michael young's blog

I have a good friend who has no grid for understanding the principles of internal martial arts because his back ground is in tae kwon do. I have nearly no grid for them and I have a background in the internal martial arts! : ) 

I am seeing quickly how that we must lose all assumptions as to what we are trying to accomplish in this training. Not that it is esoteric or mystical and undefinable. But, that it is just completely different than the assumption is on the front end. What we think we are looking for is not what we are looking for. We assume that we need to learn this skill when we actually need to let that skill go or reserve for another time so that it can be refined. Simply doing the curriculum is what is needed. There is a mystery to what we are doing but it is not mystical.

While doing some training this morning I began with the warm up, some standing and then the bitter pill. I noticed a few things.

1. I still get a stressed or strained feeling on the outsides of my knees as if the tendons are being overstretched.

2. I notice that while standing over time it becomes more difficult to breathe down to into Dan tien. Everything begins to feel tight and the breath feels like it has to rise up instead of sinking down.