Generate

    I usually don't ask a lot of questions. I really like to try and figure out things for myself, you know, bull headed, stubborn, ego-full, obstinate. Just the way I was built I guess. Well I am really trying to change that, and not just because I was told to by many different people. Usually when I generate a question, I strive to answer it myself. This way I don't necessarily have to think about the question itself, but just act on the "feeling" it gives me, good or bad. 

   Yesterday, Kody and I were going over various forms. I asked him to evaluate my forms as an instructor and not my son. "Be honest with me please" I say because I truley do value his opinion, he has earned it in spades. After some discussion I decided it was time to start asking some questions. Right there, right now, while they are fresh in my mind. I was surprised to see I actually had several questions that if I would have waited would have disappeared later. Not only did I ask the questions, but I wrote them down for further contemplation. This is new for me. And I now see the value. 

   But I must make sure that when I am generating these questions that I am asking a question and not questioning based on what I think is right. Again, ego, I must kick you to the curb Mr Ego or the question is worthless. That is the tough part, asking the correctly phrased question that best represents my struggle, not what I expect the answer should be (I don't know if this wording properly represents my thoughts on this - see how hard the English language can be - good grief)

   So lets see if I remember in class to ask some of these questions or if, as usual, I totally forget about them till it is to late and I am driving home going "oops" I forgot to ask this question. Maybe I should tuck my post-it note with my questions on it in my belt and hope it doesn't get soaked with sweat so I can pull it out at the end of class.

I Am....An Explorer

 I Am....An Explorer

 

    When I think of great explorers, I think of the likes of Ferdinand Magellan or James Cook. But I also throw in Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, Nicola Tesla, and the list goes on and on. Individuals who had the passion and drive to explore not just the world around them but their own mind and spirit. The tangible and intangible alike, well beyond the arbitrary boundary set by convention. Daring to not be content with what others tell them is the "truth" or "fact", but instead finding out for themselves what is actually their truth.

   Now I am in no way comparing myself to these pioneers of the modern world as we know it. My life is more like PeeWee Herman's Great Adventure that lets say Leif Erikson first setting foot on North America over 1000 years ago. My exploration is usually caused by happenstance.

   Prime example was last night. We (Deb, Kody and I) went to Ribfest at central park on a whim. On the way home, Kody wanted to go down a path I didn't even know was there, hmm. I commented that I had never been in this part of Spruce Grove before now, neat. Got me to thinking about other areas of the city I have now lived in for coming up 20 years that I had absolutely never been to. I have a bike, I have feet, I have a dog that loves walks. Why have I not explored these parts of my home town? Well one reason of course is time, but this is more of an excuse because if I really wanted to get out there and explore I would MAKE the time. The next one is tougher to admit, desire. Part of me says "you haven't been to these places cause you either haven't needed to go there or are just indifferent to them". Ouch. Not much of an outdoor explore here. Lots of room here for me to grow.

   Here we take a turn to the "Me". Kung Fu. A Martial Art with 2000+ years history, vast and colorful, stories and legends that would take a lifetime to hear and learn about. From the external part of the art to the internal, it has no ending, the path forward is forever, it is eternal. Where do I start, well as with the all important first steps in life, I take the first step (duh Don!). In this case I sign up for the journey of my lifetime, done. The key for me here is to keep going, never assuming I know even a millionth of what I need to know. Always learning, exploring our art both externally and internally. As we have learned repeatedly in class, getting a Black Belt is not the end of your exploration of Kung Fu, but merely a sign post on your journey. 

   I honestly look forward to exploring Kung Fu for the rest of my life. I look forward to  reading stories, going to class, interacting with my fellow travelers (that's you fine folks!), the blood, sweat and tears that the journey brings. And oh my what a exploration of me it is, I learn something new about "me" almost every day, wow....I am an explorer - of me.

Pullin Threads

    If I had to describe Me😁 right now I would have to use the words overburdened with chaotic everything. It is just that time of year when everything starts to happen at once. I must admit that most of the chaos is easily avoidable, but not at the expense of either missing out on something that I want to do or causing someone else to miss out on something that they want to do. There are football games, yard work, family time, down time, festivals, BBQs, get togethers, golf games, dog time, work, etc...you know - life. And of course Kung Fu (loves me fu).

