Hands... Registered lethal weapons!!
So, training over the weekend was awesome. No. It was better than that. The two instructors I went to Boise to visit (Lonny & Rachel) were some of the coolest people I have ever met. They were warm and welcoming (they were sad I couldn't stay the night to train more). Their technique was fantastic and they were very good teachers. Dang I have missed training with the Tang Shou Tao (or Tang Shou Dao for the pinyin-minded). There was no mystical mumbo-jumbo crap that you seem to find in most internal martial arts. There was no McDojoism (or, I suppose McKwoonism in this case). NATSTA believes in combat conditioning and application. No wasted movements. It was awesome. Lonny & Rachel have also studied some of the more interesting aspects of the traditional chinese medicine that NATSTA teaches: specifically tui.na and bone-setting. Needless to say I am pretty excited about learning both of these things.
At my request, we spent a great deal of time going over some of the basic drills that teach the foundational principles of movement in xingyi. Then we moved on to going over some of the detail of the five element fists (pi, zuan, beng, pao, heng). To finish off they started teaching me a xingyi cane form. Hehehe. That was pretty awesome. They are also familiar with some of the more esoteric chinese weapons (deer antler knives and rooster daggers) and we will be spending time with those too. There is so much to learn, and four hours was simply not long enough. So, next time I will be planning on an entire day of happy training! Woohoo!
For those who enjoy Settlers of Catan, last night I played the Knights & Cities expansion. Wow. That expansion makes the game even cooler (and more addictive...). I highly recommend it!
At my request, we spent a great deal of time going over some of the basic drills that teach the foundational principles of movement in xingyi. Then we moved on to going over some of the detail of the five element fists (pi, zuan, beng, pao, heng). To finish off they started teaching me a xingyi cane form. Hehehe. That was pretty awesome. They are also familiar with some of the more esoteric chinese weapons (deer antler knives and rooster daggers) and we will be spending time with those too. There is so much to learn, and four hours was simply not long enough. So, next time I will be planning on an entire day of happy training! Woohoo!
For those who enjoy Settlers of Catan, last night I played the Knights & Cities expansion. Wow. That expansion makes the game even cooler (and more addictive...). I highly recommend it!