Measuring Strength at Lei Tai

I've practiced Tai Chi for almost five years and have loved every session of it. But, sometimes you want to learn something a bit more aggressive.

I signed up for the Lei Tai Full Contact Fighting Team.

Now, for someone who's never been in a successful argument let alone an actual fight (I don't think my days at the D&D table count), there are surely better ways to gain some confidence, get a little stronger, and feel a little braver.

(If you know some, please drop a comment down below.)

But, I signed up, ordered my gloves, and set to training. At the end of Day One, every bit of me felt like falling off and I almost lost my dinner about three times. I couldn't kick higher than my thigh and I'm pretty sure the punching bags received stronger hits from the 3-to-6-year-old class.

I came back for Day 2, Day 3, Day 4 and pushed through the pain. We're at week three now, and I'm happy to report my kicks are higher and I'm remembering to black my head.

But, I'm not measuring my improvement by kick height.

I'm measuring it with how often I don't feel like throwing up. With each class, I'm able to train longer and harder before the exhaustion grips my stomach and tried to shake out my dinner.

We're up to the last 15 minutes of class right now, where before it was about the first hour, and I'm confident in another week or so I'll make it through the full class without any fears of upchucking.