Spark

    I love Kung Fu. It is such a part of my life now that I see it's benefits in everything I see and do. I'll keep this blog short as I could go on forever about this but I'd be preaching to the choir, right?!

   A person has entered our family circle recently, nice person, not your regular 20 something meat stick that seems to be everywhere nowadays. So we where sitting around having a family dinner a while ago, chatting, enjoying each other's company, and the topic shifted to Martial Arts, sweet, my favorite topic. We knew she has a back round in Karate, in fact she is a black belt, she had mentioned it before. At first, she just mentioned very casually that she was a black belt in Karate, testing our waters of acceptance. She is now starting to talk about it a little more every time we see her because she now sees that we have a common passion. As we talked about different aspects of both our and her art, I can see the spark growing in her eyes to take up her art again. I have not asked her yet why she stopped practicing, that is for another day. Baby steps. 

   If not for my family's background in Kung Fu, this conversation with her probably would have fizzled long before this stage, and another martial artist might have lost their connection to their art. But because of Kung Fu, and in her case Karate, a gentle breath has been blown on the ember burning in her, hopefully sparking a flame that just may turn into the fire that she needs to re-embrace her art. And I don't mind being a gentle prod now and then, encouraging her to share her knowledge with us, who knows what we may learn from her, it actually gives me goosebumps thinking about it.

Opportunities

    I currently have 16 days off work, that is a veeery long time for me. Usually I only take off a few days here or there, constantly trying to micro manage my staff during that time off. This time, with this amount of time I have taken off, I am going to concentrate on Me. I am planning to really use this time as a golden opportunity. Normally there would be relaxation, a road trip, a few naps (okay, a lot of naps), in my days off. This year though, I am forcing myself to look back at all the time I have wasted waiting for the cosmos to reset and get back to something I recognize, bad Don, and because of that, I screwed myself over for grading. I spent to many hours waiting and waiting for who knows what. Time wasted. Time I will never get back. But what's the big deal? I'm getting younger, right? Right? RIGHT!? Nope.

   So everyday of my 16 days off, I am going to treat like a golden goose. An opportunity to be greedily protected, squeezed till all the opportunity juice is gone.

mmmm, opportunity juice

 

 

   Day one, yesterday, was going great till I popped my back, to much juice I guess. Today though, I'm feeling great, rested and energetic.............. Sorry, opportunity was knocking so I decided to answer (Zen!).

Cascade of Indolence

    Time to cut the cord, unplug, wake up, relearn to focus more than 2 feet in front of my face. Lately I have been wasting far to much time on my phone, or watching TV, or surfing the net, or playing games. My brain is numb. It is getting hard to tell one day from the next. All my fault, my choice, and it gets me nowhere. The lack of physical and mental engagement is actually painful this morning. I feel tired even though I have done nothing. I look back at the last few days and try to add up any positive forward progression and all I see is sloth and inaction. Time to move, unplugged.

More Mental Spaghetti

    This blog was a tough one, I had so many thoughts and ideas that I wanted to touch on, but who wants to read another opinionated essay by a middle aged man. I think to much about things I can't control and don't focus enough on the things I can control, like my training. I can sit in my easy chair and lament the craziness of 2020 all day long, pointing my finger at injustices and saying "I remember when..." or I can get up and pour that energy into Kung Fu. Guess which one is going to bear fruit?

   Two current challenges have been presented to us/me today, Mrs Ferris's daily challenge, 100 snap kicks on both legs, and Master Brinker's "Master Dave McNeill's 80th birthday" push up challenge of 800 push ups. Today I choose to focus on these 2 challenges and relish on the pleasure that physical exertion brings. 

   That is all for today, time for some Kung Fu soul cleansing.

Need the Challange

    1000 front thrust kicks in 11 days then 1000 side heel in 12 days. I  love these challenges. I have learned so much about my kicks and stances during these 2 challenges. Normally I would practice a few kicks here and there, never with any real purpose or goal, but the 1000 in "X" days I find to be a real personal motivator. While not many students have chosen to partake in these challenges, those who do participate, and post their results, inspire me to try harder, to NOT quit. Thank you for this.

   The one that has been an eye opener for me is the side heel from different stances. I love the flexibility of this kick. While the goal of the kick is the same regardless of the stance, the path to finishing the technique varies based on that stance. From a bow stance, I have a ton of "snap" at the point of impact but my speed between kicks is marginal, from a horse stance I have way more speed between kicks but the power at the point of impact diminishes. I am still playing with the cross step (thanks for that Mrs Ferris!), 

   I also find that with each stance, my body "hurts" in different places. My knees from a bow and my ankles from a horse. This has forced some reflection on why there is pain    ( good pain = learning pain ), and I now see that the pain is pointing to where I am doing the technique wrong. Like a big neon sign saying "eliminate your pain now with a few doses of eye for detail". When I am in a bow, I am not pivoting my rear foot enough to relieve the stress on my knee, solution, pivot more ( duh ). When I am in a horse, I am to tall in my stance and my center  makes me unstable in  the lower extremities putting extra stress on my ankles, solution, lower my center ( double duh ). 

   I doubt I would of had there revelations if not for these challenges, or at least not in as short a time frame. WE ALL NEED MORE CHALLENGES to achieve mastery. Are we saying "good enough" or are we saying "good, enough" in our training? The first is mediocrity, the second is the path to mastery. I know which path I want to follow, do you?

Trolls Under My Bridge

    Sifu Rybak's recent post about the 18 concepts for total Kung Fu is awesome. As with any great post, it made me think, a lot. The idea or concept of these 18 techniques as being bridges and not boxes to be checked, brilliant! So the next step in my understanding of her post was to think about my "bridges", are they strong, stable and easy to use? Or, are they weak, unstable and surrounded by trolls? Trolls you say? Sorry to say yes, this is my analogy. The trolls I talk of infest every bridge, grabbing at my legs, blocking my way, their only purpose is to make crossing the bridge hard. But if I am strong enough, if my gallant white steed can hold his course, I can fight off the trolls and make it across the bridge to the other side to the realm of understanding and harmony, victorious in my quest for the holy.....sorry, I went off on a bit of a tangent there, to many scary fairy tales in my past.

   Anyways, thank you Sifu Rybak, that post has made me start to fine tune my thinking on the different connections and flow that our techniques require in order for us to properly use our Kung Fu in the way it is intended to be used. I will now go and try every one of our school forms the I currently know and see if I can find those bridges, and then see what I do when I get there. Do I cross with confidence or fight trolls every step of the way. Onward noble steed, a great adventure awaits!

Practice with a goal

   In our last class before the fall break, and now the latest shut down (grrrrrr), a challenge was issued to all students to do 1000 front thrust kicks before classes resumed.  That is 11 days to do 1000 kicks, less than 100 a day. Totally doable, and I will admit, much needed. While only a handful of students and instructors participated, to me it seems like we had some fun doing it, I know I did. As of writing this blog, I am at 800 out of 1000, with 1 day to go in the allotted time frame, I need to put a big push on to make this goal. And that's kind of the point of this blog. 

   Without a goal, it is hard to push yourself. If the goal had been to do "some" front thrust kicks, I never would have even considered 1000 in 11 days. But the goal was set, the bar was raised, the challenge laid out for all to see. I accepted the challenge and started towards the goal, and every kick I made suddenly had multiple purposes. Not only an I trying to reach the goal set by the Sifus but about half way through my 1000 kicks, my understanding of my kicks changed. BOOM!!! Again, what I thought was going to be just a routine set of kicks to reach a number turned into a quantum leap in the understanding of my front thrust kicks. I started to "feel" like the "kickers" look ( the kickers are the students and instructors who's kicks look like poetry, natural and smooth with beautiful timing and power ). My upper and lower body suddenly connected, I felt rotation and transition in my hips and upper torso where before it was disconnected and just along for the ride. 

   Thank you Sifus for this learning experience, to be taught without knowing you are being taught is a great feeling to suddenly be aware of. It wasn't about the numbers, it was about the self discovery, I am looking forward to the next challenge, maybe 1000 round house or side heel in the same time frame?

 

Righteous and Harmonious Fist

 This week in class, Master Hayes wanted us to really think about what the I Ho Chuan is. I have been mulling this over and I am looking at it from two different perspectives. Now right or wrong, these are MY perspectives and I would love feed back on my thinking because no two people are going to see the same thing the same way. So here we go.

   When I think about what the I Ho Chuan is ( see title of blog ), my mind breaks it into two different camps, emotional (spiritual) and physical. Both of these are very deep rabbit holes that I can chase ideas down all day long, but for this blogs sake, I won't. I will try not to make this an 7000 word essay.

