Sifu Jeremy Norris
Junior Student’s Corner
by Sifu Jeremy Norris
Everyone has gone through individual times of struggle, and it is hard. You get this feeling that no one knows what you are going through, or a feeling of loneliness where you are isolated and disjointed from everyone else. These times are hard, especially when relating it to our current circumstances, but our Kung Fu community is making sure that you aren’t alone during these unprecedented times.
Being together as a community is a great way to limit individual struggles and create a culture where every person can thrive. Our Kung Fu community has done an amazing amount of work to limit the amount of individual stress and bring our community together when it is needed most. There are both physical and mental resources that have been created to keep active when isolated.
The main challenge faced when being isolated is our mental health. As a community we may have all these amazing tools at our disposal, but what happens if you are not motivated to use them? Self-monitoring our mental health is a major factor when it comes to motivation. A tool to help increase positive mentality is to make a routine. When stuck at home it is easy to fall into a slump of laziness, this overall leads to a sense of sadness and lack of purpose. When making a routine consider these factors: What can you do to stay active? What can you do to challenge yourself? Or Is there anything you want to get better at? These factors are key questions you can ask yourself when trying to fill your day with activities that do not include sitting on the couch.
Now, how can we add Kung Fu into that routine? Whether we take our current circumstances into consideration or not, every student should have been training at home regardless…right? Either way some tips to include Kung Fu into a routine are simple. Take time in the morning to focus on past techniques or basics. Then later in the day take something you want to get better at and focus on retaining those skills. If you find yourself bored during the day practice! Remember it only takes a few minutes to run through some forms or technique. If you get that need for a sense of community within your at home training, check social media for our community challenges or tune into the virtual classes during your scheduled class time.
To self-monitor during these times is important and it is not easy to always evaluate yourself fairly. Look for changes in your attitude and in your mentality. Ask yourself what can I do to change this and make myself stronger? Adding Kung Fu and keeping that physical and mental exercise is important. Do not just use this time as an excuse to relax, remember individual struggles are hard. Use our Kung Fu community to stay connected with others and emerge from this a better version of yourself.