Thursday 31 May 2007
Bookshelf in the Head
Had an interesting day today. My boss was moving a bookshelf when a bookshelf next to her had an extension fall off and hit her on the head leaving her with a 6cm gash above her left ear. This meant that I spent most of the day filling out forms and collating reports from the people there as to what happened for our records. Also I had to wait around for the OHS unit to come and assess the situation and take photos for their records. It was a waste of a day really. Pretty good cut though, 6 stitches and lots of blood, thankfully not on the floor...
星期三的棵
Class went well, taught the intended lesson of head moving and followed it up with movement reading techniques examining peoples balance before they move. It went well, I also looked at peoples balance when they attack from various styles. 白 龍 has a desire for balance to be centered. This means that when we take a stance we aim to have our head straight. Other styles tend to have the head held in a froward position, Muai Tai for example. Also when someone in the street is fighting, they tend to adopt a boxing type position which also has the head quite forward.
This usually means that they want to attack, rather than counter attack, or at least move toward you fast and hard. Their weight is already moving forward and they are pushing out their forehead which is the hardest part of the head as a defense against getting hit in the face, straight forward is their most likely route to attack. Also it can be seen that they are most likely going to want to punch you, as their shoulders will be slightly forward and their feet are going to be slower (back leg will be the fastest to attack as front leg will be holding their balance and it has a fair distance to cover). There may be other reasons for these things, but their balance will be affected the same by the head shifting forward.
With this in mind we also looked at ways that we can move to make them over commit to their attacks and also ways we can move to negate them. We also looked at the strengths of the stances and positions as to understand when they would be most useful.
Once we had done that we looked at how to move in without signaling or minimising the signals we give, as well as through attacks that go around the easier/most likely blocks. Then how to cover greater area with out blocks without slowing the time it takes to do them.
In the end this part of the class took about 105 minutes. Then we did some for work also looking at the way in which we change our balance. It was a good class, and I hope the 兄弟 put it into practice.
Tea of the lesson was Long Jing.
This usually means that they want to attack, rather than counter attack, or at least move toward you fast and hard. Their weight is already moving forward and they are pushing out their forehead which is the hardest part of the head as a defense against getting hit in the face, straight forward is their most likely route to attack. Also it can be seen that they are most likely going to want to punch you, as their shoulders will be slightly forward and their feet are going to be slower (back leg will be the fastest to attack as front leg will be holding their balance and it has a fair distance to cover). There may be other reasons for these things, but their balance will be affected the same by the head shifting forward.
With this in mind we also looked at ways that we can move to make them over commit to their attacks and also ways we can move to negate them. We also looked at the strengths of the stances and positions as to understand when they would be most useful.
Once we had done that we looked at how to move in without signaling or minimising the signals we give, as well as through attacks that go around the easier/most likely blocks. Then how to cover greater area with out blocks without slowing the time it takes to do them.
In the end this part of the class took about 105 minutes. Then we did some for work also looking at the way in which we change our balance. It was a good class, and I hope the 兄弟 put it into practice.
Tea of the lesson was Long Jing.
Wednesday 30 May 2007
Things to think about.
I have had some changes in my life recently that have given be cause to think about anything but what is going on. So among other things I have been thinking about gong fu.
Last night I was thinking about the starting of movement. In order to move your body forward, you need to create an imbalance that directs your body forward then maintain that motion while regaining your balance. So, what most people do is tilt their head slightly in the direction that they are going, and then step, and then, bring the head back into balance maintaining the motion through inertia, adding to the speed with their legs.
The reason that this happens in that order is that your head controls more of your balance from standing than any other part of your body. This is because it is at the top and for its size it is quite heavy, so when it goes forward there is a great shift in the total balance of the body. Once the body is leaning from shifting of the head, the head can straighten and the balance is now in motion.
There are two parts of this that I want to examine and develop. One is hidden behind learning a head butt, not a technique that I like myself however it does teach control of the head under impact. The other is the effect of this balance shift, which is necessary to understand in order to hide motion or disguise attacks eg, a head butt should you wish to use one. Of course once you can disguise the motions then you can recognize them better also, so it has other advantages inherent.
I will post again after tonights class and continue this idea.
Last night I was thinking about the starting of movement. In order to move your body forward, you need to create an imbalance that directs your body forward then maintain that motion while regaining your balance. So, what most people do is tilt their head slightly in the direction that they are going, and then step, and then, bring the head back into balance maintaining the motion through inertia, adding to the speed with their legs.
The reason that this happens in that order is that your head controls more of your balance from standing than any other part of your body. This is because it is at the top and for its size it is quite heavy, so when it goes forward there is a great shift in the total balance of the body. Once the body is leaning from shifting of the head, the head can straighten and the balance is now in motion.
There are two parts of this that I want to examine and develop. One is hidden behind learning a head butt, not a technique that I like myself however it does teach control of the head under impact. The other is the effect of this balance shift, which is necessary to understand in order to hide motion or disguise attacks eg, a head butt should you wish to use one. Of course once you can disguise the motions then you can recognize them better also, so it has other advantages inherent.
I will post again after tonights class and continue this idea.
Tuesday 29 May 2007
星期一的课
Basics, everything is taught in basics. Well it should be, otherwise the basics don't cover what is needed to understand the rest of the art. Tonight I went through the four hard style blocks. We use Shotokan style basic blocks, they're simple and effective, and the motor skills can be used to do so many things. It is amazing how many things can be done with one set of movements. What looks like and often is practiced as a very slow complicated block is really simple and effective if you open your mind to using the strong movements where the strength is needed. Often not where people think. Once this happens you start to find that the fastest punch is what is normally called an outside block! Sure it also blocks but in terms of conception to impact, the "outside block" punch lands before the person getting punched knows they're getting attacked!
Simply because the movement is defensive right up till the strike lands.
The explanation for this technique does not fit into a good length, so will not land on this page tonight.
Simply because the movement is defensive right up till the strike lands.
The explanation for this technique does not fit into a good length, so will not land on this page tonight.
星期六的课
This week was the first week when I felt comfortable with kicking. So I taught ways to use kicks to improve your strength and balance, and or understanding of how to adjust the direction of oncoming attacks.
