Upping the Intensity in Wushu Class (1/6)

Monday work was super busy so I didn’t go to wushu. So my first day of wushu this week was Wednesday (today). And it was pretty brutal.

Not so much because it was super hard, but because the atmosphere was super intense. Coach Zhang wasn’t there today and so Coach Han, the head coach for the Taolu Athletes, was coaching us. And like I said before, he doesn’t take any prisoners.

If you can imagine the achetype of the Chinese wushu coach that barks out orders, has a constant scowl on his face and strikes fear into the hearts of young athletes, that would be Coach Han. I’m sure he’s a super nice guy outside of the wushu guan, but inside he’s 100% business.

The class started off with a lot of running. It was the usual set of running, but a bit more than usual. I had to stand out towards the end because my knee was twinging a bit, but it certainly helped me work up a sweat. Which is good because it was pretty cold in the wushu guan today.

Then we did basics. Again, not so many more than usual, but much more intense than usual. During nandu I worked on my horse stance basics — about 5 or 6 lines of them — and then worked on revamping some of my choreography. The “Ask the ‘Zilla” from yesterday got me thinking about my choreography so I tried to fix a few of the areas in my form that I wasn’t happy with.  I like the new stuff much better so I’m glad I spent the time doing that.

Tian Jin Fan and Yue Xiao Yu were also sitting out of nandu and working on their choreography on the side so at least I wasn’t alone.

But soon enough it was time for 分段 (sections).  We were supposed to do 12 sections so I decided to do 4 of each of my last 3 sections — which are the ones that I was trying to fix.  But after the 10th we switched to something else so I ended up doing the following: 4,4,4,4,3,3,3,3,2,2.

And what was it we switched to?  3/4 forms!  Thats right.  3 sections together.  I did 2-3-4, but I sure didn’t finish strong and was huffing and puffing afterwards.  I was happy that I was able to do it though.  My endurance is definitely improving because I would have never been able to do 10 sections plus a 3/4 set a month ago.

One nice thing during class was that one of the athletes gave me a compliment and a critique.  He said that my form looks good.  And he also said that I should work on my eyes.  And he was right.  My eyes have been a little lack-luster lately.  I used to focus on that quite a bit more so I think I need to start upping the eye-work and bringing the intensity back.

So, intensity was the theme for today. And it is something I need to work on for myself too.  While Coach Han is pretty brutal, I don’t mind too much and can really appreciate that level of focus during a class.

In any case, class ended and I headed home.  This afternoon Yue Xiao Yu is going to take Ruhi and I to meet a professor/teacher at the Xian Sports University (i.e. 西安体育学院) to talk about their programs for wushu and Chinese.  I’ve been wanting to find out more because I’m thinking about going there for a study program in the spring — mostly for Chinese, but it doesn’t hurt to get the lay of the land.  Also, it is a relatively close school to where I live.

Next class is Friday and then I am heading to Hong Kong for a few days again.  This time I’m going to try to go meet up with Gao Song and possibly get in a workout with the Hong Kong kids class which meets in the evenings out in Ma On Shan.  Wish me luck!

Related posts:*Steam and Gas at Wushu Class (12/21)

*Birthday Wushu Recap (1/1)

*Sections and Schedules (12/23)