Jack of None

    Jack of all trades, master of none. I seem live this idiom far to often. My life seems to bounce from one deficiency of skill or knowledge  to another, some minor some not so minor. My latest is plumbing, I know almost nothing about the details of proper procedures and techniques but circumstances have forced me to learn. I am extremely grateful that there is YouTube, I can't imagine attempting what I am about to do without it. Not that what I am doing is rocket science (😏) but as Master Brinker would say, "black belts need to be control freaks". And I refuse to do a bad or mediocre job on this. So research, thought and planning must go into this, now if I only had more hours in the day. 

   It is obvious to me that this of course applies to my Kung Fu. But I have found the more I analyze and research, the more I procrastinate actually taking action. So off I go to take action.

Time Domain Multiplexing

   I must admit, this concept is brilliant, to me, but it might not be for all. 

   First some context. Second degree class July 15th. Master Brinker discussing rotation, release, flow and timing (together but independent) and the six harmonies plus flow between techniques. It was an in depth discussion, so there is no way I can summarize it with any justice as to it's content. But I did take away the golden nugget of Time Domain Multiplexing (if you say this in a spooky spacey voice, it reads better, so try it). At first I was dumbfounded, then I was intrigued, now I am starting to catch what he was laying down. Kinda. I will do my best first attempt at putting it into Don Thought (again with the spooky spacey voice if you please). 

 

   Start with the six harmonies

1-hands and feet, 2-elbows and knees, 3-shoulders and hips (3 external)

4-spirit to intent, 5-intent to chi, 6-chi to power (3 internal)

   These are all independent of each other but intertwined (independently together and intermittent). They each can act on their own, do their own thing, BUT they also support each other. If you start to remove one or two or five of them, the others are affected both directly and indirectly. There is a balance that must be maintained for cohesion and flow (there is that word I keep hearing about -flow). 

   Now the multiplexing 

  So let pretend I'm in a right leading bow stance, I step forward and punch with my left hand. All six harmonies MUST align at the final release of my energy at the end of my fist for this to have any effectiveness. My skeleton must align, my fists must rotate together and the last moment, my eyes must be up, and so on, all of it builds as I move through my slide step forward and comes to a singular point of focus at the end of my fist, releasing it’s energy and starting the process all over again for the next move. If one or more of those harmonies is out of tune, things start to fall apart.

   Using my little diagram below has helped me visualize this greatly, On the left is my 6 harmonies, doing their own thing independently, then I start my technique, that’s the arrow head, funnelling (combining?not the words I want to use for now but oh well) the harmonies together, then BOOM, they combine and my technique is complete, that’s the arrow. Now the harmonies release (reset?) and await the next technique. 

   I don’t like how I have said this but it is what I have for now. I may revise this as I understand more, I will see,

                       6 harmonies     focusing of technique        release     6 harmonies

Words

    I am noticing lately how hard it is to convey thoughts using just words. Concepts that are clear as a bell in my head turn into verbal pablum when I try to express them. Prime example was after yesterday's level II brown belt class. In talking with the brown belts afterwards, I tried to express what I saw during class. What a load of babble I ended up spouting. It was actually a little upsetting to me. To top it off, during open training, I tried to explain what had been written on the white board at the back of the training hall. Wow, it felt like my brain had left the building and put drunk squirrels in charge of my mouth. Thankfully Sihing Ward was right there and he saved my absolute lack of coherency with one word (that word was "timing"). Gives me a new appreciation for the Herculean effort the instructors put in every class to try and teach us Kung Fu. My hats off to you, bravo.

   So what to do about this. I have no really useful idea. Am I over thinking, under thinking, not thinking? Am I being to deep, to shallow, to "sassy"? It definitely causes a level of anxiety in me that is an impediment to communicating clearly with my fellow Kung Fuers. I find myself hesitating now to engage in conversations in fear that I will say the exact opposite of what I mean. 

🤔🤔🤔

   After reflecting on this for a minute, I am going to treat it like any other training. Start slow, develop a base level of skill, then practice practice practice. So if you see me talking to myself in class, I'm not losing it (okay, maybe a little), I am practicing my communication skills. Today I will practice defining a Horse stance verbally, clearly and concise. No short cuts, no skipping minuet details, I will treat it the same as if I was doing it physically, just with words not motions.

Lull Nullified

    It will sound odd but this week I did my regular Kung Fu but I didn't get a chance to do my irregular Kung Fu. Let me explain. It was a very chaotic week, short staffed at work (summer holiday time), busy with summer projects at home, a shower faucet giving me grief, a demo, a family get together (golf game/BBQ), football, and so on, just plain old busy. So busy in fact that the only Kung Fu I got in was in class, and that is out of the norm for me. I usually get time during the day to put in 10 min here or there, but life got in the way repeatedly last week, and the next 2 or 3 don't look any better. I suppose I could get up earlier, but I sleep so little as it is that I feel that I would start a detrimental path that would directly affect my heath, I am lucky to sleep 5 hours a night as it is.

   I love being busy, just not all the time. I am currently finding myself in a constant state of a "what's the next disaster/dilemma/major event" mentality, and it is throwing off my rhythm. So to reset myself today, I am going outside right now to do some Tai Chi, and I am not stopping till I am done. (after proof reading and posting this of course).

   See you all in class👍

Campfire Demo

   1 practice. 1 great team. 1 great demo.  I’ll remember this one for a long time. The crowd was awesome, lots of engagement, the weather was perfect.

    I’ll admit I was EXTREMELY nervous about being the Dragon Head tonight. But thanks to my team, I personally think we did awesome. Every time I started to freak out, I would just look at my teammates and that would ground me. Such great people, makes my life so much easier. 

   Just wanted to put out a quick blog, and not just cause we were told too. This will help keep it fresh in my mind.

One for the Ages

    Canada Day Demo, July 1 2023, 11:30ish am, Stony Plain Pavilion hill - no wait - Pioneer Museum field. It's sunny, no wait, it's raining, no wait, it's both. Was that lightening? Wow, listen to that rolling thunder, awesome. There is excitement, there is a little fear, I think to myself "we best get this show on the road ASAP!". A little jog from site A (the hill) to site B (the field), now we are all together. The crowd is good, lots of kiddos (excellent). No time to warm up (the little jog over helped), we are on in 4 minutes, no 2 minutes. No time for a run through, Dragon goes here, weapons go here and Lion goes here aaaaaand, begin. 

   Lion part one looks great! Dragon has unlimited room and Todai Bauer uses it (NOW I Am Warm!!), weapons demo kicked some royal butt (in my opinion), Lion part two looks even greater!! If you haven't seen the video here is the link.

https://youtu.be/VYQ7c-1dAQw

   Adaptation and improvisation was in full force this day. And this IHC team crushed it! From the location to weather (lightening is normally pretty cool but NOT during a demo!), to the crunched time frame to weather (ya I mentioned it twice), it was epic. There were new potholes to contend with (bonus points - no one sprained anything), some slight timing issues, then my weapon started to undo during my 20 seconds of fame (yikes!), Adapt adapt adapt. But I wouldn't change it for the world. The excitement mixed with anxiety mixed with the pressure mixed with thrill of performing, you can't buy this stuff, you have to truley live it to appreciate it . And it makes you feel so alive that you wonder how you ever lived without it. 

   And then there was the last lightening strike just after we finished, Flash Bang, 1 - 2, right there! I actually felt the static electricity, OMG!! If that didn't get your heart pumping, nothing will! "Wow" is all I can say. Nothing like a little life affirming terror to end your demo, cool beans. 

   Now to try and top this one, without the lightening if you please.😁