Knight of Pentacles

 I really like the thing the instructors are doing right now where they give each of us personal notes on things we need to work on.  I feel like each person benefits from the personal notes, and to hear the notes that everyone else gets.  You never know what nuggets of wisdom are going to resonate with you. So here are some notes I've received lately and need to remember: -Intensity is key.  Intensity does not equal speed, but speed can enhance it.  Work on my intensity for the movements and then let the words sit on top. -Intent and Intensity.  Intent does not always have to be "smash badguys".  It can be chopping wood, swirling leaves in the wind, moving branches out of the way.  The main thing is the your visualization must be well established in order to transfer the intensity to the viewer. -After kicking in a form, consolidate your body before transitioning to the next move. -Panther hands are a strike, not pawing at someone -Make sure I'm ...

  I've been having a sad the last little while.  Like, everyone has ups and downs and sometimes the changes in latitude are small and sometimes they are big.  This downward spiral was a big one for me and to be honest I didn't handle it very well.  There wasn't even any one thing that made it so bad, but everything adds up eventually.  I realized that a big part was not making it to Kung Fu for a loooong time, and I tried to train on my own, but the effort was sporadic. I remember seeing an interview with Ann Hathaway once where they asked her how she got so slim and fit to play Catwoman (#askhermore!).  She responded that there was no magic bullet, she just did the normal things that no-one wanted to do: eat well and exercise more. So, I started doing the boring things that I had been avoiding: eating better, drinking less alcohol, exercising when I could, talking to my friends, going to a therapist.  It's been slowly getting better. And then I went t...