I spent some extra time at White Dragon (the martial arts school where I practice Tai Chi) this weekend; I had an opportunity for some additional practice and one on one time with an instructor. I had a productive practice time (more on that later), but also noticed some things that I might have missed during a busier time.
Tai Chi has several advanced forms where you use a wooden staff, or some kind of replica edged weapon (dagger, saber, spear, etc.). As I got ready to leave, I noticed a young lady who was obviously preparing for a test of some kind. In one hand, she held a red-handled dagger, in the other, her student logbook, where your instructor records your progress, and results of your tests. She was intently reading the logbook while practicing dagger moves; it made for an interesting sight. One of those times I wished I had a camera; it just struck me as amusing, to see someone reading a book, and practicing with a weapon at the same time.
On the subject of weapons, something else happened over the weekend that was a perfect (and somewhat reassuring) example of the strength of ingrained habits and repetition. I was heading out the back door of the school when another student came through the door with her spear (pretty much all of the weapons practice is done outside due to space limitations). As she entered the building she lowered the spear to get through the door-a bit too much for my taste, since that put it right about eye level for me. Nearly 30 years' experience with other types of weapons kicked in-without even thinking, I simply said, "Muzzle!"*
I don't think she even heard what I said-I think just the sound of my voice got her attention, and made her raise the weapon up-she was quite mortified, and apologized. I just thought my reaction was interesting-she did not have a firearm, but I saw something pointed at me, and reacted just as I had been trained a long time ago. Just thought it was funny how that kicked in, in a completely different context.
As I mentioned, I had a really productive session-I worked on some of the opening moves of the 24 Form routine, and learned the transitions between them, which for me seems the hardest to remember. So excited about getting more of this down that I practiced more at home on Sunday.
* I have nearly 30 years' experience as a competition shooter-during the 90's when I was really active I was also certified as a Range Officer, so I could work as a match official. In Range Officer school, we learned several specific words/phrases to warn competitors if they were doing something potentially unsafe (if someone did something definitely unsafe, it was pretty simple-you just said, "STOP!") "Muzzle" was our warning if the firearm began pointing in an unsafe direction.
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