(no subject)
Maybe I feel like it was too easy this time.
There's something about the testing process that condences everything, boiling it all down to the essential elements of the art. There were a few of those moments today that I am proud of, things that served to truly test my skills. Art came at me with a knife and there wasn't the space to do the specific tactic that I had been asked to demonstrate, so I improvised (very effectively, if I may say so). I analyzed my performace and found that I needed to relax, so I simply chose to do so and felt the tangible effects of it, noting my body changing in response to my will. I saw an opportunity and took it and was correct in my vision all in the blink of an eye. I chose to set someone up, deciding for them what they would do and how they would respond and they did so, all unwittingly according to my plans (now if only I could work that magic on my cat...). My skills were tested and found acceptable.
And this was the test where Sifu finally asked us to demonstrate the first elements of Hsing-I. For Milan and Linsdey it was the first two (pi chuan and beng chuan) and for Art and I it was just pi chuan, but the prescident has been set and I expect that this will continue to be an element of the test in the future. Which is all to the good. Also I got to break stuff, which I've done before, but this time it was with my hands and not my feet and, once I got the angle right, I got two breaks in rapid succession with a punch in one direction and a shudo in the other. Bruce always said that boards don't hit back, and Sifu often quotes those very words, but there's something satisfying about hitting things and having them break. Also, the human nose has a somewhat lower structural integrity compared to a board, so there's some application to the former if one knows that they can do the latter. And the knife hand strike to the throat at that force would certainly be an 'off button.' I had no question that I was capable of these things abstractly, but it's nice to have discreet examples.
But I had no multiple attack, which has always been the highlight of the test for me. It is the hardest and perhaps the clearest example to me of the very limit of my skills. Multiples are designed to induce failure and the defender's response thereto, as the exercise is never finished unless the defender is taken to the ground in some fashion and has to fight their way up. I was very much looking forward to that portion of the test and I think the fact that it was missing left me with a lot more stamina for sparring than I was expecting to have. 6 or 7 rounds still took nearly everything out of me, but I bounced back fast. Within a minute or two perhaps, I would have been ready to go again and I don't know how much of that was the fact that I simply have more stamina and how much was having had to spend less energy during the earlier part of the test.
As Andy reminded me (I love this woman), I trust my teacher and he would not promote me if I wasn't ready. I feel disappointed perhaps, but ultimately not undeserving of my rank and that's a good thing.
Only 3 more left, and two before I'm no longer allowed to play with the other kids on test day. Those of you who are into planning can reserve sometime around 29 Sept 2007 to swing by my neck of the woods and see my black sash test. That'll be a good time. ;)