I made a change to my requirements right at the last second.
I had originally intended to carry forward my Kwan Dao into the Year of the Dragon. But leading up to banquet day, my instinct told me that I wouldn't be able to sustain it for another year. In a mental capacity that is. Meaning I did not think I'd be able to maintain excitement or stimulation with it for another full year. To date, the Kwan Dao has been my favourite weapon. I connected with it right away and I was gaining insights even to the end of the year. I do not plan to lock it away only to collect dust and I do have an opportunity that will require that I continue training with it, which I am very excited about. But my gut told me to switch it up.
And so I began to ponder what new weapon I would attempt to master, that would also still support my other goals. Much of my training is still geared towards my Chi development. And the Kwan Dao was integral to that. The weight of such a weapon forced me to utilize my energies in a much different way than with a stick or sword. Muscling it was not an option and I really had to incorporate all of the harmonies, and both external and internal energy, to maximize it's efficacy.
My thoughts went to the fan.
Where I would describe the Kwan Dao as a "hard" weapon that demands the full use of both external and internal energy...I see the fan as a "soft" weapon that will require the same. But that is coming from a place of zero experience in the matter, so this remains to be seen.
As I have started to work with my fan, I must confess I am a little lost. To be quite frank, the thought "I think I've made a terrible mistake" has crossed my mind. With my Kwan Dao I just picked it up and started swinging. Although controlling a weighted weapon is something totally different, it was still fairly easy to translate techniques from stick, our base weapon. Slice, stab, chop, etc. Even articulations had similarities, albeit modified to suit. But so far I am failing to link anything obvious from the stick to the fan.
However, after a recent 1-on-1, I can see I was being too literal with transferring my knowledge. True, there might not be a direct correlation of techniques. Meaning, I can't really take how I would wield a stick, alter it somewhat, and then apply that to the fan (like I could with the Kwan Dao....or how we can see those physical similarities to the sword or nunchuks). What I CAN transfer are the concepts. For instance, when working with any weapon, we want to work with the weapon, not against it. So for the stick, rather than always stopping and starting to move to another technique, we want to find a way to maintain flow and momentum from one to the next, if at all possible. I can certainly apply this to the fan. Another concept would be to figure out a particular weapons' special advantages and then find ways to apply those. Meaning, what makes it unique? So where speed and reach might apply to the stick, sleight of hand and distraction might apply to the fan.
So even though there doesn't seem to be much for specific techniques that I can transfer directly to the fan, I can still transfer the concepts.
I'm actually a teesny bit excited at how difficult I am finding this. I feel like the harder something is, the better the result once you finally figure it out.
IHC Dragon Numbers To Date
Pushups= 2120
Sit-ups= 2175
Fan Form= 25
Long= 26
Sparring= 13
Kim’s= 30
AOKs= 55
