YMAA California Retreat Center Journal

2011-09-23T08:48:00.000-07:00

Right. So... a little behind on the blog stuff. Anyways, summer vacation from the mountain was well.. not really a break. I ended up keeping myself busy by teaching, doing demos, and training.

I was given the chance to teach some workshops at YMAA Andover. Workshop topics included tumbling, take downs, and Taijiquan applications. I felt like these workshops were pretty good for me, in terms of expanding my knowledge on the topics. When asked if I could teach them, I was hesitant because I didn't feel that I had enough knowledge to be able to construct a proper class. However, once classes started, I found it easier than I had expected it to be.

I was also able to teach a few of the regular classes in Andover. It was interesting seeing the progression of some of the students since the last time I had been back. Some of them had progressed by developing more power, speed, and spirit. However, what they still lacked was a strong sense of root as well as an idea of sense of opponent. Looking back at old training videos of myself, I realized that those were what I had lacked most as well. I began thinking about why this was and came to the conclusion that maybe we did not do enough fundamental training or application-geared technique training.

Upon coming to this conclusion, I began to wonder how many students actually practiced at home. I decided to ask some members of the demonstration team and to my surprise, none of them really did. I remembered when I was their age, I would practice with my friends in the backyard, in the basement, or even in the street. We were constantly at each others houses training. Of course we were in high school and didn't really have a clear vision of how things were supposed to be, so maybe all that practice wasn't so good? Building bad habits, etc? But at least we were motivated, right? Is that what these students lack? Motivation? If so, how are their instructors supposed to teach them? I mean, granted they are busy with school and sports and other activities, I would have expected a lot more progress to be shown from them in the past three years. Or maybe it was our fault as instructors. We did not emphasize the basics enough with them. All we did was teach, teach teach. Not enough practicing. Maybe they developed the habit of always wanting to learn and never wanting to train?

In addition to finding out that they did not practice much at home, I was disappointed to see how some of them acted in class. When they were told to practice a sequence, they would spend at least 3/4 of the time standing around watching other students or even chatting with one another.

By doing this, they are not improving much. They are supposed to be. They are the demonstration team. They are supposed to represent the best of Andover, not only in technique, but in behavior as well. I feel that besides a select few, many of them do not hold these qualities. I feel that there are some kids in the less advanced classes that although may not have a natural talent, continue to try their best, and will flourish over time.

It seems that the demonstration team's level of skill has decreased significantly over the past 10 years. The team now cannot compare to the group before them, who could not compare to my generation, who could not compare to the generation before us. This makes me think about Dr. Yang's purpose for creating the Retreat Center: To preserve Chinese martial arts and culture. Even in a short span of 10 years in a single school in Andover, the skill is going down quickly. Is this going on all over the world? Yes. However, we are also fortunate to have those who are maintaining the level and are also beginning to bring the martial skill level up as well. One example is Nicholas Yang, president of YMAA International.

Over the past three years especially, Nicholas has improved his skill considerably. Sure, he teaches and trains martial arts for a living, but there is no way he could have improved so much without putting a significant amount of time and effort into his training. I feel that the amount he has improved is comparable with our own improvement. The difference is, we train 8-9 hours a day. How much time does he have to commit? He has classes to teach, a school to run, a business building to attend to, a life to live. Although we do have people like Nicholas Yang, what is the ratio of those maintaining or improving the level of the arts compared to those who are not? I would say, very small.

How do we raise the quality of the martial arts? Maybe the first step is to come to the realization that martial arts are not only for fighting, but also for mental and spiritual cultivation as well. Maybe it's time to stop promoting the physically violent sides, and focus more on the peaceful and philosophical sides as well. Yes, martial arts can be used for combat and self-defense. However, martial arts can also be used to increase stamina, balance, body awareness, and health. They can used to develop awareness, confidence, and discipline.

During the summer I was also asked the question of, "do you really think it takes 10 years to pass the art down?" This was followed with, "the master is obviously holding back the secret."

For the first part: No. I do not think it takes 10 years to pass the knowledge down. I think it takes longer. In fact, I think it could take a lifetime. Something I am taught today could mean something completely different to me in the next 5, 10, 15, etc years. Which meaning did my teacher intend me to learn? In that sense, I will continuously deepen my knowledge, causing the art to be further passed down from my teacher to myself.

For the second part: Yes. The master is obviously holding something back. But why? Because I am not ready to learn it. How do you expect somebody to run before they can crawl? There are steps to learning, beginning with the foundation. A strong foundation provides a strong structure. In my case, the basic foundation is physical body conditioning and mental self-discipline. If my body cannot support the eventual training, I will break, and I will fail. If my mind cannot overcome myself, I will break, and I will fail.

To learn a sequence is easy. It gets harder as higher levels are applied to it. Add lower stances. Add deeper root. Add more power. Add more speed. Add more spirit. Add a good sense of opponent. Begin to learn basic techniques. Striking. Kicking. Chin Na. Wrestling. Begin to think of additional techniques. Begin trying these techniques in sparring. Be able to use these techniques in sparring. Understand these techniques. Understand the sequence. Teach the sequence. Have questions asked to you about the sequence. Ponder. Understand the sequence more. Ponder more. Have a complete understanding of this sequence. How long does that take? Potentially, forever. There is always something to ponder. There is always more to add to your understanding. Therefore, it is never complete. So, is the art ever really completely passed down? No. I guess not. Parts of it are passed from generation to generation and they evolve from different people's thinking, but the art is never ever fully passed down. I guess we can only try to preserve what we can.

