Practice Makes Perfect

I have only been able to get to ballet once a week these days. I can tell the difference; it takes me a while to get the combinations, and my balance isn't as good as it was earlier this fall when I went 2x a week.

Leihrin, on the other hand, has been going quite a lot! And one can tell. She gets those combinations quickly, and she looks good dancing. Amazing how that works.

Maybe that's what has happened recently with TKD. I'm just feeling more comfortable with the moves. It's not a frequency-related issue; I'm still going 2x a week as usual. But it's been just about a year since I began TKD (unofficially, as Robbie's workout "buddy")! So maybe my muscles are finally starting to learn the moves.

Carol, another ballet teacher, talks about how your muscles learn to do things. You first have to picture yourself doing something, and eventually the message from your brain will get to your muscles, and they'll do it, like a frappe or a pirouette. The next--and in my opinion the best--step is when you don't even have to think about it with your brain. Your body thinks for you. I love when that happens. Maybe it's beginning to happen with TKD.

This is not to count out any future experiences of sparring angst or forgetfulness. I would guess that these might happen again. But if martial arts are becoming more comfortable for me, more second-nature, I would hope that any setbacks I have will be brief.

Still, what I most need to do--in both ballet and TKD--is practice.