There was no other way but to have Teacher Niu separate the four of them for study.
"Xia Minmin, Tang Meng, you two come with me. I'll teach you how to stretch and glide first. Follow me! Place your hands on the knee of your supporting leg and glide with your back foot. Make sure your back foot doesn't turn inward and stays parallel to the skateboard."
Xia Minmin and Tang Meng followed Teacher Niu to learn how to stretch their legs and glide around once.
"You two practice leg stretches and gliding first. I'll go check on the other two."
Xia Minmin and Tang Meng practiced stretching and skating around the skating class area. Gradually, Xia Minmin's hands left her supporting leg's knee, and she even tried getting on and off the board.
"Xiaomin, teach me too!" Tang Meng couldn't help but chime in when she saw that Xia Minmin could already skillfully slide on and off the board.
Teacher Niu overheard the two girls' conversation and, exasperated, said to the two boys, "Look at yourselves! You're both beginners, and they can already glide on their own, while you're still stuck in place practicing your center of gravity! If you don't build a solid foundation, how will you learn the moves later!"
Teacher Niu watched Xia Minmin's skating movements and realized that she was indeed very talented; she had already learned to brake with her feet without any instruction.
Tang Meng said excitedly, "Xiao Min, when school starts, we can skateboard to and from school!"
"That probably won't work; there are too many people during school hours!"
"Okay! But I should be able to skateboard home today!"
Teacher Niu had been observing Xia Minmin teaching Tang Meng how to brake while gliding. After seeing that the two had practiced and become proficient, he said, "Xia Minmin, Tang Meng, come here for a moment."
"Teacher, what do you want to see us about?"
"I see that you have already mastered the techniques of getting on and off the board and braking, so I plan to teach you other tricks first. Watch my movements and learn from me."
"This is the closing time."
"This is a skid finish."
"This is the tail brake."
This is a quick-access board.
…
Teacher Niu taught ten movements in a row. Xia Minmin and Tang Meng practiced them once, and Teacher Niu watched them practice a few more times before letting them practice alone.
By the time class ended at 11:30 a.m., Xia Minmin and Tang Meng had already mastered these movements.
The two of them said in unison.
"How about we ride our skateboards home?"
"How about we ride our skateboards home?"
The two looked at each other and smiled. "Mm."
Xia Minmin said, "I want to try how long it takes to get from here to the community?"
Tang Meng added, "We can come to our summer classes on skateboards! We can practice skateboarding while we're at it!"
When they left, Xia Minmin and her friends slung their sports bags across their backs and went home on their skateboards.
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