W5!

 The 5 W's (or W5)!  Who, what, where, when and why.  In a meeting this week, Sifu Hayes stated that we need to keep all the W's in front of us.   We use these in our everyday lives, so how do these relate to Kung Fu?

Who?  When dealing with an application, the who is my opponent.   When dealing with forms, the who is me.   This is how I think of Who, it is person that I am envisioning.   The person that something is happening to or with. 

What? We all have been asked What am I doing?  It is used to keep you grounded, stay in the moment.  There are so many more what's that can be used.  What am I feeling? What is the intent? What is the direction of flow? What is the outcome?  The Who and the What is something that is present and tangible.  They can be easily defined.

Where?  Another grounding word.  Where am I?  Also, Where does the transfer of flow go, where does it come from?  Now that I know what the intent is, where do I need to deliver it?  Where are my strengths and weaknesses? Where does the move place you and how does it set up you for the next one? 

When?  When would this technique be used?  When would it work?  When would it not?  The When and Where are more thoughtful questions than the tangible Who and What.   They may not be so easily defined so you need to think about them more.

Why?  This is the mind-blowing question.  It can stand alone by itself.  Why?  That word alone means you need to dig deeper, dig into another layer of question.  It helps you find root-cause, not just the surface answers.  For example I was having problems in the temple punch of Da Mu Hsing, it just didn't feel right.  Why?  Well, because it was hurting my shoulder.  Why?  Because I was swinging the punch.  Why?  Because I was doing a haymaker instead of a temple punch. Why?  Because I was dropping my left hand down before I started the move so I needed to swing it out to get it into place for the temple punch but by then I was already into the haymaker.  I don't think that is the last Why for this issue but already it has fixed my temple punch.

To get deep into the root cause, keep asking Why until you can't dig down any further and then ask that question.  But be warned, the answer will probably open up a few more holes that will start more digging. Isn't it a good thing we love to dig?

See you on the virtual mats (or in a hole somewhere digging)!