Intensity - Seeing part 2 (with some sparring thrown in)

 Today I focused on where I was looking and WHY during my forms.  As I spoke with Sihing Kohut, I asked "should I be thinking 'downward foot block'"? The look he gave me was priceless.  It was a mixture of confusion and dumbfounded.  Why am I doing the action?  What is the purpose?  That was when I realized that not only did I need to bring my gaze toward my hand or foot, I needed to visualize the opponents actions  occurring that trigger my reaction.  I use to think I was doing this but today something just clicked now I know how wrong I was.  Later during my 1-1 with Sifu Csillag, he emphasized the need to turn my head before my moves in Da Mu Sing I (okay, in all my forms but this is an easy section to work on).  That really cemented in the "visualizing the opponents actions" before reacting.  

Why am I writing about this two days in a row?  During this weekend, I was given many suggestions where I can improve.  If I tried to fix them all at once it would be overwhelming.  Right at the beginning, we were told to look for similarities, things that can be grouped together.  So I have chosen to focus on "Seeing".  I have slowed down my forms so I can spend more effort on visualization.  Can I keep it consistently?  Absolutely not, I am breaking 8 years of habits.  Today when I become more confident, I felt myself get pulled back into those old habits.  I just acknowledged it, refocused and continued on.  It's going to take awhile to become the new habit but it will come.  

The other awesome thing today was having the opportunity to spar with Sihing Kohut.  Only twice did I flinch away but immediately recovered and continued without breaking stride.  I could see more openings and was quicker on my blocking and countering.  I felt confident, in control, and was able to try some of the techniques that we have been practicing in class.  It was great!  I know that he was not going full power or speed but he was being a great sparring partner.  He pushed me, gave me opportunities, but hit me when my guards were down (and I got a few good hits in on him as well LOL).  This is the type of sparring partner I want to be for others!