Oh right. A little off topic. Um... summer. Teaching, demonstrations, and training :P

2011-09-04T22:08:00.000-07:00

YMAA at ICMAC Boston, MA on July 30, 2011

After party at YMAA Boston :)

Nicholas Yang performing double saber

The International Chinese Martial ArtsChampionship (ICMAC), a worldwide circuit, was held in Boston, MA for the first time this summer. Many schools attended as nearly 400 competitors appeared to represent their New England schools. Many students from Boston, Andover, and Amesbury were in attendance and represented YMAA as both competitors and supporters.

Everyone from YMAA gave great performances, especially YMAA International's president, Nicholas Yang. With his brother and many of his students there to cheer him on, he competed in 12 categories, placing in all of them, and ended up taking home two grand champion titles by the closing of the event.

YMAA Andover also sent two students to the competition, gaining a total of three placements. Two 1st's and a 2nd. Congratulations to both of you for being so successful in your first tournament :)

Here are placements from the adults that attended:

Nicholas Yang (YMAA Boston)
- 1st, Southern Short Hand, Advanced Men (18+)
- 1st, Long Weapons, Advanced Men (18+)
- 1st, Short Weapons, Advanced Men (18+)
- 3rd, Open Weapons, Advanced Men (18+)
- 2nd, Yang Style Taijiquan, Advanced Men (18+)
- 2nd, Other Style Taijiquan, Advanced Men (18+)
- 1st, Taiji Sword, Advanced Men (18+)
- 2nd, Taiji Other Weapons, Advanced Men (18+)
- 1st, Xing Yi, Hand Forms, Advanced Men (18+)
- 2nd, Bagua, Hand Forms, Advanced Men (18+)
- 2nd Bagua, Weapons, Advanced Men (18+)
- 1st Liu He Ba Fa, Hand Forms, Advanced Men (18+)

Ben Warner (YMAA Boston)
- 2nd, Northern Long Fist, Advanced Men (18+)

Scott Tarbell (YMAA Amesbury)
- 2nd, Taiji Sword, Advanced Men (18+)
- 1st, Taiji Others Weapons, Advanced Men (18+)

Jonathan Chang (YMAA Retreat Center)
- 1st, Yang Style Taijiquan, Advanced Men (18+)
- 1st, Northern Long Fist, Advanced Men (18+)

Ben Warner and I receiving awards

Yes, I also competed in Boston this year... and yes, I decided to only compete in two categories this time. It was supposed to be my vacation! :P Also, my bad-luck streak with tournaments continued at this one. The air conditioning in the gym where the competition was hosted had a small leak and had dripped some water into our Northern Long Fist ring. Needless to say, I slipped and fell on the area, earning me the nickname of "Puddle" ...thanks Nicky :P

Cake!

After the tournament, we headed back to YMAA Boston for a little after party. There was lots of food. Pizza, cake, chips, cake, soft drinks, cake, and some cake. Yum :)

2011-08-15T08:16:00.000-07:00

European Travels 2011:

Master and disciples

The YMAA International Summer Camp in Poland was a lot of fun. Every day, we would wake up (or try to wake up) to make 6:30 meditation. This consisted of a lecture by Dr. Yang, followed by an actual meditation session before having breakfast. The hardest part of training at the summer camp I felt was right after breakfast. We had an hour break for food, which was immediately followed by three hours training. For me, morning training was often the hardest because it was usually the Shaolin class which lead by Nicky. We would have to practice lots of physical exercises, including push ups, sit ups, jumping, kicking, etc. Doing all of this on a full stomach did not feel very good :P

There were many different topics that were taught at the summer camp and were taught in pairs. You could decide to take one of two for each session. This year we had regular Shaolin classes, Qigong lectures, White Crane, Taiji Sword, Shaolin Sword, and Taijiquan Applications. My job was to help out with the sword and Shaolin classes.

Dr. Yang teaching applications to San Cai Jian

Other than Shaolin training, I felt that waking up was one of the hardest things to do throughout the week. We were already required to go to meditation/lecture at 6:30am. It didn't help to be jet lagged. It also didn't help that we were staying up until 2am or so every night playing Jungle Speed (which if I may add is one of the most awesome games I've ever played). Yup. Looking back at it, training 6 hours a day for a week while sleep deprived probably wasn't the best decision to be made.. but it was hard to keep track of time. Once we started playing Jungle Speed, time disappeared :P Other than Jungle Speed, other games were brought up and played at the camp. The Irish kids brought "Ninja" while Pedro taught everyone to play "Corridor of Death", a humorous (and pretty violent?) Portuguese kid's game.

About half way through the week, we had a sightseeing day. This day was a lot of fun. We spent about 6 hours in total in a bus and also a couple hours in a raft in freezing cold water.. with rain! It was pretty miserable at the beginning of our rafting trip, as the water was extremely cold, the rain was making us wet, and the wind around us was pretty strong. It was hard to enjoy ourselves. However, as we began to move, we quickly warmed up and soon forgot our troubles. Groups began using paddles to splash at each other and smiles were shown all over. I have to admit, to get splashed was pretty bad.. the water was so cold and what parts of our clothes that had remained dry were soaked after the first attack. Our raft had Dr. Yang, Nicky, James, Pedro, Victor, Santi, and myself. Looking back, it may have been an unwise decision putting the majority of the camp instructors into the same raft :P

Celebrating Dr. Yang's 65th birthday and YMAA Poland's 25th Anniversary

At the end of the camp, we had a demo to showcase some talents from each of the different countries that attended. Included were performers from France, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, and the USA. I wore my yellow shoes. Woo :) At the end of the demo, there were two cakes presented. One for Dr. Yang's 65th birthday celebration and one for YMAA Poland's 25th anniversary.

