Fighting with my Weapon

         Expansion and contraction seems to be a common theme lately.... This time it has to do with my weapon.  I had a strong intention with my choice of weapon this year, I wanted to use a heavy weapon to help with generating power from my hips and my center.  Even though I've made progress with this, I've had some snags too.

        There are two areas in my form in particular that I've struggled with.  Both have been identified as an expansion and contraction issue.  The problem I was having was rectifying in my mind the difference between keeping my center of gravity low, and physically being low.  I had no issue keeping my centering low, however I was staying too low for my weapon, and essentially fighting the natural flow of the weapon.  In both instances the weapon wanted to pull my body up, which I wasn't allowing, and thus the movement (strike) felt weak or off.  I have since allowed the weapon to lift me up without sacrificing my centering (expansion), allowing me to really sink in and solidify my stance on the strike (contraction).  I easily linked this to Lao Gar, with the big movements, and am trying to incorporate this more into DMH.  I am finding DMH harder with this, but making some small progress.

        Long story short, I went into this year with the intention of using my weapon to create more sensitivity to my center, and learned a lesson about expansion and contraction instead, by allowing the weapon to do what it wants to do naturally.