Pushing Through
There are similarities between Wing Tsun Kung Fu and deciding to change. To me the best way to solve a potentially violent situation is always to try to avoid it. But there might be no chance to do so; we might be with our backs against the wall and not able to avoid to fight. Being with our backs against the wall is also usually the only situation when we decide to change in life. The pain is so strong, the suffering so intense that we cannot avoid what we have to face.
In Wing Tsun as in life this is when we step forward to either face our opponent or to deal with what haunts us. This is a very decisive moment; it is a moment of no return. The second we step forward we are fighting or we are changing. We have left the old behind us now we are in unknown territory. When you decide to step forward to fight you must be mentally prepared that within seconds hell will break lose. Anything can happen and things can get really ugly but now you are in it and you will do all you can to protect yourself and get out of the situation in one piece. In life when we decide to change we have to be prepared that our lives might turn upside down. We have to be able to accept that at the end of what we just have started nothing might be as it was before. Now things are in motion, we will face our demons and will not stop until the process is completed.
In Wing Tsun we misplace our opponent. While we are punching or kicking we step forward. The power of the punch or kick does not only come from our strength or speed but is intensified by the forward motion of our body mass. The idea is to step through the opponent to after we punched or kicked him and stepped forward end up in exactly the same spot he was standing before we started to fight.
The same applies to change. When we start the process obstacles will be thrown at us from all different directions and it will be very uncomfortable at times. But as in a fight we already made the decision to step forward and we are with our backs against a wall. Now it is important to keep the momentum, to step through our obstacles and to misplace them.
In both scenarios there is no way back. Changing is a very difficult process but even after you’ve made little changes you’ll know that you couldn’t go back to your old life even if you wanted to. Obstacles keep on coming, things you have to work through but nothing is as bad as your old life of pain and suffering. In a fight it is very difficult to tell somebody, “Maybe we should talk about this" after you punched the guy in the face a couple of times.
In Wing Tsun as in changing our lives we have to push through and as my Sifu (kung fu father/teacher) likes to say, “Get the job done”.
"Pushing Through" Manhattan/New York City/City Wing Tsun kung fu school 04-08-08 at 08:32 PM
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