I got up this morning to go to class at the Gracie Academy. It's been a while since I've done the Saturday class since I suck at getting up, but since I've been on a schedule that prioritizes getting up early because of school, it wasn't too terribly difficult.
So I'm doing great during the technique portion in the class...as usual...I have little to no difficulty learning the moves. My kinesthetic learning ability is pretty good, considering I spent years of my life working exclusively on that.
But then we get to the sparring...and we were doing this drill where one person gets a cross grip on someone, and then the goal is for the cross gripper to sweep the other guy or take his back. (Roleto vs Saulo comes to mind) The first round with Nick was pretty cool, I couldn't sweep him, I just went back to guard and then we played around for a bit until he passed, and then I defended for a very long time. He ended up catching me, but whatever.
Then I went with a two-stripe blue belt, but I couldn't do anything to him. Probably because my style is very reliant on the other person's energy, otherwise I just stay there and wait because I'm in a chill position. But he wouldn't let me do anything to him, he just lay there, and then really exerted himself later on. I don't know why, but I felt myself start to get angry. Whether it was because I wanted to spar, but didn't get to, because he kept wanting to do that little drill over and over again, or whether it was because I couldn't sweep him, I don't know. But I was legitimately starting to get a little upset, and I knew, in my head, that this was bad and that I had to let it go, and I kind of did, but meh...I guess not every round can be as insightful as I'd like it to be.
Then I went with this other guy who was oodles of fun, so I guess that makes up for it. But I wish I didn't have such a big ego. I wish I didn't hate losing so much. At least I learn a lot from it.
So I went to Scott's house, after reading about Jing yesterday, and tried a lot of it, mainly just Fa Jing for now. Or straight up explosive force, but I'm keeping it very light and very flowy since I don't want to hurt myself, and I'm keeping my body as loose as possible. It's pretty cool, I can really feel my qi, whether it's visualization or not, I can really see the change in power. I move from my center, the six harmonies align, and I launch the power out of me, leaving none of it in my body. I actually knocked the punching bag down from the ceiling when I was practicing body up...
So that's cool. I practiced all my boxing combos smooth and relaxed, like a Taiji form, and let my qi flow, which was cool. I felt way better after. Moving from my center. That's key! In fact, I got a wristband to remind myself to move from the center on a daily basis, all the time.
Anyway, the new strategy is to train both leads, and get equally good on both leads. That way, I can switch to Southpaw and not worry about it, and this will save me significant need to move, so I won't need to be as mobile.
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