The Present

In Kung Fu Panda (2008), Master Oogway says.....

 

   I love this quote and use it frequently.  I have tried to put into words what this quote means to me but the quicksand of my mind always seem to swallow up the tracks in my train of thought. I guess it is up to YOU to make your own meaning of this, if you want.

   I try to enjoy life. Sure I am not rich or famous, but so what! I am in reasonably good health, financially okay, my family is amazing, my job is good, and I wake up every morning with wonder as to what the day may bring. What else does one need?

   Sure life can and will throw you a curve ball every now and then, but it is up to you whether or not you strike out or turn it into a home run.  A little adversity in your life can either be fertilizer or spice depending on you. And if it is fertilizer, use it to grow, isn't that what fertilizer is for? If it is spice, enjoy! I love spice ( not so much with the fertilizer ).

   This is one of the things I love about Kung Fu. It is both my spice and fertilizer at the same time. It gives me constant challenges ( fertilizer ) and rewards ( spice ). Every time I am given a new challenge/adversity in class I look at it as a chance to grow ( fertilizer ). When I finally "get" it, ahhhh, spice.

   Right now I am working on my weapon form and it is kicking my butt. Grip, stance, timing, flow, targeting, etc. It feels like I am going backwards not forwards at times, then it happens.... I do the form from start to finish and it feels goooooood. Ahhhh spice. 

   That moment to me ( the present ) makes everything worth the journey. To have that feeling of accomplishment is game changing. Maybe I can do this, maybe if I try just a little harder, maybe if I look at what I am doing right not wrong this will start to work itself out. 

   Our Beta version of our form is due to be presented on Mar 28 (Thur). How did this get here so fast! Am I ready, no. Am I looking forward to showing my form, no. Will I do it anyways and see how I feel afterwards, Heck ya!! Kick the comfort zone to the curb and enjoy the moment!!



Now the numbers

Push ups  8200
Sit ups  8059
Aok  232
1609km   389.02km

SO far so good.

Personal requirements....
SO far so good.

Spring is here!! Time to get out and start using the great outdoors to my advantage. 



  

Learning to fly

   In my previous post ( grounded ) I mentioned an illness in the family. That illness was my Dad, Robert Doran Bjorkquist ( Bob ). On Tuesday March 12, he passed away from a massive stroke. This has hit me hard. This has hit my family hard. My dad was many things to me; teacher, idol, mentor, confidant, friend, the list goes on and on. He is the reason I look at life the way I do. He taught me humor, empathy and compassion  from a very early age. There was no race, color, class, or bigotry in his world. Everyone was equal in his eyes. Everyday was a chance for him to meet someone new or reconnect with family/friends just because that is what he loved to do. The list of people in his life that adore my dad is absolutely amazing. Through social media, road trips, mail and sheer effort, he stayed connected with every family member, every friend. Family was everything to him. It always amazed me the amount of people that know my dad, and I always saw a smile when they asked how he was or what he was up to.

   I could go on and on, but I will get to my point instead.

   The reason I enjoy being at Silent River Kung Fu the most is.... the people there. The kindness, the empathy, the sense of belonging to something far greater than me. From watching the Little Leopards to seeing the mastery of a Black Belt, it brings me joy and awe at the same time, every time. I see so much of my dad in so many of my fellow classmates and instructors. I feel so much of who he was from being a part of this art. My dad always believed in giving the best you can in everything you do, all in, all go no slow, put up or shut up. He constantly encouraged me through suggestion and encouragement, not pressure or ridicule. He was very process driven, " you must learn to walk before you can learn to fly " he would say. He loved the process that we follow at our school. He was in awe of his Grandson Kody ( and later us ) and the way we are progressing. He was mesmerized by the Lion dance we did at the Chinese new year banquet, so proud that Kody and I could do something like that. My dad also loved to volunteer, for anything and everything he could.. His 2 biggest ones where giving blood ( he was in the 100+ times donor club -absolutely amazing! ) and the local seniors center ( St. Albert ). He taught me "you can't have until you give". I will endeavor to never let him down on this.