   

   The easiest one for me to reflect on is the physical. Push ups,  sit ups,  mastering two forms, attendance ( this is a multi layered one ), sparring, 1609km, weekly blogging,  you know the rest ( our at least you should ). Pushing yourself physically is monumentally important to achieving mastery, and as it talks about in Mastery, you must learn to go beyond your "arbitrary" limits that you have set for yourself. As Yoda would say, "there is no try, only do". You must find a way to not make it about the "numbers" and make it about the effort required to achieve perfection in yourself. What does Kung Fu mean - HARD WORK! So know your bodies so called limits, find them, explore them, and then find a way to go past them. The requirements we all signed up for help us achieve that.

   

   Then there is the emotional or spiritual part of the I Ho Chuan. This is going to mean different things to different people but to me......simply put, the meaning is in the first requirement,  no quitting. That requirement, to me, says all that needs to be said. How so? Well, to quit the team is to quit yourself, it is to give up on the quest for mastery. And that snowballs throughout your life once it gets started. I am going to use what I shared at the meeting on Thursday as my example. 

   This year I could have graded for my black belt, I chose not to. HUGE mistake on my part. I have regretted it from the moment the words let my lips. I have spent the last 6 weeks wallowing in regret and self pity. My numbers all but stopped, my focus blurred to a haze, I was ( and still am ) furious with myself for this. I questioned the vary reason why I am in Kung Fu. I didn't feel ready for what was to come, fitness test - nope, forms - nope, 5 applications - nope, techniques - nope. None of it! While I may have "qualified" to grade, I definitely did not feel qualified to be a black belt. My mind was telling my body , "no chance so don't try", my body was telling my mind, "I'm lost, just go home". I had forgotten the first rule of our fight club, NO QUITTING!! I had just quit. That felt like a sledge hammer to the face. My spirit took a huge hit, my emotions darkened, I felt utterly defeated. Not a happy place for me to be, nor was it familiar. That is not who I am, so I needed this apocalypse of being to make me realize that.

   Now here I am, back at square one. I need to polish the stain off my soul. This has made me rethink my entire approach to Kung Fu. Where do I begin? What do I do? But wait! Isn't there already a perfect plan out there that has already set my path out there form me?? Why yes there is young Padawan. The I Ho Chuan program. The ultimate tool to build "me" into a worthy candidate for a black belt. It has the physical, it has the spiritual, it is a complete package, it is the best way for me to prepare myself to earn the right to be a black belt. I can feel the glow, the spirituality that being a martial artist brings, time to embrace it.

   I'm going to stop there as to long of a blog becomes white noise and boring.

   As a side note - attendance and blogging to me are about being present and in the moment, you can't do either if you are physically not there.

Short and Sweet

 Kicks. 

   For some reason I have been preoccupied with kicks lately. Between watching some truly incredible people perform their kicks on you tube and in class, as well as analyzing my own, I feel I am starting to understand my body more on where I need to change or refine my techniques. 

   If you were at Thursday's IHC, you heard my talk about Bill "superfoot" Wallace and his simple but effective exercises. These really work for me, I can feel all sorts of strengths and weaknesses when I do these exercises. Perfect, this is just what I was looking for. Not only are his videos entertaining but he keeps them SO simple. So enough about that, time to go do instead of talk (or blog). 

Year of the Rat Reflection

 So here we are on day 272 of 383 in the year of the Rat (January 25, 2020 – February 11, 2021 + leap year =383 days, 71% gone), and where has the time gone? Have I accomplished what I set out to do this year? No. Have I used the extra time that this year gave us to achieve what I joined the IHC for? No. The extra time this year gave me has been squandered. I know there is still an good chunk of the year left, so I will make the most of that, not waste it. I should have used the first 272 days much more aggressively, more efficiently, but I did not. I could use all sorts of excuses why I am not where I want to be, but it would just be just that, excuses.

   I have made some personal gains, achieved some goals, and learned lots of new ideas and techniques in Kung Fu. I have even started to learn Tai Chi ( loves that Tai Chi ). But time is not on my side. I am not getting any younger ( no one is!! ), aches and pains are much more obvious that they used to be, blood pressure, weight gain, arthritis, etc.... blah blah blah. I do not want to use age as a reason for mediocrity, it should be a driving factor in my training and overall health and not a weight slowing me down. I want to be around for many decades to come, and not just alive, not a "what if I had only done...?" person, but someone who understands one self, the consequences of good and bad choices, living life to it's max and not just being alive. Kung Fu can and will make that much more likely to happen. 

   The year of the Ox is coming up on February 12, 2021 – January 31, 2022, that is only 354 day long. Just like that, 29 days shorter that the year of the Rat, less time for me to accomplish my next set of goals for a successful year, but so what. That is still totally doable. Only I can set that goal and only through my actions can I achieve success or failure.

    So I am going to start writing my personal requirement for next year as soon as I finish this blog so I can start to focus on the direction I need to take to make the most out of my time. 

 

 

Some mental bubblegum for you on the year of the Ox, this is just a few sites I hace read, I am sure there is a ton of inaccuracies here so reader beware, educate at your own risk.

 https://www.chinaeducationaltours.com/guide/culture-chinese-zodiac-ox.htm

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ox_(zodiac)

Status Quo

    Nothing much to report this week, as the title suggests, it's steady as she goes. Working my numbers, practicing my forms, preparing for next years grading ( hopefully ). As age creeps into my training, I am actually happy to see my son Kody surpassing me on many fronts, speed, recovery, adaptation, creativity.  Ahh Ponce de Leonto, where did you hide that fountain?

   Yesterday while watching this years candidates do their applications and forms, it really opens one's eyes to the differences in their techniques any yet they all have a similar outcome. Watching them make their Kung Fu their own is very encouraging to a bag of cement like me, I need to embrace that. It has always amazed me when I can watch multiple Sifus do the same form/technique and their personality shines through, creating a different but similar style. From hard to flowing to peaceful to down right scary, it is all poetry in motion, a pleasure to watch an inspiration to those looking for a spark to ignite their own flame of creativity.

 

Thought I would  throw in some quotes from the curriculum, great concepts to ponder.

 Yellow represents the colour of a seed buried in the earth beneath the winter snow. It is the seed from which the roots of a glorious plant will sprout. These roots will anchor the plant and serve to support it through wind and weather For the rest of its life.

   Orange represents the colour of the sun rising to meet the morning sky. Melting the last of the frost, it nurtures the gracious earth, Encouraging the young plant to flourish. 

  Green represents the colour of the seedling venturing clear of the protective earth into the tender light of a calm spring day. Each day brings wondrous growth and change as the young seedling matures and strives to prosper.

 Blue represents the colour of the cloudless summer sky beckoning the thriving plant ever closer to its soothing hue. Strengthening its ward with a gentle breeze, forever reminding it of this precarious tranquility

Brown represents the colour of the autumn plant anticipating winter's shrill caress. Burdening no longer, its shriveled leaves enrich the soil of its origin, Paying homage to a humble heritage. The stark landscape but a reminder of the impermanence of all that is.

 

Blog in a Blender

   No particular direction in this blog, just a small synopsis of my week. 

   My physical training is a little behind from where I would like it to be but it is still progressing, think Turtle not Hare. Had some aches and pains to work through this week with the beginning of winter tire season, some of the rim/tires I lift are ridiculously heavy, and me being a typical guy, I tend to lift first, suffer later. Yes my wife ( I can hear her tsking me ), I will never learn.

   Made a hard decision about Thanksgiving this year. We usually spend it with my Mom. Not this year. With Covid, her health must take priority over my comfort. We will stop by her place on Monday for a brief socially distant visit, but it is not the same. But I'd rather her be here for many family get togethers down the road than risk exposing her to this nasty virus. I will miss the "gathering" of family but The Bjorkquist clan gets "it", it's not worth the risk. Miss you Mom.

   My last weeks blog about my struggles with Intent elicited some truley amazing responses. Thank you to all who shared their insights into my dilemma, amazing and enlightening! I feel better equipped to tackle this because of the care and thought of my fellow Kung Fu travelers. Keep those responses coming, they are truley golden.

   I wrap this up with a achievement I have made this last Friday ( Oct 9 ). My Dad was HUGE into donating blood and I regret not sharing that passion with him while he was alive, that is all on me. But this Friday, I received my "3 donations" pin for my 3rd blood donation. My first donation was for his memory and to honor his amazing achievement of over 150 donations, my second was for me ( to show I was committed ), this 3rd donation is for everyone else who truley needs my blood. It feels really good to do this, other than the needle that is ( I hate needles ). I will now continue donating regularly because it is the right thing to do and it is sooooo easy to do, sit, bleed, cookie, go home. 

 

 

This awesome volunteer's name is Trina, she insisted I receive my "3" pin.

The world needs more "Trinas".

