Kung fu and Family

This past weekend I was visiting some family for Easter. Usually these visits consist of small talk and plenty of silent pauses when I try to answer the infamous "what's new?" Nothing all that drastic has usually happened, except this time, I haven't seen any of them since I started my grading year and earned my blackbelt so I was very excited to relive the moments of my journey last year, and felt confident I would not run out of things to talk about when they asked me what has changed since my last visit. However I quickly realized that nobody was even remotely interested and when I brought it up it was quickly passed over by other questions or swift redirections of the conversation. 

Now I'm not saying I expected everyone to spend the entire weekend talking about only me, eyes growing wide as I elaborated on different aspects of my training and journey, that's not it at all. What I did expect was maybe a sliver of interest from my family about this huge part of my life that is incredibly important to me. 

I wanted to write this blog to vent a bit because I would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit disgruntled at how quickly I was dismissed, but also as a reflection of gratitude for the people in my life that do care about kung fu. I realize that I have the privilege of constantly being surround by extremely hardworking and diligent people who are striving for mastery and betterment, people who are motivated and inspiring, people who could talk about kung fu for hours. I am so lucky to be surrounded by so many of these passionate individuals that I forgot that not everyone is like that. People that train despite fatigue, or injuries, or busy schedules because they understand the value kung fu brings into their lives. So the next time I step on the mats I'm going to try to keep this gratitude at the forefront of my mind for as long as I can because I truly am lucky to have such a wonderful kung fu family. 

Comments

  1. Malinda FerrisApril 10, 2023 at 3:17 PM

    Aw. I can truly relate to how you felt. I think we all can. I don’t think it’s that they dismissed you maliciously. Those that don’t live this life, simply don’t understand. My Kung Fu is often referred to as “my workouts”. It’s constantly called every other martial art in the book except Kung Fu. I’m always asked “you’re really going to make your kids do it forever if they don’t want to?” They don’t understand why I don’t just skip it if (this or that). Sometimes I think my commitment to it actually makes people uncomfortable. Lol.

    I’ve become very selective about who I share my journey with. Not everyone understands why I would put so much time and effort into something. Many people are very content with mediocrity. And that’s ok if they are happy in their life!! I don’t think I (we) are better than they are. Just different.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bjork2BlogApril 10, 2023 at 3:49 PM

    Exactly how Todai Ferris said it lol. Our Kung Fu ‘family’ is most definitely an important part of my life, and I can relate to this as well.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Michele WardApril 10, 2023 at 5:38 PM

    I can relate as well. I’ve learned who I can talk to about my Kung fu and with the others conversation is brief when it come to Kung fu.

    ReplyDelete

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