Enhancing Your Skills: Strategies for Building a Better Formal Practice
Updated: 3 days ago
In Formal Practice, our goal is to engage in practice. We put on our pajamas, go to our designated space, initiate ritual and ceremony, and repeatedly perform our form, exercise, or technique.
This article will explore how to effectively establish your formal practice for success. We'll examine the ideal location for practice, appropriate attire, duration, and other essential elements. The goal is to incorporate Integrated Strength Training into your lifestyle seamlessly, rather than allowing it to become a disruption.
Focus on Solo Practice
Fortunately, the WAY of INTENT emphasizes solo practice, which can easily fit into even a hectic schedule. With some creativity, you can practice in your basement, on the porch, in the backyard, at the office, on a plane, in a car, or even while lying awake in bed.
Unlike many other arts, the WAY of INTENT doesn't require a training partner, a dojo, special equipment, or much space. Especially in the beginning, Personal Practice should concentrate on inducing and developing the Integrated State. There's no need to jump into Testing Strength or equipment training until there's something to test or experiment with. Doing so only reinforces the movement patterns we aim to change.
Even when Testing Strength becomes a focus, the insights gained must be integrated into your solo practice. Training evolves as you progress, as your awareness of your frame deepens and things 'activate.' In a seemingly paradoxical way, we aim to make our predominantly single movement practice non-repetitive.
Reframing Standing the State
For us, Standing the State represents both the beginning and culmination of our personal achievements in Integrated Strength. It is where beginners start, new ideas are introduced, new forms are tested, and new feeling states are created. Paradoxically, it is also where our accomplishments settle. The Integrated State brings together achievements with structure, elongation, alignment with gravity, orbit, root and branch, opening and closing, receiving strength, issuing strength, and creating intentional connections, among others.
My Teacher encourages students to understand that each gesture should ideally reflect the entirety of their accomplishments, much like each brushstroke of a master painter embodies the artist's complete skill. Standing the State should be like this: evolving with each practice session while reinforcing all other aspects of practice.
The Interdependence of Habit & Practices
Establishing a Formal Practice habit is essential for the WAY of INTENT. Understanding Kung Fu is not equivalent to possessing Kung Fu, much like reading a map doesn't guarantee reaching the mountain peak. The map is beneficial, but you must put in the effort to acquire the skill.
In essence, there are two interconnected objectives for setting up your Formal Practice. The first is the practice habit. Design your Formal Practice habit to suit your needs. Ideal practice times are those when you can consistently train effectively. If you're not a morning person, scheduling Formal Practice at 5 am is likely to fail. Instead, tailor the practice to your lifestyle. Develop a morning routine that energizes you whenever you wake up.
The second objective is the exercises you incorporate into your practice habit. The WAY of INTENT focuses on training techniques that employ intent in various ways to help you Discover, Develop, and Apply Integrated Strength. As you will learn, the use of intent varies in each of the three stages/aspects of Integrated Strength training.
The Discover, Develop & Apply Stages of Formal Training
Consider a straightforward example. Soon, you'll be engaged in Rooting & Branching. During the Discover stage, you will concentrate on using vivid imagery to merge the sensations of root and branch into a unified feeling. In the Develop stage, you will challenge yourself to enhance the quality of this Root & Branch sensation and maintain control over it in increasingly challenging situations. In the Apply stage, the emphasis shifts to using the Rooting & Branching sensation to achieve specific objectives.
By clearly defining your training objectives, you can avoid much of the confusion that hinders progress. Many people mistakenly believe that the goal of Standing the State is to endure physical and mental discomfort for a certain period as a demonstration of mental discipline.
That is not the goal; I have pursued that path, and it leads nowhere. StS is about activating the integrated state of being in the Nowspace. It involves gaining conscious control over the body's tensegrity as a whole and interacting with our environment in unity, rather than through isolated movement patterns we have learned. When I realized this in my own practice, StS shifted from a daily struggle to the most enjoyable part of my day.
Pay Attention to Intention
Formal Practice encompasses a range of activities and methodologies that are designed to enhance our skills and cultivate our abilities. At its core, this practice includes intentional components, which means that every action we take, every decision we make, and every routine we establish serves a purpose that may not be immediately apparent. Initially, some of these elements may seem superfluous or even unnecessary; however, they are carefully crafted to engage our subconscious intelligence, allowing it to work in our favor and facilitate deeper learning and growth.