The introduction exercise to this was to have one person kick in any fashion possible and to block it by putting a leg in the way of the foot or some other part of the leg as it came forward, then to push it to remove their balance. This leads to using misdirecting kicks so they don't get blocked, which leads to blocking more effectively by taking the balance earlier making them have to change tact to a much more limited set of options. This leads to you being able to predict where they will go and how you can control them when they get there. If you are kicking you learn how to retain your balance in spite of other influence. Quite useful really. Once you are able to get control of the leg with your foot however, you can also gain the confidence necessary to instead block with you body. This is often better as you are in a better position to attack when your limbs are free.
The introduction exercise to this was to have one person kick in any fashion possible and to block it by putting a leg in the way of the foot or some other part of the leg as it came forward, then to push it to remove their balance. This leads to using misdirecting kicks so they don't get blocked, which leads to blocking more effectively by taking the balance earlier making them have to change tact to a much more limited set of options. This leads to you being able to predict where they will go and how you can control them when they get there. If you are kicking you learn how to retain your balance in spite of other influence. Quite useful really. Once you are able to get control of the leg with your foot however, you can also gain the confidence necessary to instead block with you body. This is often better as you are in a better position to attack when your limbs are free.
Wednesday 23 May 2007
Bai Long Quan
I want to put in a couple of references to Bai Long Quan, my gong fu style. The full history is a little blurred, but the most accurate information is here. A summary is that it is a longer range style of gong fu that becomes closer as you learn more. There is a focus in the branch that I belong to on the external aspect of the art, but there is a push to get more more of the internal techniques that we practice developed back into full exercises. Bai Long comes from (internal) White Crane and (external) Dragon styles of Kung Fu (Gong Fu) at the moment we practice a lot of dragon and a little white crane. We are learning some white crane at the moment to rediscover that part of the style. This is a perfect example of why you should practice forms, the information is there, once you have some ideas of what you're looking for, you can dig it out.
星期一的课
This was a fun lesson. My agenda for the class was to build speed and power in punches. My plan had beginners working reverse punches and seniors working on lead punches.
I only had three people turn up.
The joy of teaching open classes is you don't know who is going to turn up, some days everyone takes a day off at the same time. Especially when there is a cold snap.
So when I have a small class I usually throw away the plan and do something fun. Different exercises, different class, generally more detailed and more complicated than usual to reward the people who did decide to show.
This lesson however was going to be the first lesson where I was able to take warm-ups properly in 6 months. Mostly due to my knee partly due to some other things that had been going on earlier in the year. So I kept to the plan. I did change the method slightly. You know the red tassles used by chinese do decorate around new year etc. You often see them on the hilts of chinese swords. I have a heap of those that I sell for decoration. I put one of those in the crease of my elbow and bing very careful not to lock my arm used it as a method of speeding up my punch. The faster I punched the further I would throw the tassle. It was fun. With a total of four people, we were able to have like a game of tennis using the tassles.
So the lesson covered, stance for getting into position to catch and launch the tassle, speed for the propellant, and timing for the catch. It was good.
I only had three people turn up.
The joy of teaching open classes is you don't know who is going to turn up, some days everyone takes a day off at the same time. Especially when there is a cold snap.
So when I have a small class I usually throw away the plan and do something fun. Different exercises, different class, generally more detailed and more complicated than usual to reward the people who did decide to show.
This lesson however was going to be the first lesson where I was able to take warm-ups properly in 6 months. Mostly due to my knee partly due to some other things that had been going on earlier in the year. So I kept to the plan. I did change the method slightly. You know the red tassles used by chinese do decorate around new year etc. You often see them on the hilts of chinese swords. I have a heap of those that I sell for decoration. I put one of those in the crease of my elbow and bing very careful not to lock my arm used it as a method of speeding up my punch. The faster I punched the further I would throw the tassle. It was fun. With a total of four people, we were able to have like a game of tennis using the tassles.
So the lesson covered, stance for getting into position to catch and launch the tassle, speed for the propellant, and timing for the catch. It was good.
Monday 21 May 2007
Developing Power.
There is a lot to be said for being able to throw a hard punch. There is also a lot to be said for being able to throw a fast punch. If you can through one you might not be able to throw the other however. For me a powerful punch is one that has a large mass released at the end, simple enough. For me however a fast punch, is a punch that has the shortest time span from conception to impact, not the speed of the arm while in transit.
The elements necessary for a powerful punch are a good stance, one that helps you drive your technique, and good body structure on top of your stance to also aid the travel of your punch to and into the designated target. There is one other element needed to hit someone and that is timing, but that is a whole different story.
The elements for a fast punch are relaxation, relaxation, and intent. There is nothing stopping someone throwing a fast powerful punch but the timing of each of the elements has to be just so, before you even think about the timing necessary to land the punch.
Fast and powerful punches both come with a set of dangers which we train to avoid. These are injuries based around the impact.
Bone alignment.
If you land a powerful punch without your wrist in line with the angle of the attack, you will end up with a bent strained wrist and less able to retaliate than your opponent, as the punch will loose power as your wrist absorbs the impact.
Round vs Straight punches, alignment for round and straight attacks differ. Round punches such as ridge hand or hook punch rely on the arm delivering the blow to be supported by muscle. This requires all involved driving muscles to be at a less than 90degrees on poi (point of impact) this is where muscles have their power range, 90-20 degrees. Straight attacks rely on the power that is being transfered by the arm to be supported with the body, so basically elbows in and everything associated with the hips from the head to the toes moving the weight of the attacker forward into the punch.
In power punches, this happens early and slowly, in speed punches this happens late and fast. The faster that the body comes in line the faster the punch lands the more impact it will have.
This might all seem obvious but I want a reference to talk about fast and slow attacks in the future.
...edit...
I do know how to spell through and also throw, I don't know when to go to bed...
The elements necessary for a powerful punch are a good stance, one that helps you drive your technique, and good body structure on top of your stance to also aid the travel of your punch to and into the designated target. There is one other element needed to hit someone and that is timing, but that is a whole different story.
