Rewiring of an Old Device

     Even thought we are all on different paths, there remains one thing that is constant for all of us, change. Whether it is physical, mental, habitual or countless other things, we are all striving to change something. Over the past couple of years I have gone through some pretty major physical changes. These change are very evident as they can easily be seen by the naked eye. The past week there have been certain changes that are becoming more apparent. They are not changes that can be seen, but they are definitely there.
     After this past Tuesday night, I noticed that I had started seeing things a little differently and in turn started thinking about some things differently as well. In class you constantly repeat motions in order to gain muscle memory so that they become automatic when needed. Once this has started then you put a couple of these movements in to a combination and repeat until the combination becomes muscle memory. One of the issues that presented itself in the past, is the hesitation at the end of those movements when free sparring. For example: Someone is throwing a kick your way and you make the most awesome forearm block. As you are having your own little party in your head celebrating what just happened, you are eating a fist because you have left your guards down. This past Tuesday, while sparring with Sifu Lindstrom, I received a couple of shots to the ribs which changed my way of thinking. Thank you Sifu. I laughed at the time because I knew that I had done something stupid. When the match concluded he said "You have to watch because you are telegraphing your back fist". I knew that it had happened as soon as my head had spun around to see no one there, and felt the fists against my ribs. Hearing the words though seem to make it stick. Sparring then suddenly became chess. That may seem like a bizarre statement to make. The next match I started to fake more, purposely telegraphing an opposing action from what I intended to take. From this, amazing things started to happen. With every fake it was easier to predict where the next punch or kick was going to come from. This made the action of blocking much quicker with less hesitation, equalling less fists to the face, always good. Knowing where a punch or kick is coming from in turn means that you know where there is going to be no guard, you get to land something, even better. Then this turned back to classroom lessons. How can I get someone to kick or punch me in a way that will lead to being able to try out some of the defence moves that we are learning in class? Without thinking about it, I was suddenly planning three moves ahead, or trying to at least. 
     Thanks to one seemingly insignificant moment in time, I started seeing the same situations from a totally different point of view.