Tuesday, October 20, 2009

"Noticing changes everything"

Taking a cue from Dan I will take on a less "serious" tone for my post and focus more on actual training methods (which are NOT the truth by the way... ;D ).

Ever have a problem area when doing stance? For example, pressure going to your knees, areas of tension that just don't want to relax, etc.? For me, especially, I have been experiencing sharp pressure in my left (and at odd times, right) knee as a result of tension in the belly, lower back, and the rear of the thigh (though presumably not limited to those three areas alone). For a while I've been trying to "play" around with this pressure, finding out which areas needed to relax; structurally, which areas needed to be rotated or lengthened, and the more I tried the more pressure I seemed to get in the knee. And then it hit me; why focus on the METHOD of relieving the pressure when I could actively find the FEELING of a non-pressured knee.

Merely NOTICING that there was pressure made me realize the OPPORTUNITY of non-pressure (for lack of better wording); I knew how it felt to have all that weight/pressure pent up in the knee, so why not try to feel what it would be like without all that pressure? And by golly, it actually worked! Seeking the FEELING of non-presssure somehow got me to the point of non-pressure! I felt more heavy in the legs, light on top, and actually more centered and balanced.

What did I take from all of this? That truly, "Noticing changes everything" and there are indeed opportunities in all areas of life! I will continue applying this mindset when training stance and hope that my knee pain will serve as inspiration in the future! ;D

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for sharing in this post!

    I had ankle and knee injuries in high school which haunt me to this day. I'm just now noticing (with some help) that my habit is to focus on the problem, e.g., my right knee hurts, and I look for external methods to resolve the problem. A fine approach for fixing cars and clogged sinks but not at all fruitful (I'm noticing) for this kind of internal practice.

    I'm inspired! I will follow your example and notice what I notice!

    Thanks, again!!

    Mike from http://internalgongfu.blogspot.com

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