We're Different People

         Wednesdays class involved doing triangle choke hold, one of my favorite techniques.  When I got home, my wife had a couple of our friends over and they asked me how class went.  Being a lil' cheeky, I said we got to choke each other out, with the biggest grin on my face, I might add.  To which we had some banter over it, basically because I was so enthusiastic about it and I don't think she could understand why.  At the end she replied "we're different people".  Yes, yes we are.

        Truth is I don't talk about my Kung Fu a lot with my friends, unless prompted.  I know they don't get it the same way I do.  The aforementioned conversation for instance.  On the surface, it seemed to my friend that I just like inflicting pain.  Well yeah, that is true on the surface level.  The real reason I love that technique is so layered though.  Yes, caveman Nigel likes the fact that I can make person pass out by doing xyz, but it is a high level technique that we are taught to pull off safely.  There is a level of intimacy with our training partners because of the amount of trust we put in one another when practicing this technique.  On top of that all, it also relates to my knowledge of anatomy and the why the technique works so well.  Put that all together, and its a freakin' cool technique, hence the ear to ear grin I get when I talk about it.

        Kung Fu is such a big part of my life, that I feel I miss out on talking about it with my friends; but then again we all have our own things that are special to us, and that is okay too.  I am very grateful to the community we have at Silent River, and that I get to share my love of Kung Fu with you all.

        The other thing that has been on my mind is how are personalities influence our Kung Fu.  This came up from a comment in class a couple weeks back.  I've worked on letting go of the tension in my shoulders when doing techniques, but that I still hold a lot of tension in my body.  I suspect that that will always be something I'll need to work on.  I think I'm just a wiry person in general.  When I'm relaxed, I'm relaxed, but when it is go time, I'm instantly on and holding tension.  Same thing is also why I tend to have my energy more forward, and thus my centre of gravity tends to be slightly forward, ready to jump in.  That's all I got.  Train of though done.