Swinging unnaturally, naturally

         I like to use golf analogies for my Kung Fu, because I think they have a lot in common.  When it comes to my forms, it is a lot like my golf swing.

        At the beginning I'm learning movements that don't feel natural, even though they are the most efficient way to move your body and generate speed and power.  A lot of the times you think, oh, it should be this way, so why isn't it working?  So you get a swing coach, or in this case an instructor to teach you.  It always starts with your foundations: footing (stances/lower body), grip (upper body), head/posture (where are you looking, how is your skeletal alignment), take away or back swing (six harmonies, expansion/contraction), follow through (six harmonies, expansion/contraction), and finish (release of power and recovery).

        So, you've learned all these foundation, your stance, grip, etc., and now it's time to practice.  At first it feels weird, and you're trying to force your body to resemble what you're supposed to be doing.  You hit some good shots, and you hit some bad shots.  You have your swing coach/instructor give you feedback about what's going right and what needs improvement.  You work at it on the range, or at home, and you start to develop your own eye for detail and your feeling of the techniques.  Sometimes you have way too many swing thoughts in your head that are secretly creating tension in your body which ultimately throw you off.  Sometimes, you can ignore all that noise and just move your body.  So, you take swing after swing, movement after movement, feeling and analyzing.

        Ultimately, the movements that once felt unnatural become your new norm, and the goal is to have your body move freely without having to force it.  I"M NOT THERE...YET.  I have the knowledge and understanding.  I intellectually know what to do and how I should look, however, some of my movements are still forced, some of them are going back and forth on the pendulum trying to find the sweet spot.  It is a work in progress and always will be.  The hope, like the pros, is to limit your miss-hits, and if you do, recover and move on.