Progression

Something I have been seeing a lot of lately is my progression from who I was as both a person and a martial artist in 2020, and comparing that to the me in 2023. To this end, I am going to share about two specific instances; my aha moment that relates to my education, as well as my aha moment as a martial artist.

For my martial arts, it happened when I was clearing my camera role and found a bunch of videos I had taken of myself doing forms from March, 2020. Due to my spatial restrictions, it is a little difficult to compare the videos frame-by-frame to my forms now, and sense the difference in the general flow. I have, however, noticed little things, such as the placement of my harmonies, the structure of my stances, the little movements at the end of my rotations, etc. I find myself thinking of what advice I could offer to the me in the videos, as though I am instructing. This has been a really good method for me in figuring out where I am today compared to three years ago, as well as being able to see things I can further develop and remain mindful about. 

Within my education around resource enforcement, one of the most important assets we develop is tactical communication and the ability to diffuse situations with words, not force. Today, I was helping an instructor with the first year class doing role-play exercises on communicating with individuals who are committing offenses. As I got to chew out and yell at first years (acting is so much fun), I saw a lot of me from three years ago in their actions. These situations stressed me out and I struggled, despite the nature of these interactions being genuinely mild in comparison to what it could be. Immediately after my session as a role player, I went to my next class in which I was also doing situations, but on the officer side of things. As in, I was the one getting yelled at. Further more, my situations were done with paid actors and full props, and they were a lot more tense and aggressive (as one would expect comparing third year activities to first year ones). 

The situation went really well. Even though I was being yelled, screamed, and swore at, I never felt like I lost my cool or general control of the conversation, and by the time my partner and I had everything settled down, the actors were all commending us and our instructor was quite happy with how we conducted ourselves. This is not something I could have done in 2020. 

It can be quite the warm, fuzzy feeling to see good progress looking at the past, yknow? Speaking of the past, I thought I would share a picture my mother recently found from what I believe to be the 2017 banquet. Fifteen year-old Simon would be proud of my progress, I dare say.