The elements for a fast punch are relaxation, relaxation, and intent. There is nothing stopping someone throwing a fast powerful punch but the timing of each of the elements has to be just so, before you even think about the timing necessary to land the punch.
Fast and powerful punches both come with a set of dangers which we train to avoid. These are injuries based around the impact.
Bone alignment.
If you land a powerful punch without your wrist in line with the angle of the attack, you will end up with a bent strained wrist and less able to retaliate than your opponent, as the punch will loose power as your wrist absorbs the impact.
Round vs Straight punches, alignment for round and straight attacks differ. Round punches such as ridge hand or hook punch rely on the arm delivering the blow to be supported by muscle. This requires all involved driving muscles to be at a less than 90degrees on poi (point of impact) this is where muscles have their power range, 90-20 degrees. Straight attacks rely on the power that is being transfered by the arm to be supported with the body, so basically elbows in and everything associated with the hips from the head to the toes moving the weight of the attacker forward into the punch.
In power punches, this happens early and slowly, in speed punches this happens late and fast. The faster that the body comes in line the faster the punch lands the more impact it will have.
This might all seem obvious but I want a reference to talk about fast and slow attacks in the future.
...edit...
I do know how to spell through and also throw, I don't know when to go to bed...
六月十七日的课
It will be 10-5 as far as I understand and will be $50 for the day which is reasonable. This course will be run by 白龙在下 and will be on 白龙拳 in general. I would like to get him to run a specific course. I haven't thought of this until now but usually he teaches courses on things he has learned at one event or another. If he taught courses on specific animals or on breathing I think people would prefer it. Even if he taught seniors only courses, as not having to cover the basics in great detail would be good. With this prior warning people can better prepare themselves for learning. I think that this would work better if 白龙在下 didn't teach regular classes as then he would have time to organize the classes.
I would also like to teach some more courses, the only problem with this is time, of course, I don't have any!
I would also like to teach some more courses, the only problem with this is time, of course, I don't have any!
星期六的课
I had a good class on Saturday, mostly form work but the student that I wanted to be ready for his next level was there and had shown improvement since last class. I think that it will be too early to grade him next week however there is a course on June the 17th. I need to remind/inform class of this course. I will get him to grade shortly after as I want to cement some of the changes that have recently been put in. I aslo have another student in the same position who I want to grade soon but he has to get his behind to training!
Friday 18 May 2007
Indian...
The best use for a leg of roast lamb is curry. The meet is not as tender as others so does better after a long simmer, and it is so cheep! Tonight I paid $6 for 1.5kg of lamb! How good is that, it was reduced and had a scrape off the top of the plastic wrap which brought it down, but that I think was done by me anyway when I picked it up. (I didn't ask for the discount, the manager saw it and said to take $2 off the price. I wasn't about to say no... So $12 curry for about 5 people. Sounds good to me!
Ingredients;
3 large onions,
3 large tomatos,
2 t spoons of carroway seeds crushed
4 star anise
1 t spoon garam masala
2 t spoons paprika
3 bay leaves
1.5 kg meat
water
cook for about 15 hours after seering the cubed meat.
Ingredients;
3 large onions,
3 large tomatos,
2 t spoons of carroway seeds crushed
4 star anise
1 t spoon garam masala
2 t spoons paprika
3 bay leaves
1.5 kg meat
water
cook for about 15 hours after seering the cubed meat.
Falling behind 18th day 17th post
I could tell you about the new whiskey's I have bought recently (last 2 months) 12yo Murray McDavid, very good relatively cheep ($50ish) very good and strong flavor unfiltered which is something I haven't knowingly experienced before, adds body don't know if it would be better with or without,but interesting. A bottle of 15yo Glenlivet French Oak Reserve, don't know about taste yet as unopened both of these are Speyside in origin. Lastly, a 15yo Bowmore malt Islay malt, very nice though not as good as I had hoped I think the 20yr is where the real difference will be (in price also).
Very good in all, the Glenlivet is waiting until I can have dinner with my teacher, then I fear it is doomed.
Very good in all, the Glenlivet is waiting until I can have dinner with my teacher, then I fear it is doomed.
星期三的课
First class with happy knee, Monday it was still tender from surgery, Wednesday was great!
I was able to do weird and wacky things like bend it... and stuff. It was great!
Knee is feeling all round much better all the time (as predicted by Geekman).
Hmmm, what did I teach...
Ahh, yes, balance. Taking someone else's balance (physical).
I split this into two lessons, one for beginners one for seniors.
Beginners I had apply a self defense against an opposite side wrist grab with some force, pulling the defender off balance, while the defender regained their balance and manipulated the attackers arm to put onto a lock and take to the ground. This took a couple of stages but everyone got there in the end.
Seniors (more advanced in learning not age), I had examine each other to see how they could use any part of their opponent to gain control of their balance. eg, thumb, ear, hip, knee... you get the idea. This became a good way to learn what control was, ie getting someone to go where you want without their permission, with them helpless to defend (preferably).
I also did a good warm up exercise. With partners one jumps up and down while the other rolls/moves underneath. This becomes hard as the jumper is less able to jump after a while and the roller is slower to move so timing becomes difficult. It was good and got peoples heart rate up as their partner was coming down on their head especially!
We did a couple of other dodging activities also but quite similar just moving different parts of the body away from x limb.
was good fun.
I was able to do weird and wacky things like bend it... and stuff. It was great!
Knee is feeling all round much better all the time (as predicted by Geekman).
Hmmm, what did I teach...
Ahh, yes, balance. Taking someone else's balance (physical).
I split this into two lessons, one for beginners one for seniors.
Beginners I had apply a self defense against an opposite side wrist grab with some force, pulling the defender off balance, while the defender regained their balance and manipulated the attackers arm to put onto a lock and take to the ground. This took a couple of stages but everyone got there in the end.
Seniors (more advanced in learning not age), I had examine each other to see how they could use any part of their opponent to gain control of their balance. eg, thumb, ear, hip, knee... you get the idea. This became a good way to learn what control was, ie getting someone to go where you want without their permission, with them helpless to defend (preferably).
