Effortless Effort - Hmmm!

Sifu Brinker's recent blog The Ultimate Paradox has led me to some deep contemplation after reading content and statements that I found very thought provoking. I love a blog that gets me thinking and asking myself questions. Thank you, Sifu Brinker.

Statements that my current self is in agreement with:

Balance and effortless effort are temporary states

Change is constant

The only true steady state is change

Engagement is key

A couple of conflicting thoughts and realizations come to mind:

Do I strive for balance? Oh yes, and I have experienced perfect balance in my life for one full day. I remember the day as being effortless and my intention for relaxation happening as planned with the added benefit of additional unintended tasks getting done with ease. The day was balanced and flowed perfectly. Nothing was forced.  It was that balance and ease that had me not only accomplishing more than intended but also feeling that my much needed relaxation hadn't suffered in any way. 

Do I strive for effortless effort? Is this my intent? No not really.

If not, then what is my intent? Well I would have to say my intent is to apply the tools provided via IHC requirements and at some point understand their value. I want to develop a routine and consistency that works for me factoring in adjustments as needed. And if and when effortless effort occurs it is a very welcome outcome of effort and engagement.

Have I experienced effortless effort? Yes for brief periods of time. During those times I’ve not recognized or thought of them as mediocrity though. Is this because I've yet to fully understand, recognize or even admit to mediocrity creeping into my life? There is already plenty of mediocrity in my life without looking for it in my successes. It will be interesting to read this blog as future me and see how my thoughts and perceptions have changed.

What I do feel is the ease and efficiency of what I am achieving during those effortless moments. I suppose there are moments of mediocrity within that go unrecognized, but I mostly feel a sense of achievement and a natural flow to my life during moments of effortless effort.  It is that ease, efficiency and flow that helps to inspire me and propel me forward on my journey to mastery. My experience is that I actually end up achieving more.  

Balance = effortless effort = mastery? I think this can be true if I don't allow myself to become complacent or too comfortable. Instead when I make use of the flow and momentum that balance and effortless effort create I am continuing my journey towards mastery.

Just some thoughts and reflections I wanted to include in my journey for current me and future me.

 

Demo Day!

Beta day has arrived! I know that some of us are excited and some are nervous or maybe a combination of both.

For anyone experiencing nerves or anxiety I thought I'd share some tools that have worked for me recently. With my first in person second degree class I knew anxiety would be an issue so I made use of a breathing technique that Sifu Hayes has taught us in a previous IHC class. In addition to the breathing I also added in some shaking therapy. As I stepped into the Kwoon that Saturday I still felt nervous, but everything felt more manageable and I was more relaxed than I thought was possible and enjoyed the class!

Breathing technique - 3, 6, 9 Pranayama breathing technique. The 3-6-9 breathing technique, involves breathing in for 3 seconds, holding the breath for 6 seconds, and exhaling for 9 seconds. This breathing pattern aims to reduce anxiety and help people relax.

Shaking therapy - I use a specific technique taught to me by Sihing Cosgrove. Hands at side of head, fingers spread, energetically moving/shaking hands with intentional breathing. Approximately 2 minutes.

Another tool I came across recently is the positive affects of the Power Pose. Take a look at the TED Talks below. There is a condensed version, but I recommend the full version if you have the time.

Amy Cuddy's TED Talk - Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks-_Mh1QhMc

Amy Cuddy's TED Talk - More Confidence in 2 Minutes (Condensed Talk)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7dWsJ-mEyI

See you on the mats!

Beta Hand Form

I am not naturally gifted when it comes to weapons and yet I love the learning curve and nuances that comes with different weapons and how my body needs to move and adapt to each weapon. Put a new weapon in my hand and I mostly feel awkward. It takes a lot of practice and understanding of the weapon before I will start to feel comfortable. 

One may think a hand form would be somewhat easier to develop without a weapon to wield. And yet interestingly I seem to be struggling a bit more with the creation and development of my hand form. Some of the struggle is within the creative process which does also happen when I build a weapon form. I'm also struggling with understanding the hows, whats, and whys of building a hand form. There is so much knowledge to apply. Even though this is my own form I feel there are more parameters and more options to consider than that of a weapon form. All great struggles to have as they will lead to increased knowledge, understanding and skill. 

As I piece together my hand form I have been focused on potential opponents, my block/strike sequences and the flexibility within each for adaptation, which will hopefully help me to be less rigid in my thinking and create more realistic imaginary opponents. Creativity and applying my knowledge and skill in a way that expresses me as a martial artist has been the most challenging and the most rewarding when it comes together.

My hand form was almost complete at the beginning of the week and for some reason I thought hmm..., maybe I should seek out some feedback. It's that feedback that you least expect that can be the most beneficial when it comes from a trusted source. Needless to say I received some great food for thought and observations. My initial very brief thought was that I would have to rework most of the form. After a very quick mental recalibration I was able to shift my perspective to utilize the majority of what I had while reworking a few techniques and pieces here and there. I am feeling even better than I was with my original version. What was needed was more flow within the styles of kung fu that I had originally incorporated into my form, less cookie cutter moves and adding more creative me. Having respect for a tried and true 2000 year old martial art is also on the top of my list as I build and then refine my hand form throughout the year.

Aha Part 2 - Dots Connected

 

Wow! What an amazing IHC class and what an amazing night. The class started out like most and ended with a big finish. My first thoughts are gratitude to Todai Poitras for her engagement and feedback while sitting on the bench. She provided me with some valuable feedback as I practiced my broadsword form and helped me to make some necessary corrections.

