or "SanDa: Lesson 5"
Wednesdays are very tiring for me. I have a Chinese lesson on Tuesday afternoons and another one on Wednesday mornings. The classes are exhausting as we've begun having more and more of the time in Chinese only. Basically, brain-fry puts me into a mildly cranky mood, and I don't want to do much else the rest of the day.
But I figured that going to sanda would probably help me out.
I arrived around 5:00, and a few of the other students were there. They're beginning to speak to me (or at least to try). Some of them are brave enough to attempt English, which always helps me a lot. We didn't start running until 5:20 or so, so I used some of the exercise machines while I waited.
Once we finished running and the various marching-punching drills, I assumed my normal place in front of the mirror and began punching. Being tired and a little cranky, I didn't feel much like spending an hour practicing my two punches. The teacher came by and corrected the people all around me and left to teach the advanced students something. He came back and corrected the others yet again. I was getting bored and asked God to please let me learn something new. Shortly after that, the teacher came back, corrected the others, and then told me that my punching was very good. It was time to start kicking.
He tried to show me what to do, but I didn't do it very well. He then stomped on the ground and indicated that that was the idea of this particular kick. I had a lot of trouble getting my leg high enough, but he said it was ok. After I had practiced in front of the mirror for a while, the teacher came back and said I wasn't doing it right. He took me aside and told me to punch him. I did the standard punch, and he gently kicked me. Basically, this kick allows you to lean back just out of punching range and hit your opponent while his arms aren't guarding his stomach. Depending on how high you can get your leg and how well you aim, you could attack your opponent's chest, stomach or groin. He then held up a boxing glove and had me kick it. Once I had that right, I spent the rest of the class marching back and forth across the mat doing the kick.
After a short but exhausting while of marching and kicking, I noticed two more mirrors on either end of the mat where I was marching. I decided that the best way for me to practice getting my leg high enough (remember, I'm not exactly flexible) would be to try to stomp the reflection of my head. I think it helped a lot, and the teacher seemed pleased with my progress.
I slept fairly well last night and had only a little soreness this morning. This afternoon, however, I noticed that it's become increasingly difficult to climb the stairs. My legs don't really hurt, but they're a bit mutinous when it comes to moving right now. Tomorrow should be really interesting.
Posted by at March 18, 2004 3:24 PM