Class got cancelled today, so when the ladies kidnapped me to go to the Y, I did my baguazhang there.  Did a longer session than I’ve done in a long time, and though I’m still unsure about the proper alignments in the “base walking mode” for my current system (and with internal martial arts, you never try to simply ape your instructor’s movements when you’re clueless, because God only knows what bizarre internal linkages he happens to be working on), I’m trying to put in a much more constant practice than I have in some time, since I’m going to be out of the country for a month and then have to miss a crapload of classes.

So it was really nice when I finished up today, and my forearms had some of their old softness back.  I can’t feel all the way around my forearm bones yet, as those deep inner muscles are still too tight, but loosening is definitely starting to happen.  No idea if I can actually hit again yet, but that’ll come.

I used to do about two hours every single day… and missing something intellectually is one thing.  Getting a taste of one’s old physical state back, even if I now have a half-dozen training-related injuries I didn’t have back then, is a real treat.