Captain's Blog, Stardate 2012.11.15, Starship U.S.S. Enterprise - The Kung fu effect

So I didn't attend monday or tuesday class this past week, as I was in a knee splint to let my knee tendon recover. I also did not attend open training this past saturday. Which meant I went a full week without going to kung fu, or working out.

Most of the time, it is not so obvious, the growth and results of your investment in yourself through your kung fu. This past week, after taking a whole week away from kung fu, I found myself getting edgy, stressed, and the things on my mind were going nowhere. I didn't realize how much I needed the recharge every time I train, until I went yesterday night, and when I left, the world took on a whole new shade of colours. Weird description, but most apt.

During my forced "rest week" I still thought about my kung fu, visualized my forms, thought about all the things I needed to work on, which is good at first, but after that, without doing it and letting that motion generate new thoughts, it stagnates quite quickly. So I guess what I am trying to say is two-fold:

1) It's not always easy to be aware of the benefits and the mental recovery that your kung fu provides, but it is there, and even after just one week of forced rest, I left the kwoon a very rejuvenated person.

2)Consistency is key. Consistent training, but also consistent reflection, and when you are training, to be engaged, to be present, to be focused, not to just phone it in, going through the motions. And upon reflection, to do the things you have thought about and apply them, to find what it feels like and to improve from there. One is insufficient without the other.

This probably seems pretty obvious and straight forward, but sometimes seeing how it applies in your specific scenario might be a bit difficult. I am a little stressed recently, and was considering taking yet more time from my kung fu to push at these other things that were bothering me. But I realized after, that it is because everything else is closing in on me that makes it all the more important that I do go to kung fu, injuries aside.