Yep, that's me. That photo was actually taken several months ago, shortly after having earned our orange sashes. And now just last weekend, we all earned our blue sashes. It feels like it's all going by so quickly.
The benefits have been many. For starters, I've lost twenty pounds! I was kind of disappointed for a while there, as I seemed to plateau with the weight loss, but I know that I'm also building muscle, so I'm trying not to get too discouraged.
Some other benefits...
My breathing. I think the tai chi especially has helped with that. I feel that the deep, steady breathing has increased my lung capacity. Obviously, I can't say for certain that this is the case, only that it certainly feels as if it is.
My strength. I just generally feel stronger. You know that heaviness you feel when you're getting out of a pool? Well, I used to experience something similar to that just going up steps and getting out of bed in the morning. I can't remember the last time I've felt that.
My back. For about a year or two before starting Kung Fu, I experienced mild, intermittent lower back pain. This kind of freaked me out, because back problems seem to run in my family. Up until I started feeling the aches myself, I thought I had been spared. When I started Kung Fu, the pain just gradually dissipated. It got to the point that I had completely forgotten I had ever had it, that is until I got sick and missed an entire month of training. It's alarming how quickly one can fall out of shape. When the aches came back, I realized just how much I had improved with the Kung Fu, and it kind of renewed my resolve to stick with it.
My stamina. It hadn't occurred to me how this had changed until I spoke to someone else, who expressed disbelief over my having taken several back-to-back classes. It was a Saturday, and we had all taken a record five classes, four of which were taken in a row. We're usually at the school all day on Saturdays, so it just makes sense to take advantage of all of the available classes while there. It didn't register with me at the time however, that just one short year ago, I had trouble making it through just a third of a single class. Progress!
And last but not least, I can't articulate how fun it is to be involved in all of this with my family. Really, I never even fathomed our finding one common activity we would all enjoy this much, especially now that the kids are getting older, and that their interests and hobbies have become so varied. We always have willing practice partners, so that's just an added bonus. Because we're able to practice so much, I really feel we're all getting the most of this experience. And while our tiny apartment is over-run with sparring gear and practice weapons (five of everything!), it's been more than worth it.
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