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.

Stay the course

Jiu jitsu gives me a sore neck! All that lying down and pushing yourself up onto your shoulders is really hard on the neck. I have a massage booked for tomorrow before work and I'm really looking forward to it. I hope it helps. I know that after I get used to it and the muscles get stronger, it'll be much better but in the meantime I need some relief. I wonder if anyone else is experiencing this.

On a positive note my cousin Jena is a physiotherapist. We did an experiment last week. I did the splits as far as I could (after warming up of course) and then she asked me what muscles felt tight in that position. She did some acupuncture on those areas to relax the muscles and then I tried it again. What a difference! I reduced the space between myself and the floor by about half. I decided that I'd go and see her for future sessions to relax some of the other areas that have tightness. I'm interested to see what improvements we can make. Maybe I can get her to work on my neck too.

Things are going well for my preparation for the tournament in May. My practice schedule is regular and I'm seeing steady improvements in both forms and grappling. All I have to do now is stay the course and I should be able to have some success at the tournament. In contrast to previous years, I am actually looking forward to this one. I've managed to overcome some of the performance anxiety so that I can actually enjoy myself now. It's a lot more fun!

Practice staying calm

Jiu Jitsu this week was cool. I've gotten more into the class. We're starting to learn some really cool stuff that is pretty exciting. We learned something called a helicopter armbar that was really fun. It looks so complicated but it's actually easier once you start practicing it. Now that I get to participate in class with everyone else as a fellow student, I'm enjoying it more. I'm learning more too I think.

I've been trying to focus on getting ready for the tournament in May so I'm practicing my forms a lot and just squeezing in as much grappling and sparring as I can. It's not that far away anymore though. I was hoping I'd be further along by now. Well, I'll jsut have to keep practicing and do my best. In China we had a demostration day every wednesday where we performed our forms for the instructor one by one. It was really nerve wracking but Im glad that we did it now because I'm hoping I won't be as nervous at the tournament. Our instructor there said that the reason we did that every week was to practice staying calm in stressful situations. It works too. Week by week it became easier to get through the class and not get really nervous.

New Perspectives

I'm all better. I took a few extra days off on pretty much everyones advice and I think I made the right decision. I'm back to doing push-ups and I'm not feeling any pain at all. Now I can start playing catch up with that.

I started training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu this week in order to get my grappling hours done in time for China. I'm still going to have to practice outside of class but at least now I'll have an arsenal of things I can work on. In some ways the class was really different from kung fu and in other ways it's the same. A lot of the basics are similar to ours. We learned how to get up safely after being taken down and I realized Master Brinker taught us that in class already. The more I learn the more I realize what a great instructor he is. Being in China and taking BJJ has really made me appreciate Silent River and Master Brinker. I'm so grateful that our training has been so well rounded over the years. I really enjoy learning a new style so far but I don't think I'll ever fall in love with it the way I've fallen in love with kung fu. I find that every time I learn something new that's really cool, the thing that excites me the most is taking it back and trying it out in our class or showing it to everyone to see what they think. I hope that I continue to learn some neat things with BJJ but I really only want to round out my kung fu training, not replace it.

Last night Master Brinker gave us an inspiring little talk about our progress. I was balking a bit at having to buy an expensive jiu jitsu gi that I'm only going to use for 4 months but he mentioned that if we thought we didn't have the money to train at what we wanted, our priorities were messed up. I know that he probably didn't mean to direct that at me but it was exactly what I needed to hear. I've decided that in order to make up for the cost of the gi I'm going to stop buying lunch every day and more diligently make my own at home. I'm sure it'll be healthier and cheaper in the long run anyway.

Last night was inspiring for another reason. Hearing about everyones trip to Alabama and how they felt about helping people and associating with high level martial artists was amazing. I can tell that it made a really big impression on them. They were both humbled and proud(of our teams hard work). I really see that they've had a powerful experience that will probably change their lives for the better. I'm proud of you guys!