Gung Hay Fat Choy!

13 Chinese (or partial or none) fighters rolled into the The Creek for a Chinese New Year party that went something like this…

Mosey around the church building running backward for the first length, forward for the second length, backward fro the third length and forward for the final length.

COP – All IC – 50 SSHs (different cadence… see below), 50 LBCs, 20 merkins, 20 copperhead squats, 20 crab cakes, 20 imperial walkers, 10 don quixotes, arm circles.

Year of the Dog (curb crawl)

Curb crawl with (dog crawls are kinda like bear crawling, right?) 11s with merkins and flutter kicks on each end.

Chung-Kuo (the Middle Kingdom)

• Do four 4x4s at the first corner while facing the building
• Run to the first corner and do four 4x4s facing the building
• Run to the second corner and do four 4x4s facing the building
• Run to the third corner and do four 4x4s facing the building
• Return to the first corner and do four 4x4s facing the building

The PAX went to pick up the six and completed the exercises.

• Do one 4×4 at the first corner while facing the building
• Run to the first corner and do one 4×4 facing the building
• Run to the second corner and do one 4×4 facing the building
• Run to the third corner and do one 4×4 facing the building
• Return to the flag and do one 4×4

Lo Mein

• Plank up side-by-side
• Last person army crawls (gets “lo” and noodles their way through) under until all of the PAX has cone

Back to the flag

• 20 IC flutter kicks

Numberama, Namerama, Announcements, YHC took us out.

Announcements

• Breaking Bread this Sunday evening
• 2nd F gathering at Rise & Shine Diner on Thursday mornings – Wild Thing leading the charge!
• EH guys as the weather warms up – let’s get guys back with the PAX!!

NMS

YHC remembered earlier this week that today was the Chinese New Year. Being that YHC is half-Chinese (Dad is Chinese, Mom is German/Welch), it called for a workout based on that theme!

The PAX stormed into the parking lot with a purpose. Rounders rode up to an ovation on a bike (with child seat attached in the back). Someone asked if he had given YHC a ride to the workout. Minimal laughter on that one… We were all glad to see Rounders back since his work has prevented him from coming in the mornings. He always helps us take the workout to the next level!

YHC took liberties to give some family history during the COP. YHC’s grandparents (Dad’s parents) met “on the boat” in transit from China to the United States in the early 20th century. YHC’s grandfather was in the first class part of the boat and his grandmother was in the lower class part. Filet mignon was being served in the first class part but YHC’s grandfather wanted rice and vegetables so he found a way down to the lower class area. Who did he sit next to? The woman who later became his wife and YHC’s grandparents! It was like the Titanic romance story but the ship didn’t sink!

YHC then shared that his Dad wanted him to blend into American culture and that is why he didn’t learn the Chinese language. YHC only learned a few phrases and one was “Gong Hay Fat Choy.” This is said on the Chinese New Year as a way to wish someone great happiness and prosperity.

After all that was shared, YHC alerted the PAX that his Chinese background would make it into the rest of the fun (even if it sounded borderline insensitive at points but I can go there since I have China in my blood!).

YHC called for SSHs as the first exercise and renamed them “jumping chop sticks.” He also shared that he would be seeking to give the Chinese blessing of great happiness and prosperity through the IC. He proceeded to replace (1-2-3…) with “Gong Hay Fat Choy.” YHC didn’t realize how much energy it would take to call out all 4 syllables for the full 50 SSHs IC. That almost destroyed him out of the gate. But, we all rallied.

The “Year of the Dog Curb Crawls” provided ample pain for the PAX. Hardywood, as expected, crushed the effort. Opus wasn’t too far behind and he demonstrated his increased bear crawling ability! Mudface called out the fact that he was trying to teach his sons to be more culturally sensitive but this workout could set them back years. Aye!

The “Chung-Kuo” 4×4 throw down also gave opportunities for muscle failure and fun! Chung-Kuo refers to China as the “Middle Kingdom” and the Chinese belief that they are the center of the world. It is the Chinese and then everyone else. Hardywood commented, “They were the Millenials before there were Millenials!!”

The 4x4s turned toward the center to pay respect to this middle kingdom… Wild Thing more than kept pace and showed that the double respect (killing it in his 60s) is well-earned by this brother. A few of 2.0s set a lot of the pace and kept everyone on offense for the whole deal.

The “Lo Mein” exercise was originally going to focus on the crawl but someone shouted out that we would be forming “The Great Wall of China” and that is what we did! There was an odd break in the wall at one point as one of the 2.0s didn’t line up shoulder-to-shoulder. The dynasty would have been threatened by that hole but, alas, we did not have to worry about that this morning.

We ran out of time or we would have fired up “Beef with Broccoli” for one of the final exercises. It would have been “Partner up. One of you is Beef. The other is Broccoli. Partner carry as far as you can go around the building and then switch. Keep switching until you have made it around the building.”

The whole PAX came to play today and earned every bit of pain and strengthening along the way. I couldn’t be more proud of this crew. I also couldn’t be more grateful to have the opportunity to be on this team with so many men who are seeking to reject mediocrity and the “sad clown syndrome” that pulls at every single one of us!

Go eat some Chinese food and celebrate! Call out “Gong Hay Fat Choy” but please do not do SSHs while yelling it in public!!

The Carpenter