Learning Zang Du Moon

[pegkerr]

Last night at the red belt class, pazlazuli started teaching us Zang Du Moon (the translation is "Beginning of Mission"--or was it "Begin the Mission"? And am I spelling it right?). Here is a video of Fiona doing it:

It is extremely interesting to start actually doing a form I've been observing for at least a year, as the girls have been learning it. As I joked last night to pazlazuli, I know all the right places to photograph this form (as I've been taking pictures for the belt tests) but that's quite different from actually doing it. It employs a lot of blocks that I've never used before, and I get dreadfully confused as to what folds to use before each step. That's not surprising my first time through; I know it will take me some time to master it. pazlazuli told me I did a pretty good job remembering as much as I did.

This one is going to be fun.

Comments

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

I'm curious. What do you mean by "folds"?

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

"Folds" are a way that you bend your arms in the "ready" position before you whip them into the block position. For example, for the fold for the left sudo block, you stick the right hand out, hand in the knife position, pointing toward your opponent's solar plexus. The left arm folds on top, with the elbows touching, the left hand facing palm in, hovering by the right ear. When you block, the right hand whips back to a position, palm up, over your own solar plexus. The left hand whips out, palm swiveling to face your opponent, with the elbow at a 90 degree angle.

The fold is extremely important because it gives the block additional momentum, and thus, power.

[aome.livejournal.com]

I'm still amazed at how much goes into a single form. Also, given how much Fiona is moving around (in terms of square footage) while she's doing it, how on earth is there room for everyone in a class to have enough space?

Btw, with regards to your other post, I think a 50th-birthday black belt would be awesome. Is that a reasonable timeframe?

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Yes! I expect I will have my black belt by the time I'm fifty. By then, I'll be fighting with kamas, which will be awesome. (Wicked-looking sickle-type weapons. Fiona's learning to use kamas now, and she loves it. She looks just amazing when she uses them doing marching basics) The ones in the picture here aren't quite the same as the ones we use--ours don't have sheaths, I don't think--but you get the basic idea.