I also did a good warm up exercise. With partners one jumps up and down while the other rolls/moves underneath. This becomes hard as the jumper is less able to jump after a while and the roller is slower to move so timing becomes difficult. It was good and got peoples heart rate up as their partner was coming down on their head especially!
We did a couple of other dodging activities also but quite similar just moving different parts of the body away from x limb.
was good fun.
Belconnen; the town center made with the ugly stick.
If you are not from Canberra you might not know that Belconnen has the most ugly town center going in there is. It is safe to say that I do hate it. Concrete does not have the same appeal when it is all you can see no matter where you look, and most of the time they haven't had the common decency to paint it, so it is ugly with water stains!
But today is the day that I meet with one of my tutors, who lives on the UC campus (near Belconnen also quite ugly compared with ANU). So as I was 2 or so hours early I thought I would go to Belconnen and blog for a while at a cafe with internet. No, Belconnen proves to be ugly and backward/useless. In the ugliest and one of the biggest shopping centers in Canberra, there is no wireless internet access. In the biggest (kinda) and ugliest entire town centers in Canberra there is only one "hot spot" anywhere (according to a phone shop who you think would know) and that is McDonalds at the other end of the lake and it is a Telstra spot which asks you to pay $12 ph for the pleasure and only if you are already a Telstra bigpond sucker/customer already!
I don't think it too much to ask if Dickson (a small shopping center all out doors and with only one or two office buildings 100m away) is able to have about 3 access points available where ever you go with a 150m radius of area covered. That one of the four main town centers (Civic, Woden, Tuggeranong, Belconnen) should have a couple of internet enabled areas.
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But today is the day that I meet with one of my tutors, who lives on the UC campus (near Belconnen also quite ugly compared with ANU). So as I was 2 or so hours early I thought I would go to Belconnen and blog for a while at a cafe with internet. No, Belconnen proves to be ugly and backward/useless. In the ugliest and one of the biggest shopping centers in Canberra, there is no wireless internet access. In the biggest (kinda) and ugliest entire town centers in Canberra there is only one "hot spot" anywhere (according to a phone shop who you think would know) and that is McDonalds at the other end of the lake and it is a Telstra spot which asks you to pay $12 ph for the pleasure and only if you are already a Telstra bigpond sucker/customer already!
I don't think it too much to ask if Dickson (a small shopping center all out doors and with only one or two office buildings 100m away) is able to have about 3 access points available where ever you go with a 150m radius of area covered. That one of the four main town centers (Civic, Woden, Tuggeranong, Belconnen) should have a couple of internet enabled areas.
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Tuesday 15 May 2007
星期一的课
I almost forgot to post last night's class!
I invented an interesting exercise (says me) last night.
I wanted to give my students a core body and a leg workout at the same time as do some pad work using round strikes (to aid core muscles).
This was my solution. It was a partner exercise, one partner holds a pad for an eye level strike and the other person strikes it with a round (hand) attack, then the person holding the pad drops the pad to thigh level and the attacker gets as low (leg element) as they can without bending over and does the same eye level strike with their eyes at a lower height (leg and core). Then back up to the former height (leg element again) and repeat for as many times as the attacker can in one minute.
The idea of the exercise is to keep balance while changing height, and keep strength in the strike while attacking at different levels. Both of these are hindered... aided by the cardiovascular workout you are getting over the minutes duration. It was a is also good exercise for the person holding the pad as they need to brace at different levels so it helps them if they rise and sink to the occasion!
(I think this is a good length for an exercise explanation)
I taught a couple of other pad exercises but they will not fit into a suitable length explanation.
I invented an interesting exercise (says me) last night.
I wanted to give my students a core body and a leg workout at the same time as do some pad work using round strikes (to aid core muscles).
This was my solution. It was a partner exercise, one partner holds a pad for an eye level strike and the other person strikes it with a round (hand) attack, then the person holding the pad drops the pad to thigh level and the attacker gets as low (leg element) as they can without bending over and does the same eye level strike with their eyes at a lower height (leg and core). Then back up to the former height (leg element again) and repeat for as many times as the attacker can in one minute.
The idea of the exercise is to keep balance while changing height, and keep strength in the strike while attacking at different levels. Both of these are hindered... aided by the cardiovascular workout you are getting over the minutes duration. It was a is also good exercise for the person holding the pad as they need to brace at different levels so it helps them if they rise and sink to the occasion!
(I think this is a good length for an exercise explanation)
I taught a couple of other pad exercises but they will not fit into a suitable length explanation.
我身体不舒服
When I went into surgery I had a slight cold, now that my body has been subjected to all manner of drugs designed to dull your ability to react to stimulus I have developed a tap like feature in my nose that doesn't have an off position.
I am currently eating Nyal Cold and Flu Fighter tablets like they are going out of fashion. Which they apparently are as Xiao ma wasn't able to find any last time she looked. They have an interesting blend of herbs that seem to work a little for a while. Andrographis Panicuata, White Willow Bark and Elderberry, are the three named ingredients on the back of the box. Sounds like a nice blend of new and old. But as long as it works I don't mind too much. They haven't given men the confidence to go to class today however as I seem to have very quick relapses into burst pipe mode!
So I am spending the day until after lunch trying to study without getting the paper wet, and will go to meet with my tutor in the evening. This is more possible due to being less formal than class I won't feel like I am waisting other student's time, and by then I will be desperate for the help!
Hopefully I won't be too sick to go when the time comes!
I am currently eating Nyal Cold and Flu Fighter tablets like they are going out of fashion. Which they apparently are as Xiao ma wasn't able to find any last time she looked. They have an interesting blend of herbs that seem to work a little for a while. Andrographis Panicuata, White Willow Bark and Elderberry, are the three named ingredients on the back of the box. Sounds like a nice blend of new and old. But as long as it works I don't mind too much. They haven't given men the confidence to go to class today however as I seem to have very quick relapses into burst pipe mode!
So I am spending the day until after lunch trying to study without getting the paper wet, and will go to meet with my tutor in the evening. This is more possible due to being less formal than class I won't feel like I am waisting other student's time, and by then I will be desperate for the help!
Hopefully I won't be too sick to go when the time comes!
