Too many swing thoughts

         In golf players can have the issue of having too many swing thoughts at address and this can cause problems with their game.  Every so often they'll make good contact, but mostly they'll mishit.  I find the same is true with my Kung Fu.

        When I'm working on a form, I limit the number things I'm focusing on to a maximum of 2.  Any more and I start messing up, losing my place, or freezing.  Basically I cause a mishit.  Like golf, I tend to focus on the intent in my forms and technique and work backwards from there.  Foundations are still important; in golf for instance, you need to make sure your grip and approach to set-up is appropriate for your swing, the connection of your external harmonies (especially hips and shoulders, hands and feet), etc..  For Kung Fu, we need to make sure our stances are solid, have rotation, proper crane stance, our harmonies in alignment, etc..  That's my starting point.  Then it's a matter of setting an intention and doing the form.  I'm not mindless when I do this, but at the same time, I don't have an excess of thoughts going through my head either.  If my goal is to solidify my stances, I usually pick a certain stance, and when it comes time for that stance I exaggerate my presence.  Otherwise, I go through the form, as best I can, being present from moment to moment.  Having said that, if my intention is speed or going all out, the presence starts to get cloudy, as the external exertion is so loud.

        Trust that my body is going to do what it needs to with the intent I've set is key, and leaving out all the rest.  If something needs to be tweaked or worked on, I stay very specific to that 1 thing, and don't let it interfere with the rest of the flow.  The rest is practice, practice, practice.  Evaluate where I'm at, and then more practice.