Black White and Grey Intent

    Intent. Six letters. One word. Infinite possibilities and meaning. I struggle with this pretty much all the time. I sometimes refer to it as the "grrrr" factor. Thursday's  IHC meeting I brought this up with the group that showed up and Master Hayes. There was some great advice that I am defiantly going to try to apply. 

   The example I am currently overthinking is the Triangle Stepping Pattern. I say overthinking because as I attempt to do the technique, certain aspects of the technique give me pause, especially when I ask myself "what is my intent with this move". Am I defending,  attacking, both, neither. 

   I get what we are trying to do, I see the purpose of the technique, I "feel" the progression of the moves, I understand the "end game" of the sequence. I shouldn't question any of this, it is a tried and true technique, it has a purpose, it is an awesome teaching and learning tool, but, my intent falters on the take down, my intent keeps getting in my way of completing the submission. 

   My intent seems to be very situational. I feel I am very peaceful by nature, the people I have kept in my life are there for a reason, they make me who I am and I have spent decades enjoying that warmth. In my youth, my intent in life was defiantly different than it is now, and it did me way more harm than good. I have had the good fortune of being able to learn from that "crap" period of my life and move on to what I consider the pinnacle of good fortune. I am surrounded by love and good fortune. I couldn't ask for more. Which brings me back to my intent.

   In my minds eye ( and I may be wrong but indulge me anyways ), I now see intent in three different lights. White, black and grey. White is where I want to be, positive, happy, caring, healthy, full of goodness, all powerful. Black scares the breath out of me, hate, anger, death, violence, evil, all to be avoided at all costs!. Then there is the Grey area, the "pretend" area of my intent, the "what if" area. This is my struggle area. How do turn the White to the edge of Black so I can still return to White undamaged? How do I use the Grey to prepare to fight the Black and still remain in the White? Sorry if this is getting a little weird, but this is where I am at. 

   I need to find the aggression and assertiveness to complete my technique, fighting myself to prevent not finishing a technique that would leave myself or a loved one in real danger. I'm almost positive that in that "real" situation, my intent would change. If my wife or son was in real danger and it is a choice between them getting hurt or embracing my Black intent, I wouldn't hesitate to go dark, no matter the consequences. But how do I fake that in class. It actually scares me, a lot. That is my struggle.

   Thanks for reading....

Plan to Succeed

   The black belt success cycle has never made more sense than it does right now. 

- Have a goal, make a plan, have a success coach, take CONSISTENT action, review your progress, review your goal.

   Sound easy enough, child's play right? Actually it is. So why am I only now realizing this?

   The reason I bring this up is simple, I have wasted the year of the Rat with excuses and inaction, waiting for opportunity instead of creating opportunity. I should have tested for my Black Belt this year, instead I have squandered away the year of the Rat, hoping that someone else would tell me when I was ready, tell me what to do and how to do it. I needed to make a choice, time was running out.

    The decision not to grade this year was heartbreaking. But it was the right thing to do. If I had chosen to grade this year, it would have been a disaster, an insult and waste of time to not just the grading board and the school, but to what being a black belt actually means. Luckily, Master Brinker and the other Sifus, through his and their guidance, managed to open my eyes to just where I was on my journey. I was stagnant, I was complacent. My attitude towards grading was "there is always next year so I'll give it a try and see what happens". Wrong wrong wrong!! I was missing the point of what grading is all about. I was coasting, my passion for a black belt was an ember in a far away fire. Not any more. 

   As of today, I have started preparing for next years grading. Master Brinker always tells us, be ready to grade by September 1, I never got that till now. That is only 11 months from now!! So I don't have a year to train, I have 11 months! I've already lost a month, poof gone. So now is the time to pour jet fuel on that ember and turn it into an inferno, seize every opportunity I can to train and when the time comes next year, there will be no try, there will only be do. 

   With so much knowledge and passion for Kung Fu all around us at Silent River Kung Fu, the path to mastery is RIGHT THERE, laid out in front of us, begging us to just believe in ourselves, that we are all black belts, we just need to find and embrace that person in ourselves, to be the best we can be. 

I'm all in.

  

I Get It

    So for "fun" yesterday ( Saturday Sept 19 ), the other Black Belt candidates and I ( except Mr White-Horse Strong and Mr Raw ) ran through the fitness test ( minus the 2km run ). We wanted to get a base line of where we are at. Wow, now I get it. 

   By the time we wrapped things up, my mind was as tired as my body. Over 3 hours of non-stop running, punching, push ups, sit ups, kicking, and encouraging each other on. There was no time to think of ANYTHING else other that what you are doing at that moment. It was fantastic and humbling at the same time. I found my limits, now I need to go past them. With a week to recover and correct until the actual fitness test, I need to pick my "battles" as to which deficiency I want to address the most. I know there is no way I can improve, in the amount of time I have, some of the things I outright sucked at, but the ones I am borderline on, watch out, I'm coming for you mediocrity. 

   I want to thank my fellow candidates for that awesome sweat fest and for pushing me to go to my "limit", I am now looking at the test in a little bit different way. I only wish we could have done this 6 months ago, giving us all time to correct, but such is life. I have learned some valuable lessons from this, so I will use that new knowledge and move on. 

Open Training, How I missed You!

    That felt good. Finally being allowed back into open training was good in every way possible. It was two of the most productive hours in Kung Fu that I have had in quite a while.I'm not saying I don't practice outside of the Kwoon, but being there on the mats is entirely different. It was almost a full room, 17ish people I think, and anyone who missed out really honestly missed out on something special. There was action and excitement in every corner of the Kwoon. Forms here, weapons there, people working with and for each other, this was magic!! I truly enjoy open training just for the simple fact that we are all there for the same reason, to learn Kung Fu. So glad open training is back, this is a huge tool to use in building my Kung Fu temple.

   Having Sifu Lindstrom's help was a benefit to me beyond words. His help takes my training to a new level, to be able to not get frustrated or stuck on a particular move, to move forward with a purpose. His guidance and demonstrations opened my flood gates of memory. Thank you Sifu, the help you supplied yesterday has lifted a cloud from my memory and allowed my to move forward on many different levels. 

   Also a quick thank you to those fellow student that helped me move some "stuff" in our storage afterwards. Many hands do truley make light work, especially when I bring the right keys to open the door (my bad). Sifu Simon Kohut, Nate Kohut, Ethan Thomson and of course Deb and Kody Bjorkquist, thank you for your help.

   Grading day #1, less that 2 weeks away. What will it be? Forms? Fitness? 5 apps? Curriculum? I  am terribly excited and awesomely nervous either way.It feels like 10 second ago that I was on the 3 week count down, now it's 2 weeks!! Time to wrap this up and do some quiet training while the rest of the house sleeps.

See you on the mats

Time

    20 days and counting. That is how much time (approx) there is till the first grading day (Sept 26, 9AM). That is 480 hours, or 28,800 minutes, or 1,728,000 seconds. That includes sleeping, working, eating, being a parent, being a son, being a husband, being a citizen, being a student, blogging, and NOT going insane. Oh ya, and preparing and training for grading day. That time will vanish in the blink of a eye, poof, gone. I must endeavor to consume that time in the most economical way I can, but at the same time, if I am truly ready, that time will seem like an eternity from now. 

   In yesterdays online meeting, one of the items discussed was about not learning anything new but refining what you already know. Makes sense, that is doable. At this point in my training, I am either ready or not, it's entirely up to me. I have had the time to prepare, after all, I started Kung Fu March 1, 2014. It's not like I didn't know that one day I might be grading for a black belt. And here it is, close enough to touch but scary and thrilling as can be.

   Am I nervous, H#$* yes. Am I excited, of course I am. Am I ready, that is the real question. All I can truly say is I will give it everything I can, to slightly better than the best of my abilities. The standard or minimum required to become a black belt are incredibly high, as they should be. As Master Brinker has said, "anybody can get a black belt, but not everyone is a black belt". No truer words can be spoken at this time. I know which one I want to be.

   I can look at it two different ways, I have a mountain to climb in a very short time or there is no mountain, only a path that is leading me to a better me. I choose the path, lead on Kung Fu, I am yours to guide.

Black Belt Testing -Coming Soon!!

BLACK BELT GRADING

Four Three hour days spaced one month apart each starting on September 26, 2020 at 9AM.

In no particular order;

1 - Board Break, 5 applications, Demo

2 - Forms

3 - Fitness Test

4 - Curriculum, Syllabus, Written Exam

Fail any 1 test, grading over.