Sunday 13 May 2007
Knee Update
Currently feeling good, however it gets sore much more easily than before. So as expected. The only problem I have had (now that I think about it) is that the exercises that I have been given to do require you to be lying down. I haven't been in good places to lie down of late and have so forgotten to do them.
Well I think it is time to go to bed and do another set of the given exercises.
Well I think it is time to go to bed and do another set of the given exercises.
Another Demonstration.
Yesterday I gave my second public demonstration of Gong Fu Cha. It went well, starting with a Jasmine ball with red flowers to get people in the mood, then moving onto biluochun then a Tie Guan Yin Oolong followed by a green Pu Er. Not everyone liked every tea, but some did. The favorite of the day was the Tie Guan Yin, as usual. This tea is the specialty of the shop that has asked me to perform Gong Fu Cha. The owner of the shop is from Shanghai and has never leaned Gong Fu Cha, he is also not looking to learn, which is ok because I am there to perform and he is able to sell the equipment! Once I have had more practice serving for many people I will get a video up on here or UTube of me performing, however at the moment the best examples are here!
There were a couple of things that could have been better with the demonstration;
Two of my three Chinese tutors were not invited, quite by accident sorry! Though one who had not made the last one did come, so that was good.
The store owner gave me two tickets to a Chinese Choir performance and I left them behind by mistake.
Lastly I made 小马 late to her horses and we had a not very good time getting some of her stuff done in the dark!
But as these were the worst things, then the demonstration its self was great!
There were a couple of things that could have been better with the demonstration;
Two of my three Chinese tutors were not invited, quite by accident sorry! Though one who had not made the last one did come, so that was good.
The store owner gave me two tickets to a Chinese Choir performance and I left them behind by mistake.
Lastly I made 小马 late to her horses and we had a not very good time getting some of her stuff done in the dark!
But as these were the worst things, then the demonstration its self was great!
Saturday 12 May 2007
Into the wild
小猫 has been quite testing of late, since his grading he has become quite unfocused in his training, and irritating in class. This irritation almost came to blows when he accidentally kicked another student in the groin, it was meant in fun but his control was a little lax on that occasion. I had a little talk to the 兄弟 involved after class. The result was a discussion on several things one being what 小猫 wants to learn from Gong Fu, and the difference that exists between that and what I want to teach. He wants to learn how to fight and I want to teach how to survive. You learn both in my classes however the focus isn't fighting alone.
Later that night I received an e-mail from him saying that he wants to cut down his training with me to about once per month (a suggestion that I made). As this will give him opportunity to discuss techniques that he has been practicing and learn new techniques at a slower pace.
He has done this before in different forms, this is the first time that he hasn't had a dummy spit before leaving classes. So in my mind he has come a long way. It was good to part this time on good terms, and I look forward to seeing him when he does come by again.
Later that night I received an e-mail from him saying that he wants to cut down his training with me to about once per month (a suggestion that I made). As this will give him opportunity to discuss techniques that he has been practicing and learn new techniques at a slower pace.
He has done this before in different forms, this is the first time that he hasn't had a dummy spit before leaving classes. So in my mind he has come a long way. It was good to part this time on good terms, and I look forward to seeing him when he does come by again.
Club Mombassa
Tonight 小马和我Discovered Club Mombassa, It is great!
She danced and I boogied from a sitting position on account of the whole knee surgery think. It was totally awesome!! I can't wait until next week or so when I can get up and dance. We will boogie till the whee hours. I want to try to get some of my students there also, make it a club club!
She danced and I boogied from a sitting position on account of the whole knee surgery think. It was totally awesome!! I can't wait until next week or so when I can get up and dance. We will boogie till the whee hours. I want to try to get some of my students there also, make it a club club!
Friday 11 May 2007
Meeting the Surgeon 4, Post Op
I have been cut.
They took out a piece of meniscus about 25mm long and tapering from 10mm-5mm. I had two sorts of tare, a bucket handle and a radial. Basically I had done a really good job on hurting myself.
I have permission to do all tolerable activity, which at the moment is not much, and I meet up with him again on the 22nd.
I did get onto Robert also and he had no problem with Phil, I still have a problem with his receptionist, she is useless. It took her 5 hours to get a message back to me that took 10 seconds to ask! This is how the conversation should have gone;
"Robert do you remember A Shi who had the knee problem, your recommended Al Burns to him however the was a mix up and he got booked in with Dr Alburn. A Shi wants to know, would you recommend Dr Albrun for the surgery?"
"No I have no problem with that."
"Thanks I'll let him know."
She could have elaborated on how crap she is to not be able to book an appointment with the correct surgeon, but she didn't need to.
All's well that ends well though and now all I have to do is wait for the bills to roll in!
I should get some pictures of the surgery, if I can I will post them for sure!
Ciao!
They took out a piece of meniscus about 25mm long and tapering from 10mm-5mm. I had two sorts of tare, a bucket handle and a radial. Basically I had done a really good job on hurting myself.
I have permission to do all tolerable activity, which at the moment is not much, and I meet up with him again on the 22nd.
I did get onto Robert also and he had no problem with Phil, I still have a problem with his receptionist, she is useless. It took her 5 hours to get a message back to me that took 10 seconds to ask! This is how the conversation should have gone;
"Robert do you remember A Shi who had the knee problem, your recommended Al Burns to him however the was a mix up and he got booked in with Dr Alburn. A Shi wants to know, would you recommend Dr Albrun for the surgery?"
"No I have no problem with that."
"Thanks I'll let him know."
She could have elaborated on how crap she is to not be able to book an appointment with the correct surgeon, but she didn't need to.
All's well that ends well though and now all I have to do is wait for the bills to roll in!
I should get some pictures of the surgery, if I can I will post them for sure!
Ciao!
Tuesday 8 May 2007
星期六的课
I didn't have a plan for this lesson at all, partly due to not knowing who was going to be turning up, partly due to not having time to prepare that morning.
I put it to the class who did arrive, "what do you want to work on" the most suitable suggestion was flexibility. So flexibility it was.
We did an exercise holding sticks that is normally done with cups of water or something else that spills. You hold the vessel on you hand with you palm open and then turn you hand in toward your body then around so your hand is twisted 360 degrees, then keep it going around taking it over you head and back to where you started.
