Stick Man

         Last night we went over stick form, and as I was going through the form over and over, my immediate thought was how awkward it was to use a stick that was a) shorter than the stick I use; and b) a lot lighter than the stick I use.  I use an oak stick, so it is heavy and unyielding, it is the appropriate length for my height, and the stick tapers on the ends.  As this thought was going through my head, and noticing how there are definitely parts in the form last night that I was throwing myself off balance, it occurred to me that my form should be the same regardless.  Yes, there are going to be subtle differences in how the weapon handles, biggest differences being the length and weight.  Having a stick that is longer, there are parts of the form where this will make a difference, and with the added weight of the oak, I'm probably engaging more muscle to wield it, and losing some speed in certain techniques, but gaining speed in others.

        In general I know that I have a tendency to throw myself off balance, especially when I'm trying to do a form fast, and it becomes more obvious when I have a light weapon.  Yet, I have a very light and short range weapon in my karambits, and I don't tend to throw myself off balance when practicing with them.  This could be that a form I created I am more in-tune with my intent behind my moves, and having created the form, I am not anticipating my next move.  Probably helps that I went really slow as I created my form, thinking about what technique would be connect into the previous one, what flows nicely, what it is I wanted to work on, etc..  I go back to thinking, it shouldn't matter what form I'm doing, they should all be addressed in a similar manner.  Intent right?  Anyways, lots to think about in how I approach my forms, and how I approach the same form using a different weapon, or even different style of weapon.

        Looking forward to seeing everyone's weapon forms this coming Thursday.