As my 4th year anniversary of training at temple approaches, I have been reflecting lately on what these 4 years have meant to me. I have changed so much these 4 years and I have also changed very little. My chi and stamina can be extraordinary at times and other times, like last night, very lackluster. I am still inflexible. I still haven't achieved a middle split or a side split and I definitely haven't kissed my toes. I am afraid to acknowledge it. There is a 4 year plateau. Who am I kidding? There's a daily plateau. How do you break through that ceiling and climb above? Many have quit or left the the temple to pursue other endeavors, training, and start families. Why do I choose to stay? How do I reconcile the many hours I spend a week kicking and jumping? In my mind, it is the best form of exercise; the best form of meditation. Relationships, love, and friends have come and gone from my life. Only One thing has remained constant - my dedication to training at the USA Shaolin Temple. I stay not because I don't have anywhere else to go. I stay because there's so much more to learn.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Faster and Higher
As my 4th year anniversary of training at temple approaches, I have been reflecting lately on what these 4 years have meant to me. I have changed so much these 4 years and I have also changed very little. My chi and stamina can be extraordinary at times and other times, like last night, very lackluster. I am still inflexible. I still haven't achieved a middle split or a side split and I definitely haven't kissed my toes. I am afraid to acknowledge it. There is a 4 year plateau. Who am I kidding? There's a daily plateau. How do you break through that ceiling and climb above? Many have quit or left the the temple to pursue other endeavors, training, and start families. Why do I choose to stay? How do I reconcile the many hours I spend a week kicking and jumping? In my mind, it is the best form of exercise; the best form of meditation. Relationships, love, and friends have come and gone from my life. Only One thing has remained constant - my dedication to training at the USA Shaolin Temple. I stay not because I don't have anywhere else to go. I stay because there's so much more to learn.
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I stay with you!
ReplyDeletePlateaus can be merely a point of view. If you change the way you see each movement it becomes new. So things seem repetitive right now, so try to deconstruct one move per day. Right now every time you do Cetitui it feels like what you think Leo's Cetitui should feel like - it's familiar, it's on the road to being "right" but what if you change the angle of your foot, lifting up slowly and exploding down, exploding up and relaxing down? Do the opposite of what you think is right to find newer ways to do things. It may feel completely against everything you've been doing till now, De may yell at you but maybe just maybe it'll show you something you've never noticed before about that move and change the way you do Cetitui forever! Give it a shot. Deconstruct. See what happens.
ReplyDeletelove and Qi