Intention

Here are a couple of pages out of my sketchbook where I was doing coloured ballpoint pen studies of peacocks. I needed a little colour for a change.

During Kung Fu classes we are often told to do things with intention, and that includes deciding what your intention is. Recently I encountered that, and its results, with my artwork.

I’ve been doing these classes where I’m encouraged to decide on something I want to fix, learn more about it, then do it again. With that in mind, I’ve also been doing independent drawing studies to learn how to do something (recently peacocks). In other words, I’ve been drawing to learn, and understand not just to make a pretty picture. Often these aren’t pretty at all, but learning happens from them. After doing this for a time something happened - I was able to draw something from memory! I’ve never been able to do that. I’ve always needed references to draw from.

Drawing has become a situation where if I don’t know how to do a thing I go find references, and or tutorials, and I learn to do it. Learn to understand it. Then repeat the drawings. Keep doing this until I can do the thing from memory. There is still much I need guidance on though.

This experience reminded me of intention in Kung Fu. Like in art, I often don’t know what intention to have. It takes a bit of guidance before I start to understand enough to have the questions I need to be able to do things with intention.

Right now my intention with Kung Fu, since energy is returning, is to overcome the loss of conditioning that happened due to not working out as much. For example, I used to be able to hold a high plank for over a minute and a half, now I struggle to hold it for a minute.

Numbers/Progress So Far This Year

Pushups (=): 3200/ 25000

Sit-ups (=): 3000 / 25000

Hand Form: 126 / 1000

Weapon Form: 10

RAoK: 166

Sparring: 135 minutes

Kilometres: 509

Journalling: 55 days

Blogging: 23 posts

One-on-ones: 9

Improve Flexibility: 38 days

Help with Level 1 Classes: 5

Decluttering: 13 days (I know I missed recording some)

Art: 72 days

Reading: 1 / 12 books read

Dog Training: Focused training got hijacked yesterday. However, their “Au pied” continues to improve.