Towards the end of class Sifu Hayes had us working on a technique moving from a horse stance into a bow stance with a reverse punch.  My ability to retain my center is usually pretty good so the transition was mostly feeling good and the timing of the heel connecting to the ground as I delivered the punch was bang on. Or so I thought. 

Aha moment #1 - Turns out that I am shifting my body slightly and coming up out of my center. Ok this is great feedback and awareness to have. As I started to apply this feedback I found myself wanting to implement a slide step of sorts with the back foot in order to keep my center. I know this is not necessarily wrong, but it would not be true to the exercise Sifu Hayes was having us do so I continued on until I felt I was making the transition as intended and not coming up out of my center. Keeping the purity of the exercise helped me to feel even a very small amount of upward movement and loss of center. I'm not sure exactly how to describe how I feel when my centered is maintained. The best I can describe it is I feel fractionally lower/weighted to the ground and internally relaxed yet somewhat compressed at the same time.

Aha moment #2 - I continued to work on this after class and had a followup conversation with Sifu Hayes about what I was feeling and noticing. This led to a discussion about the similarities of the slide step forward and punch technique. Sifu then brought up linear and rotational energy into the discussion and talked about the energy going down into the ground and out through the punch. He also then talked about the rotational energy that is needed from the hips. I feel like I am more of a linear person and often have trouble or forget about the rotational energy component so it was great to have that insight and reinforcement.

Aha moment #3 - Sihing Ward and I had a discussion about class at home which led to an old issue I had experienced quite some time ago. Interestingly the issue had been with the slide step forward and punch technique. Hopefully this makes sense: Back around blue belt I was finding that with a slide step forward followed by a punch my hip would rotate towards the back instead of towards the front. For example with a slide step forward followed with a right punch causes my right hip pulls back to help facilitate the connection of the heel to the ground, opposite of what it should be doing. It's almost like a double rotation. Rotate forward and then ricochet back connecting the heel with the ground and the punch.

When Sihing Ward had me do a jab reverse from a bow stance I was doing it correctly. He pointed out the correct hip rotation and then we compared it to a slide step forward and punch which causes issues for me. From a stationary bow stance or even with a projection step my hips move as they should.  It is just the slide step forward and punch that has been an issue. The conversation with Sifu Hayes and then the conversation with Sihing Ward complimented each other and bam!! The dots connected and everything made sense. And an old issue that I never did completely rectify because I wasn't completely understanding concepts or able to make the necessary connections suddenly became very clear. I am looking forward to making the necessary adjustments and seeing/feeling the results.

Aha moment #4 - Read my previous blog titled Aha.

 

Aha!

I had some aha moments during class last night and after class. Discoveries and insights continued even at home. (That will be a separate blog.) As I was thinking about those aha moments I realized how my attitude had changed from when I was a blue belt. At blue belt level the aha moments were happening often and I remember that euphoric feeling and wanting more. 

As I was thinking about these wonderful new aha moments my thought process had also changed from wanting more to wanting and needing time to integrate these discoveries into my Kung Fu. That in itself is a game changer for me and it's own aha moment.

Mending a Relationship

As I thought about my week and started to write this blog I wasn’t sure how it was going to fit into my Kung Fu. Then suddenly with minimal effort it fit perfectly. I realized some of the issues I've been experiencing lately are about relationships and mending the relationship I have with others and myself. Mending a relationship just happens to be one of our team requirements and can be relatively simple or complex depending on the situation. Some of us shy away from this requirement as it can be uncomfortable and challenging. I know there have been past IHC years that have gone by without much effort on my part towards fulfilling this requirement.

In more recent years I have done some work on this requirement and have discovered it is not just about a desired result, it is about the effort and journey towards a desired outcome and the resulting internal growth. While I don't have control over others, I can develop self awareness and self control when it comes to my thoughts, my words and actions. I also know that my efforts need to come from a place of love and compassion towards myself and towards others.

“What we see in others is often a reflection of ourselves.” I know this statement to be true and yet I still find myself occasionally overlooking those life lessons that I’m presented with, which is why they repeat themselves in some form or another. During times of high stress I typically retreat inwards and am less aware and unable to recognize or accept what I see in the mirror. As a result there has been repetitive lessons thrown my way over the past few months.

There are 2 people in my life that I am finding challenging and difficult to be around lately. I could choose to limit my interactions or even remove both individuals from my life. This action would lesson some of the associated stress, but wouldn’t address any underlying issues and life lessons and I would be caught up in a never ending loop of negativity and disfunction.

With a bit of help from a close friend this weekend these lessons became very clear. The lessons I have been presented with are about respect, not making assumptions, focus and effective listening and communication. Some big lessons learned and aha moments. Now that the awareness is there I can be more mindful of my thoughts and actions and take ownership of the role I play. Willingness to work on the lessons provided will help me to improve my relationships with others and build a better relationship with myself.

Another big piece to this is taking ownership of the part I play without letting it consume me. I am often very hard on myself and it can be very easy to beat myself up when mistakes are made. As per Mastery by Stuart Emery: You must be able to correct yourself without invalidating or condemning yourself, to accept results and improve upon them. Correct, don't protect! Practicing forgiveness towards myself and others will help to facilitate healing and love. In doing this I am strengthening relationships with others and building a stronger relationship with myself.

The reflection of ourselves that we see in others can be very positive as well. All the great qualities that I recognize in other people are also a mirror of who I am as a person and show up to help reinforce my potential and my greatness. I've seen this quite a bit. Greatness is in everyone of us. It just needs to be recognized and tapped into. I don't think of greatness as being boastful, I view it as being humble and best friends with mastery!