Tai Chi Inspired Training Day 10 June 29

I noticed during dance practice today how much easier it was to go in and out of low back stances. I love low back stances and I was pleasantly surprised as to how much more ease I have thanks to the crane and "high chair" stances I have been doing. Now I look for opportunities to pull off a few seconds here and there.

Kicks: During the demo practice one particular kick performed by others stuck out for me and that was the front thrust. I noticed the foot positioning and wondered if my front thrusts look like that. Somehow I have the feeling "no", so therefore, while I am in crane stance I am practicing the front thrust foot position to both strengthen and provide muscle memory to my feet. I like the crane stance in my fan form where I raise my foot behind me and would like to be able to grab my foot with my hands and raise them to at least head level. Something for me to work towards because I think that would look cool.

Core: I had the brilliant idea to take my core to my Swiss exercise ball. Actually envisioned me doing a V-sit on the ball. Key word "envision", real life = about 5 seconds with feet off the floor. Moral of the story: much harder in real life than in my mind. However, that got me thinking and snooping online for core exercises for my Swiss exercise ball. I Googled "Swiss ball core exercises" and was met with quite a few good sites. I downloaded a couple of pdf files that demonstrate core exercises using the Swiss ball as well as a research report on core activation using Swiss ball and traditional core exercises. Here are the links for Swiss Ball Core Exercises and Core Activation Research Report

Forms: The biggie today was during a conversation with Sifu Robinson of my brainwaves for my left hand fan form. Out of the conversation came the thought that this left hand form could be a continuation of my current right hand fan form. Brilliant because the scenario works. Now to practice my toss and further my moves.

I was successful at making tortillas today and now want a tortilla press. Tortillas are actually easy to make (2 ingredients: Maseca corn flour and water), but the catch is there is a technique to it. There's a few "just rights" along the way including how the peel the thing off the parchment without it breaking. A lot of the tortilla making is all about technique. Where have I heard about this technique thing before?
Sherri Donohue
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