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May 11, 2009

The New Jet Li

Posted by Kelly

When I began my adventure to China I really wanted to break out of my comfort zone, try new things, experience the culture, and be adventurous. So far I think I’ve done pretty well by traveling by myself, sightseeing, ordering at restaurants, eating new foods, etc. If you have ever seen the movie, “Yes Man”, I’m trying to live like that and say, “Yes,” to opportunities I receive.

Last week I was definitely out of my comfort zone when I volunteered to attend new exercise classes at the gym. The first class I tried was Hip Hop Dance.
[Side note: My dance background includes my two left feet, no coordination, and even less rhythm.]
The class began with some basic steps and stretching. Things were going good and no one was pointing and laughing at me trying to dance; I would call that success. The class did progress with intensity. We were learning a short routine that involved simple, but hard movements. I did my best to keep up and not fall on my face. It was actually a really good workout and the whole group was a sweaty mess by the time we were done. I’m not sure if I’ll go back to this class. It was fun, but not really my cup of tea.

On Friday I intended to go my favorite class, spinning. Of course I was number 14 when there were only 13 bikes. Luckily, a Taekwondo/Martial Arts class was just about to begin. Another girl who couldn’t get into the spinning class suggested we try that one instead. I’ve never done any sort of martial arts and I was hoping I wasn’t the only one. The class started with a warm up of jogging in different styles around the room. Nothing I couldn’t handle. Then the stretching began. This wasn’t the normal ‘touch your toes’, stretch your arms type of stretching. No, it was INTENSE, move your body until you hear your bones snap type of stretching. I’m not very flexible so every stretch left my muscles burning and begging for me to stop the torture. The first stretch that brought tears to my eyes was the splits. I can’t remember a time when I’ve ever been able to do the splits. When the instructor demonstrated I gasped. I looked around to see if others were laughing to make sure that the splits idea was a joke. No laughter was heard. I did my best to try not to scream in pain as I tried to move my legs close to the floor. A lot of the students in the class were able to do the splits like it was no big deal. The instructor went around to all of us and moved our legs into the correct positions and even volunteered to push us down by putting pressure on your shoulders. He didn’t try this with me as he could see the fear in my eyes. When we were told we could stop, I slowly fell to one side and couldn’t move for a few minutes. I gained some stretch to get pull myself up for the next horrific stretch─ The Butterfly. I’ve done this stretch numerous times and was excited for the nice break from the extreme movements. (The butterfly stretch involves you sitting on your bottom while putting both feet together so your heels are toes are touching in front of you. Then you use your elbows to push your knees slightly so you get a good stretch in your hamstrings.) The teacher instructed us to do something in Chinese. I quickly figured out that he wanted our knees to touch the floor! I didn’t think it was possible! The teacher assured me it was possible by helping each student have their knees touch the floor. He went around and gently pushed our legs down so they were stretched beyond the normal limit. I didn’t think he was going to help me, but I was wrong. I kept saying, “Ok!”, “Ok!” Meaning, “Stop otherwise I might loose my ability to ever use my legs again.” But he kept pushing until my knees were touching the ground. I wish I would have taken a picture because this was probably the last time this would ever happen. After that I unfolded by legs and had to retrain them how to move and carry my weight.
The class continued with kicking, yelling while we kicked, and some random exercise like squats, push ups, and crunches. I accidently kicked the instructors hand once, but hopefully I wasn’t the first person to ever do this. I felt bad and apologized in English, but I think he understood that I was apologetic.
Overall the martial arts class was a really good workout. I’ve finally managed to be able to walk normally again (due to the pain from the horrible stretching) so I might give the class a second try. Who knows, by the time my internship is over I might be a cage fighter who can do the splits!