There comes a point in every athlete's training where they reach a certain level of performance that even they didn't know existed. Some call it the zone. Monks might call such instances a form of enlightenment. I call it enlightenment jock style. And it happened again earlier this evening.
The first time I experienced this was when I took my yellow belt test: I was at the end of my test and had to only do my two forms and things were done. By that point, I was drenched in sweat and my nervousness had died down. I chose the softer style form first and when performing it, something amazing happened: my body did exactly what it needed to without effort, it remembered and did every motion flawlessly. I felt every single muscle contract and release in harmony as I performed it and my mind was perfectly clear the whole time.
The second time was training capoeira up here. I was in class after having done two hours of martial arts beforehand, so I was tired. Still I chugged along and at one point in the roda, my instructor started calling out moves and I just did them. There was a direct link between words and my body, no thought, just performance.
The third time was amazing as well: I was in a roda in Seattle and all I remember is hearing a single berimbau playing. The other instruments, singing and clapping were like fuzz in the background. I didn't even notice the people around me, just my opponent's eyes and being in sync with her those moments. It was like pure perfection; once I saw a hand in front of me (someone buying the game), reality rushed back as I stepped back to the edge of the roda, but I will never ever forget that experience.
Tonight was similar in many ways, but also its own creature. I was in my Bodycombat class (a martial arts-based cardio class through Les Mills) and during the warmup I didn't need to think too much as I've done this release a couple of times now. What was fun was in the thick of class, combos would get called and my body just did them. Usually I have to think a lot, even if I had done the release a few times, but not tonight. I felt the beat of the music in my body and the moves just happened. I didn't have to think, I didn't miss too many beats and it was another example of pure performance.
Many of us train day in and day out, fatiguing and figuring out our limits. What so few of us know is that those limits are merely mental and that there is a plane of practice that is so difficult to reach that when you get there, it is almost like a spiritual experience. I know it is for me; perfect sync with my body and sparring partners, calm mind and complete reaction. My body does what it was trained to do and I remain in a zen-like state. There really is nothing to describe this; you have to experience it to grasp it.
It is at this level, those moments, when something that is normally physical and grueling becomes empowering, energizing and takes you to a different state of existence. You transcend the normal boundaries of your body and become something you never thought...and it sticks with you for as long as you train. These moments are what makes it worth it; not winning, not repition, not the idea that you're beating up your boss after a bad day...the moments when you become the athlete you never knew you were.
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