Friends

Shao was telling me that he really wanted me to write down the trips we have been going on with his schoolmate and her family, so he doesn't forget. So I'm going to do that now and then we can come back later and at stuff.

The first trip was to the Topsfield fair.

We petted bunnies and saw gardening displays that were part of a competition. (Kind of like Charlotte's web type stuff.) We got to pet animals and go on rides too. Shao went on this roller coaster ride with his friend Lily. and that was fun. He also did this giant slide. I'll have to ask him how he felt doing that.
Dai Dai sat next to me and Shao sat next to Lily. It was kind of cute, like those carnivals you see on TV but which I never really went to. I went to one as a kid, but since then.. I guess this was my first time. It's sort of only fun if you go in a group.

They all went in this maze together and Dai Dai actually had a lot of problems getting out. He started banging into the glass walls. It was kind of funny even though it was also probably really scary for him. I eventually had to go in and rescue him.

There were motorcycle stunt men and racing pigs that ran jumped and swam. Hilarious!

What was the next trip? All these were with Lily and her Dad.

Yesterday we went to the Museum of Science. The kids built baskets and I learned that if you think about it, basket weaving is a type of technology. I mean it's been around for a long time, but it's not intuitive. None of the kids wove stuff, even the older kids, unless their parents showed them too. That means a lot of the stuff we take for granted as obvious solutions are really things that are learned. Isn't that interesting?

Then we had a Kung Fu class at the House (this was Veteran's day.) That went well until the end. My student is a little shy about forms. He reminds me of one of my Si Hing's. It's almost like Karma that this Si Hing taught me a lot of stuff and we crashed, and now my student has a similar personality. It is like it is helping  me to understand that side of Kung Fu. In any case I am growing as a Sifu, because I thought I had the new answer after teaching Shao fist stick sword. But having a different personality that isn't interested in that system I created, forces me to grow and think and change my teaching style.  He loved the basics and the running around the house with physical exercises like lunges, bear walks, and then Boston Crab. Maybe I'll just focus on that side of things and have Noah perform the forms just so he sees them.

After all this other guy who was at the school for a while, picked up a lot of techniques just watching us and then tested them against Real martial artists and really made an impression on those guys. He was able to pick stuff up here and there and practice on his own. So the forms are important... but it isn't important that everyone memorizes and performs them.
They are more like a reference.

Well we ended the day with snacks and board games and that sort of thing. I have to pick him up soon and we are going to an event today too. It's fun to have friends to hang out with.