A Brief Interlude

In a fit of nostalgia I spent this evening cruising through the Kung Fu Dorks blog archive. It's almost embarrassing to see how hard I used to train and look at myself now. My training over the past year or so has been haphazard at best: a couple months of every other week training punctuated by a three-week frenzy of kung fu hysteria. Sometimes I am working like a maniac, others I am just plain lazy. But every time I go back to Temple I am reminded how much I love kung fu and how much it has meant in my life.

I stopped blogging- why? I'm not sure. All us dorks are still around; maybe the internet has finally lost its novelty... Blogs are not so hip, if they ever were hip? I guess in the end I thought I had run out of things to say, and I'm not especially fond of when my posts became "Dear Diary" moments. Reading back though, I am realizing that this blog was good for helping me anchor my training in consistent reflection, even when we were talking about Chuck Norris Action Jeans. It's easy to train without thinking and lose the thread of your journey. Blogging didn't make me train more, but it did help me get more out of my kung fu by doing some cyber meditation at the end of every class and getting to share the saga with my compatriots.

This post is quick and dirty and not especially articulate or insightful, but just throwing down this bit of fluff makes me feel tapped back into training - and I haven't even been in three weeks. Sharing our thoughts through the blog, even though it is just with the same people we train with every day, helps magnify the amazing community of friends and Shaolin family the temple has provided. Possibly no one will see this post because the blog is all but dead these days, but it's nice to breathe a little life back into it, even for a moment, and know that the rest of the dorks are out there carrying on. So to sum up: yay kung fu dorks and yay memories. Amituofo, kids.

Sloth Style

Last week, I became a master of a rare animal form- one so closely guarded, only a few people have every had the chance to see it, let alone learn it. But I can now name myself amongst the few who have perfected this rare art: sloth style.

In the past we've talked about how KF can be so addictive, that you go into over-training mode without realizing it. You have to take a serious step back and assess yourself when you might be injured. It got to where the only way I could keep myself from training, and rest my body, was to leave all my gear at home.

Then somewhere in the middle of the summer I got deluged with activities and obligations and I was only making it three times a week. "That's okay," I told myself. "Three is still plenty to maintain." then I needed a week of rest. Or two. And I was still only getting three a week. "That's okay. You need to let your brain reboot also." Then I hurt my back and it all went downhill. "That's okay, you don't want to seriously injure yourself, you want to be healthy for the China trip." The voice in my head continued to smother my guilt. A back injury is really hard to push through, because it affects nearly every move you do and you end up so frustrated and in pain that it really is a downer to even come to class. But I knew I couldn't use that excuse forever. Still... "That's okay," the voice in my head continued to reassure me. "Reboot yourself. You have the rest of your life." Stupid devil on my shoulder. Never listen to that little voice. It's the siren song of your doom.

Suddenly, China deployment is this Saturday and I only trained ONCE last week. What the heck?!?! I came to Level Two ready to punish myself, but I realized I lost the chance weeks ago. Somewhere in there, I crossed over from the training addiction to the laziness addiction. Now, I'm glad I realized some balance in my life, and got other extracurriculars going. And I really had a blast this summer. But ONCE? It's amazing how quickly you find the joy of sitting on the sofa and reading for hours, or wasting a lazy sunday in the coffee shop and the park.

This is exactly why I over-trained. Because I knew as soon as I allowed myself the possibility of not training just because, that I would rapidly slide into sloth. Moderation is not a strong point of mine, and balancing in the middle has always been tough. Now suddenly I am slow and heavy and sloppy; my endurance is shot. I'm not sore, but what does that get me? I have to be
representing in China in just a few short days.

Hopefully, tonight's training will help kick start a successful week's prelude. While it won't have me back jumping higher and moving faster, at least I can re-coordinate and sharpen what I've got. And heck, whatever happens, I'm gonna be in Ch-Ch-Ch-China! Maybe everyone else will be learning mantis and tiger, but I'll show them something they never saw before. Sloth Claw!