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Foo rose up early to greet the dawn. As he stepped out of his hut and looked across the temple grounds, he noticed the abbot waving him down. “Foo, I have a mission for you to undertake. I was approached by some villagers from the Wuxi province, and their small farming community has been under attack by a group of 5 demons every year for the past 4 planting seasons. As the ground is to be tilled in about 30 moons from now, they came to ask for our help in ridding them of these monsters.†“Master,†said Foo with some curiosity “that's terrible. I will certainly do what I can to help the village, but I do not know much of demons. Also, I know only my meager kung fu, and have no magical weapons to defeat a demon horde.†The abbot stroked his wispy beard slowly as he spoke. “Well, your kung fu should have all the answers you should ever need for any battle in heaven or earth, but what you will need to know is that the land of Wuxi is riddled with dangerous cliffs. One must have the firmest of stances to hope to do battle there. You should be certain that your training has covered that before your go. Also, the 5 demons do battle by harnessing the 5 elements into their attacks. You would be wise to be certain that your knowledge of alchemy is worked into your kung fu so that you have an answer to any elemental attacks. Last, only a fool would battle demons at night, so you must be certain to be at your peak as soon as you rise in the morning. With these 3 things and keeping yourself well, I believe that you are ready for your first real mission outside of the temple.†Foo bowed deeply, “I'll get to work immediately, sifu.†So, for my upcoming challenge, I have 3 primary additions to add to my normal training. 1. Make sure my footing is steady. During a seminar in the United States, Chen Qingzhou was asked: what was the most important thing that someone could do to improve their tai chi. He Responded “I will tell you exactly what to do and it will improve your health, tai chi, your martial and mental abilities, and will only take you three minutes a day, but you won't do it.†“Why won't I do it?†He was asked. “Because I've said this many time and no one follows through.†“Well, what is it?†“Stand,†and he assumed a Zhan Zhuang (post stance) The first part of my challenge will be to stand in a deep Zhan Zhuang stance, and attempt a standing meditation for just 3 minutes a day. This will be in addition to my normal seated meditation, but with a heavy emphasis on holding a 90-degree knee position. I'm sore just thinking about it. 2. Answer for the 5 elemental attacks: If you have much knowledge of taoist philosophy or Chinese medicine, then you're sure to know of how the 5 elements support or destroy each other. Over the next 4 weeks, I plan to learn the 5 elemental fists and the linking sequence for them from Xingyiquan. (Actually, I already have learned the basics for the first two, but should be able to get the other 3 by the end of the challenge.) This is to make sure that I don't slouch on what is a non-primary art for me. 3. Be ready to fight early in the day: This is a modification from my last challenge which included waking up every day and immediately doing Wudang 5-animal qigong. This time, let's summon the sun with a bit of Surya Namaskara A & B (Sun Salutation A & B ). I think that a A, A, B, A pattern upon waking will get the inner fire going in my body, so before I even get dressed in the mornings, I'll be doing this every day. *these are to be done in addition to my circuit training, tai chi training, and now...regular vinyasa class. Still abstaining from alcohol and eating a paleo diet with heavy focus on raw vegetables. ...and best of luck to my fellow druids. *bows deeply*