  I was asked by a few people on Wednesday, why are we in class so soon after his passing? Because being in class makes me feel good. It brings my focus to "me", as Master Brinker taught me,"I am here, I am doing Kung Fu". It also allowed me to escape the pain of losing my dad by forcing me to focus on the here and now of Kung Fu. I went into Wednesdays class with pain in my heart, I left class feeling cleansed and purposeful. Thank you. The schedule of our classes and the I Ho Chuan allows me to remain in the here and now without sacrificing the future or past I must deal with . That allows me to focus on everything else outside of class without being overwhelmed.I didn't realize how much I need this structure in my life until now. Thank you.

Rest in peace Dad, Love you...

That all I have on this for now...


Numbers

Faltered a little this week. Starting to catch up. Still on track but the engine needs a bit of a kick to be where I want to be.

meetings and classes - all
sit ups  6889
push ups  7005
AOK 202
1609km  332
form hand  67
    weapon  75
sparring  81

personal requirements on track so far

Go team pig!

Grounded

   My life, as with anyone's, can go sideways sometimes. This last couple of weeks mine and my families have been blindsided by an illness in the family. I have to admit, it has taken its toll on me. Some mornings I wake up and think, why bother? Then my mental sledgehammer screams at me, because it is worth it, that's why!

   I have many things in my life that go beyond what I ever dreamed possible. I have a great job. I have a home. I am financially secure (mostly). My health is mostly good. I come from a loving home and family. I have an amazing son. My wife... not enough words to describe how lucky and grateful I am there.

   And then then there is Kung Fu. I am truly amazed at this part of my life.  It has opened me up to a whole new way of feeling and thinking. Never did I expect or imagine that I would be doing this at 48 years old and loving every second of it. Certain parts of it do take a heavy toll on my body but my mind has never felt better. The clarity and energy that it has given me mentally and physically are really unexpected. The path that Silent River Kung Fu has put me on is helping me in so many  unexpected ways. One of the ways that I appreciate the most is that it helps keep me grounded in the here and now. It also allows me clarity and purpose, direction and reason, enlightenment and exhilaration. I find myself using, applying and thinking about our art in almost every aspect of my life. For that I am truly grateful to Master Brinker. He has created a place that has brought some truly amazing people together and helped me as a person in ways that I can't measure.  That is all for now on this thought.



My team Pig number so far...

Manditory

I haven't quit and have no intention of.
Push up so far.6005
Sit ups so far.5862
Sparring. 71 rounds.
1609km. 271.49km
AOK. 172to date
Form. Hand 82, weapon 75

Personal
Most are right on track, the rest will kick in once spring/summer truly gets here ( I use truly a lot I just realized.)

Chow for now, see you on the mats.

Spirit to Intent

How to put this into words?? If I babble, I am sorry as the thoughts in my mind are still tumbling on this.

   In Thursdays class, Master Brinker talked about the 6 harmonies, specifically Spirit to Intent. Mind blown, boom!! My take on this has been deeper than I expected. I tend to overthink things (just ask my wife!), it is who I am, but this harmony has made me start to review ME. How did I get to this point in my life, am I happy, what would I do different, am I being the best I can or just floating. Why do I do what I do and what are the consequences? Are my actions/ideals/choices helping me and those around me? Is the road/path I am on the one I want to be on? ETC.......

   I consider myself a fairly nice and decent person so questioning my "spirit" has never crossed my mind. I love my wife and son dearly, my family is #1 on my list for everything I do. I have built my "spirit" around this I hope everything I do is in their favor. I make mistakes/bad choices, but so do we all. What happens after the mistake/bad choice is what concerns me the most. Violence, anger, prejudice, sloth, hesitation, procrastination, poor effort, the list goes on and on. How does my "spirit" handle or deal with these adversities?

   This will be a work in progress for a while.

   Anyways, as for my numbers so far...

Been to every meeting and class.... good
Listening to my recording of Mastery every once in a while... could do better
School projects... trying to be involved in as much as possible....  good
Sit ups and push ups averaging 180 a day... good
AOK at 130.... good
Sparring picking up speed... okay
1609km averaging 5-7 a day... better than expected
Lion Dance - waiting to see what transpires in upcoming events
Forms - feeling good, time for an outside opinion
Personal requirements are where they need to be for this time of year, hurry up and get here summer!!


Go team PIG!!

Into every life, a little rain must fall.

I am going to keep this blog short for personal reasons.

