Liesbeth is Level 2 (Yellow) Student at Wu Dao Kung Fu and Tai Chi
Anyone who has read up on the life and reputation of Shifu Shi de Cheng could surely understand the excitement I felt hearing that he would be back for the second time this year to teach us.
Before registering for the workshops, I fondly reminisced about Shifu's Chin Na (joint locking) workshop in spring—with ease, I was able to free myself from powerful grips of shovel-sized hands. Even though it was tempting to do only that one session again, I made a mental comparison with learning to paint—to be a good abstract painter, you would still need to study and master the basics of anatomy and perspective first. The decision to take the Ji ben Gong workshop was thus made. For dessert, I signed up for the Chin Na and Shui Jiao (throwing and falling) workshops as well.
As a quite flexible and somewhat "floppy" person, I felt very self-conscious about displaying myself to the graceful and skillful Shifu Shi De Cheng. When the moment came during the Ji Ben Gong class, that same grace was applied to painstakingly adjust and tweak my stances, posture, arms, or usually all of the aforementioned plus more. The Shuai Jiao class was a blast! The techniques were quite complicated. Through practice, I found my momentum and structure, and really enjoyed the apparent ease with which I could apply the throwing techniques on my more experienced, bigger and stronger opponent. In fact, I found falling and controlling my partner's fall to be the hardest part.
As a quite flexible and somewhat "floppy" person, I felt very self-conscious about displaying myself to the graceful and skillful Shifu Shi De Cheng. When the moment came during the Ji Ben Gong class, that same grace was applied to painstakingly adjust and tweak my stances, posture, arms, or usually all of the aforementioned plus more. The Shuai Jiao class was a blast! The techniques were quite complicated. Through practice, I found my momentum and structure, and really enjoyed the apparent ease with which I could apply the throwing techniques on my more experienced, bigger and stronger opponent. In fact, I found falling and controlling my partner's fall to be the hardest part.
Not wanting him to miss out on the experience, I signed up my 6-year old son for the children's class with Shifu, too. I had been telling him a little bit about Shifu's background and had shown him some inspirational videos of Shifu performing forms on YouTube.
Logically, he felt somewhat intimidated at first, but Shifu's easygoing manner and perhaps the twinkle in his eyes made for a very fun session. As a spectator, I found myself paying very close attention to the slow-paced, step-by-step instructions the kids received, wondering if maybe I could try and sign myself up for the kids' classes next time. On asking my son for his opinion on the class afterwards, he answered, almost surprised, "He is just such a very, very nice person!"
Logically, he felt somewhat intimidated at first, but Shifu's easygoing manner and perhaps the twinkle in his eyes made for a very fun session. As a spectator, I found myself paying very close attention to the slow-paced, step-by-step instructions the kids received, wondering if maybe I could try and sign myself up for the kids' classes next time. On asking my son for his opinion on the class afterwards, he answered, almost surprised, "He is just such a very, very nice person!"
My husband, lucky to be a native Mandarin speaker, found inspiration in talking to Shifu Shi De Cheng about the history of the Shaolin monastery and the hardships it went through during and after the Cultural Revolution. When asked about his impression of Shifu and the workshops, he made a surprising announcement: He is planning to visit Shifu's school in Deng Feng and enroll our son in classes there! In the meantime, he would explore the area and do some soul searching.
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