It has been a while since I posted, in part because after sifu Liu’s visit I had a bit to catch up on, both at home and at work. The visit was, as always, great fun. We trained daily, either in the dojo or in my home. We shared some nice meals, spent a day up in Maine (and enjoyed a fresh Maine lobster) and spent some time with friends in the area. The weekend seminar was excellent, and we had the usual mix of folks from all over- New Jersey, Massachusetts, Colorado, California, and so on. Great to see a bunch of familiar faces and to meet a few new people. Also excellent for our group to have a couple of new folks start training regularly with us here. Welcome!

One thing that occurred to me while sifu was here was how quickly time flies. Both in training- the weekend seminar felt like it was over in a flash- and between visits. It does not seem possible it has been a year since he was last here! Part of that is good- it is nice to be able to pick up where you left off the last time you met. And part of that is a little startling- it seems hard to find the time between visits for the practice and investigation needed to really make the training time as useful as it can be, to get the most out of our limited time training together.

A growing student, already asking about learning Thunder Power!

You see the thing is that with my sifu so far away I do not get the benefit of daily or weekly correction and advice. Instead my development is on me. I have to work to understand the lessons imparted, and figure out how to work towards the goals I have on my own. I have to understand the principals of the art and self-correct. If I don’t do that I don’t progress, and I do not have the excuse of “sifu is not guiding me well” to fall back on.

I like this, to be honest. It is like that if your teacher is right there as well, just harder sometimes to see. But your growth is always up to you. This fits in well with sifu Liu’s approach. As he phrased it one day of the seminar: “if no one asks questions, I know no one has been thinking. They might become good students some day, but if they are not asking me questions and questioning the system then they will never really understand it”. You have to investigate yourself, not rely on others.

Of course I look forward to correction and instruction. This time around we got some good private training in, and I was introduced to some more elements of the system, ones I found very interesting. But I kept returning to this concept of time. Mostly because I feel I need to be using my time well, growing between ourr visits so I have the chance to take in whatever new material is presented. Not training the same year over and over but doing a new one each time.

One of my students asked sifu about what he should be doing to train on his own. Sifu was kind of flummoxed by the question. When pressed he went through the important elements of fundamental practice, and some personal training methods for solo training he has developed, but what he said stuck with me: “You have to understand what you need. Then work on that. I can tell you today but what about next month? That is your job. You have to use your time well, and only you know if you are doing that.”

　　　　　　白鶴出巣拳　　White Crane Leaves the Nest

This idea kept coming up over his vist- that you need to focus and develop yourself. That you need to question. One of the things sifu and I worked on were forms outside the introductory set. While there is a list, he was clear that there is no standard order for learning them. The teacher decides what the student needs to keep growing. He was joking around some, but he looked down the list and after some translation back and forth decided we would spend some time on White Crane Leaves the Nest. “It is just what we were talking about”, he joked. And while he was clear to let me know the techniques were just part of the core of the system, and I know I have not received any “secret knowledge”, I found the symbolism both entertaining and something to take with me till our next visit. Hopefully I will have kept myself on track in the meantime.