The Rest Is Above My Pay Grade

A common theme amongst many blogs recently has been focusing on transitions in our forms, and how we maintain our skeletal alignment during these transitions in order to maximize the efficacy of the intended technique.

During this focus, we've been challenged to play around with different things and experiment...to tweak things here and there to see what feels good to us.

Now I initially wrote "see what works"...but that wasn't quite right.  That would imply that other methods, or other variants....or even the original intention of the form...DON'T WORK and might be wrong for me.  But I don't think that's the right approach.

What feels good (or better) is a very personal thing.  And it may only feel right because it happens to be the easiest way when I'm first starting out.  So although I really do like playing around with different things and experimenting...there is infinite value in that...but I definitely caution myself in making "what feels right" into an absolute.  

Our forms were designed and developed by others before us.  Others much more talented and insightful than I, that's for sure.  And so I am not only challenging myself to experiment with adjustments that might feel better...but I also challenge myself to stay true to the form and try and figure out why the creator thought THAT way was better.  Sure it feels better if I take a step with that open X at the end of LG3 (as a specific example of what I'm getting at).  But the form itself does not have a defined step.  So how do I get that same feeling of strength and power without it?  

Really this is all just a progression in how to challenge myself and not just sit in an absolute answer because it feels good in the moment.

First, make some tweaks as needed to get the intended technique to work and feel right.  Good...now I have an idea of what it should feel like.

Now go back, and take those changes away, and STILL try to get the intended technique to work and feel right.

What challenge comes after that, I'm not sure.  That's above my "pay grade" at the moment.  

Learning Is A Skill

I enrolled in a pottery class at the Parkland Potters Guild in Stony Plain.  I've taken classes with them before but it's been several years.  I decided to do it to hone my skills and hopefully learn some new things to add to my repertoire.  I don't really have a "mentor" in pottery and it's nice to be able to have that sometimes.

This is a Beginner/Intermediate class and it's about 50/50 for people with experience and the total newbies.  I would venture a guess that I am the most experienced potter in the class, yet I have noticed a few things.

I seem to be the only one that consistently watches and engages in the demonstrations.  The other students tend to continue on with whatever they are working on...only paying the slightest attention to the instructor and lesson content.  I get that they want to get their hands dirty...the class is only so long...but they are missing a lot of really important information.  

I also seem to be the only one that attempts to do the "assignments" in the way that the instructor has laid it out.  Sure I could continue to do these things my own way, but I feel that sort of defeats the purpose of taking the class.  The point of this is to expand my knowledge and learn some new techniques and skills.  Again, I see the other experienced students missing out on some valuable lessons.

I am also finding that I am seeing a lot of details that others aren't catching.  My eye for detail is definitely advanced and I've been catching the smallest of things that are making really big differences in my throwing technique.

No I am not here to just toot my own horn and to tell you how great I'm doing.  Lol.  What I'm saying is that, even though I'm probably the most experienced in the class, I'm also the one most engaged as a student.  I know the instructors have a lot of knowledge to offer me, and my mind, and heart, are open and receptive to learning.  Learning is a skill and I can definitely attribute my level of this skill to my Kung Fu training.

Sept 13, 2025

 

Pointing Fingers

Confidence is something we all lack at times.  

Where I lack confidence the most is in conflict.  I always do my best to be clear in my communications...both in personal or professional situations.  I am direct.  Consistent. And concise.  I do everything I can to lay out all the details and check off all the points when relaying information to someone.

So when a person comes back to me after a time...pointing a finger...laying blame on me for an issue they are experiencing, I take it to heart.  I lose sleep.

If I was in error, I do not struggle with saying so.  But if I know I did my due diligence, I want to be able to approach that conflict with confidence so that I don't end up absorbing that misdirected anger and frustration.

What I do, instead, is second guess myself.  Could I have explained things better?  Should I have double-checked?  Should I have sent reminders?  What other tools or resources can I create so this doesn't happen again?  Maybe they are right...maybe I should have known what they meant....or been able to foresee their intentions.

Having said that, I don't know if I could ever eradicate this altogether.  I think there will always be people that misdirect their anger and frustration over things they could have controlled.  People that will always hold others accountable for the challenges they face, but never themselves.