. We used a high-power flashlight to keep an eye on him. Although he fell many times and got pretty bunged up, he was very pleased at his aquatic trek. Although I'm a lousy swimmer, I'd like to try it myself, in the daytime while sober.
* Attempting various feats of strength, including iron arches, back bends, and gripping ahold of an upright support beam and raising my body and legs up so they were perpendicular to the floor. Actually, I couldn't do that last one--yet. I was able to raise my feet and torso up a bit, but I'm not quite ready to level out. Several of the others were able to, though, and some even went past the perpendicular point, raising their bodies up so they pointed about thirty degrees up from level. Not too shabby!
* Discovering all my bruises, scrapes, split lips, and sore muscles the next morning. At least I didn't get a black eye! One or two others did....
Afterwards, I drove home, in a car reeking of unwashed bodies. There were no showers, and since I didn't get to swim, I stank. On the ride home, we listened to Metallica and Guns and Roses, cranked so high my ears almost bled. When I got home, I had a long, blessed shower. I no longer look or smell like Courtney Love.