After the camp, we spent a few days in Krakow where we were shown bits and pieces of the city. We were lucky to have been housed by Wiktor, whom we met at camp. We spent our time walking around and getting a feel for the city life there. We spent our last afternoon visiting Robert's property right outside of the city. He barbecued some delicious food before sending us off to the airport. It was then off to Switzerland to visit Jáchym. Yay!

We didn't arrive at Zurich until almost 11pm, and finally settled down at Jáchym's just past midnight. The next day's weather was less than satisfactory. It rained :( Jáchym decided to take us to the local science museum in order to stay indoors. It was crowded. They had a lot of great displays. I think my favorite was one where you could control the amount of water flowing into the display by pressing buttons. I'm not sure if it was the lack of sleep from the week before or if I'm just easily amused. I must have spent at least 10 minutes there just pressing the three buttons over and over. Hm...

Cheese fondue!

When we returned to Jáchym's home, we were happy to find out that his mother had prepared some cheese fondue for us. Apparently it's not usually eaten in the summer time because of the heat, but we were lucky because the rain had cooled the temperature down. After eating massive amounts of cheese covered bread pieces, Santi and I were ready to pass out. Jáchym however, was ready to train!

Santi after cheese fondue...

The next day was spent in Zurich. We walked around the city and were shown the sites. It was interesting listening to Swiss-German after a week of Polish. We ended up walking up to an area that overviewed the city and found some people playing chess with giant chess pieces on a massive chessboard. It was fun to watch as they moved their pieces around. And yes, it was just as extreme as it was in Harry Potter.

Jáchym after cheese fondue!

We decided not to sleep that night. Jáchym took us to his friend's apartment and the three of us ended up going out with a group of his friends into the city again. Santi and I stumbled into the airport, checked in, got onto the plane, passed out, and flew back to the States.

I had a great time in Europe. Although it probably wasn't the best for my sleep schedule, I enjoyed myself a lot more this time than last. I felt more relaxed this time because I wasn't constantly moving around from country to country. I didn't have to unpack and pack every few days and could actually take time to do things. I enjoyed meeting all the people I did in both Poland and in Switzerland.

2011-06-24T21:36:00.000-07:00


Javi and Pat striking the posts

Here's the continuation of yesterday's post.

Our second day's afternoon testing began with post striking. We had built a small area by digging holes into the ground and putting some cut down trees in them to make posts. Each post was wrapped with some cloth, some bubble wrap, some foam, and was eventually secured with duct tape. This way it would start soft and get harder the more we punched it, conditioning our hands, arms, legs, and feet. The posts were put together in three rows of three, forming a small square of nine posts. The idea was that we could use them to train and get used to three different distances. Two posts directly next to each other would be for short-ranged combat, two diagonal from each other would be for mid-ranged combat, and two nearly opposite from each other would be for long-ranged combat. Our test was to continuously strike at these posts for 5 minutes, using punches, filing, elbows, kicking, knees, etc, while keeping good root, good power, and good body structure... as usual :P


Santi punching bags

After post strike was back punching for 6 minutes. This was pretty much the same as post striking, except now we had more targets, and they would swing back at us. This required us to be more alert and aware of our surroundings.

When we finished with the striking exercises, we moved onto staff fundamentals. This started with solo practice in which we had to mix all the basics we knew together for 3 minutes. Afterward, we had to do the same thing again for 90 seconds, but with blocks on the ground, simulating opponents. Once this was finished, we had 90 more seconds of performing staff in the bags. We had to avoid getting our staff caught while being able to strike with good power. This was trained to raise awareness that your weapon can be caught by surrounding obstacles and how to try to avoid this problem.


Jachym testing staff basics


Pat using TJQ techniques on Javi

Staying in the outdoor gym, we decided to test Taijiquan applications next. We went up one by one and had to perform four techniques for any posture Dr. Yang gave us. Each posture required one of each of the four fighting categories: striking, kicking, chin na, and shuai jiao. I was partnered with Jachym. He had to perform Embrace the Tiger and Return to the Mountain on me and in return I did Play the Guitar on him.


Me log running

After Taijiquan applications, we moved outside to the log running course. Our test for this was similar to the previous day's stump running test. We had to run from one side to the other as fast as we could four times.


Javi on the trampoline

Following log running was trampoline. We had bought our trampoline to help with our tumbling practice, to teach us how to be more comfortable with aerial maneuvers. Since then we've been learning how to flip around and try new tricks. Most of us have gotten front tucks and a few have gotten back tucks. We've also tried flipping sideways and off axis. The trampoline helped us a lot in being more aware of our bodies and our surroundings while in the air.

As our day came to an end, we only have two more things to test: candle punching and reaction. For candle punching, we had to stand so that our hands were about half a foot away from the candles. We had to perform three strikes of our choice and had three tries for each strike. I found it a little weird because I usually train in horse stance. This time, we had to test by shifting into mountain climbing stance (or forward stance). I wasn't used to the shifting and extra waist turning and was thrown off a bit. I guess I'll have to start practicing this way from now on.


