The Forms of My Youth

I was never much on kata. Practicing a form in the air didn't seem to make much sense to me. I've always had a shrewd eye for movement so replicating a movement has never been much of a problem. I could pick up the most omplex katas after a few passes and because of the ease with which I approached this area of study, I've always neglected it-- opting to try to train something I found more difficult and interesting.

But recently, I found myself longing to practice these forms. Obviously, it has something to do with my injury. I'm not as agile and athletic as I once was but I think something deep inside of me wanted a serious practice again. So I've started my training again. It's not much. I practice one Wing Chun form-- Sil Lim Tao-- several times and I start and end with some Chi Kung exercises. It's really all I can consistently do. It may not be much but there is something in my muscles that remembers these movements. I find my mood immeasurably improved, even after just a few days.

I'm a little embarrassed I was so against this practice when I was young. If my teachers could see me now, they would all give me a big, "I told you so." That's the thing about the arts. The older I get, the more I see how wise my teachers were. I was really lucky on that account. With all the shopping mall hacks teaching some version of a martial art, I was tremendously fortunate to have only trained with the best of teachers. Every one of them was a spectacular martial artist. Some had their demons as people but that also taught me an important lesson.

I'm really excited to be training these forms again. It feels like I might on to something; that I might be finally concentrating on the one area of my training that I've neglected for 31 years. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.