2.36

Knowing your intent can be what makes your techniques but it can also be what breaks it. If you know what your intent behind a techniques is, then you know your reason for doing. If you don't know your intent, then you're just practicing the technique mindlessly. Practicing techniques without knowing your intent isn't always a bad thing. In most cases, if you don't know your intent then you are trying to find it. Sometimes knowing your intent can work against you. This usually doesn't happen with techniques in Kung Fu but rather it happens in the outside world. Let's say that you're trying to write a blog on a specific topic. Your intent is to write a blog on that topic, but along the way you find other things to write about. You start writing about that without realizing it and eventually you realize that you didn't even come close to finishing what your intent was. This isn't completely a bad thing, it just shows how intent can be the opposite of what you want it to be.

2.35

This Saturday was the last one before Black Belt grading. Since it was the last one, we decided to do a miniature scale fitness test. The fitness test is exactly what I expected, it's difficult. Doing the kicks weren't nearly as tiring as I thought they would be, but that could also be because of the breaks we took in between. Only part we didn't do was the 2 kilometre run, mostly due to the smoke outside. It was nice to see what I'm basically up against on the 26th. I just have to keep training until I earn my Black Belt and then keep training.

2.34

Having open training this past Saturday for the first time in several months felt really great. Being able to be on the mats and practice any part of Kung Fu that I want to practice has helped me get back into full gear with my training. Yes, I could do almost everything outside of the kwoon, but doing the techniques, combinations, and forms inside that kwoon feels more natural than doing them at other places. And with grading day less than two weeks away, I need all the time I can get to train.

2.33

September is here and grading day is closing in. My nerves are definitely high but so is my training. It feels like studying last minute for a unit exam in school. Now that I think about it, grading day is the unit exam for Kung Fu. Everything that I've ever learned will be applied on those 4 days. I don't have much else to say, just that I need to keep training for as long as I can.