FAMILIAR FACE
the biggest news of the week came with an old friend from wen wu.. my old kung fu brother, derek lee, stopped by to visit! we met in shaolin class a few years back in the east bay, and now he lives in hong kong as an engineer for the public transit system. now that he's here in china, he was able to come and visit wudang for easter weekend.. we had a blast.outside of intensive training, massive meals, and fantastic foot massages, we also shared some of the most interesting conversations. derek, a man committed to the continued evolution of human consciousness.. a selfless servant to the divine, shared some of the most insightful ideas i have ever come across. it has been said, "it doesn't take a day to recognize sunshine," and i feel this to be true with what derek has shared.. the truth this man passed on to me was immediately evident, and beyond that, practical and applicable.
i will gladly share once i grow more competent in this work.. but for now, know that i am quite empowered.. refreshed if you will, to serve and work towards advancing the potential of human consciousness.
DOWN FOR THE COUNT
training for this competition has been intense,.. so intense.. that i managed to injure my ankle without even noticing! though i'm not quite sure how it happened, i'm assuming it's just an old injury from football resurfacing. in acupressure school, i learned that it's possible to relive old injuries as stagnant chi begins to move again after being blocked off for so long.. and even though one can experience pain, it is only an indication that healing is finally beginning to take place. i sure hope this is the case.
my ankle was so bad, that i could hardly walk on it. i had to take three days off from practice to allow my foot to recuperate. i didn't have to go through it alone though.. all my brothers here were extremely helpful. derek got me medicine, ali got me an ace bandage for support, urgen gave me a jin shin session, and everyone showed concern. ahhh, the martial family.
WISH ME WELL
even though i was out of practice, the competition is still going down,.. and as far as i know, it is going to be THIS SUNDAY!!! this will be my first competition ever, and i feel quite confident. i'm not confident that i'll win or place well, but i am confident in my ability to do my best and have fun - and that's what really matters to me. this will also give me a good opportunity to be in the hot seat.. i always get so self conscious when i have to demonstrate for people, and there's no better way to get over a fear than to face it. plus.. being one of the few 'lao wai' (foreigners) to be competing, i'm sure all eyes will be waiting for the slightest slip up so they can laugh at the big, silly lao wai trying to do kung fu.
after the form portion of the competition, the top 18 people to demonstrate are then supposed to go to beijing to compete further.. but this time it's not to demonstrate, it's to fight. i made it perfectly clear that my goal in wudang is to grow and heal, not to fight, and yuan shifu understands. so if i do make it to the top 18, i will forfeit the competition. sorry dad, i won't be 'kicking ass and taking names' this round.
the cool thing is that the local tailor gave me a nice taoist robe to demonstrate in for FREE! it's a super nice, ultra long, traditional taoist robe made custom for my ultra big body. so even if i don't do well, i'll at least look nice.. [smile] i will be sure to get lots of pictures and possibly even some video footage for everyone to enjoy.
THAT'S ALL FOLKS
that concludes this week's wu life.. the pictures i promised last week are finally up for you to enjoy plus a few more.. you can see them here.. http://picasaweb.google.com/chinagiant
all my aloha,
-zi rong
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