I've been training Baguazhang for some time now and, probably akin to many other IMAists of my generation, I have also become a father within a similar timeframe.
Naturally, this causes a number of conflicts of interest. Being a normal, well-balanced human, I place my family at the top of my list of priorities. Yes, even above my baguazhang training. Imagine that!?
Equally, though, I am a realist and won't kid myself that I can improve meaningfully relying only on what I glean from one two-hour lesson per week. I accept that to keep in line with my ambition, I need to enshrine some daily practice into my routine.
However, having a family, my daily routine is pretty full already. After a day at work and the associated commute, I want to spend whatever quality time I can with my fiancee and daughter. Add to that the need to relax and de-stress from the hectic day and whatever domestic chores are required and very little time remains.
What I decided of late, though, is that my baguazhang training is important to me. I want to improve and find myself a more capable martial artist within the next few years. With that in mind, I have decided that my second priority will be my training.
If I have so little time, though, how will that help? Family taking all my time (and justifiably so) will mean that my baguazhang will end up like the Mad Hatter's jam. (Always tomorrow, never today).
Even with a busy lifestyle and pressing commitments, I still find there are many times in a given week when I am, essentially, 'wasting time'. Playing around on the laptop, surfing on Facebook or playing pointless little games. Slobbing on the sofa watching a tv programme I don't really care for. All those times, rather than killing time with something that doesn't matter to me, I could have been practising my bagua. Wasted time.
It will take quite some discipline, but I intend to stop myself from doing these wasteful tasks and practice my bagua instead. This includes, horror of horrors, actually getting up an hour earlier than normal to do an extra hour of bagua in the mornings. Again, that will take quite some discipline, but it is acheivable.
Eventually, I hope to get myself up to around 90 - 120 mins of bagua practice per day (probably with weekends off as we often end up going places where it isn't always convenient (or strictly polite) to engage in practice.
