Since it has been so long since I went on a proper Kung Fu related tangent I think it is time to indulge. Recently we started learning snake. Starting a new style is always fun. Just when you start to get comfortable with a new form another comes along to knock you down a few pegs. My apologies to people who have no interest in martial arts, hopefully pretty pictures at the end will make up for it.

Some of our training requires us to watch what our bodies are doing in full length mirror. Even if we fail to establish the correct connection with our bodies, we are able to see where we are going wrong...hopefully. Personally I sometimes wonder if Si Fu doesn't do it to contribute to humbling us. Right now I am so bad I almost make my eyes bleed. Fortunately it is not just me. Snake is a soft style, thus there is even more focus on fluidity than usual. Due to some dancing background I never used to battle with flow but over the years I have lost some of the softness and become more rigid as power and stability became the focus. Training with 5 iron rings on your forearms and doing certain exercises with punching bags elevated above your head inevitably has taken away some of the softness. It is pretty hard keeping up with big burly men when you weigh 43kgs. As a result I attempted to turn myself into an army ant I guess. I am so glad to come back to flow, I need it. Snake also does play to some of my strengths too. I am fast and due to my small reach I really need to get right in there. Snake works a lot with the concept of sneaking into the opponents' space and getting in and out quickly. Obviously I am just beginning to learn about this so of course my above observations are terribly simplistic and I by no means profess to have any great understanding of snake. I still consider myself a complete young grasshopper in Kung Fu in general. It is just nice to waffle on about things that excite me.

As if snake hasn't humbled me enough the powers that be decided that my Pilates teaching course should enter the mix at the same time. I am ridiculously excited and incredibly overwhelmed. Story about Cuddlefish's first Pilates lesson with me: when I tried to show him where to engage his transverse abdominis muscle



I accidently got a handful of naughty bits instead. Mental note with male clients: avoid clients cock when attempting to demonstrate things very low on the abdomen. I also learnt being able to do a movement does not mean you will be able to show someone else how to do it. Communicating to someone how to do a movement, particularly when they are not in touch with their bodies, is like trying to describe colour to a blind person. As someone with a decent amount of body awareness it is particularly frustrating because I intrinsically understand and feel certain things. I am sure it gets easier but it is going to take a whole lot of time before I am a halfway decent teacher.

The Pilates course was in Balito, and the route I travelled gave me such a magnificent coastal view. It reminded me I need to spend more time scarpering on the beach. The only horrible part is that the sun was attempting to make my translucent little self expire in a puff of ash. As I result I developed this thing I have been told is called a tan. I am not sure because I haven't had one before. A nice thing, normally, except it's a silly driving tan complete with seatbelt detailing!

Some examples of magnificent coastal views in Durban as seen from booze cruise I mentioned in my last blog.













Some obligatory boobs:

Pyke boobs





Nerdy sci-fi Lunar boobs





Diaz boobs





Look at these, love them.

Also:
A real life fortune cat

a very awesome pic but I am a bit worried kitty might be dead on that cheerful note
A Strange Fortune