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....