Dates

September 26

October 24

November 28

December 19

All at 9:00am

January used as a fine tuning month, promotion to Black Belt is in February

To be completed before then:

Memorize Mastery

Memorize Code of Ethics

Essay on what Kung Fu has done for me

Read and finish questions on Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

5 Black Belts I admire

 1st Aid training

Criminal records background check

What is a black belt

Identify your 5 strengths and 5 weaknesses

3 personal references

What does "intensity" mean to me

The Eye

 The Eye For Detail

   Turning the Eye for detail on myself has been harder that I thought it would be. Prime example was yesterday at our weekly Saturday parking lot open training. Deb, Kody and myself where the only ones there so we really got the chance to scrutinize our forms. These are always productive because what you think you are doing and what you are actually doing can sometimes be dramatically different. It also helps develop an ability to express your thought and questions in a way that bears fruit. So we plodded along, doing our best to help each other to the best of our abilities. Comments here, suggestions there, thoughts shared, gentle nudges when needed, praise when deserved.

   Then, luckily, as if sent by the Eye for Detail itself, Master Hayes floated mystically and silently around the corner on his crazy electric unicycle. We all silently cheered, now we didn't have to muddle our way through this quagmire on our own, we now have a Master guide. And the timing couldn't have been better. 

   We covered so much in such a short time, infinitely more productive than anything we would have ever accomplished alone. Now I can only speak for myself, so I will. My biggest two take aways are hips and grrr. Whatt? Let me explain. 

   Hung has always eluded me. I know the form but I have never "felt" the form, my power has always seemed to be misdirected, mistimed, just missed. Master Hayes took one look and corrected one little detail and POW, there it is. I was loading my strikes from a stationary spot my hip, not flowing with my hip ( seeing it makes more sense that typing it, sorry ). This would have probably eluded for who knows how long as my Eye for Detail was not seeing this one minor but incredibly important detail. Now the form finally feels powerful, snappy if you will. Thank you.

   The second was my Grrrr factor. We where covering a single section of Lau Gar and I noticed a slightly different movement in the way Master Hayes was delivering his Tiger Strikes. A slight variation on what I was doing but still it add "purpose" to the strike. That started the discussion about intent and what happens between strikes, blocks, stance changes, transitions. He was taking a block and reacting with an appropriate counter, with grrr added to make the counter count. I wasn't doing this. I was just moving from block to strike with no "shazzam" between the movements. My Eye for Detain was focused on the form, not the intent of the individual components.  I was completing the form without "seeing" the form. This made me think my Eye for Detail needs glasses. I am totally missing any Grrr factor in my moves. Not that I need to be over the top aggressive but I do need to make each strike/block/transition mean something, cause if it doesn't mean something, why is it there?

   Thank you Master Hayes, you have given me a smorgabord of info to process, time to feast on the offering.

   So much to do in so little time, going to stop typing for now and get practicing, thanks for reading.

Thank You SRKF

    So I find myself with no real direction for this blog. My mind is being divided by many pressing matters that need my attention. 

   Foremost is making sure my son Kody is ready both physically and mentally to re-enter school next Monday. He is going into grade 10 at the Comp in Spruce and I find myself preoccupied with a mountain of what ifs. I know an awful lot of what will happen is totally out of my control so I am trying to focus on what I ( and he ) can control. 

   Thankfully Kody has a good head on his shoulders and that takes a lot of the stress out of it. And for this I would like to thank Silent River Kung Fu. Him Being around educated, thoughtful, mindful, and caring people has helped him look at life logically and with a fairly high degree of preparedness. As well as the physical training has kept him healthy both in body and mind. From Sifu Csillig making sure we hand sanitize both before and after class, to learning to keep our social distance in class, to Master Brinker's talks with the class with about the reality of the situation we are in, temperature checks at the door, learning to use online learning as a training tool (Zoom), the list goes on and on and it has all helped him be more prepared that probably 90% of the rest of the population. He will be a leader in calmness, respect  and thoughtfulness at school and I can only hope other students follow his example. And this helps me immensely. Thank you to both the Silent River Kung Fu students and Sifus and to the art of Kung Fu itself for the advantage it gives him in life. 

 

 

  

Numbers Time

    Been a while since I have updated my numbers, so without further ado....

   As of right here, right now (day 205 of 384 [53% gone forever]- beginning of week 30 - Morning of Aug 16, 2020 - 7am )

Push ups           28762/50000   57.5%    

Sit ups              29310/50000   58.6%

Sparring           1150/1000 ( Complete but ongoing )

1609Km           1778/1609Km ( Complete but ongoing )

1000 AOK       917/1000         91.7%

Hand form       530/1000         53%

( subjective #, lots of 1/2 form stops because of flow, then repeat to correct )

Weapon Form  475/1000        53%

( subjective #, lots of 1/2 form stops because of flow, then repeat to correct, also trying to spice up the ending, so still creating/adjusting flow in the form)

 

   Where my numbers have really fallen off is in my goal of 10000/year of each; front thrust, round house, side heal and spinning back kicks. 

3557/10000   35.6%

   Injuries have been killing me this year but I am trying to adapt ( hard when your injury is your right knee, left ankle, right hip and lower back - sucks getting old ). I am starting to feel better so I am really going to push on these - carefully. 

   Anyways, those are my numbers as of now, just thought I would share my progress.

Steel toe Reboot

    So we have been talking about re-starts a lot lately. Makes me think about my progress and current attitude towards Kung Fu. And I can see I need a reboot, a hard one, a steel toed kick to the butt. 

   I have become to lax in my recording of my numbers, in my commitment to both the mandatory requirements and my personal requirements, in my practicing of even the simplest of things. Even sitting down to write this blog this morning I feel my focus drifting to other things. I also find my lack of focus has affected those around me. Thankfully my wife ( Deb ) has picked up some of that slack, I am talking about the Saturday parking lot practices. These informal get togethers have lit a spot light on where I am at. And I am not pleased with that. I seem to be able to talk a good game but when I try to do a form or a particular move, my wheels fall off and I am left looking in the mirror and saying " stop talking and start doing you poser ". I have access to all the tools I need to make this happen, I just need to use them.

    If I ever hope to be allowed to grade for my black belt, I need a major overhaul of my attitude towards my work ethics. As Master Brinker once said, " there is a huge difference between - good enough and good, enough ". I am stuck in the first and need to get to the second.

   So as was discussed in Thursdays I Ho Chuan meeting, time for a restart. Time to evaluate where I am at, make a plan, get a coach, implement that plan, AND TAKE CONSISTANT ACTION!!

Ask an Expert, and Actually Listen

   It's summer, it's nice outside, so I'll be brief.

   Yesterday ( Saturday Aug 1 ), we had another little Rat get together. Fun stuff. While I wish more people could have been there, I fully understand why they weren't. Between the 6 of us who where there, we came up with a fun little demo for Lau Gar. This allows for the whole form to be demoed while keeping each of us to about 15 seconds. I think it looked pretty cool. It is rough and needs lots of work, but it was a lot of fun coming up with this little diddy, great input by individuals turned a thought into an actual kind of demo. Whether we use this or not, it was a lot of fun playing with this idea and watching it turn into what it became. This is why we practice, you never know when or where an idea may come from. Great work team!!

   Before the practice started, I had a chance to chat with  Mrs Poitras about masks. She is a health care professional so I listened to what she had to say, and it was eye opening.

   We all know it is coming, so why not be prepared. Yes, there is a lot of resistance on the subject of wearing a mask when you go out into public, but I think it is finally time for us to get over that, me included. I'm not going to preach on the subject, but I am going to suggest you get an informed opinion on the subject ( not social media ) before you make the same mistakes I was making. Do some actual research on the subject, it could be life saving.

   You would think that all masks are created equal ( a pretty mask is probably made for looks, not function ), that handling a mask is child's play, that "disposable" masks are good for a few uses before replacing them. Something as simple as how you put on a mask and more importantly, take off the mask, is actually something you should take very seriously if you want to be part of the solution and not the problem. I got schooled ( nicely ) by Mrs Poitras on this. This is why you ask an actual professional. Her knowledge and expertise just may have saved someones life, mine or someone else who I come into contact with included. I thank you for this Karine, and for all you do to try and keep us alive and well.

From Mastery

On the path to mastery, erase any resentment you have towards masters. Develop compassion for yourself so that you can be in the presence of masters and grow from the experience

Yesterday, I felt I grew a little because of Mrs Poitras and her knowledge. Kung Fu is everywhere if you look hard enough for it.

Time to enjoy the day, Peace....

Sunday morning thoughts

So yet again I have several thoughts I am entertaining in my noggin. Here we go........