Dr. Yang setting up some candles


Frank about to spar


Jachym and Frank sparring

Our final exercise to test was reaction training. We had to randomly draw for our partners and had three two minute rounds each person. I was paired with Pat first, Frank second, and Javi last. For my round with Javi, it was mostly a stand still. Both of us were more defensive as we were pretty used to each other's movements already. He knew what kinds of attacks I liked going for, and I knew which ones he liked. There weren't many strikes thrown, but both of us were hit once each. It was interesting because with each other, by judging the distance and body language, we would already know which attack would be coming. The two minutes would passed by quickly each time and before we knew it, our testing was over. Year three complete!

And to today's schedule... cleaning. Lots of cleaning. We're getting ready for summer seminars. Tomorrow? Same thing :P Hopefully we'll be able to rest soon :)

2011-06-23T21:04:00.000-07:00


Jachym testing hard WC qigong

Our second day of testing started right after meditation at 7am.

We began with hard White Crane qigong. We had to use the basic patterns that we learned and put them together for two minutes. This wasn't too bad because we were able to use the few patterns we knew and change angles to target different muscles. Dr. Yang was mainly looking for how creative we could be, the timing of our movements, and how rooted we were for each movement.


Santi and I testing hard WC qigong

After practicing solo, we had to find a partner and use our patterns against them. We would have to try to trap our partner by using these patterns with stepping and angling. This was harder because we usually just practice one pattern at a time for a short period of time. However, today, we had to continuously have pressure for the required two minutes. I was paired with Santi, who can be pretty aggressive when it comes to hard qigong, so I played defense most of the time. Even though it was hard, I enjoyed this exercise. It was challenging and by mixing all the patterns together with a partner, made me think about different uses for each posture.


Santi testing soft WC qigong

When we finished hard White Crane qigong, we took a breakfast break and then moved to soft. Our soft White Crane qigong test was split into three parts. The first was performing solo for 5 minutes with 5 lbs attached to our hands. We had to move around using all the soft White Crane qigong patterns that we were taught. Not only did we have to mix them, but we also had to add stepping, angling, hopping, and jumping. Dr. Yang also expected us to showcase some jing with these patterns. The second part was another 5 minutes. However, this time we wielded short sticks with 1 lb weights taped to the ends of them. We practiced with these sticks because they would help condition our wrists as well as teach us good body structure for future short handed weapons training. The third and final part of our soft White Crane qigong test was to practice with a partner. We were given a choice of using weights or sticks. I paired myself with Jachym. I chose weights, he chose sticks. I had to try to get in while he had to try to keep me out. This was hard because I kept imagining his weapons as blades. Luckily he slowed his movements down for me so I didn't get beat up too badly :P


Jachym and I testing soft WC qigong


Frank and Santi testing Taiji ball

Once we finished with soft White Crane qigong, we didn't get a break. It was straight to Taiji ball qigong. We had to do 3 minutes solo and then 2 minutes with a partner. Solo consisted of mixing all the patterns we knew. Regular circling, rotations, and wrap coiling. We also had to add stepping and angling as usual. Then we had 2 minutes of partner practice. We had to take turns pushing and neutralizing each other, keep good distance, and give each other a little trouble.


Taiji ball qigong with a partner


Javi testing saber basics

Taiji ball qigong was followed by Taiji saber. We started with 5 minutes of mixing all of the fundamentals that we knew together. We had learned many patterns and now we had to make them flow and have each movement make sense.

After our solo testing, we moved to using these basics with a partner. I paired myself with Jachym again and we began to give each other trouble. We hit each other's hands countless times. My knuckles are still a little sore. I guess we should have used gloves :P

When we finished beating each other up, Dr. Yang tested our Taiji saber sequence. We all went at the same time as he sat to the side and watched us carefully.


Javi and Dr. Yang centering

The final test for the morning was our centering test. Dr. Yang took us on one by one to see how much we had improved from the semester before. Personally, I felt an improvement. Although I still have many things to work on and many bad habits to break, I was happy with how things turned out.

Afternoon testing update... tomorrow!

2011-06-22T23:27:00.000-07:00


Frank testing Yi Lu Mai Fu

This afternoon's testing included sequences, kicking, bag kicking, rooting, brick tossing, high logs running, and stump running.

We started at 2:30pm with sequences. We had to test all the sequences we had learned. Long Fist: Lian Bu Quan, Gong Li Quan, and Yi Lu Mai Fu. Javi also decided to test to test Xiao Hu Yan and Beng Bu and I also added San Lu Pao to my list. White Crane: Qi Xing, Shan He, Shuai He, and Qi Mei Gun. I also tried testing Dou Zhan.


Me testing Yi Lu Mai Fu

I don't know if it was more tiring than regular training or not. I think what gets me is the whole "stop and go" routine. It seems to make me more tired than usual because I warm up, cool down, warm up, cool down, etc. Anyways, the way we train sequences is that we are required to practice each a minimum of 1000 times.

Javi testing Qi Mei Gun

The first 300 are done regularly. They are "dead" sequences. At 300, we begin to change angles and also begin to practice with obstacles set up. Usually we place blocks on the floor to simulate where opponents would be. This gives us an opportunity to get used to being able to set up different stepping and angling strategies while using the techniques in the sequences. At 500, we then move into the bags. The bags consist of 10 bags (well, 9 for us right now because one is missing) surrounding us. We have to move around the area and strike/kick the bags while trying to avoiding them as they bounce back towards us. By doing this, we are able to build the awareness of oncoming opponents and raise our alertness in a high risk situation. We do this until we reach 1000 times. By then, the sequence should be "alive".


