Started my Kung Fu today

I have been threatening to get back into shape all year and I always find an excuse not to. Even now, I have more going on than ever before in my life. I decided a couple of weeks ago that if I don't start making time for myself, well I'm just going to run out of time.

Tai Chi & Kung Fu;
forms, weapons and boxing

My new teacher is the owner of Sam Smith's Martial Arts Institute. I wrote about him briefly last month and have learned more about him since. Turns out he actually lived at a Kung Fu "temple" for six years and was trained by a great master. I think he said he was trained in ""Monkey" style... or maybe he said he was a trained monkey, I can't get it all straight.

I have always wanted to learn from an instructor who would teach not only the fighting skills, but also the art and traditions of the martial arts. Sam Smith has studied many forms and has devoted his life to martial arts and I think we are going to get along famously.

I arrived promptly at 7:35 a.m. (oops) and Sam greeted me, issued my "uniform" and pointed to the bathroom to change. As I was dressing out, the class of about 10 started without me. I didn't know what to do so I stood there like an idiot in my brand new Kung Fu suit. Sam pointed to a spot on the floor and said "do what they do." Lesson complete. (not really)

For the next hour I did my best to do what they were doing. Like when I lift weights, I was very aware of the form, feet placement, posture, breathing and the motion of the technique, what I had not considered was how long its been since I worked out or even stretched out. I wanted to do the movements, the mind was willing but the body had other ideas. I must have looked like a fat old man flailing in the wind.

I had my note pad and camera and a neat little plan to write down all of the names of the movements and instructions. Well, that plan was tossed out first! I took a couple pictures while waiting for Sam to point at the floor and when he did, the pad of paper and pen were abandoned. Trying to recall all of the stretches, kicks, blocks and punches has been futile.

Sam likes to keep things moving! He's good at it too!! For an hour we went from one technique to the next barely stopping long enough to catch our breath. He would demonstrate and then come around to each and offer advice. By the time the hour was up, which seemed exceptionally fast, we had punched, kicked and blocked our way to fitness.

As the class concluded, the students asked Sam all sorts of questions and one guy asked about self defense from a knife attacker. Sam, who teaches a Tai Chi class at a local hospital immediately following this class, quickly ran through some possible tactics. A little hurried but that's Sifu Sam.

There I was standing there in my not so new looking Kung Fu suit. I was sweaty enough that my white t-shirt was drenched and the black pants scuffed from the many times I could not keep my balance. I thought to myself about how effective that workout was, I'm convinced that if I can keep this up a few times a week, I just might be able to reach that 34" waist after all.

Tomorrow is weapons, I joked with my wife by saying, "tomorrow we get to learn how to hit each other with sticks." I'm looking forward to it. Thursday is fighting/boxing. There are a few heavy bags in one of the rooms and I imagine we will be hitting those, however I do recall Sam telling me, "the best way to learn to prevent being hit is by being hit a few times." So maybe it's more than just the heavy bags... gulp.