We did this exercise in many different ways, making the figure 8 that you make as big as possible without moving your feet, making it as long as possible, front to back as well as side to side, as high and low as possible and as small as possible. Each one of the variations made the exercise slightly different and each person in the class found one variation that worked on a particular weakness of theirs. We followed these exercises with some applications to the flexibility gained giving escape advantages. Various wrist, elbow and shoulder locks that were escapable through greater range of movement.
I put it to the class who did arrive, "what do you want to work on" the most suitable suggestion was flexibility. So flexibility it was.
We did an exercise holding sticks that is normally done with cups of water or something else that spills. You hold the vessel on you hand with you palm open and then turn you hand in toward your body then around so your hand is twisted 360 degrees, then keep it going around taking it over you head and back to where you started.
We did this exercise in many different ways, making the figure 8 that you make as big as possible without moving your feet, making it as long as possible, front to back as well as side to side, as high and low as possible and as small as possible. Each one of the variations made the exercise slightly different and each person in the class found one variation that worked on a particular weakness of theirs. We followed these exercises with some applications to the flexibility gained giving escape advantages. Various wrist, elbow and shoulder locks that were escapable through greater range of movement.
Sunday 6 May 2007
Meeting the Surgeon 3, Doule take
"I'm sorry which surgeon do you have a booking with?"
"The wrong one, so I need to get some clarification from my doctor, do you think you can contact my doctor for me?"
"certainly, which doctor was that?"
"Dr Robert Still"
"We don't have a surgeon by that name, did you have an appointment with him here?"
"No, I am sorry, he is the doctor who recommended me to one of the surgeons that is here. I need to contact him regarding his referral."
"Oh, I see, and what was the problem with the referral?"
"Well, I am booked into see the wrong surgeon, so that the problem"
"Oh and you wan't to contact Dr Still and talk to him?"
"If that is ok."
"That should be fine I will put a call through to his office." Handing me the phone.
I was hoping here that they might break into the Dr's list of after hours contact hours once they got the recorded message, but as I had not properly heard the message I also wanted to check what it said.
"It appears that their offices are closed, do you have another number?"
"No sorry so what would you like to do?"
"I don't know? When is the next appointment for Dr Alan Burn?"
"We won't be able to get you in until..." to long " would that suit?"
"Not really, can you give me some information about Dr Alburn?"
Turns out he does happen to be a knee surgeon and apparently he is equally recommended by Robert. The only think that they couldn't tell me is why Robert might recommend Alexander over Phil. Which is all I really wanted to know. If they could say that the waiting list for Alexander was shorter than for Phil, I would have something to go off, but they would not commit to anything. This made it very difficult to decide what to do from here.
Options:
1) Tell them to cancel until I have had a chance to talk to my Robert,
2) Book another appointment with the correct doctor,
3) See this doctor and hope he seemed capable. Check with Robert on Monday
1) I didn't want to wait to get another appointment, I had to wait two month's for this appointment.
2) The wait was still too long for this option
3) Was I going to waste $140.00 on a quack?
As I was going to be able to cancel anything that was booked (even though it would cost $140 for the pleasure) I went ahead with 3.
Dr Phil Alburn, he turned out to be fairly decent, he was able to give me answers where I had questions, even to why was Alexander recommended instead of him, he guessed it was a numbers thing, according to him, Robert recommends %50 each way. Didn't seem unlikely, as I didn't have a particularly difficult case according to Robert. He also assured me that I could change at any stage if I needed (which I didn't want to) as it was no skin off his nose, he would not want to perform surgery on someone who was not confidant of his ability.
So I booked the surgery, for the next week (much to my delight) and started filling out forms.
Several hours later...
NIB "What do you mean my insurance doesn't cover this operation."
Hospital "How much?"
Hospital "upfront..."
Hospital "no medicare rebate!"
Public system option "wait how long?"
Several hours later...
after calculations "I can afford it without insurance, go ahead and book it all in."
白龙在下 "I will put in $1000..."
2 days later...
Hospital "What do you mean that you missed something on your earlier quote? How could you miss something that costs $1500"
Anesthesiologist "But I told you that there were two possibilities in duration and you said they were the same cost!"
Several hours later...
Surgeon "So I get 6 weeks to pay..."
Anesthesiologist "So I get 6 weeks to pay..."
Assistant "So I get 6 weeks to pay..."
"See you Thursday!"
Tuesday morning,
Hospital "So I will be refunded for all services I don't use..."
-----I think I will actually be able to afford it-----
(provided I do not get the most expensive option, but that is out of my control)
"The wrong one, so I need to get some clarification from my doctor, do you think you can contact my doctor for me?"
"certainly, which doctor was that?"
"Dr Robert Still"
"We don't have a surgeon by that name, did you have an appointment with him here?"
"No, I am sorry, he is the doctor who recommended me to one of the surgeons that is here. I need to contact him regarding his referral."
"Oh, I see, and what was the problem with the referral?"
"Well, I am booked into see the wrong surgeon, so that the problem"
"Oh and you wan't to contact Dr Still and talk to him?"
"If that is ok."
"That should be fine I will put a call through to his office." Handing me the phone.
I was hoping here that they might break into the Dr's list of after hours contact hours once they got the recorded message, but as I had not properly heard the message I also wanted to check what it said.
"It appears that their offices are closed, do you have another number?"
"No sorry so what would you like to do?"
"I don't know? When is the next appointment for Dr Alan Burn?"
"We won't be able to get you in until..." to long " would that suit?"
"Not really, can you give me some information about Dr Alburn?"
Turns out he does happen to be a knee surgeon and apparently he is equally recommended by Robert. The only think that they couldn't tell me is why Robert might recommend Alexander over Phil. Which is all I really wanted to know. If they could say that the waiting list for Alexander was shorter than for Phil, I would have something to go off, but they would not commit to anything. This made it very difficult to decide what to do from here.
Options:
1) Tell them to cancel until I have had a chance to talk to my Robert,
2) Book another appointment with the correct doctor,
3) See this doctor and hope he seemed capable. Check with Robert on Monday
1) I didn't want to wait to get another appointment, I had to wait two month's for this appointment.