   Getting old and paying the price. So this last week has been very taxing physically. Started out fine but nose dived on Wednesday. I won't bore you with the details but I blew out my back, my fault, lifted with my back not my legs. Instead of listening to my body ( and wife ), I went to class Wednesday anyways, dumb move. By Thursday morning, I couldn't move. It was so bad I had to get Deb to put my socks on for me ( okay, I'll admit it, I kinda liked that ). So I heeded her advice and stayed away from the I Ho Chuan class Thursday evening and by Friday, low and behold, I could move again ( got a few "I told you so" from my lovely wife, well deserved I'll admit  ). Then Saturday afternoon, I was walking to my truck, looking at the beautiful clouds in the sky ( darn you mother nature with all your beauty ) and BANG, stepped on uneven ground, rolled my ankle, scrapped my knee and bruised the palm of my hand. Kody says I looked hilarious with my flailing roll of doom ( ahh family, always there to point out your flaws - I wouldn't have it any other way ). I thought I actually did fairly well on my way down, I extended my arms just like a break fall, slapped the ground and rolled out of it onto my back. Still, OWWWW! Now my ankle is a cankle, my right palm feels like tenderized jello and my knee keeps reminding me to sit down and stay down.
   So here I am Sunday morning, thinking maybe, just maybe, it would be safer to have a coffee a read the paper that to go outside and risk round three with the cold hilarious hand of fate.

   Thursday night was doubly tough because I was sitting in my van WATCHING the I Ho Chuan class and not partaking in it. Arggg, I did not like that. From what I could see, it looked like a great class and then hearing about a possible pending demo, time to get busy. I now realize just how much these classes mean to me, I do not want to miss another one!

   Renos at Tanarrama. From the very limited time I was there, it looks as though everything went good. A huge shout out to those who showed up to help. Even though this was a requirement in your I Ho Chuan training, it was actually so much more than that. There is no better way to get to know your team mates then this, a social setting with a goal.

   Now is the time to help out silent River Kung Fu. There is an over abundance of inventory that needs a new home. Gym bags ( large and medium ), t-shirts, sparring gear, uniforms ( top AND bottom ), water bottles, various shields, etc....
   So look at your gear, is it pristine? Or does it look like you where rolling in sharp rocks, tattered and full of holes. If pristine, good on ya, if tattered, I know a place that NEEDS your help, remember, shop local people, your community needs you, amazon does not.

   Last but certainly not least, this last week Master Brinker brought up one of the pictures on the Kwoon's hallowed walls. Soke Dave Mcneill. After a little reading up on him, I can see why. I won't go into details, I'll leave that up to you. but I challenge each of us to take the time and look at and research each picture up there. They are there for a reason, find out why, it's worth the effort.

https://gojushorei.com/soke-mcneill/

Mental Maitenance

   This is one of those miscellaneous posts that has multiple topics so bear with me.

   Wuxin and Intent. I put this topic out there the other day because I love to hear other students thoughts and opinions on certain subjects. I find in class that when a topic is brought up as mysterious and complex as this one that it demands more thought and discussion. There was some great discussion on this and for that, I thank all those who responded, especially Master Brinker. The clarification he provided was obviously needed as this is a very important concept to grasp.
   This brings me to a sore point for me, asking questions. Sometimes I don't even know I have a question until hours or days after something is done or said. In class on Wednesday, I understood the definition of the word Wuxin when it was given ( again ) to us but I realized later I didn't even have the foggiest idea of what the definition even meant. The responses I got on Kwoon talk showed me I wasn't alone.
   This brings me to my point. Why are we all so quiet on Kwoon talk? This is a great platform to ask questions and discuss whatever you want ( Kung Fu related of course ). Actual class time is extremely limited but Kwoon talk is open 24/7. There is a multitude of instructors at the ready to help guide your journey. I really wish more students would ask/comment on the site, so I will keep asking my questions and HOPEFULLY I will hear from you all.
   To quote my Dad ( again ), "there are no stupid questions, only stupid mistakes", thanks again Dad.


 Numbers. Here is a quick up to date summary of my numbers so far;
Push ups         25247
Sit ups             25440
Sparring          1150 ( mostly shadow sparring obviously )
1609km           1518.2km
1000 AOK      772
Hand Form      458
Weapon Form  365
   Personal requirements rolling along at a nice pace, reevaluating and adjusting as required. So overall I am mostly happy with my numbers, but I know I can do better, so I will.


   Mr White-Hourse Strong, thank you for you blog on Mastery. Looking at it from the perspective of understanding versus memorizing is a very neat insight. I am having a stinker of a time memorizing it, but I haven't really tried to approach it  from the angle of understanding it instead. Great idea, thanks, I'll try that approach instead and hopefully it starts to stick a little better.


   Reno of Tanaramma. The call has been put out there for help, are you in? It is the week coming up. I am not sure of what actually needs to be done but many hands make light work. I can be there every day from 4:00 Pm on, I might even be able to squeeze in a few earlier days. I have a truck, tools and love grunt work, use me!


   Monday night Tai Chi. I love this class, knew I would but never made it a priority, thank you Covid for helping me out with that ( and of course Master Brinker, Sifu Vantuil and Sifu Dennis ). But, this class has really made me appreciate how quickly time can go when you are enjoying yourself. I'd swear that class has just begun and boom, we are bowing out. Nothing I can do about that other than absorb every moment I can. Thankfully there is the full 4 sections on Vimeo (SRKF Tai Chi Yang Style Long Form) to watch, beautiful to watch the whole form. 


Think that's all for now, see you on the mats, peace!

And Just Like That

Yesterday ( Saturday July 11, 2020 12PM to 1:45PM ) was a great team day. I am going to focus this blog on what I got out of this because I can not speak for others.

   That being said, WOW! What a great bunch of people we have here. I was not sure if everyone was as gung-ho as me to be there but it sure seemed like it. There was some initial nerves but that was to be expected. Once we settled in, boom, it started to happen just like it should. We shared ideas, we laughed, we critiqued each other's forms, we offered insights, shared experiences, we bonded. A couple of team members had never done a demo before, so we did a quick mock one and I think it turned out pretty darn good for an in prompt - non choreographed - on the fly demo. I also learned to leave the videoing to someone under 50 cause boy did I screw that up, watch the attached video ONLY after a bucket full of coffee.

   One of my take aways from yesterday was the help on my forms. I have been stuck on the ending of my Tonfa form, it lacks finality. I brought this up with Sifu Ward and Sifu Kohut, asked and shared my wants and ideas and boom - again!! With what insight and ideas they shared, I feel I can finally find the ending for my form that completes it, thank you Sifus!!

   Another take away was from Mr White-Horse Strong. I was watching him do his Lao Gar and saw a variation on his ending that made something in my mind say "ahhh, there it is". I asked him to show me his ending angles, he did, I tried it and guess what, boom, again!!! Thank you Mr White-Horse Strong.

   This opportunity to get together like this was awesome, I am so glad it happened. As a team, I feel closer to knowing this group as a team and as individuals. This was priceless, you can not get this kind of feed back from the sidelines, you must engage and put yourself out there to grow and learn from this type of opportunity. I am pumped to think what this team can accomplish if we continue on with this type of bonding.

   And finally, a thank you to my wife (  Deb ) for taking that step and putting a time and place to all the talk about this, where to next dear??

   Go Team Rat 2020!!!

Engage

      I've been thinking about my engagement a lot lately. I'm not just talking about Kung Fu, I'm talking about work, home, family, the whole ball of wax. It has been feeling like I am waiting for something to happen, the other shoe to drop, the curtain of will power to either finish closing or opening, someone to hold my hand and say "this way sir, your life is over here". I don't know.
   I was hoping Saturday's I Ho Chuan meeting would kick start me, but others seemed to be the same way, no one was talking or sharing (except for Sifu Vantuil and Sifu Cosgrove - thanks for sharing bye the way, the crickets were getting pretty loud with no one talking ). It's like a fog of uncertainty has settled upon the land, dulling the senses and restraining the juices of life. I find myself holding back, waiting for what I don't know. It has me concerned.
   I was driving the other day to St Albert with Kody to my mom's place to do some work at her house ( yard work, pour some concrete, etc ) and decided to have a chat with him on this subject to get his feelings. Well as any parent will attest to, a 14 year old teen age boy doesn't tend to share his feelings or thoughts very well. But I think I got my points across to him and it made me feel a little better being able to talk about what is eating at me. I find I am a touch bit envious of his ability to adapt to the new "now", much better than I am adapting to it. Not his fault, but it started a spark in me that I need to fan and grow it into a flame, then a fire, then an inferno.
   With the Kwoon opening up ( mostly ) this coming week, I find myself both anxious and angry at the same time.
   Anxious I get, training at home sucks but was vital to keep us engaged, and now we get the privilege of once again hitting the mats and training at a place that requires all go - no slow. Am I ready for this? I really hope so.
   Which bring me to angry, why am I even questioning if I am ready for this? If I was truly engaged over the part 3ish months of home training, I should be screaming at the top of my lungs " let me in, I want to learn kung fu! ". Instead I find myself feeling sheepish and hesitant, questioning my lethargic approach to my training. I am mad at myself for my procrastination and all my talking about it. No ones fault but my own, as Master Brinker tells us "Own it". He has tried to keep me/us engaged with an effort that can only be described as herculean. Thank you for that Master Brinker and all the other Sifus who, during this time of uncertainty,  have virtual tried to keep us engaged through online classes, one on one meetings, free Tai Chi classes, etc. Thank you all.
  I guess the least I can do is try and return the favor buy getting more.... everything.

