Sunday Sunday

Sunday is always the toughest training day, and today was no different. I have been put in a group with Dagmar and Xenia, who both have been practicing much longer than me, and have both been to India to train before. Today I had some trouble with fatigue, so struggled to keep up.

What I am learning is that although it is for sure physically challenging, the days that I struggle the most are the days that I am mentally fatigued. I make silly mistakes, forget patterns that I know well, add in movements that just don’t exist, and I talk too much to try to “figure it out”. All of this leads to frustration, and holding on or ‘trying’ which is the kiss of death in the kalari. When there is thinking, there is not doing, and everything becomes 10 times more difficult.

It is learning to let go on a whole new level.

On another note, I continue to be deeply moved by Sherifka, and the skill he has for teaching. Tonight, we were chatting about a fellow student who has many many physical difficulties due to some severe injures sustained over a period of time. I was very curious to know his approach to the student: balancing the physical needs and limitations while also maintaining a sense of empowerment, so as not to discourage. His answer was that it is for students like that we teach in the first place, so finding the right balance is crucial.

Sherifka looks at what this student can do, and doesn't focus on what they can not. Some things he fixes with practice, and some will only heal with treatment. He says someone like me needs kalari a lot less than this other student, and that giving someone relief from pain, and making their life more easeful is the most satisfying thing he does in his life and work.

It seems so simple, but to watch him in action is such a beautiful gift. I feel as though I am learning how to teach all over again.