2) The wait was still too long for this option
3) Was I going to waste $140.00 on a quack?
As I was going to be able to cancel anything that was booked (even though it would cost $140 for the pleasure) I went ahead with 3.
Dr Phil Alburn, he turned out to be fairly decent, he was able to give me answers where I had questions, even to why was Alexander recommended instead of him, he guessed it was a numbers thing, according to him, Robert recommends %50 each way. Didn't seem unlikely, as I didn't have a particularly difficult case according to Robert. He also assured me that I could change at any stage if I needed (which I didn't want to) as it was no skin off his nose, he would not want to perform surgery on someone who was not confidant of his ability.
So I booked the surgery, for the next week (much to my delight) and started filling out forms.
Several hours later...
NIB "What do you mean my insurance doesn't cover this operation."
Hospital "How much?"
Hospital "upfront..."
Hospital "no medicare rebate!"
Public system option "wait how long?"
Several hours later...
after calculations "I can afford it without insurance, go ahead and book it all in."
白龙在下 "I will put in $1000..."
2 days later...
Hospital "What do you mean that you missed something on your earlier quote? How could you miss something that costs $1500"
Anesthesiologist "But I told you that there were two possibilities in duration and you said they were the same cost!"
Several hours later...
Surgeon "So I get 6 weeks to pay..."
Anesthesiologist "So I get 6 weeks to pay..."
Assistant "So I get 6 weeks to pay..."
"See you Thursday!"
Tuesday morning,
Hospital "So I will be refunded for all services I don't use..."
-----I think I will actually be able to afford it-----
(provided I do not get the most expensive option, but that is out of my control)
Saturday 5 May 2007
Meeting the Surgeon 2, Second Doc,
Having established that I cannot speak to the surgeon who recommended me to the Dr I didn't get, I decided to speak to the physio who recommended me to the first Doc. Karl, "Hi could I please speak to Karl?" "I am sorry he is in Sydney today, can you call back tomorrow?" "I kinda want to speak to him now, I need him to tell me about a surgeon that I am to meet at 12pm (currently 12:05)" "Oh, I will call his mobile and get him to call you. What is your number?" now why couldn't my first surgeon, have this receptionist!
(12:07pm) "Hello, Patrick, Karl here, what seems to be the problem"
"bla, bla, bla"
"Oh you're probably best off speaking to Robert (first surgeon who recommended me to Alexander Burn)."
"bla, bla, bla"
"Oh, well then I don't know, I think that he probably recommended Al for a reason, you should probably hold until you speak to him, I know that they are both orthopedic surgeons I don't know if Phil does knees though. If you can try to get the people in the clinic to change your appointment, I am sure they will be able to get you one pretty soon under the circumstances"
"bla, bla, bla"
"Well, good luck! Sorry I couldn't be of more help."
Pretty much at hospital by now, park etc...
"Hi I have an appointment with the wrong surgeon, can you help me?"
(12:07pm) "Hello, Patrick, Karl here, what seems to be the problem"
"bla, bla, bla"
"Oh you're probably best off speaking to Robert (first surgeon who recommended me to Alexander Burn)."
"bla, bla, bla"
"Oh, well then I don't know, I think that he probably recommended Al for a reason, you should probably hold until you speak to him, I know that they are both orthopedic surgeons I don't know if Phil does knees though. If you can try to get the people in the clinic to change your appointment, I am sure they will be able to get you one pretty soon under the circumstances"
"bla, bla, bla"
"Well, good luck! Sorry I couldn't be of more help."
Pretty much at hospital by now, park etc...
"Hi I have an appointment with the wrong surgeon, can you help me?"
Thursday 3 May 2007
Meeting the Surgeon 1, Dr Who???
This didn't seem like too difficult a task at first. Go there, set a date, fill out some forms, leave. This was not to be. I last posted when it was time to leave, I decided to call ahead to check if the clinic was running on time, as I have known there to be four hour waits.
I called the number on the card that I had and I was transfered to another area of the hospital, the to the reception of the surgeon who I was supposed to meet, then I was told that he didn't have an appointment with me. I said that was interesting as I had been told I had an appointment with him. The booking was made by my doctor's receptionist, surely she would be able to make an appointment, it was her job! NO. They then went into their computer to find where my appoint was, I didn't have the surgeon that I thought I had. I It turns out that she had made an appointment, it was with another surgeon in the same clinic she got one part right. She was supposed to and understood (proof of which is in the card she gave me with his name) that she was to make a booking for Dr Alexander (aka Alan, aka Al) Burns, what she did was make an appointment with Phil Alburn. Who has the same name if you slur Al Burns and don't pronounce the "s". Same thing you ask? Not when he is going to cut you open and play at removing/repairing your knee. So, due to not having received the letter of confirmation that I was supposed to get, (probably due to my house being a mail black hole) I found out 15 minutes before my appointment that I had the wrong surgeon booked to look at my knee. As you might imagine, I had a couple of questions. Who was Dr Alburn? The latest and greatest thing in post industrial art? Probably not due to his working in a surgery clinic, but was he going to cut open my knee and try to put in a new hip!
It turns out that he was a knee surgeon who has approximately as much experience as the doctor who was recommended from the same clinic. But I still wanted to know why then I was not recommended him by my doctor (formerly a knee surgeon in Canberra and quite good) was this surgeon crap, for want of another word, is his experience meaningless because he is comparatively a blithering idiot compared to the surgeon that I was recommended? I thought on my way in I would risk a fine and talk to my doctor. Good plan, that was until I get this message, "you have reached... Our office is closed until... thank you for your call...". This made me even happier that I decided to risk the fine of talking on my mobile while driving to get the information. It meant that I was closer to the answer every second that I was on the road.
Having informed the surgery that I was going to be late due to checking my appointment, I wasn't worried about time, I was worried about other things.