See you Monday on the mats!

Privileged

   Privileged. 

   Recently I had the luck of being able to read about the life of Master Margie Hilbig. Before reading her book, all I really knew about her was she was Canada's first female black belt and she was a part of our lineage at Silent River. But she was sooooo much more. From her nightmarish childhood in Nazi Germany, to being an orphan after the war, to her travels across Europe as a teen, her immigration to Canada in the early 1960s, her founding of her schools in Calgary then Edmonton, her marriages and heartbreaks, her battle with cancer, she was an amazing human being. Her pioneering spirit is deeply inspirational, her heart, her compassion, her drive, her willingness to be exactly what she wanted to be, wow! I truly wish I could have met her and possibly trained under her. I can see why Master Brinker talks so fondly and highly of her.

   This brings me to my here and now. You never really truly know who the next "Margie" will be. She was a force of humanity that is unmatched but....is there someone in your life right now like her and you just don't realize it? Can you ( or me ) see what or who is probably right in front of us? Can you or I be the next Margie? I know, pretty deep questions but worth thinking about. All I am asking is to look at the people in your life, friends, family, teachers, yourself, are they someone that drives you towards greatness? How can you make an everlasting mark for the good of humanity on history if you are not constantly being all you can be? Find those people in your life that inspire you and cherish them, learn from them, remember them, for they may only be in your life for a limited time.
   To me, one of those people was my Dad, Robert Doran Bjorkquist. I miss him terribly, he passed away Mar 12, 2019,  and I look back constantly and think of all the times I wasted not asking his advice, not sitting down and chatting, not hitting the golf course with him. I am now and forever holding myself to his standard, he was one of those people in my life that fits into the "Margie" category for me. Miss you Dad.
   As for the now, there are several people that inspire me, that drive me, that make me want to succeed. I won't embarrass them by naming them here but I will let them know in my own special way, thank you for being a "Margie" in my life.

Random Stuff

   No one topic today, just a jumble of thoughts/feelings.

   Back at the Kwoon. Oh how I missed this place. Working out at home definitely had its advantages; no driving, comfort of home, etc, but just one class back at the Kwoon and the disadvantages came screaming to the forefront. Biggest one was the difference a 1/2 hour at home versus a 1/2 hour at the Kwoon is. At home, you can hide behind the camera, do lazy stances, put in 1/2 efforts, etc. But in person for real, oh no you can't! The first 1/2 hour class back at the Kwoon showed me the toll the last 3 months has had on my training. It felt great and bad at the same time, I love it! Now I can see where I thought I was at versus where I am actually at, and that is 3 months behind where I would like to be. Very motivating.

   First missed class. While June 18 was my first class back at the Kwoon, it was also the first I Ho Chuan class I have missed and I am pretty ticked at myself. I know better than this! We only have a finite amount of classes every year in the I Ho Chuan and missing one class just can't happen, even if it was "only" a non-mandatory class ( they are all mandatory to me! ). Missing it was totally my fault, no excuses, and it will not happen again, sorry team.

   Annual Kwoon maintenance week is coming up in a few months, and I thought I would start the conversation about this. Of course it will be different this year with the new restrictions but it still needs to happen. Some things I see are;
    There a 2 empty holes on the east lawn where a tree and shrub need to be replaced
    The building needs a good pressure wash ( I have a good pressure washer for this )
    The inside of the Kwoon is spotless at the moment ( thank you Sifus! ) but I'm sure we can find something to help/clean
    We should clean the eaves every year since Sifu Tymchuk was nice enough to do this last year and the mess he found, oh my!
    Tanaramma clean?
   Anything else so far?? Lets keep the conversation going and give some elbow grease to the place we all love.

   Tai Chi. Who would of thought, I love it! The free Saturday classes have proven to be very entertaining and beneficial. The balance and stamina required are shining a light on some of the Kung Fu moves I do, and do incorrectly. It is really helping me "feel" my flow and energy ( or lack of ). I'm hooked. Thank you Sifus and Silent River for this, I never would have taken the time to do this if not for the online classes, I am excited for in person classes to see it done and taught without a video screen. Truly eye opening.

  

Just numbers

   With all the noise going on out there right now, I sometimes forget about recording my numbers in my journal. My bad. With all the distractions life is trying to throw at me to side track my training, I have fallen a little behind on several requirements. Again, my bad. So without further ado, here are my numbers and requirements as of right here, right now.

1- No Quitting 👍 Check

2 - 50000 pushups   19122/50000 average of 136ish a day👎

3 - 50000 situps       19480/50000 average of 139ish a day👎

4 - master 2 forms 1000 reps

        hand form         376/1000 average of 2.6 a day👎

        weapon form    313/1000 average of 2.2 a day👎

5 - 1000 rounds of sparring  

                                 950/1000 average of 6ish rounds a day👍👍

6 - 1609km              1214.50/1609 average of 8.6km  a day👍

7 - 1000 acts of kindness

                                 612/1000 average of 4.4 a day👍👎 (can always do better here)

8 - mend a relationship - always trying to improve here.

 9 - journal once a week 👍👍👍

10 - at least 3 public appearances - soon I hope!!

11 - lion dance - again, soon I hope!!!

12 - Tiger challenge 👍 Check

.

13 - Miss no meetings  👍 Check

14 - Excel in core curriculum - not for me to judge but trying my best

15 - Organize, lead and participate in all school projects - doing my best to be as involved as possible

16 - Memorize "Mastery" - I read it constantly, starting to sink in

17 - Adopt a driveway 👍

       annual Kwoon maintenance - coming up

       raise $20000 as a team - tough one right now, we should brain storm

       participate in all projects 👍

18 - personal requirements - see below↓

Personal Requirements

7 requirements here.

1 - juggling - still fun to do, started sharing this with my Grand daughter ( almost 11 months old! ), she just stares at me 😁

2 - weight control/loss - still struggling here, but I feel the struggle is worth it.

3 - Spanish - I don't think my brain will ever let me speak it "well", but I am catching more words and phrases, Hurra

4 - projects around the house - all I can say is , "thanks Covid", we have already tackled some big ones

5 - Being neater - if  "hoarders" has taught me anything, it is, do I need that or want that? Big difference.

6 - flexibility- I will never be Gumby but thanks to Sifu Becket's seminar, I can almost touch my toes and my hips feel "looserish".

7 - kicks 10000/year of each of the 4 basic kicks

                          2457/10000👍👎 - not feeling a lot of improvement, need to "kick" it up a notch.

 Nuf said

See you all soon!!!!!!

Great Day

   Of course this blog is going to be about the Tiger Challenge ( June 6, 2020 ), it was way too great of an experience to not blog about. So many things happened that I can only describe as eye opening. Where to start.....

      First and foremost a enormous THANK YOU to all the Sifus who made this happen, especially Master Brinker. You and your instructors collective commitment and dedication to your art, school and students is inspirational in every way. The drive and passion you all show towards Kung Fu and Silent River is second to none. Thank you.

   So what did I learn yesterday? To much to blog about without boring you so I'll condense it to one thing and keep this as short as possible.

  Biggest thing was my hand form. I have mostly been learning the Lao Gar form through the videos provided and I thought I was doing okay. Well... yesterday I managed to take away all the excuses and 😕. What!! So my number one excuse has been practice space. Our living room is fairly small and our backyard has very uneven ground so I have been doing the form in chunks and, obvious to me now, pulling and shortening my moves. For yesterdays Tiger Challenge, I used my work's tire storage facility. It is large, open, dry, warm, even and smooth ground,well lit, everything a person needs to truly do their form to the best of their ability. After doing the form a few times to get a "feel" for the space, you know, really open up and extend the form to it's true potential, some GLARING problems showed up in my form. It almost shocked me to feel some of the things I was doing, and now I was in a panic to try and fix them before the challenge started. But as with any form, you fix one thing, 2 more problems show up, arrrggg! So now it was time to show my form in the challenge and first one wheel fell off, then the other, so on and so on. Humbling to say the least. So I have decided this morning to take the form back to square one, slow it down, assume nothing, and fix each issue as it rears it ugly face. I am absolutely grateful for the opportunity and wake up call that the Tiger challenge has given me. Now to take that opportunity and apply what I learned from it.

