Just before the holidays, I had expanded my martial arts routine by adding in some basic Choy Li Fut punching and kicking classes as a way of improving my conditioning and strength. When the new year arrived, our school provided an opportunity to take that even further.
The school put on a "Battle Of The Bulge" contest for the entire month of January. The goal was to see how many group classes you could attend during the month. The adults and kids with the highest totals at the end of the month would receive a prize of four additional private lessons with their instructor, and a free one month membership for a friend or family member.
So, off we went. I increased my participation from 4-5 classes per week to 9 or 10, depending on how late I wanted to stay on Saturdays. At the end of each day's classes, we would list our daily total on a sheet posted on the bulletin board (an interesting lesson for some of the younger kids in using tally marks).
Reflecting on it now, this was a really fun and challenging experience; I also think it was something of a bonding experience for a lot of people who participated. Some of the things I remember-
- Learning the Horse Stance and some of the basic Choy Li Fut footwork and stances, like the Hard Bow and Cat Stance. Choy Li Fut footwork is different than our Tai Chi style, so this was a challenge, especially learning to pivot on the ball of my foot rather than the heel. I'm still not very good at that, but I do see a lot of conditioning and balance benefits to my Tai Chi from some of this footwork, so I'm interested in practicing it more for that.
- Meeting more of the students at school, both new students and long-time students who participated in the challenge. Previously I had only been in the Tai Chi and Qi Gong classes, so I didn't know many people outside of those groups.
- Learning to make noise when delivering a kick or a strike-quite different from our silent Tai Chi practice.
- Participating in classes led by different instructors-since I was participating in more classes, I think I eventually attended a class led by each one of the instructors. It was interesting to experience their different personalities and teaching styles. I connected more with some than with others, but learned from all of them and I'm very grateful for that.
- Having a moment of panic one night when Mr. Marcos told us to move across the mat while performing 7 different kicks or strikes. When my turn came up I thought, "Wait-do I even know 7 things?"
- Dashing out to the car at the end of the night; it was pretty cold in January and I was always soaking wet after the vigorous workout.
- Reverting to a Tai Chi move one Saturday during a drill where you were surrounded by six other students, each holding a kicking bag. The object was to strike in all directions, either with hands or feet, as the bags touched you. I did pretty well to begin with, using fists, elbow and knee strikes, as well as a rear kick. Then two of the little ones closed in on me from about my 9-12 o'clock. I instictively moved forward into a Brush Knee and swept them aside with my arm. I can still hear them scolding me, "Mr. Simons! You're supposed to kick!"
I diligently kept track of the classes I participated in, both on the score sheets at school and in my day planner. I enjoy looking back occasionally and remembering the whole experience.
Toward the end of the month I ran out of gas when I came down with the bug that was going around during the winter. I missed a couple of days, and didn't make it back until the first Saturday in February. I was really pleasantly surprised to find out I had won a prize; by my tally I was in about 6th or 7th place. I must have made it to more classes than I thought.
All in all it was a great time-I kicked off my New Year's weight loss by losing 5 1/2 pounds over the course of the month, not to mention noticing some of my clothes fitting differently (it's not all about the scale, thankfully). I was encouraged and allowed to push myself-but at my own pace. I felt like I developed some strength and balance that I didn't have before, and have continued to build on that in the months since January. I feel more a part of the school than I did before, and that means a lot.
I can't wait to do it again next January.
