Resting Near a Park Bench

I briefly raised my head, assessed how skippy was doing then dropped my jowls into my paws and returned to rest.  My owner sat on the park bench beside me, a flint of hope in his eyes, overshadowed by reality that I was not going to retrieve that tennis ball.

Skippy was running to and fro, it appeared his owner had now taught him to hold a treat on his nose and on command he would flip it into his mouth.  Hmmm, if the snack is right there in his hand I say don’t risk dropping the treat, just snatch it out of his hand.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m a good dog, I sit on command, I walk diligently by my owner, and have been known to shake a paw every now and then.  But those were all things I learned earlier on, truth is, I’ve grown stubborn, a little stuck in my ways, and just a lot tougher to teach new tricks.

I like the Kung Fu attitude.  Constantly reminding myself that mastery is the process of mindful attention to detail, continued persistence, hard work and dedication.  But how do you start a new trick when the mastery process hits a giant wall of stubbornness, habit, and good old lack of talent.  Do you flog along on a process hoping that eventually you will get it, or cut your ties and find a better way of doing things.  This is a talent in itself.  The ability to know when the horse has passed on, and no matter how large the spurs, he ain’t movin. 

Quite often I hear fellow students say they have these AHA moments when working at a form or a technique and all just seems to click into place.  I have to say, those moments are very rare for me.  More often than not, I stay persistent and gradually work into a groove.  The process always seems very slow for me, and rarely is the result of a one day revelation.  Sometimes the process is so gradual I can’t recognize if there has been a change at all.  Have I improved? How do I know?

Switch the nunchuks to the left hand and try that spin.  Ahhhh, feel that searing goose egg on the back of your head?  Your right hand used to be that poor.  Sometimes this is the revelation I need.  Sometimes an instant reminder of how far you have come can let you know if the process you have been following is working.  Another example would be video journaling.  I am really starting to see the benefit to Sifu Playters process of using video as a form of digital journaling.  Firstly video has the obvious benefit that you can pick out problems, but; video also can act as a record to see if the process you have adopted is working.  Compare your video journal today from one you took a year ago.  The revelation or ‘AHA’ moment is right there!  If it isn’t, you may be spurring a dead horse.

I think video is something I don’t use enough of.  Moving forward, I think I may use video as more of a tool to reconcile the process in my martial arts training.  I see this as rolling into one of my personal challenges for the upcoming year of the Snake.  Let’s see where this goes.

Until then, back to resting near the park bench.  I wonder if Skippy knows I confused his chew toy for a fire hydrant.  Guess he doesn’t know all the tricks.

P.S. – In answer to Sihing Langner’s challenge last week, in case it is a little dark, the photo is of me completing pushup’s on a SABER TOOTH CAT!  Yaaah!

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