Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting!
Wow! Last night was my first ever Kung Fu class! :)
I've never taken anything even remotely resembling a martial art in my life. Heck, I've never even been in a fight! (Always talked the other guy down, one way or another.) My main goal in seeking this out was not to kick people's asses, but to get exercise and discipline. Sure, being able to defend myself and my loved ones if it ever came to that wouldn't hurt either, but it's not like I live in a bad neighbourhood or something.
Anyway, I enrolled in the Canadian National School of Wushu Kung Fu last Thu after watching a class and being quite impressed. I am not taking Wushu (which is more performance-like). I enrolled in Wing Shun, which places more emphasis on health and economical motion. The Sifu has 36 years of experience in the martial arts and is a mere ten years older than me. He is a regular guy too, which I liked about him.
I was pretty excited last night. My wife thought I looked cute in my kung fu outfit *groan*. I had to stop by my parents' place on my way so my mom got a good chuckle and my dad bowed to me. :) (They didn't know I was taking kung fu.)
When I arrived, I had a chance to chat with a couple of the black belts who were closer to my age than the teenage boys I'd seen at Thu's class. They had some good advice for me, like don't try to do too much too fast, don't expect to be as flexible as the teens, just do what you can, that sort of stuff. Warm-up was conducted by a black belt who was a young Indian girl. There were only a few stretches I couldn't perform due to my shoulders and arms being bigger than the wiry boys around me. I remember thinking "if I wanted to be twisted into a pretzel by a sweet little Indian thing, I could've stayed home with my wife!" LOL! But overall, I was happy with my ability to keep up with the younger men.
In fact, once we get started, I found it was a really good workout, trying to duplicate all the forms. I was sweating pretty heavily after an hour (which was awesome!) and even tho I felt like I was making a lot of mistakes, one of the boys I was working out with asked if I had previous martial arts experience and was surprised that I didn't because for a first class ever I was doing pretty good. That made me feel a bit better.
Sifu gave me some moves to practice at home, which I intend to do. I need to get my body used to certain forms and positions, which currently don't come naturally to me.
There was no sparring today, which is fine by me. I didn't really join to fight people so much as to work out. Later on, I'll go to sparring sessions, once I get the moves down.
When I got home, my wife was pleased to hear how much I enjoyed myself and asked me a lot about what we did. I showed her my homework forms. She was asking about classes for kids, which they DO have (it's so cute to see these kids practicing, they're obviously having SUCH a great time).
My dreams last night were just filled with images of the class and the students and Sifu, not necessarily doing kung fu, just hanging out and stuff. Normally, after a night of heavy REM, I wake up all exhausted but not this morning. Obviously, it was not an anxiety dream, just extra energy in the creative part of my brain.
Anyway, I look forward to more classes and getting better, both in general fitness and in knowing the moves!
I've never taken anything even remotely resembling a martial art in my life. Heck, I've never even been in a fight! (Always talked the other guy down, one way or another.) My main goal in seeking this out was not to kick people's asses, but to get exercise and discipline. Sure, being able to defend myself and my loved ones if it ever came to that wouldn't hurt either, but it's not like I live in a bad neighbourhood or something.
Anyway, I enrolled in the Canadian National School of Wushu Kung Fu last Thu after watching a class and being quite impressed. I am not taking Wushu (which is more performance-like). I enrolled in Wing Shun, which places more emphasis on health and economical motion. The Sifu has 36 years of experience in the martial arts and is a mere ten years older than me. He is a regular guy too, which I liked about him.
I was pretty excited last night. My wife thought I looked cute in my kung fu outfit *groan*. I had to stop by my parents' place on my way so my mom got a good chuckle and my dad bowed to me. :) (They didn't know I was taking kung fu.)
When I arrived, I had a chance to chat with a couple of the black belts who were closer to my age than the teenage boys I'd seen at Thu's class. They had some good advice for me, like don't try to do too much too fast, don't expect to be as flexible as the teens, just do what you can, that sort of stuff. Warm-up was conducted by a black belt who was a young Indian girl. There were only a few stretches I couldn't perform due to my shoulders and arms being bigger than the wiry boys around me. I remember thinking "if I wanted to be twisted into a pretzel by a sweet little Indian thing, I could've stayed home with my wife!" LOL! But overall, I was happy with my ability to keep up with the younger men.
In fact, once we get started, I found it was a really good workout, trying to duplicate all the forms. I was sweating pretty heavily after an hour (which was awesome!) and even tho I felt like I was making a lot of mistakes, one of the boys I was working out with asked if I had previous martial arts experience and was surprised that I didn't because for a first class ever I was doing pretty good. That made me feel a bit better.
Sifu gave me some moves to practice at home, which I intend to do. I need to get my body used to certain forms and positions, which currently don't come naturally to me.
There was no sparring today, which is fine by me. I didn't really join to fight people so much as to work out. Later on, I'll go to sparring sessions, once I get the moves down.
When I got home, my wife was pleased to hear how much I enjoyed myself and asked me a lot about what we did. I showed her my homework forms. She was asking about classes for kids, which they DO have (it's so cute to see these kids practicing, they're obviously having SUCH a great time).
My dreams last night were just filled with images of the class and the students and Sifu, not necessarily doing kung fu, just hanging out and stuff. Normally, after a night of heavy REM, I wake up all exhausted but not this morning. Obviously, it was not an anxiety dream, just extra energy in the creative part of my brain.
Anyway, I look forward to more classes and getting better, both in general fitness and in knowing the moves!