Pat testing Yi Lu Mai Fu


Santi testing Gong Li Quan

Javi kicking bags

After sequences, which took us nearly two hours, we had a quick watermelon break (Yum.. especially on a hot day) and then moved onto kicking. We began learning basic kicking this semester. So, the goal was to use all of these kicks and mix them together for a minute. Not only did we have to mix our various kicks, we had to do so with good sense of opponent. So, stepping, angling, hopping, and jumping were all included.

Jachym testing rooting

Once we finished regular kicks, we moved onto kicking in the bags. Dr. Yang gave us a minute to demonstrate our kicks inside the bags. We needed good root, good power, good speed, and good sense of opponent... as always :P

Rooting came next. We had to stand on bricks and perform three jing patterns (at least 3 times each). We were given the choice to stand on two or more bricks. Some chose to do two, others decided to try three. Jachym and I have been pushing each other in all of our training. I'm hope that if we keep this up, we will be able to at least stand up onto four bricks by the end of next semester.

Santi cinder block tossing

We decided to take a break from the legs and went to cinder block tossing. We first tested solo and then moved onto testing in a group. We used cinder block tossing for a few reasons. The primary one was to build up better gripping strength. And then there were other benefits: Conditioned hands, stronger lower backs, stronger forearms, etc.

We started cinder block training solo, with two handed tosses. We would toss the block up and try to catch it before it fell. We began with empty blocks and eventually filled them as we got better. After regular tosses, we tried flipping: 180 degrees forwards, backwards, to the left, and to the right, 360 degrees forwards and backwards, high tosses, dropping and catching, with claps, etc. Once we were able to practice well solo, we moved to tossing to a partner or even two or more. This meant that we didn't know what kind of toss would be coming at us. We had to be aware and alert. What was harder was when we began adding more blocks into the group.

Javi on the high logs

After cinder block training, we moved to some of the newer training. Running the high logs, and running the stumps. I think everyone did a great job considering we have only been training these for a few weeks now. I was happy with my time for running the high logs because when we began to train them a month ago, I had to overcome my fear of heights first. Although I don't feel like I have progressed as fast as I would like to, I am glad that there still is progression in this exercise.

Frank running on the stumps

The same thing with stump running. When we first began training it, I was afraid of falling. Don't get me wrong, I still am. It hurts a lot, especially if you knock the stump over and land on the sharp corner. I didn't notice as much as a progression as I would like to have had, but I was happy with my result at the end of the day.

We have one more day of testing tomorrow which will include: hard and soft White Crane qigong, centering, Taiji ball, Taiji saber, log running, bag punching, post striking, trampoline, and reaction training.

Hopefully all goes well :)

2011-06-22T13:22:00.000-07:00

Our first day of testing began at 6am this morning with meditation. Instead of having our regular meditation session however, Dr. Yang took the time to gather us in the gazebo and quiz us on both theories and procedures of what we were working on. I found that there was a lot I knew, and more importantly, a lot I still did not know. I think meditation is one of the subjects at the Center that I am more uncertain with. I hope this will change as time goes on. I do not feel that I am as into it as other things practiced here, not yet at least.

Next came finger speed. This has remained the same for years now. We try to open and close our hands as fast as possible and see how many times the fingers touch the palms in 30 seconds. Both hands are tested and the goal is to have at least 180 touches before the time is up.

After finger speed was punching speed. For those who have been following our progress, we began training this our first year. However, it wasn't really punching at that time.


Jachym testing punching speed, solo

Here has been the progression thus far. We started by sitting and only moving our hands back and forth. We would try four different angles for 30 seconds each: Forward, sideways (with right hand on top), sideways (with left hand on top), and up and down. By doing this, we were able to cover the basic striking patterns: Punching, hooking, and uppercuts. The next step was to add more chest and more waist movement into each pattern. The open and closing movements of the chest combined with the turning of the waist could aid in generating more speed and power. This was the basic foundation for body structure. After we were proficient with these patterns, we began to mix all of the angles together. Because we had begun to mix, we could no longer do sets of 30 seconds. Instead, we combined all the time and punched at the air for 2 minutes. Our focus was still to build our fast twitch muscles, our endurance of slow twitch muscles when the fast burned out, and good body structure. The next step was a big jump. All the previous exercises were done from a sitting position, but now we were required to stand. Still punching for 2 minutes straight, we had to stand up in a comfortable stance, feet about shoulder width apart. Of course now it was more tiring as the entire body was involved, instead of just the upper half. As we got better, we were able to punch at different levels by going deeper into our stances. When this became easier, we had to move out of the gazebo as space was limited. The next step was to begin adding rocking to the exercise. So, we would have to take a stance with one leg in front of the other for a minute, then switch sides for the second minute. This seemed exhausting enough, but we were not finished. The next step was to add stepping. Back and forth and angling. After that, some hopping and jumping if we were comfortable. Finally, we started to begin training with a partner. This gave a better understanding of angling as well as made us more aware of sense of distance. As time went on, we would begin to add more power and slowly increased the time to 3 minutes.

