I have kj mapped to Esc here. Right on the home row, and almost never comes up in the english language.

Can you explain how to do this?

imap kj <Esc>

A lot of folks map jj for ESC and uu for underscore. However, what this means is that on typing j or u, vim waits for the next keystroke before displaying or doing anything.

I can't remember where this used to hit me. Perhaps some abbreviation with u ?? I notice I've commented off "uu" but still have "jj".

I still go up and slam the ESC key after 20 years of vimming. How do i get into the habit of C-[ ?

The habit is only formed by training. When I first started learning Vim I used the arrow keys for navigation. I recently null'd them out so the don't work. I couldn't do a damn thing. I still use the arrow keys.

thanks

Here's a vote for the capslock/esc remap. I've got it as a global remap and have gotten used to it in other apps as well (canceling a dialog, for instance). Couldn't live without it.

I have capslock remapped globally to control on the OS level.