Lessons Learned

Got home from Borealis a few hours ago. I haven't been this sore in a loooong while. But this is the good kind of sore. There's a bit of injury sore but a lot of good fighting sore. It's been a while since I fought this much. I stopped when my body told me to armour down, but my head still wanted to fight. I listened to my body (for once). I've learn so much. Not only fighting techniques but also a couple of good pep talks that helped me get my mind in the right place.

The first lesson I need to work on is patience. I need to give myself time to learn. Time to understand. Time to heal. I need to stop comparing myself to people who learned how to fight when I was learning how to walk. I can't learn something today and expect to master it yesterday. Once I manage to get that through my skull, things will get better.

I need to work on movement. That's a work in progress, been working on it for a year. But something clicked this weekend. It's clearer. Much clearer. When this becomes a habit, power generation will be easier.

Power generation. Closely related to movement. I've been told that some of the shots I thought were light were actually pretty decent. The opponent's armour will greatly affect how I feel how the shot landed. I feel a bit stupid that it took me that long to learn this but.. Now I know. But still, most of my shots are light and I've taken notes on a couple of drills that will help me generate power.

Gaging. I was always strongly suggested, as a newish fighter, to take every shot and let my opponent decide if it's good or not. That's stopping today. I will gage myself instead of letting others gage me. I know that I will not become thick, and if I do end up on that path, I know that I will have "the talk". 

Overall, I'm proud of how I fought this weekend. A lot of mistakes but with most mistakes came feedback and lessons that will help me get better. I'm more and more confident that I can do this. I will achieve my goals. I used to think it was an arrogant thing to say, but now I think it's a good thing. Having goals and believe in them shouldn't be a bad thing. I will break my walls.