Chinese Teacher/Martial Arts Instructor/Music Teacher/Composer/Session Musician.
gay/grey-ace/polyromantic.
Married to Baian.
08/13/1996.
25.
Rat (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Minglong Lin on Mar 22, 2019 23:37:36 GMT -8
Minglong had spent the last few months helping to put together several martial arts demonstrations that his classes, from little kids up through the master class adults, would be putting on over the course of the first farmers' market of the year. He'd volunteered to help run the booth along with several other people who taught courses at the temple, and he'd brought several instruments with him to help in various demonstrations throughout the day. Their booth was mostly an open space with pads put down on the ground so that people could walk on it barefoot and also so that they could do some of the showier martial arts demonstrations safely.
Around that space were various mismatched tables, pulled from the various rooms in the community center part of the temple, with explanatory pamphlets for the various services and classes held at the temple. Some of them also held various crafts that were for sale to raise money to keep the temple running. Minglong had helped make quite a lot of decorative calligraphy over the weeks leading up to the farmer's market, and he'd be doing several demonstrations during the day. There'd also be introductory classes for qigong and wushu and other demonstrations including a tea ceremony.
Once the booth was fully set up, Minglong went and got his erhu from its case and sat on one of the cushions that they'd brought and played it, not terribly loudly, to create ambiance for the booth. He was sitting near one of the tables so that he could answer questions as needed, but there were other people also helping to run the space.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2019 8:32:57 GMT -8
At the Buddhist Temple booth, Dakota looked at the list of demonstrations that they would be having that day. Some of them sounded cool, but currently there weren’t any going on. He looked at the man playing an instrument, but it was not loud enough for him to feel the sound vibrations. He would probably be able to feel them if he touched it, like he touched his Mama’s piano when his she played it, but she had made sure he knew that touching a stranger’s instrument was rude.
He looked at some of the crafts for sale, and then he was about to move on and to the next booth, when he glanced at the mats, which currently had nobody on them. He stepped onto the mat. He wanted to make sure that Rose didn’t feel like he was pulling on her leash, so he gave her full leash keeping a hold of only the handle, and signed for her to lie down next to the mat. She lay down, and part of her body was on the mat, but he hoped that nobody would care. He stood on the mat, and started punching and kicking, pretending he was fighting a bad guy.
Words: 204
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Chinese Teacher/Martial Arts Instructor/Music Teacher/Composer/Session Musician.
gay/grey-ace/polyromantic.
Married to Baian.
08/13/1996.
25.
Rat (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Minglong Lin on Mar 25, 2019 21:25:10 GMT -8
Minglong smiled at the kid and the two women with him, possibly his moms based on the dynamic that he was seeing. He was a little bit startled when the little boy went and started pretend fighting on the mats, but not terribly. It wasn't that uncommon for kids around that age, and there were listings about the martial arts demonstrations and classes up at the booth.
He carefully tucked the erhu and its bow back into their case and placed them in one of the bins under the table where they would be safe, and then he came over to in front of the boy to watch his technique. The dog didn't seem to be a guide dog, since the the boy had left her at the side of the mat, but she was clearly some sort of service dog.
Minglong crouched down to be a little closer to kid height and caught the boy's eyes before asking, "Do you want me to help you with throwing a better punch and kick? I'm the martial arts teacher at the temple."
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2019 8:51:34 GMT -8
Dakota noticed the man approach him, and crouch down in front of him. It suddenly occurred to him that maybe he was not allowed to use the mats. Both of his mothers, neither of whom had seemed to think that their son playing on one of the mats would not be okay, noticed. They quickly got into Dakota’s line of vision, next to the man.
When the man started speaking, both of his mother’s started translating what he said into American Sign Language, but his Mama quickly stopped and just his Mommy did the rest. They knew that it was easier for him if only one of them was signing for him.
Dakota smiled and nodded at the offer. He was excited by it, but also a little worried. It was not uncommon for people to find out that he was deaf and then not want to deal with him.
Words: 150
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Chinese Teacher/Martial Arts Instructor/Music Teacher/Composer/Session Musician.
gay/grey-ace/polyromantic.
Married to Baian.
08/13/1996.
25.
Rat (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Minglong Lin on Mar 27, 2019 1:22:09 GMT -8
Minglong worried for a moment that he was going to upset the boy when the boy's mothers, he was fairly sure now, rushed over, but then it became clear that it was for interpretation purposes. He smiled reassuringly at the boy and glanced up at the two women, but made sure that he was still easy for the boy to watch, and said, "I haven't yet had the chance to learn any of the American Sign Language, I know some Chinese Sign Language but it is very different, but I can still show and explain some things. Thank you for translating."
He turned back to the boy, keeping his speaking slow so that his mother would have a chance to translate and said while demonstrating, "When you do any punches or kicks, it helps to start from a steady stance. It means that you do not lose balance when doing things."
He put his left fist at his waist and pointed to it with his right hand saying, "For punches, there are lots of places to start them, but I usually start with teaching with the hand at the waist because the movement is easiest to show."
He slowly extended a punch, keeping his shoulders squared and his wrist straight, and let it snap into the final position. He said, "It is important having the wrist straight, and the thumb on the outside of the fist. To keep the balance good, you do not lean into the punching. It does not actually make stronger punches to do that."
He smiled at the boy, dropping to a rest position and said, "Do you want to try?"
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2019 7:57:47 GMT -8
Dakota was happy to notice that he did not seem to care that Dakota was deaf and needed one of his mother’s to translate for him. Dakota paid close attention as he demonstrated, and his Mommy translated.
When asked if he wanted to try, he did the sign for yes, and his Mommy told him yes for him. He then wondered if he should have nodded instead, so he did that too.
His Mamma suggested that she take Rose, while he do this. That did seem like a good idea, so he handed her his dog’s leash. Fortunately having her leash in another person’s hands did not affect Rose’s ability to do her job.
Dakota put his hand into a fist, with his thumb on the outside. He set it by his waist, and stood up straight. He hesitated, for a few seconds, and then punched straight out into the air, with a smile on his face.
Words: 157
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Chinese Teacher/Martial Arts Instructor/Music Teacher/Composer/Session Musician.
gay/grey-ace/polyromantic.
Married to Baian.
08/13/1996.
25.
Rat (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Minglong Lin on Apr 4, 2019 23:59:07 GMT -8
Minglong smiled and nodded and gave a little clap after Dakota did a good punch. He said, "That was very good. You should try it with the other hand too."
He waited for the little boy's mom to translate, and hoped that he was making it clear that he was paying attention to what the kid was doing.
Then, he switched to demonstrating a simple front kick. He said, "When you throw a kick, you want to make sure that your weight is solidly over the foot that you're standing on. It can be a good idea to move all your weight to that foot first."
He showed the weight shift while he waited for Dakota's mom to translate for him. Then he said, one of the most important parts of throwing a front kick well is bringing up your knee, so that's always the first thing that I have people practice. You just bring your knee up fast to a little bit above the waist while keeping your balance like this."
He showed the movement a few times as well, not finishing the kick yet, and watched to make sure that Dakota's mom was done with translating. Then he continued, "When you throw the kick out, you make sure that your foot is stretched forward like standing on your toes, and your toes are pulled back as much as you can, that way, you hit a surface with the strong part on the ball of the foot. Once the foot is like that, you quickly snap forward the kick and quickly bring it back."
He did the kick quickly once, then he showed the movement in slow motion so that Dakota could see what he was doing. He smiled at the little boy and said, "Do you want to try now?"
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