Years of practice

We all start somewhere. Each person will have their own starting point and skill level. 

As a white belt, do not expect your techniques to look like a black belt techniques. You will get there one day but it takes years of practice. 

As a black belt, I do not expect I will have as pristine techniques as my instructors. I will get there with years of practice. 

Going deeper

When doing many repetitions of forms I find it is hard to maintain deep stances. I can list many reasons for this - muscle fatigue, can complete the form faster, I’m just focused on sequence. But when I do focus on good deep stances the form feels better and looks better. 

Working with weapons amplifies the need for good deep stances. You can see and feel how your skeleton alignments better, how your vector of power is better defined. You are also working the muscles harder which will make them stronger. 

We keep hearing “lower your stance” and there is a good reason for that!

Why is it important to learn how to lion dance or how to dragon dance?

Other than the obvious reasons of team work, improving the team spirit, fitness, etc. there is also the benefit of making sure Kung fu is not becoming another MMA arena. Kung Fu is an art that existed for centuries and it will only exist in the future if the same spirit is maintained. In order to keep the spirit of Kung Fu, one must learn the history of Kung Fu and immerse themselves in the Kung Fu culture which a very important part of it are the lion dance and the dragon dance.

One More

The One More concept is an important mindset I’ve learnt from sifu Prince many years ago. 

The idea behind this was that you always do one more than what you are told during warmup. 20 push-ups become 21. 50 jumping jacks become 51. 

Always push yourself a little more. Don’t stay in your comfort zone. 

Vocabulary of Motion

I’ve been working lots in the last few months to better define what vocabulary of motion means. Sifu Brinker often uses the analogy to speaking. The way I see it, at first we learn words. Then we learn how to combine them in a sentence that makes sense. Then you are mastering your speech by changing the speed of your speech, the tone, the rhythm, the fluctuations, etc. 

There is so much to learn in martial art on how to master your techniques, put them into a sentence, find the right rhythm. It is a journey that will keep me evolving.

Well-Oiled Machine

An event like the Chinese New Year banquet can only be successful with good planning, proper execution and the ability to make adjustments as the program progress. We had a group of people preparing and planning days and weeks before the evening started. And even a bigger group of people helping and making sure the banquet goes as planned. 

With a new venue, there were many unknowns and it was great to see the adjustments done to ensure a successful night. There will always be issues that in retrospect we could have handled differently. Growth is built on learning from success and failure. 

What’s important is to make sure we are learning from the past and not experiencing the same year after year. Growth from success or failures will only happen if we actually do something to fix it next time!

Simple but yet powerful

In the last week Sifu Brinker was teaching us one simple drill - jab, hook, reverse. So simple but it amazes me how much is in one simple drill.

Foot work, speed, distancing, pace. power, the 6 harmonies, targeting, working with a partner, position play, attention to all detail - and more.

This drill can be used to teach so much. It is these type of lessons that make me love Kung Fu. Simple but yet powerful.