… Competitions are an interesting thing. They reveal a lot about who we are as people — and often times our reactions to competing are not what we thought or hoped they might have been.  One’s experiences with competition is really a reflection of their inner thoughts and feelings about the true reason they are there.

If a person tells themselves they will go compete just for the fun of it, but they end up having a terrible time, then perhaps the true reason they went wasn’t just to enjoy themselves, but it was to prove something to themselves, or to score well.  You can only have a terrible time if it doesn’t match with your expectations, so we have to really figure out what our expectations on the experience was that caused that reaction.  Or, if we really enjoyed it, and when we went there we were assuming we would not have a good time, then perhaps the reason we enjoyed it is directly related to the expectation of having a bad time?

Anyway, I think I’m speaking more about myself than you in this regard.  I’ve always found that how I end up valuing a situation is a direct correlation to what expectations I went in to it with.  And that makes me realize that the only way to really be subjective about my experiences and see things for what they are is to not have any expectations and emotional attachment to a specific outcome from the beginning.  Because when I can do that (which takes practice, I have to admit) I actually end up seeing the merits and enjoyable aspects of the experience, and acknowledging the negative, less enjoyable aspects for what they are, without carrying any emotional baggage or resentments inside my heart.  Take the good and make it my own, and acknowledge the bad and leave it out of my heart — is basically what I’m saying.

Not sure if that applies to you at all, but what you wrote made me think of it.

But,as you said, you’ve grown from the experience, and to be honest, I think that is the real reason we should compete.  Because, in teaching ourselves about who we really are, it allows us the opportunity to take that new-found knowledge and apply it to our lives and come out on the other side a better person.

Or something like that …

- Mark

No related posts.

I made my way to her dorm room and hung out with her and Zhang Yang as they finished up their packing.  She was nice enough to give me a copy of the schedule for the competition events so I thought I would share it here with all of you.  One interesting thing is that they moved Changquan to the 3rd day.  Usually they have it on the morning of the first.  Anyway, here it is:

I’ve highlighted the events I definitely want to attend with red.  The ones in blue are ones that I would like to see, but may not get much footage of, either because they are concurrent with a preferred event on another carpet, or because I might not be there.  (Those 8 AM sessions are brutal).

Also, there is a slight chance that I might not get there until Monday afternoon, in which case I would be missing the Monday morning events.  I’ll have a better idea once the weekend is here what my status will be.

Anyway, I hung out with Xiao Yu and Zhang Yang for a bit.  Pretty soon Xiao Yu’s best friend (who’s name I forget) come in the room to help them bring their luggage downstairs.  She’s super nice and also from Shandong, Dong Ming.  A Sanda athlete who is apparently pretty good because she has her picture up as one of the athletes who were “celebrated” upon her return from the All China Games.  Don’t know if she medaled, but she probably got at least top 8 in her division.

She mentioned that she has a Sanda competition coming up in Anhui on April 8, so she will be preparing for that.  If any of you are in Anhui you can be sure to check it out. (She also mentioned that I’ve lost weight, so what she says MAY be subject to interpretation.   )

Wu Ya Nan met us at the bottom of the stairs and then we walked over to the bus.  As we were walking he said “I haven’t seen you in training much lately” and I mentioned that I had been in Hong Kong for a week for work.  But he’s right and I’ve been reflecting lately about my lack of attendance in the wushu guan.  Once I get back from the competition (hopefully rared up and motivated from watching lots of good wushu) I really want to revamp my commitment to my training.  I need to get in the gym more.

After a while the rest of the taolu athletes came and loaded themselves on the bus.  I took video of the whole thing so you don’t need too many details from me here.  Sufficeth to say it was neat to see them get the send-off for competition.  Now I kind of wish I had been able to go with them on the train, but it is good that I have a few days in Xi’an still since I have a lot to do.

Here is the video for you to enjoy!

One good thing about today was that I went running in the morning.  I was meeting James and Adam at their place so I decided to make it a run and hoofed it over.  Here is the map and distance:

So, not a super long distance, just 2.1 km.  But it felt good to get out on the road again.  I walked back as well, so I guess that is another 2.1 km of walking I can add to that.  I’m going to really try to do more running during this week away in Hangzhou / Shanghai.  Actually, I have a commitment with James and Adam that we each will go running every day for 2 weeks, so that is extra motivation for me to do it as well. 

Thats all for today.  There is some wushu classes at the Sports Center, but mainly just a few straggling kids.  I think I would rather focus on getting some of my projects finished so that when I come back to wushu after the competition I can really go at it full steam ahead.  Until then … lots of running!!

Related posts:

1. Two-Week Wushu Recap (11/1-11/14)

I only lasted through the basics – just barely – and when they did nandu I went on the side and worked on some of my nanquan choreography – mainly end of the 3rd section transitioning to the 4th. 

They did full forms today, competition style.  And by “competition style” I mean that they would do the salue, walk-on, etc.  The coach also had it filmed for reference and was timing them.  Their competition will be on April 5 (according to Xiao Yu) and I was told that I might be able to join them and go there, so hopefully that works out and I can post up videos and results via wushuzilla.  Keep your fingers crossed.

After their full forms they did some half-sets and so I joined in with that.  I got through most of my second half (3-4), but it was pretty brutal.  Definitely my lung endurance has suffered from my break, and my body is not quite as responsible or strong as it was last month, but I was expecting that to be the case so it isn’t too surprising.

And here is my video for today’s training.  Be sure to watch the part that talks about their competition preparation schedule.  I thought it was pretty interesting what they are doing.

Related posts:

1. Wushu Training Vlog (Xi’an, 2/1)
2. Wushu Training Vlog (Xian, 2/3)