I called the number on the card that I had and I was transfered to another area of the hospital, the to the reception of the surgeon who I was supposed to meet, then I was told that he didn't have an appointment with me. I said that was interesting as I had been told I had an appointment with him. The booking was made by my doctor's receptionist, surely she would be able to make an appointment, it was her job! NO. They then went into their computer to find where my appoint was, I didn't have the surgeon that I thought I had. I It turns out that she had made an appointment, it was with another surgeon in the same clinic she got one part right. She was supposed to and understood (proof of which is in the card she gave me with his name) that she was to make a booking for Dr Alexander (aka Alan, aka Al) Burns, what she did was make an appointment with Phil Alburn. Who has the same name if you slur Al Burns and don't pronounce the "s". Same thing you ask? Not when he is going to cut you open and play at removing/repairing your knee. So, due to not having received the letter of confirmation that I was supposed to get, (probably due to my house being a mail black hole) I found out 15 minutes before my appointment that I had the wrong surgeon booked to look at my knee. As you might imagine, I had a couple of questions. Who was Dr Alburn? The latest and greatest thing in post industrial art? Probably not due to his working in a surgery clinic, but was he going to cut open my knee and try to put in a new hip!
It turns out that he was a knee surgeon who has approximately as much experience as the doctor who was recommended from the same clinic. But I still wanted to know why then I was not recommended him by my doctor (formerly a knee surgeon in Canberra and quite good) was this surgeon crap, for want of another word, is his experience meaningless because he is comparatively a blithering idiot compared to the surgeon that I was recommended? I thought on my way in I would risk a fine and talk to my doctor. Good plan, that was until I get this message, "you have reached... Our office is closed until... thank you for your call...". This made me even happier that I decided to risk the fine of talking on my mobile while driving to get the information. It meant that I was closer to the answer every second that I was on the road.
Having informed the surgery that I was going to be late due to checking my appointment, I wasn't worried about time, I was worried about other things.
星期三的课
Last nights class was not an inspired class, I focused the lesson on the transfer of weight, how and why the transfers happen in different stances. I thought that this was a great lesson plan however I was not able to communicate it to the students in the class effectively I think largely due to me being in a very flat mood. Usually I am able to get enough energy out of the students of the class that I can give myself a kick start, but last evening they didn't have enough in reserve to get me going. This was a lesson to me in its self, although a "how not to"
rather than a "how to" lesson. I think that next time I have this sort of day before class, I will focus on activities that will give me more energy, example pad work, gets the endorphins working and pumps the blood, stance work takes an inspired teacher to get an inspired class.
It is especially hard to do when your knee is stopping you from doing the activities that you're teaching! On that note I am about to leave to meet my surgeon to set a date for my knee operation.... so I had better go...
rather than a "how to" lesson. I think that next time I have this sort of day before class, I will focus on activities that will give me more energy, example pad work, gets the endorphins working and pumps the blood, stance work takes an inspired teacher to get an inspired class.
It is especially hard to do when your knee is stopping you from doing the activities that you're teaching! On that note I am about to leave to meet my surgeon to set a date for my knee operation.... so I had better go...
Tuesday 1 May 2007
星期一的课
I decided to reuse the idea from Saturday, which was a snake lesson. Not for any other reason than I felt like teaching it, which has to count for something.
The idea that I have of snake is it moves around attacks stopping them from tracking, and then strikes hard and fast often attacking delicate areas in preference to harder areas. The snake gains it's power from coiling and uncoiling. It may work to visualise this as a whip which can attack in any direction however never has tension in it's body. If you can treat your limbs like this and move your body accordingly then you can gain the same ability.
I will detail some of the specific techniques that I taught; A defense against a straight punch. you cam move inside or outside to the punch (inside being between the body and the arm outside being not so). If you move outside, block with the opposite hand intercepting the punch as early as possible (aiming at the punches chamber if able) with the back of your hand, Do not direct the punch anywhere but let it go to where it aims and don't let it deviate from that path, As you do this move your opposite side leg to the side and as froward as you can (the faster that you get to the punch the more forward you can go) . This ends the block, a couple of note, keep you elbow in, you want your elbow down and against your side when you finish the block. Turn your hand over the arm, have the back of your hand locked down to stop the hand punching you from coming over your block. Finish the block on or above the elbow, this stops the punch from bending and hitting you in the head, not good practice. There are probably other things... would have to see the defense in action.
The block is done now, turn the blocking hand into a punch to the head, This should happen as your foot lands, you may need to turn your shoulders to right angles to your target to get power in this position, Then follow with your offside hand with an attack only descernable by the result of the former.
That was too long go add in the inside variation which has more explanation necessary...
The idea that I have of snake is it moves around attacks stopping them from tracking, and then strikes hard and fast often attacking delicate areas in preference to harder areas. The snake gains it's power from coiling and uncoiling. It may work to visualise this as a whip which can attack in any direction however never has tension in it's body. If you can treat your limbs like this and move your body accordingly then you can gain the same ability.
I will detail some of the specific techniques that I taught; A defense against a straight punch. you cam move inside or outside to the punch (inside being between the body and the arm outside being not so). If you move outside, block with the opposite hand intercepting the punch as early as possible (aiming at the punches chamber if able) with the back of your hand, Do not direct the punch anywhere but let it go to where it aims and don't let it deviate from that path, As you do this move your opposite side leg to the side and as froward as you can (the faster that you get to the punch the more forward you can go) . This ends the block, a couple of note, keep you elbow in, you want your elbow down and against your side when you finish the block. Turn your hand over the arm, have the back of your hand locked down to stop the hand punching you from coming over your block. Finish the block on or above the elbow, this stops the punch from bending and hitting you in the head, not good practice. There are probably other things... would have to see the defense in action.
The block is done now, turn the blocking hand into a punch to the head, This should happen as your foot lands, you may need to turn your shoulders to right angles to your target to get power in this position, Then follow with your offside hand with an attack only descernable by the result of the former.
That was too long go add in the inside variation which has more explanation necessary...
Welcome to Pai Lum blog readers.
As I get more posts on this blog, I would like to hear from any readers that have trained in Pai Lum. Inparticular, those who have trained under ShinZan SenChuan or PaiLiLong branches of the family. Through my education I do not accept the Don Wilson branch of the family to be a valid branch and I am not willing to discuss it here. I do not believe that I am right about this beyond question, this is not where I wish do discuss it. If you want to place an opposing opinion find my e-mail address it won't be hard.
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