Learning

LEARNING FROM/WITH THE STUDENTS

It's been a while... again. Sorry!

Spent the last week being the Clinic Supervisor for Student Clinic and, as usual, I learned stuff too!

The students asked me some stuff about the lymphatic examination. It caused me to look into it more and to re-evaluate what I had been taught. We found that even the different textbooks on the subject don't agree with each other, even to the point of what to call some of the lymph nodes. There was no definitive answer to their question. As a result of this exploration, we ALL learned new things. It will forever change how I teach the examination in the future.

It reminded me of Kung Fu. We are always learning new things that will change how we will do our Kung Fu in the future. Plus, I love learning about what the teachers feel they are learning. That's one of the reasons I'm enjoying attending the IHC - there's insights there that I don't experience in the regular classes.

DOING WHAT'S HARD

One of the things I like to ask the students is, what is it that you're having the most trouble with? That is what I want to work with them on! If we keep doing what's easy how can we really expect to progress?

I try to do that with my Kung Fu, but at this early stage of my training that's practically everything! That said, I want to work on improving my balance, my flexibility, strength, and endurance. Oh, and I'm very bad at shoulder rolls, which still tend to make me feel a little dizzy. That said, I can feel that my balance is improving, as is the flexibility (I can kick slightly higher than a shin now), strength, and endurance.

EXPERIENCING RESULTS

One of the students shared an experience they had of experiencing results. They had made an herbal formula for someone, but the person didn't like it because it made them feel nauseous. They had used an herb in their formula that contains phytochemicals that bind to nicotine receptor sites, forgetting that the person they were giving it to was a smoker. The student didn't make the connection at first but they eventually figured it out. It's always an eye-opener when you get to SEE the herbs work rather than just read about them. In this case, while taking the formula, if the person smoked they felt nauseous.

Board breaking (and getting another belt stripe) is like that for me. I feel like I'm progressing forwards when I break a board or get another stripe, as opposed to stagnating. We had the Break-a-thon last week and I broke ten boards! This year I managed two breaks using a hammer fist, which is something I wasn't able to accomplish last year (though I tried). Progress! Results!

Learning!