A Thick-Skinned Grapefruit

Something Jinbao said in London has been sitting in my mind a lot, particularly as I work out the soreness/injuries that are keeping my training far sub-optimal (thanks to point cutting, the Lion posture, and a touch of Phoenix stuff, I still can't supinate my left wrist without fairly sharp pain and doing things like the dishes is kind of agony -- darn, I can't really do them...). He said that you have to "work through a lot of bitter to get to the sweet" in Yin Style.

As I think more and more about it, considering the difficulty of the art and the fact that Jinbao readily says that he "gets sore too," I'm convinced that the analogy that might fit best is that of eating a very thick-skinned grapefruit, only without the luxury of being allowed to peel it.

The peel, of course is harsh and foul tasting, which is probably the experience that many new folks have when they first meet the art: the postures, the training, the turning... all of it burns and hurts and is rather miserable in many ways. Eventually, we get used to that, which would be a bit like getting into the pith of the fruit, I think. It's dry, it's bitter, and it contains many of the "nutrients" of the art. This is the tough part... persevering in the pith, and it lasts for a very long time, it seems, in the quest to become skilled. In fact, it seems to be more and more fibrous and bitter the further in we proceed. Finally, at last, the pulp of the fruit is waiting in the middle... the sweet. I've chosen a grapefruit, rather than an orange, for my analogy, however, because I have a feeling that "the sweet" is still poignantly bitter in a variety of ways. Grapefruit, though, is an acquired taste that once obtained tends to be a particular favorite.

Well... now I've got two things to do: keep working on my wrist and foot so I can get back to proper training and go get some grapefruit (so I can make one of my all-time favorite beverages: grapefruitade, which is the most refreshing drink possible).

Recipe (good post training, particularly if made a bit thin): Freshly squeezed juice of 1 or 2 grapefruits of any color.
1 or 2 parts water (where 1 part is the amount of juice from the fruit) or more to taste
Sugar to taste (a quarter cup per pint of juice is my usual, but that makes it quite sweet requiring more water for me).
Mint for garnish if you're into that kind of thing.
Serve cold or over ice.