I See the Need

    I see the need for consistent action now more that ever. The past few days I decided to give my body a tiny break from my regular routine. No push ups or sit ups in the morning, just stretching. While my shoulders and back feel rested and ready, my mind doesn't. I have disrupted a morning routine that has served me well for a few years now and it made me feel like something was missing from my day. I actually tried to "sneak" a few push ups and sit ups in after work one day, I had to stop myself and remind my mind that there was a reason for the rest. 

   Now it is Sunday, I have had 2 solid days of rest, I am eager to resume my consistent action that has worked well for me. I can see how easy it would be to fall into this gumption trap, I'll call it the "tomorrow" trap. "Gee Mom, I'm tired, can I do it tomorrow, I promise I'll get it done". But remember, tomorrow never comes, it is always today, so if I fall into that trap, I'm doomed to fail at everything. 

   Time to ramp it up for this Saturday, upward curve, reach for the peak, leave nothing on the table, have I missed any cliches? Seriously though, I'm excited for our first test this weekend, it is a benchmark for me that I truly need and want. "Where am I and What am I doing?", this Saturday should be a good test of that question. 

   Thank you to all who are giving me this chance to test myself, your time and attention is greatly appreciated, I will do my best. See you Saturday.

Rain, Breathing and Football

    I have taken this past week to really reflect on some of the anxieties in my life. Things that would cross my mind, in no particular order, my health, the weather, my mother, my job, society, both the lack and excess of kindness in the world. So much of this I can not control. So much of this weighs heavy on me. 

   But then it rained yesterday. Ahhhh let the healing begin. Then I went to a football game. Today I will see my mother, today I will look after my health ( both physical and mental ) better today than yesterday. I will control what I can and accept what I can't. And love my family twice as hard as yesterday. Time to take a breath and enjoy where I am and what I am doing.

   This of course includes my training and Kung Fu. 

   I am not a religious man but my Dad used to have this quote hanging in his office and I find it applies more every day to my life in general.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.

 Reinhold Niebuhr

Crunch Time

    With July 2021 now in the rear view mirror, the reality of Grading Day(s) cannot be ignored. It is almost here, so close my bones can fell it. It is exciting, it is terrifying, it is reality squared to the nth degree. Just short of my wedding day and the birth of my boy, I have never had this much nervous and excited energy in me. But I must remember that both my wedding day and the birth of my boy changed me forever, for the good. Never has my life been so sweet, never has the sun shone brighter, the air smelled fresher, the world looked more beautiful, than at the end of those days. I can close my eyes and take myself there, the Maligne Canyon outlook for our vows, beautiful, majestic, perfect, the Misericordia hospital for the birth, my wife, my family, and my soon to be son, awesome. Sure there were bumps on the road both days, but that was just fate adding some seasoning to the day. 

   I learned so much on both those days. I learned that you can not control everything, sometimes all you can do is prepare to the best of your ability and let the chips fall where they may.  Grading day is very similar ( I think ), I have prepared, practiced, listened to those who have experienced the day and to those who have planned the day. I am ready to give it everything I have and have no regrets regardless of the outcome. Yes I want to succeed, yes I want to pass, yes I will be in class Monday evening regardless of the outcome. This is a life long journey, and I want to live every second, enjoy every triumph, and learn from every failure. Thank you for being with me on this journey ( people reading this ), lets see where the road leads.

 

                                                                    Two Perfect Moments

 

 

 

 

 

Looking In

    Busy, but not. Exhausted but energized. Excited but hesitant. Worthy or pretending? So many feelings and thoughts are going through my mind, body and spirit as grading day(s) approaches. We have been talking a lot about being prepared mentally,physically and spiritually by September in our Saturday morning candidates meetings. Am I? Am I not? Someone much smarter and well spoken than me once wrote....

.“To be, or not to be? That is the question"

By William Shakespeare (Hamlet)

   Simple question right?    Not!    Looking inward, I ask myself, "what does it mean to me "to be or not to be" a Black Belt"? So simple a question, with a 2000+ year old answer that is always evolving but still manages to stay the same. 

   Morality, mental, physical and spiritual morality. That is the word that comes to me first. And who is to judge my morality. It obviously starts with me. If I cannot believe in my own morality, I do not deserve to be a black belt. I like to believe I am a moral person, some may argue I am not. To each his own I guess. The path I try to follow for me to feel "moral" is a winding labyrinth of light and darkness, but I try to face the darkness head on so I can bask in the light without regret. I have failures, they hurt, they can be discouraging, but I try to learn from each one. Sometimes there is no lesson to be learned, and that in itself is the lesson. But the successes, oh how sweet they are. Their light crushes the failures into dust. 

