Trying To Get By

This has been an off week for me as I have been extremely busy with work. Actually, that is not the reason at all. I have been distracted by some things happening with my mom. Last year she had a heart attack and had to have 3 stents put in. Only 1 was successful so she has had some issues since then. She had to go for testing this last week and will get the results on Monday. She is scared as she doesn’t want to have to go for surgery again and I can’t blame her.

I have been trying to not dwell on it, but it keeps creeping back into my mind. I don’t know what I am exactly feeling but it is somewhere between fear and acceptance. She has been through a rough year and I sometimes wonder what more I can do. I know when the time comes, I will regret not trying harder so I do what I can now.

This kind of went down a dark road and this is more for myself to help me remember where I was at this point in my life.

The End But Not The End I Hope

This past weekend was the last of my Sanda Seminar and I am going to miss it. I learned a lot about myself in how I move and how I improved over the 6 weeks. The last class started the same with some footwork warmup drills and then moving into some takedown drills. I had the participants switch up partners because of a recent blog by Todai Ferris where she talked about the difference in working with a different partner. I think the change made it more challenging but also more rewarding for them.

I was also asked if they would do actual sparring in the seminar and the answer was no. It was something I had planned on maybe doing at the end but I didn’t think it was the best use of time. If you have 2 combatants and 5 judges, the rest of the participants are standing around and watching. They would have got something out of this but I think they got more out of actually doing something.

The drill we worked on was a shoot with a double leg takedown. This drill was great because it has footwork, centering, energy transfer, skeletal alignment and follow-through with commitment. Hopefully everyone saw the value of this technique and I will be at the next open training if anyone wants to ask questions or would like to work on some specifics.

The Week that I Wish Wasn't

It has been a rough few days for me and I have been not wanting to talk about it but I also want to talk about it.

I had to attend a funeral on Saturday for my Uncle. Then 2 days after on the 10th was the day my dad had passed away a few years ago. I tried to think off something else to right about but nothing was coming so I just figure this is what I needed to do. There is a unique relationship with this uncle and it was a native ceremony. I will expand on this in my next blog I think

Form Reps

I came to a realization this past few days that I have let some bad habits sneak into my forms and I need to start removing them. The way I am doing this is mindful practice while evaluating every move in the form. This has slowed my repetitions down but is providing some great insights.

My goal for form reps this week was not met but I did get more reps in than I have been so it was successful in that aspect. I am going to keep the same goal for my I Ho Chuan forms this week and see if I get closer as this week.

A Weakness

I am still trying to catch up on projects from the summer that didn’t get finished because I was away for work so much more it seemed like this year, I have been lucky that the weather has been not too bad so far and hopefully I can finish a couple more yet this year.

We were asked in Thursdays I Ho Chuan class if we knew our weakness(es) and I know I have more than one but I also know which one is my biggest. It is not a technique or a part of a form but it is a mental one. I sometimes do not prioritize or dedicate enough time to practicing my form. There are all kinds of reasons I could give but it really is sometimes just me not prioritizing them. It is something I need to rectify so I have set a goal of performing each of my I Ho Chuan forms 5 times a day for the next seven days. I will see if this is doable and I will follow it up with a new goal next week.

The seminar is going well I think/hope and Sifu Ryback was there on Saturday which made it a lot easier to manage. As I stated my goal is to try and help everyone improve their sparring but to also make sure, they are getting what they want out of this. So, if you do attend, I will probably talk to you at some point this week to see how you are finding it.

Upcoming Seminar

I have spent a lot of my time these past couple of weeks preparing for my Sanda seminar. My thing is I want to cover as much as possible but I also don’t want to rush through things either. This balance is what makes these types of things exciting and also a little nerve wracking. I am also making sure that it is tailored to all different skill and comfort levels as well as for people who have to modify certain things. This also adds an extra challenge to it.

So far, my work travel has also slowed down for the year and I will not be making any long trips as I will be here for the next 6 Saturdays for sure.

Blank Sceen Kind Of

I started this blog with a definite topic in mind but it is not working out to transform it into words. It was mostly going to be about not getting frustrated when you receive corrections in class as it is only designed to make you be a better Martial Artist. Also, the person giving you correction is not doing to be mean or trying to make you feel bad, but generally wants to help you.

I sometimes have to remind myself of this and to also then be honest with myself. This is more in relation to being on the A demo team or the B team. I know I will be on the B team because I haver not put in the practice required for my forms yet this year. But I am working on them and I feel like I am improving. I think I am going to end this here as I think I am starting to ramble.