Footing

I know I’ve stumbled across a good drill when it rattles my sense of competence a little bit. I don’t mean that I feel bad about myself or that I worry I am somehow not worthy to train Kung fu. I mean that when I do a drill and it makes me think “wow, this is harder than I thought” it is a good drill.

The best drill (in my opinion) that we did today was a simple one – we hit the pads out in the parking lot. We’re fortunate enough to have a bumpy, uneven lot that has a couple of sets of stairs nearby and a lovely alley filled with mole hills and weeds. The footing outside is a pretty far cry from the flat floor of the dojo.

What surprised me the most when punching the pads outside was how the uneven ground drew my attention away from fundamental things. When I became concerned about tripping over the stairs, my hands came down. When I looked behind me to see how close the wall was, my elbows flared out.

Fun stuff. Maybe we’ll do a tour of the neighborhood this week with some focus pads.