MARTIAL STUFF

There is a little park right in front of the hotel.   It sits in front of the financial offices of the college and the library.  It extends further in front of one of many construction sites. During the day people eat lunch there.  Occasionally someone will be exercising.  One young man tried for an hour to stand on his head.  Another was playing some kind of circus ball game, an elderly woman was standing--for a long time.

Occasionally someone will do a martial arts form.   A few are quite good.  One Saturday there were three people, a man in his forties, an elderly woman and a younger one doing Taiji together.   The man was very good, very strong.  It wasn't the Yang form but the moves were recognizable.   There was another man doing a form full of herky jerky movements, sometimes twisting his body.  Someone came up to talk to him and I saw him indicate the Taiji group and express his displeasure with Taiji.   I tried to speak with him before he left, but snails communicate with stones better than I communicated with him. 

During the week there are three older people, a man and two women, who do the Yang form we know, without our variations.  His postures are similar, but his single whip hand is quite high as is the right push hand when he does brush knee.   He is quite flexible; notice his snake creeps down and his kick..  They also do a sword form, which is quite different from ours.

And one day a woman came dressed to practice.   I don't know the form; I did notice that the form was double weighted quite often.  She was often in horse, but her postures were very good.