In other news, David may have spotted why i'm having trouble with the turning side kicks in Pyongwon last night - that i'm straightening my support leg instead of keeping it bent (the same thing he's been doing). I've tried it a few times, concentrating on keeping that knee bent, and my balance seems a lot better. Some more practise will tell, but early indications are promising.
Of course, David's just realised we're up in the same division in next week's competition and is joking that he should be giving me bad advice, but that one suggestion may actually make all the difference for me on the day, as Pyongwon's been giving me problems for a while, and it's my compulsory form so i can't drop it (and i guess mastering something difficult is a large part of the point anyway).
Speaking of the competition, it's now been moved from Croydon to the hockey centre in Parkville again. That's a shame, as Croydon is now just around the corner from home, which would have been handy.
I'm quite looking forward to it, being the first time i've competed individually for years, though i do have some reservations about the way the patterns are performed for competition these days. The feedback coming down through Barry (from Korea via the Australian team coach) is that they're going even slower and with a more steady rhythm, to the point of being almost robotic and mechanical, which to me not only takes it further from martial applications but also takes away from any artistic interpretation and character an individual can bring to it. Luckily the two patterns i am doing, Sipjin and Pyongwon, are quite slow and lend themselves to being performed that way, so it's not going to be too much of an adjustment (my other choice was Taebaek, which i've been doing really fast and can't manage to slow down nearly enough at the moment).
One thing that makes it hard is that i've been moving more towards doing patterns quite a bit faster of late (at least on those that are meant to be fast, like Koryo or the Taegeuks), largely inspired by those videos i found on the internet earlier this year of Shotokan guys doing kata, which really struck me with the explosive, rapid execution of techniques and a sense that you can really see what it is that they get out of it in terms of fighting skills. Since then, i've been practising my own patterns in a couple of different ways, with what i think of as a more "martial" emphasis (at the speed and rhythm of an actual fight, aiming primarily for rapid execution, with fine technique and stance a secondary consideration) and an "art" emphasis (concentrating on form, technique and flow, with maybe a thought to the style or 'personality' of the pattern). Ideally i've imagined the aim should be for the two to ultimately converge, but that one or the other emphasis would probably always dominate. Maybe now there has to be a third way to practise: the "technical" version - extra slow, rhythmical and focussing on precision above all else. I guess all of those ways are useful in their own right, and each should enhance and complement the others.
Perhaps the slow, technical version might also be a style that would suit a more relaxed and tranquil mood (like you'd do on a deserted beach or hilltop at dusk, to give it an appealing mental image), though I still stand by the idea that poomsae also need to sometimes be done fast and ugly, as i believe they're meant for more than just winning competitions and passing gradings.
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