Sparring

I have not sparred since I damaged my shoulder in August. It has been something I have been slightly apprehensive about because I feared re-injuring and creating an even bigger problem. This Saturday I decided to join in sparring during open training. As soon as the first couple rounds were over, my apprehension was pacified. I survived! No harm done and I fared better than I thought.

This leads to the second concern I had. How much did my sparring skill deteriorate since August? How much time would it take to get back to where I was? These concerns were unfounded as I found my skill did not atrophy, it in fact increased. Constant practice in other sections of my training kept the body memory in check and I even had new ideas for combinations to bring to the ring.

This reinforces the idea to not look at my training and progress as stripe by stripe. The stripe means nothing to me as a student. Perhaps, it is not the stripe that is meaningless, but the specific colour. This is because they all mean the same thing. They all mean I am progressing in kung fu. Not just fundamentals, forms or one-steps. They cannot be looked at from a separate point of view because they all compliment each other. They are ALL kung fu.

I am glad that I decided to jump into the ring this weekend. I am excited to continue sparring on a regular basis. I will still be cautious. There is no need to do something reckless and fall back to square one, only to find out I have twice the time to get back to where I am now.