  Time to move it, till next blog, adios Mis amigos and Mis amigas

Mental bubblegum

   As I sat here this morning and thought about what I wanted to blog about, I realized my mind was all over the map. Dozen of ideas, none worthy of print. I guess that leads me to where I am at right now. So many ideas, so many thoughts, so many plans, so little time. Being a 7 stripe brown belt, this year seems to have 1/2 as many hours as previous years. I know it is all in my head, I  know I need to prioritize my needs versus my wants. Problem is, I have fallen into the "where do I start " trap. Gumption, a little word I picked up from Robert Pirsig, I need more of this please. So I know blogging is a priority and I really do like blogging, so this is step one of my gumption for the day. Baby steps, one at a time, one foot after the other, etc.... Step two, get my numbers in for the day, step three, pick a task and DO IT! Ignore the anxiety that the day brings and work towards chipping away at the stone holding me back. Time to get a move on................

Infinite thought, the past is a great teacher

Nafudakake


   Admit it, who has heard of that before? Not me. But I'll tell you who, Master Brinker. 

   In live stream class #9, Master Brinker started to take us on a tour of the Kwoon. I almost jumped up and cheered when I saw this. Yes!! I have been hoping for this for years.
   I love tradition, heritage, lineage,  the whos - wheres - whys, etc. So much greatness has come before us and yet as a society we seem to have forgotten that. We get so wrapped up in the now, in ourselves, that we just assume things will work themselves out, that someone else will "fix" it for us.
   The past is so important to the here and now and the future. Everything we have and know comes from someone in the past thinking and planning something. Think about it. Did cars just magically appear on the roads? Did the roads just magically appear from the Earth. Did the food you eat spontaneously appear on your plate, the phone in your hand, the Doctors treating you, the heat in your house, schools, space travel, etc......No. Greater minds than me figured these thinks out. All the knowledge I have comes from the mind of the collective past. Mathematicians, Doctors, Authors, Engineers, Farmers, Explorers, Teachers, the list goes on and on. But now a days if we need to figure something out, "hello Google", "hey Siri". What a cop out. We are letting someone else figure it out for us, using their mind, not ours. Imaging your world WITHOUT your computer, start to think for yourself and feel your mind grow. (insert sad face emoji here). Sorry, but the old guy in me started to rant and shake his fist and say "kids these days.....". Back to the point.
  
   How about the Kung Fu you practice?

   Where did it all come from? How did it get to our little corner of the world? Why do we practice the style we do? What do our badges represent? Why black,why "past masters", Why, why, why??? So many questions. I have spent years reading and asking questions, and believe it or not, the answers are all there to be answered, just ask the Masters of our school. Yes, by a real person, someone who has put mountains of thought into the answers before you can even think of them. Never be afraid that your question might be a silly one, as my Dad always told me, "there are no stupid questions, only stupid assumptions".
   Our school is steeped in tradition and heritage and lineage, everything possible is done for a reason, not by chance. Ask questions, explore your Kung Fu, be PROUD to be a part of THIS school.


P.S. My questions where rhetorical questions,  if I have an actual question I need answered that I can't figure out on my own, I ask!

P.S.S.  I am very excited for the rest of the journey through the Kwoon, got my popcorn ready, easy chair warmed up, eyes and ears wide open.

Derailed

   Okay, so maybe not a train wreck yet but the MoJo train is Waaaaay behind schedule. I compared my current numbers to last years numbers at this time and it was a bit of a shock. To much thinking about Kung Fu and not enough doing Kung Fu is all I can say. So many excuses, none worthy of mentioning. If I keep talking about it maybe I will do something about it, right? Let's hope so, no, check that, let's do so, not hope so. Here is a brief summary as of today, May 17, 2020 at 6am.


Numbers

Push ups        15661/50000

Sit ups            15100/50000

Sparring          493/1000

1609km          949.50km/1609km

1000 AOK      459/1000

Hand Form      315/1000

Weapon Form  273/1000


Personal Requierments

Juggling - comfy with 3, can't seem to do more, for now

Weight loss - nope

Spanish - nope

Complete major projects around the yard/house - this is where I am spending all my time, I am being a bit obsessive about this right now but Mother Nature is finally working with me and not against me so I must take advantage of this time. I must manage this time better so I still allow for Kung Fu time.

Flexibility - Sil Lum seminar with Sifu Becket - life saver!! I  could actually touch my toes last week! Thank you Thank you!

Kicks - moving heavy bag outside finally so this should "kick" into high gear.


   Well that is enough about that, time to do not talk.

But I thought

   Spring!! Sun!! Nice weather!! ABOUT TIME!! Now I can really focus on so many different things, Most importantly, our yard is finally usable as an outdoor Kwoon. This means space to do forms fully, not kicking walls or chairs. This means getting to freak out the neighbors when we go out and start swinging our weapons around and doing forms. This means adaptation..... waaaa?
   What I mean is our yard is not flat and our dog loves to dig little holes ( part gopher I think ). I went out yesterday and started to do Lau Gar, interesting experience. Marked my spot to start, got into the moment, started, then..... sidewalk ( trip) - gopher hole (stumble) - slight height change in grass (almost fell over backwards) - sun in my eyes.... grrrrrrrrrrr.
   But I thought this would be so much better!!! Outside, more room, fresh air, you know, perfect! But what is with all these obstacles?? Whoa, step back Don, think about it, are these really obstacles or are they opportunities? Am I stumbling and tripping because of the yard or...... am I over committing to my stances? Am I just doing the form or am I feeling the form?
   Time to slow the form down a little and "feel" my connection with the earth. To "feel" my footwork before planting, before sliding, before committing. I am actually now really excited to go out and adapt to this, what an unexpected opportunity to advance a little, thanks Covid!


P.S.

Number and recording of...

   I must admit that for some reason this year I am having a hard time keeping up with recording my numbers in my book. This is actually causing my a lot of grief. I know I am falling behind on some of my numbers because I am not "seeing" my progress and I am "assuming" my progress. STOP doing this Don! I get why recording my progress is so important, so here is my public kick in the butt for that, bad Don, get on it!!


P.S.S.

   Anymore thought on a Demo for the Tiger Challenge?
   My family and I ( I haven't told them yet, surprise family!! ) are going to do short videos on our hand and weapon forms so that if a techy person wants to compile these at least we are ready. We will try to keep them as short as possible like last years demo, about 45 seconds or so.

Examples of Mastery

   I'm going to keep this blog pretty short and simple.

   The 3rd paragraph of Mastery by Stewart Emery talks about not resenting the Masters in your life for their accomplishments and successes but to learn and grow from them.
   This past couple of weeks, various members of our great school have been posting about their "green thumb". From gardens to decks to re-purposing items to home made chocolate, absolutely stunning!
   This has left me to wonder, why not me, how did they learn to do this, what is stopping me from doing some of this earth friendly self improvement and involvement?
   Time to get off the bench and LEARN from these great examples, they have planted the seed in my mind, time to let it grow.


Go team Rat

Responsibilty of Conduct - part 2

Benevolence
Confucism or Taoism?

    This week I thought I would ponder the word and concept of Benevolence. Little did I realize just how much thought could be spent on self analysis on this one word. It is such and important word and philosophy that Silent River has it in it's charitable name, Silent River Benevolent Foundation. Why? What makes this word that important?

Let's start with the word itself.

   Benevolence, simply put, is one's responsibility to others. Sounds simple right? Not until you try to apply it to yourself and your daily action and thoughts. What are your responsibilities to others? The more you think about that, the deeper your understanding of yourself will be. Even trying to write this Blog has sent my mind all over the place just trying to put this into words, so to simplify it for me, I am going to list some of my personal responsibilities to others in my life.

Family
By far the most emotional one for me. I love my family and I try everyday to express that love through my actions and deeds. I feel it is my responsibility to provide for their health and safety, to be supportive of their choices, but to also voice my opinion if I think these might have negative effects on them. To encourage without pressure, to love without condition, to be a good dad, husband, son, uncle, grandfather etc.This one could go on and on but you get the idea.

Work
Fairly simple, right? Show up on time, put in a full days work, do my best to do my job to the fullest of my abilities. Use my decades of knowledge in my field to do my work as efficiently as possible. Pretty basic right, or so I thought. So much more I could be doing, now that I think of it, but I'll cut this on short.

Myself
I didn't realize that my responsibility to others must also include a certain level of responsibility to myself. If I am not kind to myself, how can I be kind to others? If I am not responsible for my own actions, ideas and thoughts, how can I expect to have responsibility to other peoples actions, ideas or thoughts? This is one that I think I really need to dig deeper on, a work in progress. Time to explore "Me" a little deeper.

