Black Dragon, Northern Mantis

Today many people spend eight hours a day sitting before a computer or behind a desk, forcing their bodies to an unnatural stasis. Overworked minds, inert bodies. Depending increasing more on an immaterial form of technology, we confine the body to a subordinate position. We grow detached from it. We forget its magic. We forget its power. -Daniele Bolelli, On The Warrior’s Path



The Form Of the Day is Hurricane Hands. I ran through the parts I know a few times in the morning and also after work.

Sunday kung fu.

We worked on some Black Dragon stances, walking forward and backward. Then using the same movements to do a simple parry and counter. The Black Dragon doesn't feel very natural to me. I have to really focus to get the hands right, and I have to really focus to get the feet right, and I can't focus on both at once. It gets even harder to focus with a live opponent. Worked with JM first.... it took her a little bit to get in the groove, but once she did, it felt as solid as all of her Dragon feels. She is *so* a Dragon practitioner, she just might not know it. Then I switched to Nemesis, and the hand that I had been using to slide up JM's arm to her neck just slid up Nemesis's arm and kept on sliding up, and sliding up, and sliding up. I had to switch to a reap, and I wasn't very happy with that app either.

We did some Dragon Plants the Seed, which I knew but was new to the other students. A couple of run-throughs of the Spear Hand piece. I have practiced this quite a bit, but everybody else is still pretty bobbly on it, so we didn't get a new piece. SK used "Northern Mantis" to describe this form at one point, and I said, "Wait a sec, I thought this was SOUTHERN Mantis." Nope. Okay, now I'm confused, because the flow and energy of this is NOTHING like Bung Bo Kuen. I've spent so long trying to pound the bizarre energy and flow of Bung Bo Kuen into my head- and having various other people trying to pound it into my head- and I feel like I've kind of got a handle on it now, and had the mindset "this is what Souther Mantis is about" but this is TOTALLY different. Spear Hand is not about the bouncy reboundy thing, it's all about violent hip twists and the energy generated with same. We did the form one piece at a time, focussing on how every single strike came from the hips.

Some of the slow structured sparring. I was reluctant to try this with my injury, but got talked into doing it as long it was reeeeeeeeeally slow and controlled. JB was up first, and thought that she was going to be sparring SK, butt hen SK put me up instead. JB was relieved, and said to SK, "You're scarier." I propped my hands on my hips and gave her an acid glare. Everyone cracked up, and she apologized and gave me a hug. I said threateningly, "Now I'm going to make you pay."

It went fine, though. Once, she knocked me down and then jumped on top in front mount- everyone counted "One... two.... three....." Then later I did the same to her.

At first JB said that she'd never want to do a tournament again, but tonight she was already weakening. She's still going to be in town for the August one.

SK was kind enough to stay for an extra 20 min and go through Hurricane Hands with me. There was an embarrassing number of small bits that had fallen through the cracks, but I took notes on them and I'm pretty sure I've got it all straight now. I'm going to have it be the Form Of the Day for at least one more day, though.