What bicycling is teaching me about kung fu.
For years Sifu (fill in name here) has been telling me to not let my energy drop when I’m doing a rep, a monkey line, a multi-person attack. Finish strong, don’t drop your energy, finish! Finish!
Since this is mostly a mental thing, it’s kind of hard to find ways to train this outside of class – short of getting into a bar fight.
This is where cycling to work is helping me out.
I like to say it’s uphill both ways. Only Sifu Chris has been clever enough to respond that means it’s also downhill both ways.
Suffice it to say, my route to work is hilly. Lucky for me, I’m going over a hump instead of down into a valley. The uphill is always at the beginning of the ride. Once I reach the summit I can coast home.
What does this have to do with kung fu? As I’m pedalling up a hill and the top comes into sight, I let myself slack off. I have found out the hard way that does not work! It just makes it more difficult and slower to reach the top. I have to keep pedalling at the same rate, even putting on a burst of speed to make it all the way to the top.
Cycling is helping me to train on a physical level the mental attitude I have to demonstrate in my street fighting. Don’t slack off when the end is in sight. Keep going, keep fighting and finish strong.
