Public training

 I want to say that I really enjoy training in public but I don’t.  I actually enjoy the public demos we do as a group and I really really enjoy public speaking.  So it’s hard to understand the reasons for not enjoying training in public?  I’m feeling that are a few things coming into play and the one that I think is most prevalent is shyness.  I guess when I’m by myself I feel this emotion and I pull back and retreat.  However this is also odd as I don’t have any issues striking up a conversation with complete strangers and I actually enjoy this “on the spot” sort of conversation.  So then this must not be all of the reason.

Is is self confidence?  Perhaps as I don’t always think that my forms are worthy of display.  This was touched on by Sifu Brinker in last nights class when he asked if anyone thought their forms were black belt level, mine are not.  So if I think this is the case I also think that most people watching me are going to laugh at how bad my stances are, how low my kicks are and how pitiful my form looks as a whole.   I know this isn’t the case as so few people actually are martial artists and those that are are, are very kind and helpful.  I think about what I would do if I came across someone practising their martial art in a public park.  I would watch, intrigued by their form, the foot work the flow of the form itself.  I would wait for them to finish and I may or may not walk up to them and compliment them and ask them about their style.  Or I may just quietly walk away letting them enjoy their training time.  One thing I wouldn’t ever do is judge, laugh or critique them.  So if this is the way I would handle myself as a traditional martial artist then I must assume that most other martial artists would do the same.  

I’m limiting myself and I have to stop and I’ve slowly begin to change my thinking. Last week I was with my daughter in the mountains with some of her horse training friends.  I took some time to do some of my forms while they went ahead to the next part of their course.  While I was doing my forms some people walked by, none stopped to watch me and no one said anything to me.  I was surprised as I had these pre conceived notions going through my head.  I finished up and rejoined the group, no one said anything to me and we all went about our business.  Now there are some limits that I will still impose and one of those is public training with my nunchucks.  These are a prohibited weapons in Canada and I’m extremely careful with them.  Right now my wife and I are camping in provincial park and tonight is our IHC class.  I want to break them out but I won’t just because of the environment that I’m in.  This won’t stop me from practicing Loa Gar which is my IHC form.  The harder part is finding a better internet connection but that’s the least of my concerns right now.

I’ve been missing opportunities to train just because I’ve self imposed limits based on pre conceived notions that just aren’t there.  I’ve started to change my perspective =)

Mr. Repay

Mr. Repay