The Sucky Factor

 As I went through my belt levels, I always felt like I was progressing in a way that was easily identifiable and measurable.  I am now at the stage where “the sucky factor” has come into play.  What is “the sucky factor”?  It’s the stage where I see the things that I do awful (and boy is there lots to see).  Was I always this awful?  Yep!  But before I was focused on learning new things so I didn’t see these.  Did I do something wrong?  Nope!  I wasn’t ready to see these “sucky” areas, I didn’t have an eye for detail.  

So what are my next steps?  Once I identify a “sucky factor”, I need to ask myself “why is it sucky”?  and it usually comes from a few moves earlier.  My cat stance is not square, I am coming out of my center when I transition, I am winding up before I punch...the list goes on and on.

Initially when I was aware of my “sucky factor” I was discouraged.  How could I be  a brown belt and be so bad but Sifu Brinker said this comes when you start seeing an eye for detail.  Once I let my ego go and embraced my “sucky factor”, it blew so many things open.  I am able to make changes to eliminate the “sucky”.  The bad thing is once you fix one thing, you see three more things that need fixing.  The good thing is the fixes you do carry forward to other areas of your Kung Fu.  Here’s to embracing the “sucky factors”!

See you on the mats!