I have my Kung Fu goggles on

          I think I posted another blog with a similar theme in the past, and yet here I am again talking about.  Before it was in the context of seeing how the different students within the school showed their art, or their forms.  This time it is about seeing Kung Fu outside of the Kwoon.

        Two weeks have passed since starting my Yoga Teacher Training, there has been a lot to learn in a short amount of time.  We start off with morning meditations, and did my first hour long meditation Sunday (more on that another time), then we have a practice, go through lectures, and then we practice cuing each other through a flow.  It is mainly going through the flow that I am recognizing the Kung Fu in.  The different postures, my intent with each posture, how my eternal and internal harmonies are aligning.  Yoga is not Kung Fu, and yet there are a lot of similarities.  

        Our Asanas or postures, are akin to our forms.  There's a sequence that needs to flow, there is breathwork (more concentrated in Yoga, because the inhale and exhale usually cues the next posture), there is work between the external harmonies, and there is work on the internal harmonies.  Like in my forms, Yoga postures can look different from person to person based on their body's capability, and yet the intention and movement are both achieving the same thing.  Yoga is meant to harmonize mind with body and overcome what they call the enemies of the mind, and ultimately lead to enlightenment; Kung Fu is the same really, it just takes a different approach.

        The more I think about it, the more I see the world from my Kung Fu eyes.  I'm taking my Kung Fu out of the Kwoon and into the world.  I struggled with this for a long time, not knowing what my instructors meant, but am starting to realize what that all encompasses.  Sure the easy one is the physical, the way Kung Fu strengthens and balances my body, and how I can use those fundamentals in everything I do.  It is also the lessons we learn about kindness and compassion.  The spirituality of Kung Fu based on the monks who created it, and how ultimately Kung Fu is a step towards peace, not just towards our fellow man, but towards ourself.  It is the lessons we learn about mastery that translates into every facet of our lives.  It is about the work we put and the fruits of those labours.

        What I'm saying, is that I have my Kung Fu goggles on, and the world looks a little better because of it.