hey hey

Well hidey-ho! How's it cracking today? We are doing great! I feel you what! I have had a very fantastic last few days. Friday turned out to be an amazing day! It turned from a craptacular day into a day of solid work and laughter. Everyone on the crew was in high spirits. It was a fantastic day that has turned into a run-on of a great weekend.
  I'm not to sure on where to go from here. See, not being apart of the I Ho Cuban has left me with a fair amount of free time. Time I still spend training and pushing towards my goals of being a complete martial artist.  I'm back spending a lot of time with techniques and strikes and blocks.  It's awesome ya know. We are taught all these separate movements, and our sifus leave it up to us, to put theses singular techniques into into a free flowing amount of Kung fu awesomeness. I've been playing with elbow blocks and foot trapping. I realize these may be above my belt level, but, I can see these things in my mind. I can clearly see the strike, the energy and the blocks. I can see the movements I can and will do to separate myself from my opponent. Now the trick here is to put the de things into practical use if you might.  One of my favourite parts of Kung fu is, building a technique, going to a black belt and saying, hey, what about this? And then Sifu tears things apart. Asks about blocking this or that. Using his knowledge to find the weaknesses of the technique and building from there. Some techniques I have "built" leave me way out in the open, just asking for a punch to the chin. Others are really solid and I wouldn't hesitate using them in the street.  As for sparring with my fellow students, I wouldn't want to use the yet, as the control is not where it needs to be.
    I have found, when first developing these techniques, things are fairly dangerous. Not working with a partner, for fear of hurting someone, really does slow down the development stage of the game. I train with a small group of people, and my options are limited. Each person I train with is talented in their own regard and all have something awesome to bring to the table. Even if it is just another opinion.  That's what builds great teammates. Just recognizing each others high and low points and working with each other to push through our shortcomings.  But, with that being said, I'm not confident enough in myself to grab a thrust kick, strike the knee, while pulling my opponent in towards myself and and driving through their chest with a palm heel strike. It's a sound technique, but it makes me nervous. Tweaking on one leg, while pulling the groin apart with their energies, to only use my energy, to plot through their rib cage. See what I'm saying?
   So, I have a plan, extra padding on the ground and clear communication with my training partners. Slow and steady with them, and I'm very confident that things will work together. And extra help. Maybe this technique is silly and should just stay in my brain? But, I'm a firm believer, that if this same thing keeps running through your mind, it needs to be dealt with. Not just amused, it needs to be solved.
    That's what I strive to be good at. Solving my problems so I can graciously accept tomorrow's challenges and new problems.

But, until next time folks,
Have a great day
Mr.Duncan