Mantis Mantle: Super long blog about my week!

This has been an action packed week for me! I feel like I have lot's to write about, let's see if I can make all my thoughts make some sense.
The Tiger Challenge. What a great day! Some of the highlights for me were not what one would expect when discussing a tournament. I enjoyed sitting on the floor talking to my students about stuff and things, shared some giggles when we imagined what it would look like if the grown ups got to noodle fight. I spent some time with some of the parents, talking about their kids, the school, our classes and what our goals are. I loved having a front row seat during most of the black dragon events, it's the best seat in the house and I think I learned tons about being a judge! I loved the weapons competition, not because I received a medal, but because I experienced the zone! It was just me and my chucks in that ring and it was an amazing feeling. At the beginning of the performance I remember thinking, just do it your own way and then I was off and running!!!! I loved the feel of the kwoon that day, when I walked in in the morning, there was already something special hanging in the air, a buzz you can't quite put your finger on, perhaps it was our combined excitement or just knowing it was going to be a great day.
The last three days. Wow! Most of my spare hours have been at the kwoon in the last three days. On Thursday night at the beginner black dragon class, I felt a new connection with the students, we had shared a new experience and because of that they seemed to want to pay more attention and work harder. We worked on our techniques and everyone did a fabulous job of focusing and trying to get better. I got a little buzz off that class. At the demo practice, hard work and laughter mixed together to create a nice ending to a great kung fu day. I love hanging out with the team!
Friday night was fantastic! I like when we show our demo to the coaches because there is that little bit of nerves that makes everything stand out. I can always feel every move, thought and feeling, just a little bit more and I like it. I like this place that I am at in my training where I can recognize a mistake and then fix it right away, it feels like I am the boss of my training. In the black belt class we sparred and I had an opportunity to spar with one of my friends that I haven't sparred with in a while. It was awesome, it was like we just practiced together yesterday! We laughed, teased and pushed each other to try different things and it was great. Of course, the sounds effects were entertaining too, no one makes cool noises like you my friend!
Saturday dawned bright and early for me, like it always does. My family knew that I was having what they call ' a kung fu day'. This means that I get up before them and leave the house with my lunch packed prepared to push myself beyond my limits for as many hours as I can. It was great day! I started the kids class by doing the warm up and just kept going through the entire class, it just seemed to flow together, I had their attention, we shared some laughs and the time flew by. What a great way to start the day. A highlight of my Saturdays has been sharing some chatter and laughs with my fellow instructors after class, I think that it helps us bond and work better together and I like to visit. Tai Chi was next and always helps me keep my feet planted on the ground, I love that class. I decided to try a fitness class today and see how far I could go, I hadn't been in one since before I got sick in October! It was great! We did stations at two minute intervals so I was able to set my own pace and not hold anyone up. I lasted through most of the class until I started to feel like I wasn't getting enough air and might pass out. I am very pleased with my progress and was very tired at the end of class. At this point I was planning on eating my lunch and then working on my forms. I have some new ideas about how to approach my forms and I am excited to try out my plan. What really happened was that I got to be in the Dragon dance practice. Thank you dragon dancers for being too ill to make the practice, standing in for you was a great pleasure. I'll admit I was a little scared a few times when just following the guy in front of me wasn't the answer, but once I got the new dance down, I loved every second of it. I forgot how exhilarating it is to run with the dragon and quickly learned that there are spots where you can do some deep breathing and try to get your breath back. Does anyone remember that song, Puff the Magic Dragon? I always think of our dragon as that rascal puff, only in my head and I don't think that I have ever said it out loud until yesterday when I was telling my family about my training day and it slipped out. Now I know that that is not his real name but that is how I think of him. I think that we have a special connection, I was on the team when we first brought him out of storage, and I got my black belt at the Year of the Dragon celebration. I have had an amazing year and reached heights that I had not thought possible, most of that is me, some of that is the dragon!
I find myself looking towards next year a lot in the last few weeks, I am very excited about some of the things that I will be involved in. I have big chuck plans, some different moves that I have been working on that will find their way into my form and maybe even some wooden chucks if I can figure out how to make that happen. I am planning some super cool things with my stick, that I can't really talk about just yet. I have some new forms to learn, I have some old forms to master and I have only one year to make it all happen in. I remember a long time ago (before the UBBT and I Ho Chuan), I used to think that a year was a very long time to wait for something to happen but now I always think, I only have one year to do this, I better get going. I think the difference is that I no longer wait for anything to happen, I make it happen.
Once again, thank you I Ho Chuan for giving me the tools to be who I am.