Wandering Intent

A recent example of how powerful intent can be.

I was in Tai Chi class when a question was posed by another student.  During the discussion, it was mentioned that the intent of a particular movement was with leading with one hand while pulling the other with it.  I immediately realized that I focused on this movement in a different way.  My intent was with the opposite hand, pushing the other.  Now I didn't necessarily think I was doing this particular move "wrong"...but there were a couple things related to this sequence (timing and balance at completion) that I was working on...and so in the name of curiosity, I decided to change my intent and try it the other way.

Immediately, with that very first attempt, my timing and balance seemed to adjust on their own and everything came together.

Fluke obviously, right?  But no...again and again I maintained this new intent, and achieved the same result.  And it was so easy!  Something I was trying to fix for the whole class (and for the last 3 years to be honest) without success, was rectified with a simple shift in my mind.

I know we are constantly told how important intent is.  That it is the guiding factor in what we want to accomplish. Yet it still eludes me.  There are times I think my intent is one thing...when in fact, it is another.  Or times when I start with certain intent, and then it changes without me even realizing it.  

I think I understand intent.  The definition.  The concept.  I've experienced it.  Had success with it.  But I don't yet have total control of it and am not always able to keep it pure throughout a technique or form.  And when I say pure...I don't mean that it can't change.  It can.  But if it does, it's changing because I want it to.

As I think about this practice, it seems similar to meditation.  With meditation, I will sit and breathe with a particular thought or purpose.  Then suddenly I will realize that my mind has wandered...and so I pull it back.  Over time this gets both easier and less frequent.  And I think I can apply this practice to intent.  If I start one way...and then realize that it has gone astray...I simply need to pull it back and carry on.  And hopefully it just gets easier.

IHC Numbers To Date

Pushups = 27924
Situps = 28089
Kwan Dao = 581
Tai Chi Short = 669
Sparring = 554
Km's = 1099

AOKs = 703