Testing is this weekend -- yippee! I'm not trying to be facetious by saying yippee! I am genuinely looking forward to being in the moment, having an opportunity to show Shifu where I'm at.
It's interesting how much can change in just six months. Back at the end of September, I had just finished erluquan, and was feeling some doubt as to how solid I felt, overthought it quite a bit, and then went ahead and wrecked my knee. Nutty! Fear of testing at that point no longer occupied the forefront of my mind; my newfound fear became, Will I be able to regain strength in my knee to the point where I can train kung fu at the same level again? Of course, I was disappointed not to have the opportunity to try for Level 2 with some of my fellow dorks -- Mo, Sucheela and Cheng -- but that disappointment became a mere trace of a thought as I propelled myself through recovery these last six months. I learned to project less towards the future, and to focus on the here and now.
And here we are once more, six months later, with my testing countdown at about 26 hours from now. But instead of feeling anxiety over whether my erluquan will be up to snuff, and whether I'm ready for Level 2, I am feeling pretty calm because I know how much work I've put into training and myself since my return on December 1st. I know the progress I've made since my knee injury. While I still feel a little gimpy at times, and my ability to blast off with my bad knee is still not great (not that it ever was), I feel prepared. I will be able to show Shifu on Saturday that I have worked hard. And perhaps there is still much room for improvement with my knee and myself, but hopefully he will recognize that I am capable of training har-dah.
So, yes, like that seminal band Bush from the mid-'90s urges us, Breathe in, breathe out! Breathe in, breathe out! and all will be fine.
Good luck, everyone!
It's interesting how much can change in just six months. Back at the end of September, I had just finished erluquan, and was feeling some doubt as to how solid I felt, overthought it quite a bit, and then went ahead and wrecked my knee. Nutty! Fear of testing at that point no longer occupied the forefront of my mind; my newfound fear became, Will I be able to regain strength in my knee to the point where I can train kung fu at the same level again? Of course, I was disappointed not to have the opportunity to try for Level 2 with some of my fellow dorks -- Mo, Sucheela and Cheng -- but that disappointment became a mere trace of a thought as I propelled myself through recovery these last six months. I learned to project less towards the future, and to focus on the here and now.
And here we are once more, six months later, with my testing countdown at about 26 hours from now. But instead of feeling anxiety over whether my erluquan will be up to snuff, and whether I'm ready for Level 2, I am feeling pretty calm because I know how much work I've put into training and myself since my return on December 1st. I know the progress I've made since my knee injury. While I still feel a little gimpy at times, and my ability to blast off with my bad knee is still not great (not that it ever was), I feel prepared. I will be able to show Shifu on Saturday that I have worked hard. And perhaps there is still much room for improvement with my knee and myself, but hopefully he will recognize that I am capable of training har-dah.
So, yes, like that seminal band Bush from the mid-'90s urges us, Breathe in, breathe out! Breathe in, breathe out! and all will be fine.
Good luck, everyone!
Good Luck to everyone! I'm sure everyone will rock !
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