baileshe
White Belt
I already posted in the women's forum but figured I'd do so here to make it official. 
At the tender young age of 39 (I am now almost 41), I returned to the study of Northern Shaolin after a more than 15-year hiatus from the art. Prior to abandoning my training in my early 20s I studied the art quite seriously for only 2-3 years, so I am very much a novice. I am so excited to be back practicing and learning! I am in the guan 4-5 times per week, 2-4 hours at a go; and am preparing for my first-ever full-contact sparring competition which will happen in November of this year (I may do one or two smaller regional tournaments beforehand to get my feet wet, we'll see). Getting back into it was like riding a bike: a rusty, creaky bike with square wheels, but riding a bike nonetheless.
I don't know how much I will post here as I am extremely busy: in addition to my rather intense MA training, I am an ADAPT-certified parkour coach and own my own parkour training company, a full-time high school French teacher, and a retired ballet dancer on faculty at the school attached to the company I used to perform with. But I am happy to lurk and read and learn from all the great experience gathered here.
So, um... hi, I guess.
At the tender young age of 39 (I am now almost 41), I returned to the study of Northern Shaolin after a more than 15-year hiatus from the art. Prior to abandoning my training in my early 20s I studied the art quite seriously for only 2-3 years, so I am very much a novice. I am so excited to be back practicing and learning! I am in the guan 4-5 times per week, 2-4 hours at a go; and am preparing for my first-ever full-contact sparring competition which will happen in November of this year (I may do one or two smaller regional tournaments beforehand to get my feet wet, we'll see). Getting back into it was like riding a bike: a rusty, creaky bike with square wheels, but riding a bike nonetheless.
I don't know how much I will post here as I am extremely busy: in addition to my rather intense MA training, I am an ADAPT-certified parkour coach and own my own parkour training company, a full-time high school French teacher, and a retired ballet dancer on faculty at the school attached to the company I used to perform with. But I am happy to lurk and read and learn from all the great experience gathered here.
So, um... hi, I guess.
