Dogged By The Winds

It was a week of brutal winds, which put my discipline to the test just about every morning. Fortunately, my body’s becoming so habituated to the cyclical routine of forms one dawn, combination drills the next, that it really bothers me if for some reason I’m compelled to skip a session…

Similarly, after three weeks of focused abdominal abuse, I don’t think I’d want to pass a day without testing those muscles either…

Now, if only I would become equally diligent in regimenting my strength, flexibility, strenuous cardio (running / ropes), and gymnastics training, I might actually have potential to become a serious athlete. Perhaps I need to set a schedule that includes all the things I’d like to be working on. Naw… I’ve always resisted that kind of strict, mapped-out approach to training, because to me it seems too unnatural, inflexible, unresponsive. There are a thousand exercises, techniques, or physical feats I’d like to be able to perform skillfully and gracefully. What I’ll work on today should, I feel, be decided with some allowance for spontaneity, relative to what my options are in the spaces and places where I find myself, and in accord with my mindset at the moment. Too much control can, I think, limit one’s potential for well-rounded artistry. Or perhaps that’s just my excuse. Either way, I’m feeling healthy, enjoying the incremental progressions and occasional experimentations…

And most of all, I’m getting the time outdoors that I need to center myself spiritually and mentally. The photo above was taken this week, shortly after my stick practice in the forest. It is a coyote who crossed my path on a wet meadow, one of many animals I encountered that day