Peace and Harmony

We often hear our instructors talk about living in peace and harmony. We usually use that phrase in reference to being at peace with the knowledge of our preparedness. We train hard so that when we are faced with a self defense situation, we can defend ourselves instinctively.

What about being prepared for our scheduled grading? It is a huge mistake to wait till the last minute to prepare for my grading and try to cram as I would cram for a midterm. It would be such a feeling of freedom to know that I have prepared every day by doing at least 10 minutes of kung fu. When it comes my turn to grade, I would be ready. I would always be ready. Life often throws obstacles in my direction that disrupt my daily routines. When this happens, my routine ends up needing an overhaul. If I am in the middle of "cramming" for a grading, and then something out of the ordinary comes my way, I am in serious trouble. Being behind is one thing, and trying to get caught up takes a lot of extra time, so when a wrench gets thrown into the equation, I can't even keep up to regular routine, never mind trying to add time into it.

I don't like being embarrassed, and standing in class like a deer in the headlights when I am asked to do something. By training on a regular basis, I can feel confident in class, and remove stress, knowing that I am prepared.

There are so many reasons for being prepared in my kung fu training. An important one is so that I can always defend myself with confidence, and with accuracy. A more important reason that has recently surfaced, is that I need to be prepared so I can defend my family. If I failed to do that because I just didn't practice enough, I would never be able to forgive myself. It is also important for me to feel a sense of emotional freedom that comes from being prepared. I hate being dragged down by the chains of failure, especially when it is due to my own lack of responsibility. I only let my instructors down, and I let myself down.

It is only fair that I take my training seriously enough to be prepared for my instructors. It is not fair to them that I slack off with my training and have an attitude that I don't care, after all the time they put into teaching me. This is my responsibility to them. It is not only my responsibility as a student to my instructors, but also as an instructor to my students. I need to be on top of things for them as well.