   I want to get it all in, squeeze every drop of universe juice out of life, but there is only so much time in every day, so I must prioritize. So I pull threads. Oh my big tangled ball of string I call life, how I love thee. Like a gargantuan ball of tangled Christmas lights, I sigh and steel myself cause the only way to proceed is to start pullin. Luckily my threads are all labelled so I find an end, start tugging, and see where it leads you, hopefully I choose a meaningful end and not a dead end (knot or not?). 

   The treads I choose to pull today are.... finally read everyone's blog, I mean you all took the time to write them, the least I can do is read them. Then do some forms/push ups/sit ups. Then get my pup to the groomers (puppy spa day!!). Then some yard work, then pick up the pup, then groceries, then Kdays with the family (BIG chunk of the day here), then start some laundry, maybe some food squeezed in here and there, well you get - lots to do. 

   Prioritize, organize, adapt, but most importantly, enjoy. That is the shining star that guides my ship, am I enjoying this? Well Scooby-Doo, yes I am. My family, my pup, my home, my Kung Fu, I love all of it. So every ounce of smiley juice I can squeeze out of all the above I will. 

    Thanks for your time, I know you are busy too.

Rethink.

 I wrote a blog this morning. I posted a blog this morning. I deleted that blog this morning. This is the first time I’ve done that. It’s not that it was a bad blog or offensive, I just wasn’t happy with the message it sent out. 

 I am struggling will many things right now and that blog was a culmination of discontented vortices. I am keeping the blog for myself to look back on later to see if I have resolved these “things”. 

Thankfully I had a discussion with my wonderful wife about this blog and it turns out it was mostly just my inability to communicate my intentions and thoughts. My bad.

I need to rethink how to express my thoughts in that blog and will try to repost it at a later date. 

Talkin Tiger

    What a day. Saturday July 9th, 2022. The Tiger Challenge. It's back! After a few years of online events (thank you Covid), we finally got to do this the way it was meant to be done, live and in person. From the opening Lion dance all the way to the black belt sparring, it was a full day of absolute awesomeness. There were smiles and tears, ohhs and ahhs, but in the end I think everyone had a great time. 

   Then there is the lessons I learned from the day. There are many but I will only talk about two. 

   First one is sparring. Ah sparring, in my mind I am Donny Yen, in reality I am PeeWee Herman. I flailed, I turtled, I hesitated, I closed my eyes and wildly swung at the air hitting nothing but my pride and ego. Well suffice to say I just plain old fashion stunk. It was eye opening, thankfully my opponent took mercy on me and only slightly schooled me. What the heck just happened? What do you mean that shadow sparring isn't the same as real sparring, my shadow never hits or kicks me back. Needless to say, I was ill prepared for this. Back to the drawing board on this one.

   Next on my hit list is my hand form. Arrgg!! Good Grief!! I rushed, I didn't finish moves, I got mad at myself while midst form (which doomed me), come on Don, you know better than this, darn it (this blog is PG13 rated so yes, darn it).  I can do my form nicely (in my opinion of course) when I am practicing on my own, but put me in front of someone and BANG out comes my stupid ego. Flow - gone, Technique - none, Intent - what intent,  "Don smash puny form - show who boss', what a 💩💨 I am. I was not happy with myself when I walked out of the ring. But it was an priceless lesson. And some of the advice I received after was pure gold. Now am I smart enough to learn from it?

   So I am going to stop the self pity party there lest you think the day was in any way a negative experience. It was not, at all, even for 1 second. I loved the day. I wish we could do that every month, seriously I do. The most tired part of me was probably my face from smiling so much, with every other muscle and joint a close second. I need to keep everything I did yesterday fresh in my mind so I can improve on it (maybe by blogging like this - wow - who'd a thunk). 

   I also what to thank all of those who put in the time and effort to make this day happen, you folks are #1 in my books, thank you.

The I Am Requierment

    The I AM requirement has been something really special for me. To date I have done 18 of the 57 words laid out for us to ponder. Yes I will admit that I started with the ones that were easier to answer, saving the harder ones for later. But then I ask myself, "why do I consider some of these words harder to apply to myself than others?". That is a very tough one to answer, and I think that is what I like the most about this requirement. 

