Report on the Second Workshop (1/31/2015) in Irvine, California

After two and half month passed since my first trip to Irvine, I went back on January 31. This time, Edward came to join the group. We worked briefly on foundations. Mostly, I focused on teaching Yilu.

Foundations are important. Yilu is the core. The more students know about Yilu, the more fun they can have while practicing alone. I was able to finish the first 30 forms to “Upper Cloud Hands” and “High Pat on Horse” in the morning. (We did the first 13 moves in last workshop.)

In the afternoon, we worked briefly on kicking sequence, from #31 Rub Right Foot to #40 The Fist of Covering the Hand. Then, we switched to push hands. I demonstrated the concept that the contact point doesn’t move, other parts can rotate around or go beyond the contact point.

Based on the fact that people usually practice alone, (some will get together once or twice a week to practice together,) I gave them a suggested daily training schedule. No doubt that the more time you put in it, the better you will get. Here is my suggested training schedule. It is for one hour. If you have less time, reduce each parts accordingly. If you have more time, spend the extra time on Yilu routine.

Foundations (15 minutes)

Twisting Towel
Fetching Water
Positive Circle/Negative Circle
Double Positive Circle/Double Negative Circle
Stepping Forward/Side/Back

Yilu Forms (15 minutes)

Work on one form or one group of forms at a time.
Pay particular attention on alignment, body mechanics, body structure,  parts that move, part that doesn’t move, rotation.

Yilu Complete Routine (30 minutes)

Average 8 minutes for each complete Yilu.
Repeat 3 or 4 times.

If you only learned part of Yilu, repeat as many times as possible in 30 minutes. For example, you can repeat the first 13 moves about 20 times.