Patrick and Frank testing punching speed with a partner

For today's test, we had 3 minutes of solo punching. Stepping, angling, etc. All included. Then, we had 3 more minutes of the same thing, but with a partner. The main things Dr. Yang was looking for were speed, body structure, root, and sense of opponent. Did we have good speed and were we able to keep it up for the full three minutes? Did we have good body structure for our punches? Did we use our chests and waists to help with power generation? Did we have good root? Were we well planted with each strike or were we floating around? Did we have good sense of opponent? Were we able to react to our envisioned or real opponent's movements with blocks/strikes and stepping/angling that made sense?

Javier testing Taijiquan

After punching speed we were given a break for breakfast and to rest a bit before our Taijiquan tests. Taijiquan testing included performing the second part of the sequence with jing as well as the third part of the sequence at medium speed. After these came the pushing hands tests. Our Peng, Lu, Ji, An routine, Yin-Yang sticking hands, large rollback routine, and finally two rounds of free double pushing hands.

One of the most important mistakes I learned today was my lack of Peng. Although I had it in some parts of my practice, it wasn't present enough. Although I don't particularly enjoy testing, I'm glad that this mistake was pointed out. It will be my main goal to fix it in terms of Taiji pushing hands.

Free double pushing hands was more fun. We had to randomly draw our partners and I was paired with Patrick and Frank. I was paired with Patrick for my first round. It was slow as Patrick had an elbow injury and asked to take it easy. We took our time and focused more on good body structure, on our sense of distance, and on stepping and angling correctly. My second round was with Frank and it was a lot more fun. Frank was very aggressive and really tried to get in a lot. I had to learn to neutralize his power away before he was able to lock me up. Luckily we were able to step and angle or else I feel I would have had a lot more trouble than I did. There was one point where he was able to get a really good seal on me. Both my arms were trapped and I wasn't able to move back fast enough. Had we incorporated striking and kicking, I think I would have been finished right there and then :P

Frank testing Taijiquan

Our final test for the morning was Chinese. My test was different from everyone else as I could already speak Chinese. While the other guys had to come up with sentences and present them to Dr. Yang, I had to translate a section of a book from English to Chinese. I'm glad that it was still a children's book, so the vocabulary wasn't extremely hard. However, I found that there are still many words in English that I am unable to translate.

Well, that's just the morning so far. We'll see how this afternoon goes :)

2011-06-21T22:14:00.000-07:00

I have recently come to the realization that I find myself stressed or frustrated a lot of the time. Upon figuring this out, I have begun to wonder how to relieve myself of these feelings and have also begun to wonder why they have come to me. I guess one way to reduce them is to write in this blog. Maybe I will be able to figure myself out with the help of outside readers. A few reasons I figure for my stress and frustration come from what I feel are missing at the Center at this stage in time while other reasons come from myself.

The first is a sense of responsibility, or a sense of obligation. Maybe in martial morality terms, righteousness? "Righteousness is a way of life. Righteousness means that if there is something you should do, you don’t hesitate to take care of it, and if there is something that you should not do, you don’t get involved with it."

I feel many times when something has to be done, no one is there to step up to do it. The trash bin is full. The floor is dirty. Something spilled in the refrigerator. There are dishes in the sink that need to be washed, and so on. Well, change it, clean it, wipe it, wash them. Is it that hard?

I understand that these problems always come up when you live with somebody else. Maybe my expectations are higher? I don't know. I just wonder how I can convince someone that the right thing to do after they eat something is to wash their dishes and put them onto the dish rack, instead of leaving them in the sink for others to take care of. I also wonder if I can persuade a person into feeling that they should restock the toilet paper after they used the last sheet, instead of leaving an empty roll in the bathroom for the next person. I mean, thanks for the cardboard cylinder. I'll be sure to use it well.

This problem isn't just within the living aspect of our lives though. It also exists within our training and within our work. Within training: If you use a staff, please put it back. If everyone else is laying out or putting away the mats, please help. If everyone else is training hard and trying to catch up with the schedule, shouldn't you be too? Within work: If there is a deadline to meet, shouldn't you work to try to meet it? If the project leader requires something from you, shouldn't you try to get it to them? I mean, I'm sure these problems exist in the outside world as well, so how do people deal with this? It seems difficult for me and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because we live in a small, isolated society, consisting of only seven people? I don't know. Sometimes it's hard to talk to people. When a comment is made to try to better the project, people can take it personally and feel like they have been attacked. How do I deal with this?

Anyways, I guess that with this lack of righteousness, if you want to call it that, has put me into a state of discontent with some of the people here. Sometimes I feel that I cannot trust them, and many times I feel like I am slowly losing respect for them.

What would this Center be without trust and respect? I feel like these two words are extremely important in society, and especially important in a smaller group, such as ours. If I feel like I cannot rely on somebody, have I lost trust in them? Can I ever trust them again? I mean, I can trust that they won't do as they say. But that's different, right?

I do not know what the respect level is here, but I feel like it is decreasing slowly between some people, Dr. Yang included. Some people are constantly taking breaks from training, are constantly making excuses for why they cannot do something, or are constantly letting others take the fall for their mistakes. Many of these things I feel are inexcusable, especially because we have rules written out to follow. However, it seems like some people think they are above others and are allowed to disregard these rules.

So again, this ties into trust. Can I trust these people? No, not really. I'm tired of hearing excuses. I'm tired of people lying to my face. Maybe it's not the best decision, especially in our small group, but I have decided to cut communication with these people, unless it is required and work related. I no longer want to talk to them. I no longer want to listen to them. I no longer want to train with them. If they do not contribute positively to this society (the Center), then I want nothing to do with them. I have lost trust and have lost respect for them. I feel that this is unfortunate. Maybe they will be able to change though, hopefully before it is too late.

