Training at a higher level

This cold weather is making it a bit tricky to train outside. I can bundle up but when the grass is all wet, it gets a bit slippery. I've been practicing the sword form that I've made for our tournament a lot. There's one move in particular that I've had to work on over and over again. I do a flying spinning crescent kick and then I have to land and continue to spin, spiraling myself down into a tiny open X stance and extending my sword arm out to the side, almost touching the ground with the tip. It's pretty hard to balance when doing the spin at the end. For a while I always had to put my hand down to keep from falling on my butt. Well I've been practicing it like crazy and experimenting with different footwear and I've managed to get it down. It's a really cool move and I can't wait to pull it off in the tournament.

I participated in a demo at the tri-leisure centre on saturday. It went really well, everyone did a great job. I'm really glad that I agreed to it because I think it was great practice for the tournament. I wanted to see how nervous I would get and if it would mess me up. I did alright, making only one tiny mistake, and I managed to stay calm enough to actually enjoy myself. Now I'm looking forward to the tournament again. Not just to getting it over with, but also just because I think it'll be a lot of fun.

UBBT stuff is going ok. I'm falling behind on sparring again but after the tournament, I'll have more time to spend on it so I should be able to catch up. BJJ is going well. I'm getting in about 3 or 4 hours a week now so I'm making progress. My teacher is actually really good. He's straightforward and practical, qualities that I appreciate, and he treats me the same as any of the guys. It was a bit intimidating to train as one of only 2 women in my class but now I'm feeling a lot more comfortable there.

Master Brinker was talking about commitment in the brown belt class last night and it really made me think. He was talking about making kung fu a priority and having to sacrifice certain things to do that. I started thinking about the things that I've sacrificed and will continue to sacrifice. Then I started thinking about all the black belts in our school and how many sacrifices we've all made collectively. I bet it's a lot. Then I went even bigger and thought about everyone in the world who's ever made sacrifices to practice kung fu. I'm sure that some people have even sacrificed their lives. Looking at it that way certainly makes me realize how easy I've got it. So I don't get to see my friends and family as much as I'd like, I still have the freedom to train as much as I want.

Next week I'll post a bit more about commitment.