It's a busy Wednesday, so this will be my only post of the day. Given that I've put up so many over the past three days (including the one right below this one, the longest in a while), I figure it's best to slow down.
The ongoing debate with my fellow feminists and pro-feminists about blog commenting rules has increased my traffic 50%, and I'm grateful. The debate about what is and what isn't appropriate to allow has spread across half a dozen blogs, and, I confess, tempted me to be rude. I'm restricting as best I can.
One small note:
I'd been frustrated with my boxing lately. For the past two weeks, I've been stuck at a plateau. Session after session, Pepe (the trainer) kept telling me the same things "Keep your hands up", "torque your hips", "elbows in!" and so forth. I felt frustrated, beginning to doubt the wisdom of all of this effort and expense. This morning, the breakthrough day: my hips swiveled in rhythm with the punches; my toes pivoted, my combinations had accuracy and power. For the first time in weeks, I felt myself getting tangibly better.
And of course, there's a metaphor for faith in all that. Running/cycling/boxing have all taught me the same thing: when we begin something new, our gains are rapid. But after a while, we hit a plateau; we lose interest, we struggle to move out of our ruts. Too many folks get tired and frustrated and walk away from their chosen sport. But if we stick with it through the bad and dry and gloomy patches, we will have the glorious breakthrough days! Our running will be smoother, our punches more effective, our certainty that we are God's favorite suddenly restored and enhanced. I may not be much of an athlete, but my faith life and my private life and my sports life have all taught me that the plateaux and the dry seasons are inevitable. The key to happiness, the key to success, is perseverance and the steadfast hope that the breakthrough is sure to come. In the ultimately insignificant activity of learning to hit things more effectively, I had such a breakthrough this morning. Gratias deo ago and all that.
It's what we like to call "The Wall." From time to time you run into it, ften for months, and just seem to be spinning your wheels.
I've often found it helps me at those times to just go back to basics, and fundamentals. The combat sport I'm doing encompasses several styles, I just pick up Sword and Shield again, and work with that. It helps clear the head, and often gives you that Homer Simpson moment of realizing you'd not incorporated all the fundamentals into mastery of a new technique.
Posted by: The Gonzman | March 15, 2006 at 11:33 AM
Sword and shield? Some sort of Society for Creative Anachronism thing where you dress up in mock armor and have at each other with wooden swords? I don't know much about martial arts beyond the common karate.
Posted by: NancyP | March 15, 2006 at 01:17 PM
LOL. Maybe it's more an Amtguard thing... he beats folks with a foam whiffle bat, and fend's them off with cardboard.
Posted by: aldahlia | March 15, 2006 at 06:00 PM
No, it's SCA. And it's not mock armor, my harness is a recreation of a 3rd Cenury Irish chieftan's. It needs to be real armor - the rattan wasters are used full contact. There's a level of fun to it - even four years of kendo can't prepare you for it.
Posted by: The Gonzman | March 16, 2006 at 05:20 AM
Well, damn. SCA. That explains a lot.
Posted by: aldahlia | March 16, 2006 at 04:44 PM