Transfer of Power and Staying in the Power Zone

         Last night was a great class, for I got a chance to challenge myself in a different way than usual.  With it has come many thoughts.  We were asked to find a partner that we don't usually work with, so I chose Todai Burke, because I think she is a great martial artist and thought I could learn something from her, and because in comparison to me is a smaller opponent.  

        The technique we worked on was a sticky hands/snake technique and required us to get into the power zone of our opponent and redirect their energy.  This is where things got interesting for me, and pun fully intended here, sticky.  Not because I was sweaty, but because I would go to intercept and stop my opponents power in its tracks.  I really had to figure out a way to move everything so that I could practice this technique the way it was intended.

        Thoughts that arose were:

-Well if I actually was against a smaller opponent, I'd probably utilize a different technique;

-I've worked with smaller opponents in relativity to my size before in the past, this shouldn't be any different;

-What am I doing wrong?;

-What can I change to make this technique work for me?.

        These thoughts and questions perpetuated more questions and more thoughts.  What was different about last night compared to the past and working on these sort of techniques?  Well, for one, and probably the main one, I'm different.  I've learned to hold myself in my power, and not just go into my opponents power zone, but hold my own power whilst there.  A lot of that has to do with learning to lower my centre and have my skeleton work with me.  In the past I didn't have that yet, so if I was working with someone with less mass than me, they could throw me off.  So what I ended up doing last night was softening, coming out of my centre, my power a bit to work on the technique.  It took me a while to realize what it was I was actually doing, but there it is.  I had to sacrifice some of my power to allow some movement.

        A benefit of softening and giving up some of my power was increased sensitivity.  I could feel my opponents energy better and where they were trying to go which I could then redirect, and it allowed me to feel more the internal movement within me too.  It felt weird, especially when I'm used to having to be really solid, but I was starting to get used to it.  Made me realize that I want to train with other people so that I can develop this more, because this is such a valuable tool.

        I have so much gratitude for that lesson we learned last night, and for Todai Burke that had the patience and allowed me to work through this, and I'm excited for more.