A True Fact

The “revolution” is only a week old and it already has unintended casualties.  My knees buckled getting out of bed this morning.  That hasn’t happened for a few months, since I stopped putting constant pressure on them doing tai chi.  So I have to conclude that the pressure from the newly-acquired Xing Yi and Pa Chi practice are taking their toll.  It could also be that the effects of frigid cold weather on arthritis has put a little more wobble into these less-than-sturdy joints.  It’s almost enough to send me to a vintage store for some leg warmers.  Almost.

I could just take a break from the extra-curriculars for a while and keep the focus on staff. (Funny how I don’t even consider that staff practice might be a problem.)  But it’s difficult for me to take a rest from something that’s giving me a challenge.  I tend to want to practice it until the problem’s corrected and I’m getting the move right.  That’s exactly what I was doing Saturday after advanced class, practicing a new part of Pa Chi that Siheng Allen taught me – and doing so badly at it that he declined to show me the next move.  Ouch!

I couldn’t keep my right arm straight as I swung it; I couldn’t keep my body on a forty-five degree angle after the step back; I kept leaning over too far when I stepped together and bent my knees; and the timing of all these moves was slower than it was supposed to be.  How could it not be with all those mistakes?

I’ve been told by different black sashes that the reason our school’s founder yanked Pa Chi from the curriculum is because no one ever did it correctly.  I’m beginning to understand why.  But Siheng Allen decided to pull it out of the dustbin and teach it to black sashes in his Monday night class, and my ego had to jump on the bandwagon.

If I mind my own business, my knees will be happier.  A true fact but a pointless one, when new kung fu knowledge is there for the taking.

Now… back to straightening that right arm on the swing.