stomach virus

I missed last Saturday's class due to stomach virus. I just stayed home the whole day. I tried doing warmup exercises in the morning but my whole body was sore and aching. My stomach area was extra sore. I tried to be active the whole day but when I move I feel a lot of pain. It was better not to move at all. I also had no appetite. I felt like vomiting the whole day. It felt like my stomach stopped working. Normally, my stomach would growl once in a while, but Saturday it hardly made a sound, and was slowly ballooning. Drinking hot black tea helped a lot. By night time, I started feeling very chilly, and my fingers and toes were tingly. My whole body just wanted to curl up and sleep. And that's what I exactly did.

Sunday morning, my wife woke me up and asked me if I still wanted to go see the Dalai Lama at Rutgers, New Brunswick. I felt better, but I was not fully recovered, so I declined and stayed in bed. So she went with her friend, instead. But the most amazing thing was that almost all of the symptoms of the stomach virus were gone, like a passing storm. Sleep is a very powerful natural medicine.

good workout

Sometimes, after practice I have this weird feeling that I could do almost anything. As an example, if I saw a heavy object , like a car, I feel like I could pick up and overturn it. Somehow, my perception of a "heavy car" goes away. Also the size of an object, like an SUV, seems to shrink a little when I look at it.

Last Saturday, this feeling of being "strong" happened again after our Pao Chui session. I felt like I could make a hole if I punch this wall near our training area.

So I asked Teacher about this weird feeling. He said it means that I've had a good workout. Then he smiled and went to see another student.

analects

I'm taking this class, Chinese Religion. One of the required books to read is Confucius Analects. Here's one of its many interesting passages:

14.5 Nangong Kuo said to Confucius, “Yi was a skillful archer, and Ao was a powerful naval commander, and yet neither of them met a natural death. Yu and Hou Ji, on the other hand, did nothing but personally tend to the land, and yet they both ended up with possession of the world."

The Master did not answer.

After Nangong Kuo left, the Master sighed, “ What a gentlemanly person that man is! How he reveres Virtue!”

trees and vines

Two Saturdays ago, Teacher assigned individual assignments. The assignment consists of a group of movements taken from the Pao Chui form. More or less, each person has a different assignment.

Last Saturday, I showed Teacher my understanding of my assignment. Teacher then corrected me by showing me with his hands the wringing action applied to an object, like a piece of cloth. He also showed me that its action is one direction, not bent all over. He said to relax the shoulders. He showed me that the whole movement must be synchronized, not broken into pieces. Then off he went to see another student.

So I reflected on what Teacher said. After minutes of working out, I somehow started thinking about vines, and how they spiral during growth. I then started thinking about trees, and how the branches extend from the trunk. Then the life cycle of trees. Then the soft sprouts and the hard bark. The leaves facing the sun. The roots extending deep and across the ground. And so on.

Then I executed the whole Pao Chui form again, with the trees and vines in mind. And I felt a difference.