I have to rewind a little. Just to mention someone, who before I went to the orange class, joined with his friend. His excitement and focus was contagious. Travis Panasiuk was as inspiring off the mats as he was on the mats. If not for a tragic accident there is no doubt that he would have surpassed my training. For those reading that never had the pleasure of meeting or training with him his picture is on the alter in the Kwoon.

     There's an excitement, I assume all of us feel, when we achieve the next belt level. It is multiplied when we have to change classes. Definitely different than when I went from morning to evening classes. On how to describe it, I'm not sure of, a nervous excitement is the closest thing. You enter the Kwoon just like you have many times before but with new partners (some are the same) to train with and, for me, Sifus I hadn't yet met.

     I'm going to start with sparring in this class. I met with Sifus Tymchuks fists and feet here early on, even before I knew him. One of the first sparring classes, I think my nose was squished to the right side of my face by a punch, then quickly flipped to the other side by his kick (or the other way around) and he had this huge grin on his face easily seen thru my watering eyes. It was quite the introduction and one of my most memorable. It made me all the better because I worked that much harder after that so as not to have that happen again. Then Sihing Krebs came in and would hit me 3 times before I even knew he was throwing a single punch let alone a combination. Between those two I felt like the Kelly Buchburger of the Kwoon, protecting myself by blocking with my face, but not afraid to try. This may sound terrible but I thought it was awesome. This was just the start of sparring in the Orange class.

   

     
To be continued...

   

Scott Fuhr

http://scottfuhr.blogspot.ca
http://flavors.me/scottfuhr
http://www.silentriverkungfu.ca

Aristotle said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."