The Pros and Cons of being a student

I'm now a student again. And for the next 4 years, I'll be in the libraries reading books studying and so forth. Its going to be fun, and I get student discount.

The downside of this new lease of life is that I'm not going to be able to make it to week long Cheng Hsin camps for the next 4 years. The combination of working part time and having my girlfriend living on the otherside of the country. It's a pain but...

On the upside, I just found out that I can study Jiu Jitsu all year long for just £30, and Aikido similarly all year for just £30. The Shaolin Kung Fu club is a bit more expensive at £60 for the year plus £30 for insurance. Apparently Shaolin is more expensive because they do more weapons, and sparring. But anyhow, this all seems to be a great deal to me. Its an opportunity to do 4 years of these martial arts and see how I can be effortlessly effective while I do them.

I look forwards to having some fun.

T'ui Shou Workshop 30/11/08 (UK)

There is a T'ui Shou workshop planned for the 30th of November organised by Cheng Hsin Cardiff in South Wales (UK). I only just found out about this myself as I haven't been keeping in touch.

The workshop is from 11am to 5pm, at Sully Judo Club.
The trainer will be Kevin Magee.
It will cost only £30.

More details including contact details found here: Cheng Hsin Cardiff

New classes in Swansea UK

The classes running in Swansea (UK) which used to be just on a Tuesday evening for T'ui Shou and a Thursday evening for boxing have now expanded to include Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. 7 hours a week total, is this the most Cheng Hsin you can do in a class in one place outside of Texas?

Details can be found here: Cheng Hsin Swansea Classes

Returning to being

Today was the first day for a long time that I did any practice. Nothing much, just practising Taiji for 30 minutes on a small lawn between two wards of a local hospital. I could tell that patients, nurses, people were watching. I didn't even let this bother me. It felt good to do something again.

I haven't been unable to train because of some physical injury, but maybe a mental one. I got into a habit of doing nothing, or doing ineffective things.

But today, all day I tried to be in my body. I felt my arm connect with a door and how I swung it open more with strength than centre. I tried to fall into the floor as I walked and noticed how this slowed my gait, made it more rooted and able to turn more balanced. I sat down on chairs noticing every stage in my weight's transition from feet to bottom. I looked further and tried to feel my way all down the long hospital corridors.

Being more whole and total. Being mindful and appreciative. Today marked a return to being.