January 10, 2015

The year of the monkey will represent the 10^th year that I will have been training in the martial arts.  A decade is a long time for some things.  From my perspective, I realize I could have spent 9 years exclusively on the intricacy of one Kung Fu technique, and would likely still need more time.  Training in Kung Fu seems like a very small drop in a very expansive ocean doesn’t it?  The thought of it all makes me wish I started training 20 years ago.  

That being said in the last 9 years in reflection I can say I am slower now, but am also slower to anger. I care slightly less about time, and more about timing.  Instead of seeking to be a spectacle, I seek more to be spectacular, at least in relation to where I was when I started martial arts.  Recognizing where we have come from is great, but can you imagine if we could see ourselves on another chosen path in the absence of the great influences in our life? It would make our current accomplishments all that much sweeter.

I see where I have been, I see where I am at, but seeing exactly where I am going to end up is foggy to me.  And I am ok with that.  That lack of clarity is just the result of the expansiveness of Kung Fu.  Where I am at now was foggy to me 9 years ago also.  A path that is well trodden is comforting in its familiarity, but it’s the unknown that makes me excited about the next decade to come.