Working With Wood

   I love working with wood. I have written several blogs about this before and I probably will write a few again. It brings me a certain level of inner peace in an otherwise chaotic world. Building something with my own hands is rewarding on so many levels. Now I am NOT a carpenter or engineer or whatever by any means, I have zero formal training other that a brief couple of weeks in shop class in high school (36 years ago - yikes). All I have is my imagination and time. Both are limited so I value them both when they present themselves. I also am fortunate enough to have the priceless resource of advice and help from those who have training in this art/skill.

   My latest project is a Pergola for our backyard. I of course have grandiose plans in my head, I have even doodled some of them down, but of course my lack of formal training and skills changes these plans as I progress with construction. Ironically my first major hurdle was my base for the posts, just like my Kung Fu training. Bad base equals unsteady pergola and bad base equals unstable Kung FU. Strong base makes everyone happy. Maybe this is why I like working with wood so much. Like Kung Fu, wood is forgiving yet strong, ancient yet timeless, raw but beautiful, infinitely adaptable yet precise. Wood can be worked into majestic pieces of art or it might just remain purposeful and useful. The possibilities are endless, only limited by my commitment to the final results. Just like my Kung Fu. Ironic? No. Effort equals results. Whether the results are good or bad depends on my quality of effort. 

   So my pergola (Kung Fu) takes shape, bit by bit, think by rethink, build and adapt to unforeseen obstacles. Steadily it takes shape (way to slow for my Wifypoo -pergola that is), and I am happy. Progress, pride in my work, ability to adapt, and slowly my imagined pergola takes shape.

 

P/UP 17732

S/UP 17325

SPAR 485 min

1609 972.01 KM km

AOK   894 recorded

HAND FORM 330

WEAPON FORM  295

MASTERY 18

"Hot" Topic

    Not a lot to report this week. Yes I did Kung Fu. But growth wise, minimal. Distraction pulled me in many directions at random times, such is life. But I shouldn't complain. I work indoors, so I have AC. My truck has good AC, my home has portable AC, so the heat is not a major problem for me. But those who work outside or don't have access to AC, I bow to you and your fortitude. It must be like working in a furnace, I can not imagine what it is like. Roofers, asphalters, road crews, construction, trades, all of you, I have no right to complain about the heat. To me it is an inconvenience, to you it is life and death. 

   Small class sizes. I know this time of year class attendance is usually pretty small. It's summer, it's short, it's understandable that everyone wants to take full advantage of this time of the year. What this leads to is a neat "issue?". A few classes there where more instructors than students. This was taken full advantage of by the instructors by getting to have in person One on Ones! It was nice to have one student's undivided attention in a class setting for a good twenty-ish minutes. A lot of ground got covered, a lot of "aha" moments (I hope). So while it may have only benefited a few of the students, I hope they got a boat load out of this rare opportunity.

P/UP 17327

S/UP 16905

SPAR 485 min

1609 941.15 KM km

AOK   850 recorded

HAND FORM 325

WEAPON FORM  290

MASTERY 18

Answered Myself

   Funny how sometimes something that didn't make sense or work the way you expected it to was just waiting for you to verbalize the question so you could answer it yourself. Case in point, why was my transition from a open-x to a horse stance not working. Well duh, my open-x wasn't an open-x so the transition reflected that and my horse stance sucked. 

   I had this epiphany (again it seems) in Tuesday's class. Whilst doing Long I+II, I struggled with this very transition. I raised my hand to ask why but as the words were leaving my mouth my brain said "cause your open-x sucked dippy" Well, this opened the mediocrity box. If that stance sucked, what else sucked? Frustrating and enlightening at the very same time. By my "landing foot" for my open-x being very pigeon toed (turned in? only 60 degrees instead of 90?), my horse stance was off balance and very unstable, therefor my next move felt twisted and weak which cascaded several moves until I was able to correct my trajectories.

   I have been here before. I have no one or nothing to blame but myself and the way I train. If I train poorly, it will be reflected in my forms. I was and it did. I hope to not blog about this again but that means I need to have a talk with the Marshal of my six harmonies, my Intent, and come to an understanding as to where it/I am headed.

 

 

 

P/UP 16727

S/UP 16305

SPAR 465 min

1609 KM 913.15km

AOK   840 recorded

HAND FORM 320

WEAPON FORM  280

MASTERY 18

Blender

   This last week was a doozy. From absolute disbelief at my job to an injury that was unlike no other I have ever had to some great bonding time with my family to just being thankful to make it to the next week without anything else piling on top of the chaos. 

   I will skip the work talk, it doesn't have a PG rating so it does not belong in this blog, I will write another private one to vent and work my way through that particular dung heap.

   Family time. We bought some used wood last week and after removing all the old nails and hazards, we (Deb, Kody and I) have it sanded, stained and ready for building. We are building a pergola in the backyard after twenty years of procrastination. I am so excited to get this done as it has been on  my "to do" list since we has this house built in 2003. But an opportunity came along (cheap good wood) that we couldn't pass up, so we didn't. This project will test all my skills and I look forward to every second of it.

   And last but not least, my newest injury. You have all heard me whine about my left shoulder and the pains it brings me. Well get ready, I have now hurt the other shoulder even worse so now I will be whining about both! Seriously though, wow, something so simple as showing a "long" punch to someone and POP! I could tell instantly that something was not right at all. Sucks getting old. So my training again has taken another detour. Anything to do with my shoulders has been interesting. As of today, I feel 50/50 in my shoulders. So I modify. My forms look comical but I am focusing on foot placement, limiting my arms but still keeping them engaged. Still trying to keep my six harmonies in mind whilst I modify to accommodate my current limitations. 

   And finally a big shout out to Kody for covering for me this last week. It was a huge relief knowing he was there to pick up my slack. I owe you kiddo, big time.

 

 

P/UP 16337

S/UP 15935

SPAR 450 min (unchanged)

1609 KM  882.09km

AOK  800 recorded

HAND FORM 300

WEAPON FORM 275

MASTERY 17