6th Day of Training...zui quan.
Got up at 510AM and headed down for morning practice. I was the only one today. So Wrong Sifu and I went out running then practice that form he showed me yesterday and he showed me more of it. Its very tough, there are lots of minor things.
After that, I grabbed some breakfast. Yesterday 130 Russians showed up for a 1 month Meditation class. Those guys got use of our training room so we had to go to the bigger, and I think much better training hall. Taller ceilings, more space, and a practice ring for people doing Xanda. As we were practicing, there were groups of students, maybe from the Tajou team sparring/competing/scrimaging with each other. Josh was studying it for his bout tomorrow. We did our normal kicking exercises and wushu steps and what not, then on to practice on our own what we have been studying.
After I did some things on my own, my teacher and I got some mats off the stack and laid 4 down. He wanted to teach me some basics of Zui Quan, Drunken Fist. Killer. Man, this stuff is super hard. He makes it look so easy. He is just flopping on the ground and stumbling over everywhere but its so complicated. The first move that he showed me was to do a somersault on the mat then use that momentum to jump up in the air horizontally and kick your legs out like a horse and do a punch then you must land by doing a variation of the worm and you have to make it look like you just fell indiscriminately on the ground. Then you try to get up a couple times. Its funky. And trying to do that landing is hard, I dont know how many times i did belly smackers. But I got it in the end of it, but I need to try it out some more in the later practice.
After doing those moves and trying other things I was really tired and we still had more time. I couldnt do the mat work anymore so I went off to do other things I had learned.
Something I have learned about this school in the past couple days, at least for the foreigners...
The teaching here is really good. Thats not a problem, but unlike how they treat the chinese, the teachers here don't make the foreigners practice. So its mostly up to you. You get out what you put in. I have seen it for a couple daze, but most of the foreigners goof around and sit around and chat. I find it a little disgusting. But the chinese teachers can't make them do anything. THe thought its, they already paid their exorbanant amount of money just so they could say they studied here so don't bother making them do anything. The teachers will teach you though whatever you want. Its nice. The relaxed atmosphere makes it a really kool place but also breeds laziness. The Zhengzhou Prison I was in early, it was schedual and it was set up for certain times, the only thing was, not as much practice and lack of regard for the skill level of students. I found out today that Taguo is having another talent show, its the same thing as the other night just for a different group of students, compeletly different audience. So I said I would do it and my teacher got excited.
I had some lunch and then hit up the computer again. Then I laid in bed listening to music and resting while watching The Fellowship of the Ring in Chinese. I wasn't listening to the movie, just watching it and filling in the words. Then we headed to practice.
And what a hard practice it was. My arms were like jello from doing zui quan in the morning that I couldnt even do 3 pushups. I was hella tired. My body wasn't as sore as it has been but it was tired and I could barely finish some of the things that we were training in. Hopefully I will be better on Monday. I ended the afternoon practice with 25 repititions of Shaolin Staff Form #1. We were let out about 5pm. Turns out that Saturday afternoon is an optional class. Go figure.
Then I took a nice long hot shower. I was happy to discover that now we have hot water all day long. Not because I asked for it, but because a group of 130 Russians have descended upon this school and its rooms to have a meditation retreat. They are using the training room we have been using. You know how much they paid just for the retreat here at Tagou? $2200 US. Thats right. Airfare not included. They paid that much money to sit on their ass and close their eyes and breathe. What a rip. Speaking of which, I would love to sneak into one of those sessions and just let rip an enormously loud gaseous full o' stench f-bomb. That would totally rule.
Now, I think thats why we had hot water all day today. Hopefully it will be on for the next month. I wont mention it to the office so they shut it off.
I then had some dinner and as I was coming back from being inside, I ran into a bunch of the group and they were going to a resturant to send off Jean Luc. Kicking. At first I said no since I already ate, but then Jean Luc came to get Jola and Rom and I was like, yeah, I will go. I grabbed some stuff to go meet them outside, and they were gone. Disappeared, vanished. I couldn't find them.
Oh well. I had wanted to go into Dengfeng anyway to get some pictures developed. So I went to hail a bus. The first bus guy told me to go over to a different area. Then, some chinese guy stole a foreign woman's silver plastic hair clip as she dropped it off the bus thru the open door. She was like, wait, i need my hair clip, and the chinese guy just jumped down and picked it up and she was like "oh thank you, sir" and then he started running away and she was like, "WTF are you doing! No come back! Whats he doing!" Simply amazing. Did this guy think this thing was worth anything? I mean, come on!
I grabbed a bus into Dengfeng. It was a kool ride. I saw alot of the scenery but I had to crank my head to do it. As we were going by schools I asked the guy next to me what the names were. There was a couple that I plan to visit tomorrow. Just to get a sense of what else is out there.
I got dropped off by the bus station and walked down the street a couple blocks until I came across a Kodak Express next to the Bank of China. Kool. I asked about transfering the pictures to CD via Mountain as an interpretter and it was a measley 10RMB. Cheapest I have found it for. She said I could get them tomorrow. I was like. What about now, she was like ok, at 8pm...it was 710 and I wanted to catch the last bus back before 8pm. SO Iwas like, I will come back tomorrow anyway so I left the cards there.
I went to go get the bus well before 8pm like the Lonely Planet Guide of China says, but there were no buses and the station was closing. Great. So I snagged a box taxi and got back to Tagou for 15rmb. Usually it costs 20RMB apparently. The scenery on the way back was far superior. I was able to have more of a view thru the openness of the box taxi. The mountains and river were beautiful.
I got back and bought some things and sent my laundry to get clean. No I am typing this up and I will go to bed. They just turned the lights out in the office. Oh, check this out...i may have a new opportunity when I get home....
http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,12589,1542984,00.html
US military sends scientists to film school
Jamie Wilson in Washington
Friday August 5, 2005
The Guardian
He will have the body of Arnold Schwarzenegger and the brain of Stephen Hawking. Step forward the Pentagon's perfect Hollywood hero, possibly coming soon to a screen near you.
According to the New York Times, the US military is paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to send scientists on a screenwriting course in Los Angeles, with the aim of producing movies and television shows that portray scientists in a flattering light.