Holy-xuanzi, Batman!

Last night walking from Thai Son to the subway, Heng De mentioned to Richu the fact that he (Richu) was always swearing under his breath during training. I can vouch for this as I am often behind him in line and I frequently hear a murmured curse word at the end of a basic. The funny thing was that he didn't even know that he was doing it; it's just a subconscious ejaculation from exerting himself. I think that one of the temple rules is no swearing, I'm not sure, but either way we all agreed that, though unintentional, it was probably not the most chi-positive tendency. With several younger siblings, and a penchant for swearing like a @#%$-ing sailor, I am well acquainted with the difficult task of quitting the cursing. So Richu's new charge is to say the names of moves in the place of profanity to break the habit. I think 'xuanzi' is a good one myself. And Richu said he'll pay you a dollar if you ever hear him swear in class again.

This made me wonder, how many other things do we do when training that we aren't aware of? I try to be aware of my body; I have lots of superfluous physical ticks I am trying to lose, running my hands through my hair or rubbing my eyes , stretching my neck etc. And I know we all unconsciously make some pretty funny faces when we train. But as far as vocalizations, sighs, groans, cursing, I really have no idea. I think mostly this is harmless stuff that doesn't matter one way or another. But I am going to start paying more attention to what I'm saying during class and make sure that there aren't too many discontented moans and definitely no swearing as I go down the line. So many things to think about! Who knew?