When we delve into the concept of intent, we begin to recognize the profound impact it has on the choices we make in shaping our Formal Practice. Intent serves as the guiding force behind our actions, influencing not only what we do but also how we approach our practice. By being mindful of our intentions, we can create a framework that supports our long-term development and success. This is particularly important as we navigate through various exercises, techniques, and routines that are integral to our practice.
For example, consider the act of setting specific goals within your Formal Practice. By articulating what you wish to achieve, you are not only defining your path but also signaling to your subconscious what to prioritize. This process can lead to heightened awareness of opportunities and insights that align with your goals. As a result, you may find that you begin to notice patterns or solutions that you might have overlooked had you not set those intentions.
The intentional components of Formal Practice are designed to harness the power of your subconscious intelligence. By paying close attention to your intentions and making thoughtful choices in your practice, you can unlock a wealth of potential and achieve significant dividends over time. As we explore more aspects of this topic throughout the rest of the article, you will gain further insights into how to maximize the effectiveness of your Formal Practice and transform your approach to learning and growth.
Developing YOUR Formal Practice
Here are some key considerations when starting, rebooting, or refreshing your Integrated Strength Formal Practice.
Make a commitment. If you're investing time and money in developing your Integrated Strength, do it right. Daily practice is essential, and forming the habit is as crucial as its content. When tired, it's easy to skip your Personal Practice session. Commit to yourself and try to stick with it. Yes, setbacks happen, but don't let them derail your path. The importance of this commitment is clear. By sticking to it, you signal to your subconscious that you're serious. You're training with purpose, not just going through the motions.
Kung Fu means skill achieved through hard work over time. Skipping sessions, taking long breaks, and half-hearted efforts only prolong the journey to Integrated Strength. Consistent training is far more effective.
Find a suitable spot(s) relatively free of distractions. Ensure it's a place where you're comfortable and where your family and friends are comfortable with you being. Personally, I have several spots I use depending on the weather and circumstances. I enjoy the outdoor deck on nice days and prefer the soft carpet in the living room for ground work and stretching.
Use your Personal Practice spaces as triggers to get into the right mindset for practicing your art. You shouldn't feel rushed or in the way. Aim to be in a comfortable, welcoming environment where you can focus entirely on the present moment.
Make the space your own, tailored to your needs and perspective. My basement space is filled with training tools like balls, bands, bells, boards, and sticks, all subtly reminding me of my purpose there. Sometimes I play music or listen to a podcast while training. The goal is to make your practice space conducive to practice.
Establish a routine. Wear a specific outfit, tie on a belt, or have a routine like recitation or a short meditation to consistently get into training mode. These rituals, though they may seem trivial, can be an important part of Formal Practice. They help focus your attention on what you're doing, allowing you to set aside life's distractions and concentrate on Integrated Strength practice for a while.
Keep them short. Intention-focused training can be draining, especially at first. I recommend starting with short sessions of 10-15 minutes. This helps maintain focus and prevents your mind from wandering. Your mind should be on what matters—the feeling states you're trying to induce through your Feelizations. For example, Standing the State practice is ineffective if you're not in the Integrated State; without activating the Integrated State, you're just standing there.
I've often been asked how long to Stand the State. What's the magic number? As long as it takes. There's no magic duration that guarantees results. If you rely on numbers to earn the skill, you're in for a long journey. Focus on quality in your practice, and let your sessions naturally lengthen as your curiosity and need to explore grow.
A simple rule of thumb is to complete your Formal Practice session before losing the ability to apply intent. Finish on a high note, with a good feeling, rather than exhausting yourself. There will be times to test endurance, but the Discovery phase is usually not the time.
In regular classes with Master Fung at Fort Mason in San Francisco, the class would dread when a new student started. Sifu would test the new student's commitment by having the whole class practice StS for 45 minutes to an hour. He did this not to set a required practice time for the new student, but to test their commitment to the practice!
Frequency matters. You'll be repatterning your movement and strengthening and lengthening your connective tissues. This process is smoother without frequent starts and stops in your training. For example, practicing for 10 minutes daily is more effective than an hour once a week.
Practicing at least twice a day keeps everything fresh and dynamic. It also reinforces your subconscious commitment to achieving your Integrated Strength goals. Soon, I'll introduce the idea of Integrated Practice, applying Formal Training achievements to other activities in life, increasing training frequency and quickening the journey to accomplishment.
