I want to talk more about martial arts because it’s such an important part of my life. Putting living beings aside, I would say it’s the most important. It has changed my life in so many ways, it’s hard to count them. I honestly don’t think I would be alive today without Taiji. That’s not hyperbole. I attribute me surviving that night to love, luck, and Taiji.
Yesterday, I was talking about working out, how thick my calves and thighls are, and a bunch of other things related to martial arts–tangentially or not. I am very muscular, and I have no issue with that. It’s another thing my mother didn’t like–that I wasn’t thin and delicate the way she was. Even when I was anorexic and thinner than she was (which she did not like, either, by the way. The only time she commented negatively when
I was anorexic was when she said very jealously that my waist was smaller than hers), I had thick thighs and calves. I have always been thick in certain places.
I do want to eat better, but that’s another post for another day. I also want to learn to cook simple things, but I highly doubt I will.
Most Americans go too hard on resolutions. The all or nothing mentality that serves no one well. That’s why so many people sign up for gyms in January and barely make it past February. It’s really hard to go from doing nothing to working out five to seven days a week, an hour a day.
I know that it doesn’t feel like much when done incrementally, but you’re (general you) much more likely to stick to a habit that you can do easily every day than one you struggle with and hate with every fiber of your being.
Side note: I’m including a video of my teacher’s teacher and his teacher doing San-Shou (push hands). Tha’s another thing I want to learn this year, but it’s harder as it’s a two-person form.
Oh, speaking of two person forms, there are two-person sword forms, too. I would also like to learn those. This is the problem. There are just too many forms, and I want to learn them all at the same time. Right now, I’m brushing up on my Cane Form and teaching myself the left side of the Fan Form. I think I”ll add learning the rest of the Karambit (not Taiji or Bagua) as well. I only have one of four rows left to go, so it should not be too difficult to teach it to myself.