   I have been amazed at the introspection this adventure has caused, digging deep into what I actually think about myself. I have never really been one for true soul searching, preferring to skirt around the harder lessons life has had to teach me, pretending to be aware of my feelings and thoughts when in reality I am just floating by on the ideals of others. The I Am requirement has shown me some very uncomfortable truths about myself, but it has also made me acutely aware of facets of my id that I had previously been unaware of. The value of this in beyond measure, I am sure it would have cost me thousands of dollars at a therapist to explore these facets of myself. 

   So thank you I Ho Chuan, Master Brinker and Master Tom Callos for introducing me to this wonderful exercise in self learning, I will continue on with it till every one of the 57 words are answered.

Ready, Set, Tiger!

    Only 6-1/2 days till the Tiger Challenge. With the Farmer's day and Canada day demos neatly tucked under our belts, this is the main event I have been waiting for. It is whole school fun, everyone in the pool!! I love the Tiger Challenge in case you couldn't tell. While the Break-a-Thon is a close second, this is my numero uno event. The online Covid version was fun but not the same. Up close and personal, live and in person is soooo much more fun. 

   But I am still nervous of course. No one wants to have an epic fail in front of the judges and your fellow students. But that has happened to me before and you know what, I am still here! The lessons I have learned from competing in this event are priceless. Calmness under pressure, clarity of purpose, control of one's environment, all things you learn by competing in this glorious event.

   I have entered 7 events. In no particular order here they are.

Point Sparring

Board Breaking

Pool Noodle Sword Fight

Hand Form

Weapon Form

Obstacle course

Creative Musical Form

All equally hard, all equally fun, all equally a learning experience. I am really looking forward to this Saturday, I hope you are too.

See you ALL there!!!

I Am.... a Leader

 I Am.... a Leader

   

    To be a leader, to lead others, to have others follow me, what does this mean to me? So simple an ideal, it is just one word, how hard can it be, right? Well, as with everything else in the I Am requirement, I must dive deep to find out. 

 

   I cheated a little this time and surfed a little to find some ideas and words that helped me defined being a leader. Some of the things that caught my eye that I agree with are; a positive attitude, confidence, a sense of humor, ability to embrace failure, careful listening and feedback,  knowing how and when to delegate, growth mindset, responsibility, a desire to learn, perseverance, decisiveness, empathy, inspire creativity. I know there are a thousand more words and phrases to describe this word but do you really want me to list more, I didn't think so.

    So lets talk about the Canada day demo, in particular the Dragon Dance we performed. What else can I say, I think we absolutely rocked it hard!! I was grinning ear to ear when we were done. With a sense of euphoria, a bucket full of endorphins pulsing through my veins, I wanted to scream "we did it, we did it, I love you all, you were all amazing!!!!". The confidence and competence of this team was palpable, I could feel everyone's energy, surging back and forth through the Dragon, charging it, bringing it and us to life. Working as one but individually, following my lead, everyone doing their part, adapting, adjusting for the hill, a true team, OMG, when can we do this again?!

 

   Now I know some of our moves need work, but if the team can put into practice what we did on that hill, this Dragon will fly. So how to proceed as a leader, I guess that is up to me. As I review the list above, I see that every one of those phrases apply. 

 

I have a positive attitude, check.

I have the confidence that this team can achieve greatness, check.

I have a sense of humor, check.

I have the ability to embrace failure, because that is usually the first step on the road to success, check.

 I definitely have the ability to listen to feedback, in fact I embrace and require it, check.

I struggle with the delegation part, but the team will help me with that cause they are doers and we all want the same thing, awesomeness. check.

A growth mindset is ingrained in me, I am at Kung Fu for that very reason, I grow with every class and demo, check.

I take full responsibility for every failure or miscue, practice practice practice, it all starts and ends with me, check.

A desire to learn goes hand in hand with a growth mindset, check.

Perseverance, I guess my teammates are about to find out about that 😆, check.

Same as decisiveness 😆😆, check.

The last two will show themselves, empathy and inspire creativity, as we progress, the proof will be in the pudding. And this pudding will be epic.

...Sorry this was so long