I Ho Chaun - Tool or Mountain?

Sifu Brinker has spoken many times about the idea of seeing the I Ho Chuan as a tool and not as a mountain to climb. I've always understood what he meant but I think I'm only just now starting to feel that way myself. Last class I received my green stripe, which was the last one I needed in order to get ready to grade for my yellow belt. The problem was that I didn't really feel like I deserved most of the stripes I have. I haven't always understood exactly what I did to earn a particular stripe. I think this is for two reasons. First, my instructor knows what a white belt skill level should look like, whereas I do not. I need to trust Sifu Playter's judgment. Second, I had a hard time understanding how I could be progressing when I wasn't practicing as much as I thought I should. But participating in the I Ho Chuan has changed the way I train. A lot of my training comes from form reps. I only viewed this as practicing one thing, but in actuality, forms train many aspects of my kung fu, all at once. If I improve my forms, there's a good chance I'm also improving my stances, my center, timing, flow, etc.

I've realized that just working toward getting all my requirements each day has been enough to continue progressing. I know that I am not hitting all my requirements and my consistency needs to improve but that's ok. I will improve as I go on. In the meantime, it's quite clear that the I Ho Chuan has been serving me. I'm been taking stock of where I'm at and I'm quite happy. I don't always feel like it, but I'm a kinder person these days. My attitude behind the wheel has done a complete 180 (maybe closer to 160 actually) and I feel calmer than I ever have before. My body is more flexible and I feel in better shape than I've been in a long time. All of these improvements have carried over into work as well. I have a challenging job right now but I'm having success, in large part to my application of some of the principles that kung fu has taught me.

To clarify - I'm not saying that I'm an expert or that any of this is easy. I'm just saying that I don't feel like this is an ordeal for me. It's something that has already changed the way I do things and I've only scratched the surface.