#leopard style

[chroniclesoflife]

Cozy afternoon

[entershaolin]

The Leopard Whip from the Shaolin 5 animals Kung Fu System. 

[turtle-to-dragon]

responsibility (24-05-17)

It is now official: my Kung Fu school will have a fourth training opportunity per week, on sundays, and I am one of the three people tasked with teaching on the additional days. I’ve already held lessons in the past, but that was mostly to cover for the other, regular trainers - this is the first time that I will be responsible for a regular training session, even if I share that responsibility with two other people. It still feels like a big step for me, and I’m excited to see how the sunday sessions will be received.  I’ll probably spend a good part of my weekend on thinking about content, structure and methods of a few sessions, partly because I’m very eager to get started, but also because I don’t know when else I can find the time to get this done - the next month will be very, very busy for me (internship with teaching responsibilities in a physiotherapy school, yay!), so I figure I’ll plan ahead.  Sunday Sessions are planned to start sometime in june, as soon as we get the keys to the place. 

I briefly talked with my teacher about her expectations and if she wanted me (us) to cover specific topics during the Sunday Sessions. She replied that we could do whatever we wanted, and that she is very confident that I’ll be a good teacher, based on how she has seen me interact with my younger Kung Fu sisters whenever I explained or showed anything to them. Needless to say, this unexpected compliment made me even happier than the prospect of getting to teach again :) 

Oh, the subject of remembering forms, especially the five animal forms of our style, came up, too, and now I’m on a quest to “recall and polish” the Leopard Form. Yay!

via pinterest

The movements and principles of the Leopard are my second favourite of all the five animals that have been incorporated into our Southern Mantis style (the others are Dragon, Tiger, Snake and Crane) - so you can probalby imagine how happy it makes me to have received this task to “get the Leopard back” ^_^ 

Good thing I have a video of someone performing the form, as well as my own notes on the movements. Because while I still remember most of the basic principles of the Leopard, it might have been 8-10 years ago that I’ve learned the form, and unfortunately it wasn’t a part of our curriculum. No one felt responsible to “keep” it, so the memory of the Form gradually degraded until only a few movements and basic ideas are all that is left. 

But I’m quite optimistic that I’ll be able to bring it back from the foggy areas of my mind (muscle memory to the rescue!), and thus become the “Leopard Keeper”.  

Regular training log for 24-05-17: 

went by bike to Kung Fu and back, about 20km in total. This made for a nice warm-up, and held less frustration than going by public transportation. (And zero smelly, crazy people in my personal space. 10/10, would recommend.) 

technique training was focussed on uppercut, ascending elbow strike and hook - which are strikes we do not practice that often. Our trainer had us practice them first as basic techniques (while moving forward, without partners or pads), then into pads, then on contact against our (unmoving, dummy-like) partner, then with moving and blocking/evading partners. I was surprised at how short the range of the ascending elbow really is. 

apparently it is very difficult for nearly everyone else to do a hook with the arm (from the outside to the inside), while at the same time stepping forward with a lotus step (which is a semi-circle in the other direction, moving close to the other leg on its way forward). Nice to know that my coordinative skills are not as rusty as my strength, stamina and flexibility are :D 

I didn’t really get into my form today, don’t know why. I just couldn’t go very fast, was completely lost on the rhythm the form is supposed to have, and my techniques lacked in precision. I tried to get at least a decent stance training in while going through the form, but my legs had a slightly different opinion about the possibilities at that point. 

[alexmalay]

Walk into the weekend with style! Our Leopard skirt gives just the right amount of sexiness and class. 

[corciova-amazon]

corciova® Reflective Revo Large Horn Rimmed Style Uv400 Wayfarer Sunglasses Leopard / Brown $12.95 Free Shipping

[street-style-chic]

Street Style / Leopard Print

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[street-style-chic]

Street Style / Leopard Print

More Street Style »> Street Style Chic

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