Ruminations

I had planned on writing up an entry here discussing how I was going to spend sometime focusing on learning the German tradition of longsword. I would like to say that this was going to be an attempt to increase my knowledge base, but honestly it was because I was looking for low effort=high reward - by learning something new it takes less effort to feel awesome about what you are doing. This is always been an attraction for me, just ask my wife - I constantly pick up a "hobby", get decent at it, then move on. I can sort of juggle. I can sort of play the harmonica. I can sort of read the Tarot. Jack of All Trades, Master of None right?

The problem with that is that is not how you achieve relative mastery over a subject. In order to master something you must work at it, especially when it gets tough, when it becomes higher effort for lower gains. This is something that, as a potential educator, I understand, have understood for a while now, but never really knew. I could talk the talk but wouldn't walk the walk, so to speak.

But WMA started to change that for me. When I first started studying Armizare I knew this was something I wanted to do for a long, long time. That's why I get feelings of nervousness when thinking of trying new art - I'm worried about what happens if I find another art that attracts me even more than Armizare? Honestly, if that happens GREAT! I need to stop worrying about what other's think, what they'd think if I decided to stop studying  the poleaxe, or started studying rapier as my primary art. Because honestly I think the people whose opinions I really care about would be that so long as I was enjoying what I was studying, and studying it in the right way, then good for me!

Honestly, I probably will spend some time looking at the German tradition, and training myself to it, in order, as I was first claiming, to add tools to my toolbox. But I will also be seriously re-starting my research with Armizare and Le Jeu de la Hache. The difference is that now I will be doing my best to maintain a disciplined mindset to keep working. Even when it gets tough.

I am a work in progress.

The key word there is "work"