First the monks show us how it's done.
Suitably cowed, John and Joe line up to practice. John got a rep for speaking Mandarin with a Boston accent, and Joe's hair attracted a certain amount of attention.
These are the sets we were to learn. In two and a half days.
Our spear set teachers. The baby-faced one on the right was a real hard-nose.
Our sparring techniques teacher. AKA Mr. Smiles. Really sweet, really nice, really enthusiastic, really fast, really strong, really good. Everybody's favorite.
Speaking of sparring, here I am, practicing some fast kicking techniques with Evan. I started sparring with Solomon, but the poor boy is incapable of throwing a girl. Evan's my student, and had no such problem.
The requisite group shot, with everyone striking a pose.
After that it was time for individual poses—
—which quickly went downhill.
But through the magic of digital photography, our instructors were able to view the pictures—
—and seemed to be amused. I think.
© Lori Ann White 2002