Quote Originally Posted by -N- View Post
Some people don't need much excuse to skip class or training.

Sometimes our teacher would say, "Next week is Xmas/Thanksgiving/New Year. Do you still want to come to the park?"

We always said yes.

On the days that it rained, some students would stand under the trees. A few of us just kept training in the rain.

One year, the San Francisco Examiner newspaper wrote an article about things people do on Super Bowl Sunday instead of watching football. They mentioned practicing kung fu at Golden Gate Park, and showed a picture of the Panhandle.
One time in Taiwan I went to Mantis class at the park one morning. Traffic was light for Taipei, few people were out and the bus was nearly empty, and as I got there, it was starting to get windy and rainy. VERY windy and rainy. I started doing some stance work when I realized NOBODY else was around. As it got worse, I had to walk the 3 miles or so home; there were almost no more vehicles on the road. It was a typhoon bearing down on Taiwan. Of course, I'd been aware that one was coming for a couple-few days, but had somehow forgotten(!). I finally made it back soaking wet, and was fortunate enough not to get hit by any flying debris.

I suppose I could exaggerate and say I used my kung fu to survive a typhoon. But in actuality, I got caught in a typhoon for the sake of kung fu.