"Didn't notice, but as of late, I think I changed"
-This Life, Denzel Curry
The Grind
The past few months have been an endless grind of the same basic kicks, stances, and forms. Most of the senior students are numb to training now. Exhausted just by the thought of doing another rep of a form or combo. This tournament prep training has had an affect on the other students' training too. Gone are the days of Sanda, Acrobatics, Power Stretching, and variety.
Just basics and forms. Over and over.
Sickness Strikes
Five days before the tournament some sort of sickness struck the students of our school. Coughing, headaches, stuffed sinuses, and low energy were some of the symptoms affecting various students. This put me out for some time, only feeling better on the actual day of the tournament. The few training sessions we had before the tournament were low intensity. Focused mainly on preparing our minds. Remembering the small details. Rehearsing how to get on and off the carpet.
Although we were tired from the months of repetition, there was a confidence in all of us that showed. We all understood our forms to a deep level. The things we beat ourselves up over were small details that others wouldn't even notice. Dare I say, our Shifu even looked confident in us.
"All of the work is done before the tournament. On competition day we just pick up the medals."
-Michael Torres
Collecting Our Medals
Two days of competing. Hour long drives to and from the tournament. Lots of waiting and little warm up. Talking to other competitors. This is how the days went by in a blur of sparkling uniforms and loud cheers.
Stepping on top of the spongy red carpet wasn't as bad as I thought. The judges, audience, and noise seemed to fade away. As I began my form, it was only me, my thoughts guiding my weapons. Sure, I slipped and messed up a few moves. But that is normal. This year has been me hearing how my Kung Fu is all wrong. Stances wrong. Kicks weird. Qi Gong incorrect. Even with the mistakes, I kept moving through my form. Focusing on the next step, learning from my mistakes.
Then it was over. A total of 4 minutes on the carpet. Months of work for 4 minutes of competition time. It wasn't until a day later that our Shifu called all the students into a room for a meeting. Sitting in the room our Shifu began to explain the results of our competition. Michael won a gold and bronze. Mikey won three bronze. Julia won two gold and a silver. I won three gold medals.
After this crazy year it has been nice to top it off with a few wins. It feels good to win once.
We were told that we have been invited to a competition in October. But, the next few weeks will hold some change for our school.
📿Johnny
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