Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Me, Myself and I

For those of you who actually read this blog, you might have realized that my fellow dork Hannah and I have been pretty much neck and neck in terms of progressing through erluquan, and it's been a blast supporting each other for each little bit. I love the way during forms practice how we cheer each other on, especially for the dreaded sweep.

Then, this past Saturday, Hannah had the good fortune of being plucked by Shifu from the line to work with Richu on erluquan for thirty minutes. Figuring she and I were at the same spot in erluquan more or less, I went over to Shifu and asked him if I could join them, and he flat out said no. I have to admit, I felt a little dejected by his denial of my request, but I rejoined the line and decided to trudge on in practicing what I have learned already. Happily, about ten minutes later, Shifu called De over to work on erluquan with me, and that lifted my spirits. Shifu told De what I specifically needed to work on -- injecting more chi/extension into my moves. I realized then that although Hannah and I are about the same in terms of progress through erluquan, we each have different things to refine, so to lump us together would not necessarily benefit either of us. In the end, I was happy to have received one-on-one attention from De so we could focus specifically on my kung fu.

So it got me thinking -- while for the most part, I've been pretty good about understanding that what we do is not necessarily competitive and we are to view ourselves as individuals, lately, because I've been so parallel in terms of learning with Hannah recently, I lost sight of that concept. I felt a slight tinge of jealousy that she got to the five kicks (a major milestone!) the other day even though I was also very psyched for her. So I've had to remind myself -- it's not about what my fellow dorks are doing, it's about what I'm doing, and nothing else. Just me, myself and I.

Hannah made a commitment to herself recently to train harder until testing, which includes going to class 4x a week, which is so awesome. I dabbled in doing the 4x thing a bit last year but realized that on the weekend, I really need a day off to tend to other areas of my life, especially with the oncoming stench of my job around the corner. I am very content to train only three times a week, and I have to remember that just the fact that Hannah trains an extra class a week means she'll probably charge forth faster, and I applaud her for it. And the path I've chosen is what's right for me. I have to reinforce all of this in my head constantly, especially now that I might have given myself a new shaolin butt sword, but this time on the other side!

Anyway, last night, not too long after we started up forms practice, Shifu came over and grabbed a lot of us to work on forms, and I once again got paired up with De (yay!) to work on erluquan. I learned all the way up through five kicks! Well, mostly -- four out of the five kicks ain't bad!


13 comments:

  1. I hear you on the twinge of jealousy;) It's hard when I see someone who I've been ahead of pass me, or breeze through parts of a form I was left working on for a month. You're right to remind us that, while it's great to use each other as motivation, the only person we are in competition with is ourselves.

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  2. Hopefully, watching all of us progress will motivate us into Level 2 soon!

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  3. yes we have to remember progress is individual & we all have very different things to work on. i find that i have to do shaolin my own way (which quan tuo & i always differ on as he says there is only the shaolin way) & since i will train into the conceivable future, the milestones are more specific to me than ever. having said that, the chi we share with one another, the encouragement & knowing smiles & looks really make training so fun & so great & at least make me appreciate what a novel experience it is. more chi! harder!

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  4. also, great hair on that de la sol pic! sorry about the new sword butt!

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  5. One of the interesting things that I see happen in the temple is that people constantly want to learn new forms and new moves. As we all know the devil is in the details. While learning new moves may be exciting I have focused more on being exact in each movement every time. How many times during forms has shifu said, "how many people can do mabu?, 3... 4..." And this is one of our basic stances. Just as in any sport always go back to the basics. Everyone should be able to get through all of the forms, eventually. The pace at which you progress is mostly up to you. Are you on a deadline? If not then what is your focus? sharper, faster, more flexiblity, ???

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  6. "Mirror, mirror on the wall .." Classic!

    Hope the new butt sword heals quickly.

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  7. I had this trace of competitiveness when I started learning yiluquan. But then I resolved to tell myself there's no reason I rush - people train at their own pace and my form looked beautiful... :P

    I have this secret admiration for myself when I do any form - regardless of how other people see it.

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  8. Right on! I am secretly amazed at half the things I am able to do now, even the ones that don't look so pretty.

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  9. I am just so happy to be training...I even just practiced what I learned last night in the ladies room. :)

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  10. I LOVE the basics. And I still can't do even 1/4 of them right...yet...

    :)

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  11. We always strive to learn as well as improve. Excitement might come in both areas! Awesome to hear that you guys learned the 5 kicks or almost the 5 kicks!

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