Hard to Do, For Some (Me)

   Thursday''s Kids classes. Halloween game night. I was tasked with running one of the games. I have seen this game run by others many many times, I understand how the "rules" work. Well it was my turn to run the game this last Thursday. I realized very quickly that what I knew about the game and what I could openly orate to the students for instructions were two very different things. My mental road block went up immediately . I stammered, I hesitated, I was unclear, I failed. I was dying for someone else to come over and save me from this disaster. 

   Thankfully Todai Ferris just let it play out. As soon as I realized I was on my own (so to speak), I did what I could to salvage the game. I turned on the Goof. I started to have fun with them instead of being a spectator. While it was not an ideal outcome, it was what I had to give at that moment. There were still bumps on the road but it started to turn the corner from a disaster to mostly fun for the students. 

   I still feel it was a sub-par outing by me but it was also a great learning moment for me. What looks seamless and easy for another is because they are good at it and have obviously honed their skill to achieve this level of proficiency. Countless repetitions by them has made them both competent and confidant at this skill. I am not envious but in awe of the skill. 

Funny how teaching can be so unbelievably rewarding, if you let it be.

Push Ups  12250 , 

Sit Ups  11623

Sparring  700 min

1609KM  1561.09 km

Acts of Kindness  1400 recorded

Hand Form  385

Weapon Form  375

Mastery recited 35

Direction From?

   The push/pull of a punch. This opened a whole can of worms for me. Doing thrust punches from a horse stance has felt like a pull for quite a while, but I am stationary. The power still travels from the earth up into my hips then is pulled towards it's objective. There is rotation, there is vector, there is intent, there is release. It feels natural both in body and mind. But then the twist came.....

   Now do it from a slide stepping bow stance. Suddenly I feel I am pushing my power up to it's final destination. So why does this change in stance(s) change anything? I am still using the earth as a base, I am still engaging (hopefully) my six harmonies, my vector hasn't changed, my target has but I am moving towards/away from it. Is it my shoulders, is it lumbar positioning, are my eyes down, has my center risen to my chest, are my hips just doing footwork not transitional power, do I not understand the concept of push versus pull, is my ego refusing to being open to change? So many questions. 

   Dissection. This is how I am describing my approach to this new paradox. I am starting with my shoulders, this is where I feel the problem lays. Am I too tense, too loose, too forward etc. If it turns out that it is, fix it and repeat until it feels as natural as the aforementioned horse stance. If not keep looking until I figure it out. I feel the fix may transition it's way though the rest of my Kung Fu like wild fire, cool.

Push Ups  12235 

Sit Ups  11623

Sparring  650 min

1609KM  1527.09 km

Acts of Kindness  1400 recorded

Hand Form  385

Weapon Form  375

Mastery recited 35

Little Tweak Big Pain

   Most of my pains and aches are old friends, some of them have been with me for a while, but a new one came to visit this last week. 

   While doing some kicks the top mid frontish of my left hip "popped". It hurt right away, kinda like smashing a hammer on your thumb. This was a new one, the pain was very deep, even standing correctly made it throb. Throughout the week it has migrated from my hip to my lower back, guess it is taking a tour of the neighborhood to see if it wants to move in. I have been doing my best to gently persuade it to move on, gentle stretching, heat/cold, massaging it, Tylenol, the standard stuff, and I think it is finally taking the hint and packing up and leaving. So after 4 days of gingerly moving to and fro I am hopefully bidding my newest pain an unfond farewell. 

   Seriously though, this really highlighted a flexibility issue that has been creeping up on me, especially my hips. During Covid there was a hip stretching course I took and it did help with opening up my hips. As is usual for me, once the course was over I moved on, never following through with the benefits that it brought. Time to dig it up from my old laptop and reengage with my body. 

Push Ups  12235 

Sit Ups  11623

Sparring  650 min

1609KM  1496.85 km

Acts of Kindness  1400 recorded

Hand Form  385

Weapon Form  375

Mastery recited 35

Super Fun

   Thursday's IHC. Board (shield) breaking. 

   First we did groups of five. Quick set up, no adjusting of distances allowed, four boards, go. First three boards were in range and felt solid, fourth board was set way to far back, needed a cross step to complete. That unexpected cross step was both a surprise and entertaining (for me). While it wasn't the break I wanted, it mostly felt good. It did highlight how adrenalin effects distancing. 

