Trust your values.
I have been training with weaponry for many years now, and I absolutely love it. The feel of the weapon becoming an extension of your body is at times exhilarating. The biggest mistake one does when doing contact drills is that they focus on hitting the target and lose proper form. They go right to the target, at the expense of the technique. For example, in Bo, students will want to hit the other persons Bo, and the technique gets compromised. I teach them to stick to proper form and allow the technique to drive the contact. When performed correctly, the technique is effortless. Does that make sense?
There is a great parallel in life. Your technique becomes your values and the targets become the goals or even obstacles. When you work to accomplish your goals, it is important to stick to your values and never sacrifice them for the sake of that target, goal, or obstacle. This way, you will always be able to sleep well at night knowing you stayed true to your values. When you fail to do so, I believe they is when anxiety and stress kick in. I hope this helps and happy living!
