Seven Thunder Thesis Crushing Stance!
Oct. 24th, 2004 05:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
morslaSo I went a little crazy last night. That's not such a bad thing, though - it was more a matter of remembering that I'm supposed to be crazy, and getting stuck back into it again...
Two of the biggest problems over the past few months have been lack of training (I've only made it to a single Tai Chi class in months) and lack of sleep (on a good night, I'll be in bed before 1am but rarely asleep before 3). Add those to the aftereffects of being sick, and I run out of energy but don't get tired enough to rest - not such a great combination. Coincidentally, these problems have been going on for the same stretch of time.
I don't often believe in coincidences. Once I realised what was going on, it was time to do something about it...
I can't take a whole evening off to train in the next fortnight, and I doubt I'm fit enough to last half an hour in the classes at Richmond. The longer I worry about that, though, the less likely I am to go back at all this year. So, I cleared a space in the journal articles covering my floor, gritted my teeth, and decided to find out how unfit I was.
Strength: This one's the killer. Mainly noticeable in my legs, as my arms have never been particularly strong anyway... but I'm not used to seeing my legs shake when I try to hold low stances. Empty-step (a more extreme cat stance, for those who've seen it - held very low, with a straight spine, and 95% of your weight on the supporting leg) is terrible, and it's one of the two major stances in Mantis. Needs a lot of work, over a long period of time.
Flexibility: This changes the least, when I stop training. After a NYE resolution while on a training camp ("I'll do the splits by the end of the year") was overheard by the instructor (I ended up doing them by Easter, and could drop into them cold by september), it's generally not a problem. The less fit I get, the more muscle mass disappears, and the more flexible I get. I've probably only dropped by about 20% here.
Endurance: Low. Who would have thought? It's only been a few months since I made myself do anything of the sort... Fortunately, I have a stubborn streak and little to no self preservation instinct. I held a low horse stance for eight hundred punches, and some other upper-body exercises. Very shaky legs half way through, but it didn't get much worse after that.
I think I'll force myself to do a bit of training before I collapse into bed each morning, to make sure I get to sleep. If soul-destroying sleeplyess weariness shows up again on my doorstep, I'll beat it with a stick.
Two of the biggest problems over the past few months have been lack of training (I've only made it to a single Tai Chi class in months) and lack of sleep (on a good night, I'll be in bed before 1am but rarely asleep before 3). Add those to the aftereffects of being sick, and I run out of energy but don't get tired enough to rest - not such a great combination. Coincidentally, these problems have been going on for the same stretch of time.
I don't often believe in coincidences. Once I realised what was going on, it was time to do something about it...
I can't take a whole evening off to train in the next fortnight, and I doubt I'm fit enough to last half an hour in the classes at Richmond. The longer I worry about that, though, the less likely I am to go back at all this year. So, I cleared a space in the journal articles covering my floor, gritted my teeth, and decided to find out how unfit I was.
Strength: This one's the killer. Mainly noticeable in my legs, as my arms have never been particularly strong anyway... but I'm not used to seeing my legs shake when I try to hold low stances. Empty-step (a more extreme cat stance, for those who've seen it - held very low, with a straight spine, and 95% of your weight on the supporting leg) is terrible, and it's one of the two major stances in Mantis. Needs a lot of work, over a long period of time.
Flexibility: This changes the least, when I stop training. After a NYE resolution while on a training camp ("I'll do the splits by the end of the year") was overheard by the instructor (I ended up doing them by Easter, and could drop into them cold by september), it's generally not a problem. The less fit I get, the more muscle mass disappears, and the more flexible I get. I've probably only dropped by about 20% here.
Endurance: Low. Who would have thought? It's only been a few months since I made myself do anything of the sort... Fortunately, I have a stubborn streak and little to no self preservation instinct. I held a low horse stance for eight hundred punches, and some other upper-body exercises. Very shaky legs half way through, but it didn't get much worse after that.
I think I'll force myself to do a bit of training before I collapse into bed each morning, to make sure I get to sleep. If soul-destroying sleeplyess weariness shows up again on my doorstep, I'll beat it with a stick.
