I never got tired of watching Shifu demonstrate something in class. Since I began my training with Shifu, I have heard him say the above statement each and every class, he goes, "watch me now, we do this serious..." and then he moves very deliberately and slowly through a move or a sequence of movements.
What I find useful is to examine things he does in a sequence... how does Shifu move his feet, what is the timing between the foot contact and the movement of his arms...how are his arms placed at different times during the movement, how do the hands actually move, and finally, how does he move his spine or body throughout the movement?
Thankfully, Shifu will demonstrate something he feels important several times to us. Each time I try really hard to remember everything I see, I try to file away all the pertinent data I collect as he does the movement.
Some of the key things i've learnt about how Shifu will move his arms/hands are:
is he touching his body with one or both hands, does the whole hand and wrist touch, what is the distance of the elbow from the body, how close are my hands to my head, etc, etc. Today, I noticed and heard Shifu talk about chest and shoulder expansion, and how THAT moved the hand/elbow, it was NOT an elbow driven motion, but one that was driven by the shoulder/chest! Subtle difference, but one has significantly more power and strength inherent in the strike!
It is amazing to me how I have watched as closely as I can in class, trying to catch everything, and i've seen him do these moves over and over again, yet... as time goes on, I seem to notice More and More things with moves I thought I had already gotten! Dang. Just keep an open eye, and an open mind, and KEEP watching like a hawk.
Together we'll all improve... one day at a time!
J
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