I am still working on finessing my Fan Form. At the same time, I was fucking up a few steps in the Cane Form, so I went back to watch the videos I had taken of my teacher doing the form. There is one simple movement that I forgot when I first learned the Cane… Continue Reading
I can talk about martial arts for hours on end and never get tired of it. In class today, we went overc the Fair Ladies, which is something I’m struggling with on the left side. It’s in the beginning of the third section of the Solo Long Form, and it’s something that my teacher’s teacher… Continue Reading
I am still thinking about how conceived notions can really mess with your mind. This is because I finished re-teaching myself the Fan Form yesterday, and I got stuck at the very end for quite some time*. As I mentioned yesterday, it involved a toss of the fan, and I kept ending up with the… Continue Reading
I have more to say about martial arts, specifically Taiji and Bagua. Before I do that, though, I want to say that technology can be so frustrating. I mentioned yesterday that the videos I was watching of the Fan Form suddenly stopped working. They were mp4s and were a bit spotty on Chrome, but I… Continue Reading
Let’s talk more about the Fan Form. I worked on polishing it today, and I’ve already noticed little tweaks here and there that I had to make–from learning it this week.. Part of it is my now terrible memory and part of it is just human nature. Also, no one is perfect. While watching the… Continue Reading
I’m finally starting to get serious about the weapon forms–and I want to focus on the combat aspects of martial arts from now on. I’ve always cared more about that than the health benefits (though that is quite the perk, too. Side note within the parathensis: I have nevur focused on the health benefits because… Continue Reading
I have yet more to say about martial arts and how they have changed my life. Here’s yesterday’s post about this, that, and the other thing. My journey has been slow, winding, and desultory. There have been times when I’ve focused and been intense. There have been times when I’ve resisted and dragged my feet… Continue Reading
Let’s talk about hubris. In yesterday’s post, I had said that I would be fine with tutoring several different forms. In class yesterday morning, I led a beginner student in the first several movements in the third section of the Solo Long Form. I forgot the name of a movement I’ve done several hundred times,… Continue Reading
I’ve been talking freely about my interest in weapon forms. In the last post, I maundered on and on about well, a lot of things, but it was meant to be in tribute to how I have finally gotten to the point in my weapon forms study where I’m serious about refining them and redefining… Continue Reading
Several posts ago, I was talking about my goals in martial arts. Here’s the last post I wrote in that series. That post was about how martial arts have changed me for the better, which is not what I want to talk about here. I mean, it is part of the deeper meaning, but it’s… Continue Reading