Brandi Gets Humbled (Again)

Kung Fu (and I'm sure other martial arts) has a funny way of teaching humility.

A couple of weeks ago I left my Friday class feeling pretty awesome. I'd been complimented on something by my instructor, I'd picked up something new pretty quickly, and I had noticed an improvement on my flying techniques which I've been working on lately. I was starting to feel a little bit proud of myself and that I was on the right track as far as my training was concerned.

I've been going over my goals with Master Brinker and there was one in particular that I'd been struggling with in my attempts to refine it. Master Brinker helped me figure out that if I wanted to improve my sparring I needed to improve my footwork and centering. It took me a while to wrap my head around this because I always thought I had a good sense of center. So now something that I had considered a strength turns out to be weaker than I would like and is affecting other aspects of my training.

Then we were working on our side kicks in class last week both in the 2nd degree brown and the black belt classes. I realized that my foot position is not perfect! I know that it was at one time but in practicing lately I must have let it slip a little. So now I have to work on my foot position as well as on my eye for detail because I really should have noticed. I knew something was feeling off about that kick as of late but for some reason couldn't see what it was.

And lastly on a hike on Saturday I sprained my foot and so now I've been off work for 3 days and hobbling around the house bored out of my mind. The only productive thing I've done is my push-ups. It's a very humbling thing not being able to walk without help. I'm usually a very independent person so having to ask for help all the time is not my cup of tea.

There you have it. Never assume that you've got it all figured out even a little bit. That's the biggest challenge about kung fu, and the biggest joy! I'm not saying confidence is a bad thing but there's always room for improvement, nothing is ever perfect, and no matter how long you've been in it you never stop learning. It's pretty exciting if you can see the bright side.

Life is Living

I consider myself a fairly high energy person. There are times when I feel tired and worn out but I think it's more of a mental state than anything else.

The things that make me feel drained are the drudgery of the daily grind. Get up go to work, come home, go to sleep, do it again. We spend so much of our precious time at work, paying bills, doing what's expected of us in this society that we have very little time for the things that really matter. Why should we have to choose between spending time with family, or doing kung fu or any activity that we love? It's hard to get pumped to do something and accomplish meaningful things when we have a pile of boring errands and work troubles weighing on our minds.

I see so many people around me in similar states. I'm so lucky to have kung fu to keep me grounded. Otherwise I'd likely be just like the so many people in so many houses in front of the TV every night. When I walk by and glance inside I just want to bang on the window and shout at them "What are we doing? Wake up! Get out there and do something. Live your life!". I don't though. I'd be called crazy if I went around doing that and who am I to judge them anyway?

I'm not sure what the solution is. Should we all go back to the days of pre-industrial revolution before the invention of regular working hours and consumerism? Maybe it would work but at this point it's a bit unrealistic. All I can do and all I can encourage others to do is to get involved. Be a part of a community, get excited about something, enjoy the simple things in life, move your body, connect with people. Care. Do something!

Life is not shopping, life is not watching the tube, life is not keeping up with the Joneses.

Life is Living!