Another contribution to my stress/frustration is the amount of work that has been placed upon my shoulders. Many times when something comes up, the first thing I hear is, "Jonathan, can you do this? Jonathan, can you do that?" I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing to be assigned things to do. They are good experiences and I am able to learn a lot. However, it is when jobs pile up and begin to build upon each other, that I begin to feel a little stressed. Maybe I should ask people to help me. The only problem is that a lot of the times it is something that requires certain experiences that others may not have. I guess that's why I recently began to realize that volunteering for jobs might not be the best thing to do. The more I take, the more that pile on, and the more stressed I become. So, I learned to shut up. I learned to not raise my hand. I learned to let others volunteer and try things out. I learned that if someone sees that you are capable of accomplishing something, they will continue to ask you to do similar tasks. I think I learned this the hard way. Projects keep coming my way. I guess I just have to be patient and endure. I have to keep doing these tasks because I don't feel it's right to refuse something that has been assigned to me. I'm sure that a lot of people share a similar experience to this. I wonder if anyone is able to give me some advice from their own life experiences.

Finally, one of the biggest things that has been bothering me is the frustration I have towards myself. I seem to feel this way a lot, especially during training. It comes mostly when I feel I am not performing to the best of my ability or when I am trying my hardest to do something but am still unable to do so. Am I aiming too high? Should I not set such high standards for myself? Anyone who has trained or has worked towards something should know this feeling. What do I do? Be patient I guess. It will all come eventually, right?

Anyways, just some late night blabber. Testing tomorrow. I hope all goes well :)

2011-06-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

"You are very lucky to be given this chance. It's a rare opportunity to be able to live and train with a master for such a long period of time."

Yes, I am aware of this. I agree that I am very lucky indeed. I appreciate this fact every day. However, sometimes, I just need a break. We train just over 60 hours a week and also have additional projects and work to do around the property. I'm pretty sure that this is more than a regular job.

Every day has both physical and mental challenges. Much of the training people see is very external and physical. Things we have been able to accomplish, such as running up mountains with weight, standing and training on bricks, climbing up and across ropes, running on logs and banisters, etc. These can be very tiring and take a toll on our bodies, especially when we do them every day. What people do not see are the more internal and mental challenges.

Sometimes I wake up at 5:30 in the morning and want to go right back to sleep. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has felt this before. Have you? Yeah, you definitely have :P The only problem is, I can't skip "work". I can't call in sick. I have to wake up. I have to train. Am I complaining? No, not really. I'm just trying to offer our perspective from being in this program to the outside world.

One of the hardest challenges in my first year was running up the mountain with weight. Was it physically hard? Yes. We would have to run uphill for 15-20 minutes straight carrying 50lbs on our back. The only thing is, to me, it was more of a mental challenge than a physical one. I had to constantly tell myself to "keep going, don't stop".

I feel like this is a reoccuring thought that keeps popping into my head. No matter what the exercise is, the thought has always been the same. "Keep pushing yourself. Keep doing your best. Try harder". I have recently realized that this may not be the best idea. Sure, I want to push myself to reach my full potential, but how much is too much? I'm trying to figure this out. I'm trying to find a balance. I want to train hard, but want to keep myself sane. In the past, I found that when I put too much effort into my training, I often found myself exhausted and drained. Worn out, unable to perform. Physically and mentally.

I am still trying to find this balance as I have reached this stage again. It seems as though it is whenever I hit a peak, or a plateau, I get a little depressed. I feel like I am not making progress. Luckily this time it isn't mid-semester, but at the end. Today is the last day of training before we test, clean, and begin our summer schedules. I want to take it easy so I don't wear myself out for testing tomorrow. I'm not sure how well that will go though. Jachym and I told each other we would take it easy yesterday. We had trouble doing so. I guess we're so used to pushing each other, it's hard to turn that mode off. I don't want to be lazy, but I feel like I do need time to take it easy. There's a difference between slacking and taking a break, right? One is a total disregard for one's responsibilities while the other is taking time to recover, right? Or something like that, right? I'm sure I'm not the only one with these mental blocks when training, working, or anything. How do people, or you deal with this? Any advice? Thanks :)

2011-06-20T21:57:00.000-07:00

Well, here's a new blog and a new look. I will try to update this more frequently than I did the other. I think I just lost interest over time but will try to fix that. I understand that friends, family, and supporters look forward to reading what we have to say. I just hope that they (or you) understand that we have a busy schedule. We train from 6am to 7pm and have many projects to work on.

To everyone who has been following our program: Thank you for your continuous support. It is appreciated. We have had many ups and downs but have made it to the end of third year now. Only seven more to go!

To any new readers: Please check out our website for more details about the 10 year program.

Anyways, since I didn't update much this past semester, here's a recap of everything that has happened.

We had been working on many projects including our Taijiquan Applications videos as well as a second Kung Fu Body Conditioning DVD. We spent weeks preparing for both of these and ended up shooting both within a few days. I was glad that we did lots of planning this time around. I felt that most of us were well prepared for the sections we had to present.

We expect that our Taijiquan Applications video series will be released within the next year or so. We are just working on creating more to put up at once so that our site isn't as empty. I was put in charge of the next wave of videos and it has been difficult so far. It has been hard because some people have not been turning work in on time or have not been checking their emails frequently to know new deadlines, etc. It is frustrating because when one person delays, the whole project is set behind. I'm glad to have Rii (our media teacher) to help. I just wish she wasn't so busy with her own business so that we could progress faster.

