New Perspective

         First off, I have a whole new appreciation for our instructors.  Monday's class had me instructing 10-12 students.  We were going through Lau Gar, and trying to focus on the group was very difficult.  There were some students that knew all the way to the end, but you could tell they were still thinking about the next move in the sequence, and there were students that knew the form really well and were 5-10 moves ahead of the others.  The first round I caught a couple things from some of the students, and on the second go around I paid more attention to the other half.  In the end I was able to pick outa couple of pieces to work on, and when I asked if anyone had any questions I got some good interaction with that.  Good questions too.  Difficult nonetheless to try and pick something to focus on that the whole group could benefit from.  Also I apologize to my instructors for when I had difficulty "sticking together" with the group.

        I've also had the opportunity to instruct a student on Da Mu Hsing 2.  Normally I would just have them follow-me through the movements, but that wasn't feasible with everything.  There were some things I could still show, but I had to flex my brain a bit and find ways to get them to the end of the form without the ability to physically show them everything.  I did manage as of yesterday to get them to the end of 2.  Both this and teaching Lau Gar also forced me to think more deeply about how and more importantly why I do techniques a certain way.  I know I have my biases about how I move, but I do know the general idea of what the move should be accomplishing.  It also made me prioritize differently too.  With the student learning DMH II, my goal was to get them to learn the sequencing more than anything.  I'd gently correct here and there to keep them on track, but was less concerned about certain techniques.  Where as with the group who all knew the entirety of Lau Gar, I could pick apart things more and try to get them where they needed to get too, if only a little bit.  

        Helping out the level 2 class on Monday also gave me a new perspective of my classmates that I was training with just a short while ago.  I could see how they were doing certain techniques in the warm-up.  Side heel was a big one.  I could see why a bunch of students were doing the side heel the way they were, and I'm not saying I'm an expert in the side heel by any means, but I could see how a) limited they were in the way they were throwing that technique, and b) from a sparring standpoint, it was very obvious what kick they were throwing.  

        Then there is the Black Bet class which I am currently benched for, but I'm still there with my notebook taking notes while observing the lessons.  It gives me the chance to see a bunch of great martial artists and watch how they move and interpret the lessons given.  I'm taking it all as an opportunity to hone my eye for detail.  I'm starting to notice more subtleties that I hadn't before.  In turn it makes me realize what I've been doing too and how I have areas in my training that I've probably overlooked.

        Lastly, I've actually been really enjoying creating my twin axe form despite not being able to use my lower body to the extent that I want.  I am still able to create a sequence and play with the weapons.  My main focus is my upper half, especially in terms of letting the weight of the weapon guide me, and getting out of my shoulders.  I can imagine the lower body sequencing enough to get me to where I want to take it.  At some point I will ask someone to perform parts of it so that I can test if it all actually works the way I envision it.  Also I have been using my one-on-ones with Sifu Brinker to dive into our school's lineage.  It is pretty wild, and also just amazing that we are practicing today because of someone who learned from a book and moved to Canada, leaving their family behind.  It is a bit of a messy history, but it is our history.  Makes me really appreciate what we have, because at any point the story could have been different.