Staying Humble

The concept of humbleness permeates kung fu. We wear black because it's a humble color in China. We bow in and out of the kwoon as part of showing respect and putting ourselves in a humble mindset so that we can accept the instruction that we are given. To be honest, I find it easy to stay humble because I'm so terrible at kung fu. I'm not saying that to beat myself up but it's true nonetheless. 

It's inevitable that every time I experience a high period where I feel like I am making progress, it's followed up by a class (or a series of classes) where I struggle and stumble through things like a fool. Tonight was one of those classes. I have so many bad habits to break and my right side is so dominant over my left that I feel overwhelmed with feelings of incompetence. There are so many things to learn and I only have so much time in the day and week to practice. I work on stances and my combinations are no good. I work on kicks and my centering is no good.  I work on one form but neglect another. I truly have no idea how to improve. I've asked for and received advice on how to go about my training and I feel like I have a good plan. I only focus on a couple of things at a time and try to concentrate on improving just those things instead of spreading myself too thin. 

I'm not saying all this to be negative; I'm just being honest. I also think that part of the problem is that my highs are too high and my lows are too low. I need to change that but I don't know how. One more thing I'm no good at I suppose.

Cory Smid
http://kungfucory.blogspot.ca/