This doesn't mean you can't take breaks or miss a session. Life happens, and that's that. Don't torture yourself over one or two missed sessions; just don't slide down the slippery slope. When I go on vacation, I typically take a few days to a week off Formal Practice. When I resume, I'm often surprised by the intensity of the Feeling States in those first days. A break can be beneficial if not overdone.
Take Responsibility for Your Formal Practice.
In the WAY of INTENT, you're responsible for designing, implementing, evaluating, and adjusting your Formal Practice to achieve your goals. I'm here as a guide and advisor to help you succeed in this endeavor.
My Teacher once told me I can't do his Kung Fu, a statement I found odd since my shirt read 'Cheuk Fung Yi Chuan Kung Fu'. He said I can only do my Kung Fu. He made it clear that while he was my Teacher, it was my responsibility to train myself.
It took a while for this perspective to resonate with me. Initially, I thought he was dismissing me because I asked too many questions (which I did), but eventually, I understood. I was so focused on replicating what he did that all my attention was on him and following his instructions. If asked why I was doing a particular practice, my response would be, "Because Sifu told me to."
By telling me to train myself, he freed me from that trap. I started asking myself, "Why am I doing this?", "What's this rule for?", "How can I apply this?", "How should I adjust this exercise?", etc. I stopped looking to my Teacher for those answers and began using the tools he gave me to find out for myself.
The Practice Pyramid
The Practice Pyramid is discussed in another article in this series on Building a Better Practice, but it's worth mentioning here to illustrate the greater context in which your Formal Practice fits.
In my simplified view, we have three types of Personal Practice. We've covered Formal Practice in detail. Next is Freestyle Practice, which bridges to Integrated Practice, defined as applying Integrated Strength principles to other activities. Let's use our Root & Branch Feelization as an example again.
In Formal Practice, the focus is on using the Feelization to induce a state where the feeling of Rooting & Branching are united. In Freestyle Practice, we focus on the feeling state itself, playing with it to see what it does. In Integrated Practice, we take the same Feeling state of Rooting & Branching and apply it to an activity like walking.
Skills are born in the lab of Formal Practice, set free in the playground of Freestyle Practice, and put to work with Integrated Practice activities. In a young Integrated Strength practice, the focus is on Formal Practice. However, over time, as more achievements are made, Integrated Practice becomes the foundation of the pyramid.
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Hacks & Cheats
A discussion on Formal Practice would be incomplete without highlighting some useful hacks and cheats to maximize your formal practice.
Keep notes and/or a practice journal. Documenting and reflecting on your Formal Practice offers long-term benefits. By recording your experiences, you reinforce them. Go beyond just sets and reps; note your emotional states, questions, and thoughts about what you're working on. This allows you to look back and observe your progress with an exercise, technique, or concept.
Having a training record also helps me assist you better, as knowing how long you've been working on something and its evolution can provide insights into your next steps.
Use tracking devices. Fitness and activity trackers are everywhere these days, so why not use them to monitor your training? Tracking duration, heart rate, pace, steps, and other stats can offer insights into your training and keep you motivated.
Record video of yourself practicing. Recording sessions has taught me that analyzing your movements from an external perspective is highly beneficial. Videos allow you to be self-critical and notice things you might have missed. Like trackers, they also document progress, creating a video journal and library for future reference.
Set reminders and notifications. Use the same tools that organize your busy life to structure your Formal Practice. Schedule your Formal Practice Sessions on your calendar and set notifications to train. Utilize to-do lists, reminders, and alarms to make Formal Practice as regular a habit as waking up for work, brushing your teeth, or taking out the trash.
Expect Breakthroughs. Students who adopt the WAY of INTENT after trying other methods are often surprised by their rapid progress. Typically, they've engaged in passive standing practices promoted by many teachers, with little to show for it. By reframing the practice and switching to intention-based exercises, many barriers to success vanish.
It's a mistake to assume it will take a long time to reach your goals. Integrated Strength is part of the design and wants to be activated. Often, the challenge is letting go of ingrained habitual movement patterns to allow your natural potential to emerge.
Watch this video where I elaborate on setting up your personal Formal Practice session. This session is part of my Foundation Program, where I detail Building a Better Practice.
For help getting started or leveling up your Formal Practice Sessions book a Check In session.
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