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<blogEntry id="4741">
	<title><![CDATA[That Still Counts!]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[Yesterday I completed one entire month on the mat. I'm preparing for my first kyu exam, which will be this Saturday, so I've been training even more than usual. I did it just because I could, and because it seemed to help me keep up the proper momentum, and stay loose physically. The nerve problem I was having with my neck and arm has been improving with constant activity, and I'm generally feeling very good. So why stop?

I trained every day, even Sundays. Every class, even the kids classes, and every open mat session. :D  

When I shared that milestone with my friends, one suggested that I must be experiencing an "awesome growth spurt." 

Actually, no. Although I have been enjoying training and having a lot of  fun preparing for exams with my dojo mates, I've actually been fairly perturbed by my lack of progress. Sometimes it's felt like I'm going backward. It's been discouraging. :mad:  For for each new "aha" moment there are three more things I see I seriously need to work on.

Here's what I said to him:

[I]"Not really feeling like it... Well actually, yeah... But the kind of growth where you become more acutely aware of where the holes are, and what needs work. Humbling - in the classic sense of the word."[/I]

In writing that answer I saw the situation in a new light, and suddenly felt a lot better about things. :p  I really [I]was [/I]making progress, it just didn't look the way I had been thinking it should. So I guess that does still count as an "awesome growth spurt."

[LIST]
[*]Opening my eyes to a thousand details and endless room for refinement still counts as opening my eyes.
[*]Discovering how I process and remember information (or fail to) still counts as discovery.
[*]Becoming more aware of the holes in my technique still counts as becoming more aware.
[*]Starting to see some of the bigger picture  — the patterns and relationships in techniques — still counts as starting to see.
[*]Learning where my blind spots are still counts as learning.
[*]Knowing what I need to work on still counts as knowing.
[/LIST]

I will do my best on Saturday, and I'm sure I won't be satisfied with that. But I will be moving into the next phase of my training better equipped to learn and develop further, with a broadened perspective on the art, and deeper appreciation for what's available through training in it. And that still counts as progress.]]></body>
	<date>03-07-2013</date>
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