Kung Fu Body Conditioning 2 should be in the editing stage right now. I'm not sure when it will be released. My guess is maybe this winter. We were better practiced this time around for our scripts, so I hope it turns out better than the first DVD.


Home-made saber

In addition to learning more about media production, we have begun a lot of newer training exercises as well. Examples of these include hard White Crane qigong, saber basics, running on high logs, stump running, and new sequences. For hard White Crane qigong, we have begun with a few patterns and are now beginning to practice with a partner and add stepping to each. Saber basics have included both solo and partner fundamental drills. Our neighbor and good friend Justin Bowman offered to help and teach us how build our own sabers.

High logs course

Running on high logs is a continuation of regular log running. We noticed that some trees were cluttered together and decided to cut them down to build ourselves a course. We then carried these trees from where they fell to our course and lifted them up about 10 feet into the air and stabilized them onto standing trees. Now we practice by running on the logs from tree to tree. Well, I guess we're still walking.

Stump running course

As for stump running, we decided to use the larger firewood stumps we had behind the cabin to build this course. The idea is to be able to run from stump to stump without falling. Of course it is hard because many of them are not very stable on the dirt ground. As time goes on, we will be increasing the height of the stumps as well as decreasing the diameter of each one. My only complaint is: Falling hurts.

We have also recently begun learning new sequences. Yi Lu Mai Fu (一路埋伏, First Way of Ambush, Long Fist), Qi Mei Gun (齊眉棍, Equal Eyebrow Staff, White Crane), Qi Mei Dui Gun (齊眉對棍, Staff vs Staff, White Crane), and Taiji Dao (太極刀, Taiji Saber).

We have also been connecting more with our community this past semester. In the last few months, we have done two public demonstrations. The first was for a fund raising event in Garberville, CA for their local theater. It was a great opportunity for us to meet new people and to bring ourselves out into the public more. Our second demonstration was at the Salmon Creek Community School's 40th anniversary event. They invited us because we have been teaching classes up the road at the school every Sunday for about a year now. I enjoy community gatherings. Everybody is always friendly and the food people bring is always great.

We were lucky to be able to perform in public as it prepared us for last month's tournament. We decided to return to San Jose for the 3rd Annual Tiger Claw's Kung Fu Magazine.com Championships. This time Dr. Yang came with us too, giving us a little more attention than last year. Javier, Santi, Patrick, and myself competed in many divisions: Northern barehand, Southern barehand, Taijiquan, long weapons, short weapons, and Taiji pushing hands (restricted step and moving). We were able to meet lots of interesting people, including masters such as GM Liang, Shou-Yu, Master He, Tao, GM Chiu, Chi-Ling, Coach Bryan Fong, and Master Grace Wu. We were given lots of advice from many of their experiences.

I am still trying to decide if I like going to tournaments or not. It's nice to be able to meet new people, to see other styles, and to also compare myself to those who practice similar styles to myself. I just don't like the whole sitting around and waiting to compete thing.

Anyways, we did pretty well. Well, at least the other guys did :P Javier placed 1st in moving pushing hands, 2nd in Taijiquan (int), and 3rd in restricted step pushing hands. Patrick placed 1st in Southern bare hand (int) and 3rd in Taijiquan (int). Santi placed 1st in Northern bare hand (int), 1st in long weapons (int), and 2nd in restricted step pushing hands. As for myself, I've decided I'm really bad at tournaments. I can't seem to get the concept of a time limit in my head. I placed 1st in Taijiquan (adv) and 2nd for short weapons (adv). I was deducted for going too fast and not meeting the time limits for Northern barehand (adv) and long weapons (adv) and unfortunately lost my placements :P Oh well, there's always next time, right? Javier and I also competed in the WildAid division in which all proceeds were donated to WildAid's continuing efforts to save endangered animals. I ended up placing 3rd with Taizu Changquan.

Picture fail with M. Lin

I was glad that my girlfriend was able to fly out from the East coast to come visit me during the tournament. It gave us time both away and at the Center to be with each other. Unfortunately she wasn't able to train with us this time because of a knee injury. Hopefully next time :)

Sitting with M. Chan

It seems like we have had many guests this semester, three being from my hometown of Andover, MA. In addition to my girlfriend, the other two from Andover were one of my old training partners and one of my best friends. There were many cookies baked, lots of pictures taken, and some lessons to be taught/learned.

A fourth guest may not have been from Andover, but was from the East coast as well. Now that I think about it, we seem to attract lots of East coasters. Anyways, his name was David Tringali, student of Coach Jose Johnson in PA. He was a really nice guy who decided to spend his birthday with us at the Center. I hope to be able to visit him sometime when I'm back East. He was super flexible and taught us some great stretching exercises. He was also a really good cook. Especially with Italian food :P

Finally, some very good news. After many years of hard work and much effort from Dr. Yang, the YMAA California Retreat Center has finally been recognized as a vocational school for Traditional Chinese Martial Arts. This is a great achievement for everyone at the Center, for YMAA, and for anyone who has been supporting our project. So what does this mean? Because we are now an accredited school, Dr. Yang will be able to award students at the Center with a master's degree in Chinese martial arts at the end of the program :)

I'm sure there is more stuff to write about from this semester, but it's not coming to mind. If I think of anything, I'll be sure to add on. Our semester will be ending in another week and a half and we have testing beginning this Wednesday. Wish us luck!