the_gneech (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
the_gneech) wrote2003-02-20 02:14 pm
the_gneech) wrote2003-02-20 02:14 pm
And Off We Go Again...
Well, fortunately, a nap and Kung Fu did cheer me up immensely yesterday. I managed to get through the opening jog workout with only one bow out [1], and a short one at that while the rest of the class jogged by. I stepped back in at the end of the line and got through the whole routine, which is a good night for me.
Sifu really put us through our paces last night; maybe he was afraid that we'd all slacked off over the snowy weekend -- I almost wish I had, now! ;) But no such luck for me; I did workouts on Saturday and Monday, not to mention spending most of Tuesday shoveling snow, snow, snow, snow, and more snow. By the end of class, my shoulders were no longer responding to "Lift that brick!" commands, and I was gulping air like it was going out of style. It's rare that I am pushed all the way to the limit of my endurance, but last night I was.
I am looking into getting some of the Shaolin style leg wraps -- you know, those stylish accessories that are basically knee socks with fabric straps up to your knee. I don't want them for their looks, tho -- I am quite definitely starting to get minor shin splints, and I don't want them to become major. A few of the other students at the school -- particularly large and/or tall guys such as myself -- have started using the leg wraps themselves and find them effective.
According to one of my fellow students, big guys tend to have an imbalance in leg muscle development that makes us a bit susceptible to shin splints. In a nutshell, our size makes even just walking require very large calves, but we don't get commensurate development in the front muscles. So when we start pounding the pavement, so to speak, there's more of the strain that leads to shin splints.
Now, if I was going to buy Kung Fu gear for looks, I'd be getting this uniform. In fact, I may very well anyway! It's not kosher for class gear (we're supposed to wear the school shirt and dark athletic pants in class), but I could wear it for practice.
Since northern Virginia was closed on account of snow Monday, I have class tomorrow night ... I hope I can rest up enough tonight to do my best. Besides the fact that I'm investing time, effort, and money into it, there's just the fact that I feel a strange sense of obligation about it. I don't know what it is, exactly; maybe I just feel like to do otherwise would be disrespectful.
-The Gneech
[1] This is a lot more vigorous than it sounds. We start by jogging the circumference of the gym about seven or eight times, then doing a high-knee jog (we hold our hands at waist level and have to hit them with our knees) around the circumference once or twice, then a high-kick jog (we have to slap our ankles behind our backs as we run) around the circumference a few times, then sprinting the length of the gym back and forth about ten times, then jogging backwards (yes, backwards, ack) in lines up and down the length of the gym, then doing this bizarre kind of "No Business Like Show Business" sidestep run up and down the length of the gym, then any number of a variety of run/jump combinations diagonally across the gym -- the strangest one being this weird hopping motion kicking with one leg, like somebody's holding on to your foot and you're trying to shake them off. Oh! And then there are the ones with bricks! Did I mention the bricks?
Sifu really put us through our paces last night; maybe he was afraid that we'd all slacked off over the snowy weekend -- I almost wish I had, now! ;) But no such luck for me; I did workouts on Saturday and Monday, not to mention spending most of Tuesday shoveling snow, snow, snow, snow, and more snow. By the end of class, my shoulders were no longer responding to "Lift that brick!" commands, and I was gulping air like it was going out of style. It's rare that I am pushed all the way to the limit of my endurance, but last night I was.
I am looking into getting some of the Shaolin style leg wraps -- you know, those stylish accessories that are basically knee socks with fabric straps up to your knee. I don't want them for their looks, tho -- I am quite definitely starting to get minor shin splints, and I don't want them to become major. A few of the other students at the school -- particularly large and/or tall guys such as myself -- have started using the leg wraps themselves and find them effective.
According to one of my fellow students, big guys tend to have an imbalance in leg muscle development that makes us a bit susceptible to shin splints. In a nutshell, our size makes even just walking require very large calves, but we don't get commensurate development in the front muscles. So when we start pounding the pavement, so to speak, there's more of the strain that leads to shin splints.
Now, if I was going to buy Kung Fu gear for looks, I'd be getting this uniform. In fact, I may very well anyway! It's not kosher for class gear (we're supposed to wear the school shirt and dark athletic pants in class), but I could wear it for practice.
Since northern Virginia was closed on account of snow Monday, I have class tomorrow night ... I hope I can rest up enough tonight to do my best. Besides the fact that I'm investing time, effort, and money into it, there's just the fact that I feel a strange sense of obligation about it. I don't know what it is, exactly; maybe I just feel like to do otherwise would be disrespectful.
-The Gneech
[1] This is a lot more vigorous than it sounds. We start by jogging the circumference of the gym about seven or eight times, then doing a high-knee jog (we hold our hands at waist level and have to hit them with our knees) around the circumference once or twice, then a high-kick jog (we have to slap our ankles behind our backs as we run) around the circumference a few times, then sprinting the length of the gym back and forth about ten times, then jogging backwards (yes, backwards, ack) in lines up and down the length of the gym, then doing this bizarre kind of "No Business Like Show Business" sidestep run up and down the length of the gym, then any number of a variety of run/jump combinations diagonally across the gym -- the strangest one being this weird hopping motion kicking with one leg, like somebody's holding on to your foot and you're trying to shake them off. Oh! And then there are the ones with bricks! Did I mention the bricks?
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Mur
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Mur
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"Taste the pain, whipper-snapper!"
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By the way, great avatar! :)
Mur
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