You know, you get to that stage where you’ve been doing your forms till you’re blue in the face, they’re all really boring
…(… OK OK, so if you’re blue in the face try breathing at some point in your form, and if it’s boring try doing it again with some spirit ya slack-jawed lollabeds! )
you’ve done every variation plus some, and all of the individual moves… BUT
have you done it in the dark!?
Bit tricky eh?
Get somebody to switch the light on every now and then and see just how lousy your posture really is.
Better still, get your friendly neighbourhood Kato to shoulder barge you or whack your legs with a stick from out of nowhere.
I have done sticky hands blindfolded a few times but never tried to do forms in the dark. I think it’s a great idea though; you won’t be able to use your eyes for balance. Definitely going to give it a try!
I’ve done (or tried:p ) alot of the weapons forms in my style eyes closed - gives a new meaning to balance doesn’t it! Outside at night, if you crouch down a little you can see your own silloette even on a dark night, but inside in the dark, or blindfolded sounds like a whole different game.
You never get hassled by the police? When I was a kid my dad and his students used to practice in a park in Sydney, and we got asked to clear off a few times by the local constabulary - they thought they had been fighting or something.
This is off topic, but when I was in Australia practicing outside, sometimes people would walk past in the park (grown adults) and start making caterwal noises like Bruce Lee.:rolleyes: I love the peace and quiet they give you here, since doing your practice is a respected pasttime.
i had an experience that kinda fits this topic right before i had to stop training …
one night at class we were working on “finding the move within the move” for hours. its almost like a standing meditation where you start with anything, spinning backfist for example, you stop, settle, root, and listen to what your boddy wants you to do right then and there. it might sound stupid, but after doing it for a couple weeks it actually started to click and i “heard” something one out of every 9 tries or so. anyway, after doing this all night we began to spar and i was actually taking on two of my buddies with my eyes closed and tearing sh it up. one was a bit more advanced (see better) than me but he couldnt seem to land much of anything. i havent been able to get that far into the zone since due to the fact that i had to take time off for surgery then chemo shortly after. its been a little more than half a year, but i dont remember exactly “feeling” what was coming at me like some describe … it was more a feeling of emptiness and letting my body take care of itself. it only lasted a minute or two then i started feeling giddy and it ruined it all. i like sparring with my eyes closed, and have done alright fairly often, but this was the only time i really felt completely and totally immersed in my kung fu in such a way.
does anyone have any idea what im talking about, or am i just a retard imagining things?
i think its ego saying look how good im doing … i could be wrong though.
i sometimes get that when meditating too … i brought it up to my sifu one time and he said if your spirit feels giddy let it feel giddy … just refuse to focus on it like anything else … or somethign like that.
… it was possibly only 30 seconds for me too. could be a time warp like when i feel like a sex machine and look at the clock to see only 3 minutes has passed and i need a bacon samich.
)
