Practice Makes Perfect

My body may have many black and blue marks.
Hurt to touch in numerous areas;
Definitely some stiffness the next morning…
Never tears falling down my face from the horrific trails of class.
Feeling the soreness the my body has endured the night before
Remembering when I felt the onset of the bruise…
Going over inside my head if I moved too slow to properly block that kick
Grimacing in pain as I realize that the lactic acid is within my muscles
My body is screaming at me to stop all of this pain
My mind refuses to listen.
Ignoring all of the pain receptors trying to tell it otherwise,
I slowly breathe in and hold it for a moment.
Closing my eyes and reliving the previous night.
Exhaling to meditate the pain away
Chanting the mantra, “pain is only weakness leaving the body.”
Knowing that this kind of training only makes me stronger;
A more capable person when it comes to village fighting.
When it comes to life itself…
Smiling to myself because tonight I will go back to kung-fu again
Despite all of the protests my body is assembling.
Not wanting to take the pain to my threshold;
Panicking over if my skills have improved from the last night
Grasping that I am giving everything within me to be knowledgeable about my curriculum;
To get knocked down to the floor and do it over again
And again till I get the feel of the motion.
That it becomes second nature,
Pounding and slamming onto the mat.
Uncovering the hidden lessons embedded deep within the techniques given.
Recognizing that the pain has a purpose;
Letting me know that I am getting stronger each time that I practice
That this pain is necessary in my learning process of kung-fu
To strike and be struck;
Taking in how devastating the technique can be.
Experiencing what it means to be on the warrior’s path;
Welcoming back the exquisite pain that I know so well…
Letting you know that you’re on the right path.
Forging you to be the warrior,
To fight through all of the fatigue and push past the wall
So that I can be more than what I already am;
Complete

©2008 Ashlee Elizabeth Lindsay