My numbers are looking great, right where they need to be, I have no physical pains worth talking about.

Sit ups are averaging 180 a day
Push ups are averaging 180 a day
Forms are coming alone nicely
AOC are averaging 5 a day recorded
Personal requirements are progressing nicely
Sparring is a little low but starting to gain ground
1609 km is averaging 55 km a week

572

  I did have 1 notable insight during this last week that I will share my thoughts on. I am calling it 572. Sounds weird right. What this means to me is that 572 days have gone by and and what have I done with the time? That number is significant because..... that was my number of days playing a game consecutively on my phone before I missed a day. 

  I missed my 573rd day because I was concentrating on my numbers for Kung Fu.This made me ponder what I could have accomplished if I had used that 5 minutes (minimum) a day for 572 days. Five ish minutes a day may not sound like a lot but think what I could have done with it instead.

  This has made me analyze my use of time a little more closely. Life only gives you so much time, why waste it staring at your hand? Or at the TV?

Anyways, I have spent enough time blogging and need to go destroy some numbers.

Week 2 Take the lead and do something about it then

Well here I am on week 2 and I want to start off with thanking/apologizing to a few people.

First I want to thank my wife Deb and son Kody for being there for this journey, you're efforts directly affect my efforts, thank you.

Sifu Csillag (Sr), thank you for taking the time to talk with me about my choices for hand/weapon  forms. Your insights and logic were GREATLY appreciated.

Sifu Langner (Randy), thank you for taking the time this Saturday and showing Kody and I the proper way to do some lion dance drumming. This will help Kody with his personal requirements which in turn helps me with mine.

To the Meiers and Kohuts, sorry about not making it to help with the shoveling, first time in a long time, I GOT LOST! I feel like an idiot and I guarantee it will not happen again.

Now to Mr Sollinger, Dan you have helped me with so many things by being both my sounding board and guide. As you can tell, my ideas and thoughts can be random and downright weird. Having your ear to twist and vast knowledge of the path we are on has made a world of difference. Thank you.

Now to business.....

My numbers are right where I want them to be. Sit ups and push ups are averaging 180 a day, my 1609km is on track, acts of kindness are ahead of where I thought it would be, personal requirements are looking good. Overall, looking great.

I was talking with Sifu Langner on Saturday about Lion Dancing saying how much I missed it already and his response made perfect sense. Take the lead and do something about it then. Perfectly put. This applys to everything! So far I have been quiet and just letting things progress on their own. This is not really my style and it has been making me a little frustrated.Time for me to ruffle feathers, light the fires, pedal to the metal (you get my point). This is mostly directed at myself but it is time for others to hear my ideas too( not just Dan ). Don't worry, I am full of positive not negative stuff so my babble will just be things I have seen or felt for the 10+ that we have been around SRKU. I am kind of excited about this and really hope to not be "that guy" who people roll their eyes at and say, "now what?!".

I Ho Chuan chapter 1

This is my first actual post so please bare with my random thought or ideas that go nowhere.

Week 1.

Short week being that it started on Tuesday Feb 5 and I end my weeks on Sunday but a good week none the less. My numbers seem to be right on track to reach the programs goals. Problem with that is I don't like to settle for good enough. So since I am in control of my time, time to take "right on track" to "full speed ahead Mr Sulu", Right now I feel healthy, no mystery injuries, only excuses and hesitation.

I am still pondering which form, both weapon and hand, to try and master this year. It is a toss up between kemp1-2-3 or 18 temple motions for hand and broadsword, stick or nun chucks for weapon. Seeing last nights demo at the banquet I saw the standard I need to reach for and oh boy, I better get a ladder cause it is was it is high.

I haven't has any real insights yet that are worth posting but having Mr Solinger's ear to twist everyday at work has sure made the first steps on this journey a lot easier. Thank you Dan for directing/suggesting/guiding me on my journey to something that will be life changing.

Having my actual family, Deb and Kody, with me on this journey is monumental to me. I love them both dearly and having them with me on this journey is almost dream like. I can only hope my eagerness and drive encourages them, not discourages them.

Congrats to all the students who were in last years group, I will try to achieve the mastery you all showed thru out the year.

First blog done. Till next week, over and out.
Don Bjorkquist