   That is how I am approaching my black belt grading. Any failures are just lessons to be learned, any successes are to savored and enjoyed.

 

 

 

   

Proven it

 

    Requirements. Tracking your progress. Accountability to not only the team but yourself. 

   Thursdays IHC meeting I stated that I was tracking but not tallying my numbers. After a rethink on this, I am putting my totals out there for all to see, including myself. So here they are as of right here right now ( July 18,2021 7:32am )....

1 - No quitting  👍

2 - 50000 push ups   20,869/50000  average 134/day ( Based on year of the Ox at 354 days long )

3 - 50000 sit ups       21413/50000 average 137/day

4 - Master 2 forms

    - Lau Gar  350/1000 lots of partial form, working on a particular technique

    - Axe form  300/1000  still trying to find an ending that I feel right about

5 - 1000 rounds of sparring   390/1000  mostly shadow up till now

6 - 1609km   1029km/1609km   6.6km/day 

7 - 1000 AOK   695/1000

8 - Mend a relationship  Those people in my life are there by design, those I have chosen to cut ties with I have done so purposely. I have always tried to be kind to everyone equally, second and third chances given out freely, but if you are a cancer in my life, I will remove you from my life. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but I would rather be surrounded by those I love than those I don't.

9 - public journal  my 3rd year in the IHC and  I have never missed a week

10 - maintain an online presence   active in Kwoon talk 👍

11 - 3 public appearances  coming soon to an event near you - I hope 😀

12 - Lion dance   actually did about 1/2 hour yesterday with my family

13 - Tiger Challenge  👍😁

 

   There, it's out there, now to get to work on what needs improvement and reflect on where I am as of now. 

 

 

Am I Your Daddy?

    This picture is a classic. Muhammad Ali, one of the greatest boxers of all time. He knew how to impose his will on someone. 

   Fast, strong, confident, and that was just his mind. Read his quotes, he was a true champion. 

  

   In last weeks classes, Master Brinker was talking about how we where imposing our will on each other and how he liked it, a lot. It made me step back and reflect on my will. Now maybe it wasn't directed at me specifically but EVERYTHING that is said in class is important and must be reflected on. So I will reflect.

   What was my will during both the wrist escapes and choke defenses. I obviously wasn't trying to actually hurt my partners, but I easily could have. One wrong move, one slip and someone could have got hurt. That is the thin line that worries me the most. Too aggressive and I may hurt my partner, not aggressive enough and the rep doesn't count. So maybe I should look at it from the perspective of assertive not aggressive. I have never considered myself an aggressive person so I usually lean towards the side of caution, but as my Kung Fu progresses I find I can actually be more assertive without being dangerous. More "who's your Daddy?' than "where's my Mommy?". 

   We also discussed the importance of footwork, this is usually make or break in an application. To far away, no leverage, to close, get jammed up. Thankfully I had two great partners is class, and that made a big difference. I found I was concentrating on my upper body a little too much and forgetting about my footwork, forcing me to adjust as I progressed through the move. My partners worked with me and that made all the difference. 

Reality with a side of Irony

    One of my personal requirements this year is to get less screen time, more real time. This is proving to be very had to do. First off my work consists of almost 100% screen time, unavoidable, so I do not to include that in my daily digital count. Now that classes are live again, that means less Zoom (yeah!), plus classes are infinitely better in person. Saturday meetings are via Zoom but that's okay because our laptop is right by a big window so the outdoors is a gigantic backdrop, distracting but in a good way. Now comes the real problem, My phone and the TV. I can feel the drop in my IQ as soon as either becomes my focus. They are like a drug, addictive, very hard to kick. Yes we all need some down time to recharge but I was finding myself using this as an excuse to watch more TV and play on my phone more. Then there is the  weather lately, 39C in my back yard, this has made being outside prohibitive and down right dangerous, but now that we are back to more normal temperatures, I NEED to get outside and refocus on, well, everything. 

   The birds are singing, the rain just kissed the ground gently, the sun is coming up, I'm going outside to do some gentle quiet Tai Chi.

P.S. To talk about this I must use a screen, yes I get the irony, but such is our world.

Chow for now...........................