I didn’t give myself enough room, the form is big and
although I started and was in the zone so to speak I quickly ran out of space
and almost into the judges. That wierded
me out and I popped mentally out of that no thinking just doing frame of mind
into an ‘oh my god now what’ moment. For
me when I ‘plink’ out of the zone like that I’m not aware of where I am in the sequence
of the form. Maybe that makes me weird
but its how it works for me. Parts of
many of the longer forms have repeat movements and sequences so it can be scary
when you lose your focus on the doing, just going with the flow, and realize you
have no idea where in the sequence you are.
What maybe I should have done at
that point is some move that would have allowed me a moment to regroup mentally
and get back into that doing frame of mind.
What I did do however, is just grab a similar section of the form and go
from there. I never did get back into the
‘zone’ so feeling panicked, awkward and embarrassed that I just messed up and
that it is probably reflected in the movement of the form I just sort of
stumbled to the end.
The more you perform, the easier it gets. I also do a ridiculous number of reps, so when I have to perform, it is getting easier and easier to slip into the zone. When I am practicing, I always think, I can do one more rep and that always leads to three or four. I'm not saying it is easy by any means, you just have to keep pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. Let me know if there is anything that I can do to help and when you are ready to get to work with our sticks =)
ReplyDeleteI envision a grounding cord that originates from above me, through me and into the center of the Earth. This helps me stay in the moment and if something arises I react accordingly without thinking.
ReplyDeleteThe best advice I ever got about preparing for a tournament is to perform my form for as many people as possible before hand (including the higher-ups). That way, when it comes time to compete, you've already done your stuff in front of pretty much everybody (the judges included). I also set up a mock-ring before hand and practice my form in that so I get an idea of spacing.
ReplyDeleteThe moment of competition shouldn't be the first time you do your stuff in a ring in front of an audience or judges.
You need to practice your form yes, but you also need to practice performing it.