Kung Fu
I kind of hope I am opening a can of worms here. I hope this will cause at least one person to explore the idea of Benevolence a little deeper. Master Brinker and the Benevolent Foundation have laid out an amazing path for us to follow, a "Foundation" if you will ( maybe that is why it is in the name?). Our charities are there for a reason. As martial artists, we must think beyond ourselves. We must give to those who need, because it is necessary, not for self gratification, not to make you feel better about yourself. So fellow students of Silent River, I will endeavor to do the right thing for the right reason from this point forward, will you?  

Responsibility of Conduct - Part 1?

   So this last week I was going over the Silent River Kung Fu Code of Ethics and something grabbed my attention and demanded that I look further into it. In the 2nd paragraph, there is a passage that reads "As Black belts we must accept all the responsibilities which the rank requires including the responsibility of conduct, the spirit of which is outlined by the three main philosophies of Kung Fu: Confucism, Taoism, and Buddhism".

   So this caught my eye, and my mind. It is one of those thing where you "know"ish what these things are but in reality, you actually have no idea what they truly are. So that has started me down the path of finding out just what these three ideals/philosophies are as well as why and how they apply to Kung Fu. Well let me tell you, after a week of googleing, wikipediaing and some reflection of things already learned, my mind is seeing our Kung Fu in a very different light.

   Let me touch on what I am currently thought bombing in my brain. Keep in mind, this is a work in progress and while I am comparing these ideals, I am not favoring one over the other, just contemplating as new knowledge becomes available. I also know a lot of my thinking will be flawed on these ideas but I will be working towards a better understanding over time.


Confucism and Taoism ( pronounced Daoism )

Flow of form with intent
Structure with Spontinaity

Confucism ( Chinese philosopher Confucius  [551–479 BCE],  Master Kong )
Benevolence - one's responsibility to others
Self-cultivation
Emulations of moral exemplars
Attainment of skilled judgement rather than knowledge of rules
Reciprocity - "do not do unto others what you do not want done to yourself"
Do the right thing for the right reason

Taoism ( Daoism ) ( Laozi? [6-4th centery BCE] )
Harmony with the Dao ( the way of the universe/existance )
Effortless action ( Wu Wei )
Action without intent
Qi ( Chee )
Compassion, moderation and humility
Qi - condensed, becomes life, diluted, it is infinite potential
Yin Yang

   Any one of those those lines could and should be analyzed at great length but I am currently thinking about "Action without Intent". I am using breathing as my path on this one.

   Breathing, we all do it, it is life. We can do it with thinking or without thinking. By talking about it right now, you are thinking about it. Did that change your breathing, probably. You are probably thinking about length, depth, clarity, duration, etc. But the funny thing is, in an hour from now when you are making lunch or doing laundry, breathing won't even be on your mind, but it is still happening. We can consciously control our breathing if need be but we really don't need to most of the time, our body will do that for us, automatically, no thinking involved.
  In my mind, this is like our school forms. I will use Lung as my path. Slow, deliberate, deep stances, deep breathing. Every one of these takes a certain level of thought and control. But if you have practiced this form enough so that your body knows the motions, it sets your mind free to enjoy the "feeling" of the form. Your body will automatically do the motions for you, just like breathing, and your mind can explore the feel of the form. Sure you can think about every motion, every step, every breath, but if you truly know the form, you don't have to, you can be "in the moment", flowing, energizing, enjoying.
   I think I went off in a direction I wasn't intending to but I will leave this as is and see if it was intentional or not, hmmmmm.





Buddhism ( I have not started reading about Buddhism, soon though )

Push and Evaluate

   So we did a mini fitness test this past Saturday, ( apr 11 ). What a gut check. While my numbers were not too bad, they were no where near what they would need to be to pass grading day.

We covered the following:

1 - Front thrust punch while in a horse stance
2 - Push ups
3 - Horse stance
4 - Lateral Jumping
5 - Sit ups
6 - Front thrust kick

   This is but a small portion of the overall test. We did this all in about 40 minutes. It was awesome. It was exactly what I needed and wanted. This was a progress test for me both physically and mentally. It was also a great honesty test. Am I being true to the "form" or am I just going for numbers? I like to think I was fairly honest with myself when it came to counting my reps, if it wasn't a proper kick/punch/stance etc, I didn't count it. While I was disappointed with my overall numbers, I know that these are a true representation of where I am actually at.
 
   Doing this as a group was the best motivation I could have had. It not only allowed me to challenge myself but to challenge myself against others. That gave me the extra push I needed to try a little harder, to push through the pain and exhaustion, and I was amazed that even though I thought I was done, there was a little gas still left in the tank if I just looked for it. For those of you who were there, thank you for this much needed push. For those of you who weren't there, you missed out on a golden opportunity.

   Sifu Ward and Mr Thomson have put together a great program that is keeping me engaged in a way I didn't think would be possible over the internet. The conversations, the banter, the insights from others, the satisfaction of just doing it, all priceless. I find myself practicing other Kung Fu related things both before and sometimes after the class. My daily routine has almost doubled in the amount of training I am getting in, and it feels great. I hope more students find time in their day to try this out for at least 1 week, it is worth the time and we would love to see you "there". I am at the end of week 2 and looking forward to week 3, bring it on!!!

Numbers update time 19%

   This blog is a numbers update. Very necessary for me to do this several times a year so I can be held responsible for my progress or lack there of ( by you and me ).

   The year of the Rat started Jan 25, 2020 and ends Feb 21, 2021 ( correct me if I am wrong please ). That's 384 days long. Today ( Apr 5, 2020 ) is day 72, or 19% of the year gone, 81% remaining.


Mandatory requirement numbers

1 - No Quitting - check

2 - 50000 push ups
10145/50000 = 20% - on track but needs improvement

3 - 50000 sit ups
10290/50000 = 20% - on track but needs improvement

4 - Master 2 forms ( 1000 reps hand and 1000 reps weapon )
Hand ( Lao Gar ) 214/1000 = 21% - on track but needs improvement
Weapon ( Tonfa ) 215/1000 = 21% - on track but needs improvement

5 - 1000 rounds of sparring
320/1000 = 32% - on track, looking good

6- 1609KM Journey
600.9/1609km = 37% - on track, looking good

7 - 1000 Acts of Kindness
316/1000 = 31% -  on track, looking good

8 - Mend a relationship. Tough one, not sure who or why that applies to right now. Pondering the people in my life and the way I treat others to look for room for improvement.

9 - Journal once a week - check

10 - Make at least 3 public appearances .Obviously this will happen later in the year, and when it does, I will be there for every one of them.

11 -  Lion Dance. See #10

12 - Compete in the Tiger Challenge. May 2,2020 - cancelled. Maybe a small abridged version when this all passes would be fun, informal, on a Saturday during open training, part outside, just saying.

13 - Miss no meetings - check

14 - Excel in core curriculum - not for me to judge my progress but I do practice regularly.

15 - Organize, lead and participate in school projects. Trying to stay as involved as possible, see #10 again I guess for now.

16 -Memorizes Mastery - I have this in print and recorded on my phone, I do listen to and recite this fairly regularly, I'd give myself a 4/10 for completion.

17 - Participate in all school initiatives. So far that is Adopt-a-driveway, more to follow as the year progresses - check

18 - Personal requirements - see below.


Personal requirement numbers

1 - Continue with juggling. Still enjoy this but I think I have plateaued, trying to add more balls and increase duration of sets and juggles ( hand to hand - 3 ball classic style). So for I have tried to add a 4th and 5th ball, no dice, total disaster. Next I am stretching the amount of time and number of "juggles", my current record is 97 juggles in 1 minute. 

2 - Continue with weight loss and size reduction - total disaster, I have actually put on weight since the start of the year. Totally on me. I am trying different approaches but what I really need is for spring to actually get here so I can go outside!!!

3 - Continue with Spanish. I have some basic words and can understand small amounts in listening to a conversation but what I really need is structured classes ( not online ). I will be looking for continuing education classes shortly once Covid and time permits.

4 - Complete more projects around the house. Again I say, come on spring!!! All my projects are outdoors and I need the snow to go away.

5 - Continue with being neater. Proud to say I have come a long way on this. I am continually checking my "work" both at home and at work to see if the quality of completed tasks is "thumbs up" or needs a redo.

6 - Work on flexibility. While I will never be Gumby, I am making some good advances in this. I bought a "flexmaster" for home, use it frequently. 

7- Kicks , speed, height, accuracy and power. 4 basic kicks, front thrust, round house, side heel, spinning back. Making some advances, having a hard time with spinning kicks, I seem to be regressing not progressing. Come better weather I am moving the heavy bag outside so I don't have to worry about hitting walls and damaging anything.


Well, there is a summary of where I am at. It feels good to self analyze and see where I am at. Shows me where I am and where I need to be. I do these 3 or 4 times a year for good reason, if I don't self analyze to see where I am at, I will never actually know if I an doing good or not. This round I see too much yellow and even a red. Yikes!!!!