Defining the Weapon

I had a Sifu during class a quite a while ago tell me, probably like most of us, to relax the shoulders...relax the shoulders. At the time I couldn't feel any tension in the shoulders and I didn't fully understand what she was getting at. I tend to have trouble comprehending some of these things until I can find an analogy or a way to visualize it mechanically. Once I reach this understanding I can apply it to what I am trying to do and successfully move forward. This time around Sifu provided the analogy. She said, "Think of an animal prior to attack or being attacked. They are supple, there is no definition to the muscle structure, they are fully relaxed. That is until they either defend or attack, then you can see every muscle in their body and the speed is lightening quick and a lot of power is applied." I also ran into a quote in one of my Bruce Lee books that I have been reading a lot of lately that reminded me of this as well.

Recollection and Anticipation-recollection and anticipation are fine qualities of consciousness which distinguish the human mind from that of the lower animals. They are useful and serve certain purposes, but when actions are directly related to the problem of life and death they must be given up so they will not interfere with the fluidity of mentation and the lightening rapidity of action.  

These analogies came to me the other day when I was working on the heavy bag and going through my forms. When I am striking or moving, I'm thinking of what I am doing in deep detail and constant checks and adjustments. I am anticipating the attack or defense, so I tend to load things up slowly and then complete the technique to definition and apply full power simultaneously. This effects my transitioning, speed, and timing to a point of feeling jammed or held back like a rubber band. So I applied this mindset by doing my best to completely relax every muscle I could, attempting to move and transition light as a feather, keeping the over abundance of thought out of the equation and leaving the intention and power out until I needed it. 

Well the results were pretty cool as I found I place resistance in almost everything, the anticipation or thought being the main cause. It's not like I wasn't aware of this before or applied the rotation and power at the last second, but I feel now the awareness is more defined, a deeper connection with my Kung Fu. I seem to have improved the fluidity, my speed has increased substantially, I run on intuition rather than focus, and that full body snap is more powerful. I can transition better and I feel a lot more relaxed when practicing and full body execution is definately defined with a great snap. I still have a ways to go and it's not perfected by any stretch but I am aware of the flaws that occur more keenly and this awareness comes into effect even with my weapon now so this is great. Once I get a good handle on this then I can dive into the deep complexity and disciplined reservation of separating form from application, while not thinking about it.....one thing at a time.

I have also been doing a lot of core work to improve my stability and gain more power from my center. Needless to say the core is everything and I have been placing a lot of focus there with all kinds of exercises. I am making good results but the crucial area I failed to keep in check was stretching and I paid the price for that last week, painful lesson indeed.

Weight lifting has come into my training as well and it feels great. Nothing over the top, just enough to build some endurance and exercising the small muscles as they are the most important as they keep the joints from blowing apart. I have adopted a hand grip exercising thing, whatever you call it that I can adjust from 20-90lbs for those soft tissue hand techniques. I practice these on the bag and find that if you don't have strong hands, you'll hurt yourself and the technique is virtually ineffective. I use different hand configurations during push ups as well to not only strengthen the hands, but all the muscles that will be dispatched when applying said techniques as well. So this is going well.

An area which I really really suck at and need to improve and change is writing my training down consistently. I somehow fail to recognize the value, I know better too but still can't seem to penetrate my thick skull. So I had to get tough on myself here and carry my book around with me....everywhere! I have adopted the mindset that this is just like my field progress reports I have to do as a superintendent. If I don't do my reports I have to answer for it. If I don't write my progress down then I never did it. I am not gaining any returns on my investment and failing to pay myself first. I won't have a successful year with out this tool so I better step up my accountability and make it happen.

Lastly my axe form is coming along well but I am stuck in one area in particular that is affecting weapon timing during a stance transition. It's a technical area so those are always fun to troubleshoot, but I believe I have a solution that will be a nice addition to the carnage those two poor suckers are going to experience for getting cute! I'm sure you are all experiencing similiar issues with your formwork. We all know that as your form evolves, so do other problems. However, this is progress and it's nothing that can't be fixed through exploring yourself and your weapon with more practice drills and from reps. All on the quest for awesomeness! See you on the screen.