   In that fraction of a second as I targeted my board while doing a spinning back kick I thought I realized both my error in set up and what needed to happen so I didn't miss the target. Adrenalin said it was 1000 feet away and I needed a BIG cross step, my mind disagreed but it was too late, adrenalin won that battle. So my kick was a few things, not fully in my target area (to the outside and high), not within my intended power range (compressed and short), and just plain old crappy. While I did hit my target, I did not destroy my target, I just tickled it a little. That showed me that adrenalin can be both a friend and foe at the same time. So I need more adrenalin situations to learn to better cope with the "dump" I thought.....

   Well low and behold phase two of the night. The boards are set up for us behind our backs with no hint or idea as to where they are. Just turn and react. Fun on a bun. First pass was just two shields, it happened so fast I don't even remember the combo but I do remember striking both with what felt like satisfaction. damn adrenalin strikes again. I don't even remember the second round, my mind was racing to think of better combinations but then the third round came, oh boy. 

   Four shields held by two people. First off, a great big bow to both Sifu Rybak and Sihing Csillag for their creativity in board placement, it was a total surprise to me when I turned around to see four boards randomly dangling in front of me. In my minds eye I was Joe Lewis, in reality I was Jerry Lewis.

One of the boards was two feet above my head staring down at me with amusement, I could hear it mocking me, taunting me "whatcha gonna do punk?". Only thing that came to mind was an upward knife hand...... what the heck is a upward knife hand? It was kinda a disco move/stance but instead of pointing up my hand in the air with a number one finger raise high it was a knife hand. Interesting choice brain. 

So adrenalin wins again and apparently it has no sense of modesty or style. 

   So I need to work on controlling my adrenalin is the theme of this blog, not my dance moves. 

Push Ups  11795 

Sit Ups  11183

Sparring  600 min

1609KM  1449.97 km

Acts of Kindness  1400 recorded

Hand Form  380

Weapon Form  375

Mastery recited 35

Just numbers from the previous week.

Push Ups  11795 

Sit Ups  11183

Sparring  580 min

1609KM  1414.90 km

Acts of Kindness  1325 recorded

Hand Form  380

Weapon Form  375

Mastery recited 35

Mixed Bag of Goodness

   Lets start with parent/guardian participation week. OMG! This was so much fun. Seeing the dynamics between students and parents was amazing. You could see and feel the student not just kick it up one notch but kicking it up ten notches! The din, the engagement, the sweat, the smiles, it was more than I could have ever hoped for or even expected. The surprised look on the parent faces when their child put them in an arm bar, priceless. Watching the students fervently trying to teach their parent what they know made me grin from ear to ear till my face hurt and my voice raw from both laughter and shouting encouragement/instructions. So a massive shout out to those who organized this, I am sure there was plenty of stories around the dinner table by both students and parents after this marvelous event. 

   Next, Deb and I received a little surprise at the tailgate party yesterday. One of my co-workers has three very sweet younger children. Every game they come over to our spot and enjoy a pop/water and whatever happens to be on the menu (especially the cookies). Yesterday they gave me/us something I will not soon forget. It caught me by total surprise, I could feel the tears of gratitude welling up inside me. Receiving this type of gratitude so unexpectedly warmed me to my core. The sun felt warmer, the sky looked brighter (through my tears), I was almost overwhelmed. My god I needed this!! I can only hope to someday give someone else this kind of kindness, the world needs so much more of this. 

Push Ups  11795 

Sit Ups  11183

Sparring  580 min

1609KM  1370.69 km

Acts of Kindness  1325 recorded

Hand Form  380

Weapon Form  375

Mastery recited 35

Adjust and Go

   Yesterday's demo at the Good Samaritan Center. 

   Being able to adapt to the room size in basically the blink of an eye proved to me that we have a good team. Sihing Kohut led us through the moves and wowed the crowd like a veteran. No broken limbs, no knocking anything over, no close calls with the audience, just a good solid Dragon dance. Congrats Dragon team.

   My mind has been very scattered lately. I have fallen into a whoa is me funk. I know it is a vastly busy time of year for me and there have been outside forces making it dramatically more challenging than usual but such is life. I'm not sure why I have changed my way of dealing with adversity but I am endeavoring to return my mindset to previous more successful ways of dealing with stress. No, stress is not the right word, stress as a word/ideal for me is too watered down. Let's say challenges. I need to pick this apart and prioritize what is important to me. My Dad used to say to me "don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things".  Sage advice, miss ya Dad.  

Push Ups  11295 

Sit Ups  10683

Sparring  530 min

1609KM  1324.62 km

Acts of Kindness  1230 recorded

Hand Form  375

Weapon Form  365

Mastery recited 35