My strengths in Kung Fu lie in the fact that I never give up. I keep on trying until I get it right. If it is a form, I keep practicing it until it feels right and if it is a technique, then I keep asking questions until I understand how it works and I can apply it. I am a visual learner. This means that things make more sense to me when I see how they work. So when I am practicing, I visualize how I have seen a technique or form done and then I try to copy that. A problem that arises is that I am not sure how I look doing it so I can't tell whether it is right or wrong. I am quite busy in my head, visualizing how I have seen a sifu do a technique or a form that I have a difficult time seeing how I do it. When I am doing techniques, if it feels right then I think that it is right. When I am doing kicks or punches, I don't have a feel for them and can't seem to tell what they look like to others or me in the mirror. I think that I need to do it wrong and then right so that I can figure out how it feels and then I can see what it looks like when it feels right.
I also have a difficult time understanding expectations. For example, this assignment, it did not occur to me to write about my Kung Fu strengths and weaknesses. In my world, we talk about our feelings and how we were feeling when something has happened and the inner turmoil that we experience while trying to figure out our feelings. I guess in retrospect, the assignment was too easy, (I have explored my feelings before) that should have been my first clue that something was amiss. I have had a much more difficult time writing this because I am not sure what my strengths and weaknesses are when I do Kung Fu. This goes back to my other comments, I don't know what I look like, wait a minute! I do know what I look like but I don't know if I look how I am supposed to. So I see myself in the mirror, executing a front thrust kick, it looks good to me because I know how I look when doing it. The problem is I don't know if I am doing it right. I guess my first step in developing an eye for detail is in figuring out what I look like when I am doing a proper kick or punch or technique.
I also have a difficult time understanding expectations. For example, this assignment, it did not occur to me to write about my Kung Fu strengths and weaknesses. In my world, we talk about our feelings and how we were feeling when something has happened and the inner turmoil that we experience while trying to figure out our feelings. I guess in retrospect, the assignment was too easy, (I have explored my feelings before) that should have been my first clue that something was amiss. I have had a much more difficult time writing this because I am not sure what my strengths and weaknesses are when I do Kung Fu. This goes back to my other comments, I don't know what I look like, wait a minute! I do know what I look like but I don't know if I look how I am supposed to. So I see myself in the mirror, executing a front thrust kick, it looks good to me because I know how I look when doing it. The problem is I don't know if I am doing it right. I guess my first step in developing an eye for detail is in figuring out what I look like when I am doing a proper kick or punch or technique.
A black belt has worked very hard on the requirements and perfected them. They have set goals and made plans to acquire them. They have practiced their forms until they can do them backwards, they have studied the techniques until they understood their every nuance, they have become martial artists in the process. This is my goal, to become a martial artist. I believe this process has already begun.
