FEATURE ARTICLE

   from  the              

Ching Yi Kung Fu Association Newsletter

MAY 1995

  by Mitch Everton                   President -  CYKFA

Edited by W Kraig Stephens CYKFA Black Belt #68

PUBLISHED WITH PERMISSION OF THE CHING YI KUNG FU ASSOCIATION

REVITALIZATION

I have, over the last few month, experienced a reawakening in my desire to practice and learn martial arts.  I call this renewed interest a "revitalization".  After many years of practicing a style (I have been studying the CYKFA style for thirteen years now), some people suffer a waning of their interest in their style and sometimes the time spent on their martial arts diminishes.  Over the past few years, I have found this happening to me.  The excuses not to practice became easier and easier to come by.  My practice slipped from daily to several times a week, and sometimes even worse.  Some months ago I happened across articles in several magazines that have changed my practice habits, revitalized my interest in martial arts in general, and in my CYKFA practice specifically.  The two articles that contributed most were columns in Inside Kung-Fu Magazine written by Burton Richardson.  In the first of these columns, he talked about practicing what you preach.  I realized after reading the column that I had begun talking about martial arts a great deal more than I was actually practicing it.  I started trying to practice more to compensate for this shortcoming, but found that I was still not getting in the amount of time that I used to.  I was still finding too many excuses.

About the time I began to feel discouraged, I read an article on self-motivation in a body building magazine and another column by Mr. Richardson in the same day.  The two articles stressed many of the same points on how to get yourself to train more.  The main point was expressed best by Mr. Richardson.  In his column, he recommended trying something new.  A new style, a new approach to training, a new teacher, or a new "just about anything!"  I took this advice and did something I had always thought about doing, but had never put into action.  The philosophy and style of Tomiki Aikido had always fascinated me, so a few months ago, I took the plunge and began studying it.  I found that this has not only opened up some doors to martial arts applications that I had not learned previously, it also rekindled the fire in the practice of my CYKFA forms.  I find myself practicing my CYKFA forms more often and with more vigor than I have in  several years.

You may not have experienced the same problems I have, but I wholeheartedly recommend trying something different if you find your practice habits becoming poor.  The structure and excitement of learning a new style sure got me fired up again.  I had to swallow my pride to start at the bottom of the pecking order again, but the rewards were worth it to me. 

To wrap up, if you find your practice habits poor, "just do it", as the shoe commercial says!