Still going

It's funny how I can think so much about my training and then when it comes to writing about it...poof. Anyway, today's session went rather well. It was a light day for strikes (250) but still got in what is becoming the standard 10 minutes of standing, followed by 10 minutes of turning. The standing is getting harder, I suspect because I'm getting more focused and really pushing it, to the point where I actually sweat while doing it. I've never concentrated so much time and effort into standing in such a short amount of time, so it's nice to be able to see some slight progress there. As for turning, I think it's too early to tell if the practice of the last few days is helping, but it does seem as though it's a little less taxing than before.

I haven't really been doing much in the way of strikes lately. Part of that is deliberate. On previous occasions I would typically focus on strikes to the exclusion of everything else, but now I'm trying to stress the standing and turning as much as, if not more than, the strikes. I do pay attention to the mechanics of the strikes when I do them, though. I remember how awkward the rising sweeping strikes felt when I first started doing them about 2 years (or more, I forget) back. For a while I couldn't quite figure out how to do them, and tended to practice them using only a weak, lateral force from turning the waist. More recently, after viewing self-taken video of myself doing the strikes, viewing the strikes on the Lion dvd's, and getting some insight from the time I spent trying to work on the Dragon system, I found what I believe is the correct force, involving a coordination of the forces of the waist. It definitely feels very solid, and has a very satisfying snap to it. It'll take several thousand more of them before I'm likely to feel really comfortable and confident with them, but I'm not in any particular rush at the moment.

My training sessions thus far seem pretty meager, but I suppose that's just a testament to how generally weak I am, since even these meager workouts make me sore and sweaty. I also forgot to take into account the changes to my food intake and sleep needs since I began this atypical (for me) physical training regimen. Still, I feel pretty good. And every day that goes by wherein I meet or exceed my training goals makes me more confident and hopeful of being able to persevere and make this practice a habit.