Healthy meal #7

Hey everyone here is another healthy meal. THis meal will feed four


Canola oil 2 tsp
Pork tenderloin, trimmed of fat  16 oz
low sodium prepared chicken broth  1/3 cup
Apricot jam  3tbsp
Jalapeno pepper, finely diced          1
Mushrooms 1cup
Onion   1

Season the way you see fit 
I put some pepper Mrs. Dash, some garlic clove and whatever might taste good

For some garnish chop up some cilantro or parsley ( not needed but nice touch) 

Enjoy!!



Sihing Langner  

Class

Today we had a couple of new (never been in our class new) students attend class this morning. Class has been fairly small the last couple of weeks because of summer holidays. Which has been good for training, we are able to focus on more specific areas that we don't touch on very often.  Normally, we have 5/6 students in class with a wide range of belts.   With the dynamics of this class, I believe that this is the most benifical class in the school.  The lower belts get to practice and learn things that they probrably won't touch on till later on in their training and the higher belts gets more review with the earlier curiculum. 

If anyone wants to come join us, we start at 6:40am on Tuesday's and Thursday's. 

Hope to see you there!

My Worst Enemy

FATIGUE!  In the last 6 months, I can count on one hand, how many decent night sleeps I’ve had.    I’m finding it is having an impact on most everything I do, especially my training.  I’m scared to sit down with fears that I may not get back up again.  I am a person who enjoys always doing something, not  sitting around watching the grass grow.  However, somehow there just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to accomplish what I have on my list or the energy to do so.  I can feel the fatigue in my joints and muscles, my memory, my mental alertness and lack of motivation.  Last Thursday night I went for my MRI on my knee, and even with the muffled sound of a jack hammer by my head, I actually fell asleep!    Today as I was painting the deck and was sitting down to reach low stuff, I could have fallen asleep in the paint tray, I was so tired.  I really need to figure this out.

So now I am trying to do what I can to wind down before hitting the hay.  I can’t say I have been very successful yet.  Here’s to hoping for a good night sleep tonight!

Alana Regier

July was a blur

Is it just me or did July pass by in a blur. July is a crazy busy month for me and my family as there are 11 birthdays to celebrate in my family. At one point there were 16, but some of my relatives have passed away, some at an early age. Turning 47 this year got me thinking about where I was when I started Kung Fu. I was 30 pounds heavier, got winded after 2 squat thrusts and was toast after 5 push ups or sit ups. Now I love doing pushups and situps. Squat thrusts are still a challenge but due to all the running I have been doing this summer I am slowly getting better at them. The one thing I'm really happy with is my recovery rate. Before when I got winded or tired it could be 10 minutes or more for me to recover my breath and heartrate. Now I'm ready for more after 30 seconds to a minute. Much much better. I am working hard at building a strong base for my kung fu to grow on. I have so much to learn yet and technigues to work on, but I dont let that tower over me. I take it one day at a time and progress forward. My next goal is my green belt and I am making progress on my last two stripes. I have been an orange belt for a year now, but I look at that as a good thing. Good technigue and flow now, should lead to good power and better technique and flow in the future. The I Ho Chuan team is responding well to the challenges we have been making to each other. But I still want to reach those that have disappeared off the radar. I understand that people have decided not to grade this year. I hope we as a team can inspire and help them get a running start now, not at the start of next year. I truly believe that if they can get going now, by the time next years I Ho Chuan starts they can already be in maintaining mode and have an awesome year. I am far from a perfect person and definately have a ton of growing to do as a martial artist. Being in the I Ho Chuan is no cake walk and I would never want it to be. I know there are goals I'm struggling with and others I may not achieve. But I want to be able to look myself in the miror and be able to honestly say I tried my best to do my best. If you can do that then I believe you have had a successful year.

Plugged In

The month of July is gone.
I have been pretty much absent from the Kwoon from being out of town so much this month.
The challenge is always to stay true to your martial arts training and philosophies when you are away. Its tough when you are one and surrounded by many who may not get what you are about or why you seem to "obsess about that stuff" as it was put to me.
When I get the chance I check in with Kwoon talk, blogs and the I Ho Chuan site.
There is no question this keeps me in the loop with my fellow students, the school, and team mates.
No question I source from this to rejuvenate and motivate myself when on the road.
Its not the same as being in class or in the community but believe me, it goes a long way until I get back home.
It makes me feel like I am still plugged in.

If I Say "READ ME" a Second Time, Will it Work?

Sadly, I received very few comments on my last post, where I was hoping that it would work to rally the troops and I'd receive a huge "lets go!" from everyone. I did get a couple, plus one "how could I not read your blog with a title like that?", which is exactly why I named it thus. So I'm going to try a different method (yes, still a blog):

Everyone, what can I do to help you all? Not that I'm so far ahead on my numbers that I can afford to pump out push-ups for you, but maybe we can work something where we both benefit? Where we all benefit? I'm willing to nag, encourage, call at any hour, text, meet up with you and sweat with any of you. So, why not take me up on this non-limited time offer? As I said, I need to play some catch up of a few of my own numbers, and I recognize that if I need help I imagine I'm not the only one. So, I'm sending an offer and a plea out to all, ALL, my fellow teammates- anyone wanna play?

I know its summer and many of us have hit either a rut, a wall or just a snag... I've been through enough years of this to know exactly how easy that is. But, after how many rounds I also know that we need to push though whatever is going on if we are to be successful. And don't hesitate to admit if you need help or if your rut is deeper than you would like to admit- I've been in this for what, four years?, and I have yet to successfully achieve my third stripe. But that doesn't mean that I'm giving up or giving in or whatever. That just means it'll be that much sweeter when I do achieve my third degree (because I will!) and the changes this program strives for will be that much more ingrained in me.

If you're afraid to admit your numbers, let me help you. My name is Khona Rybak, a Sifu at SRKF, a second degree blackbelt for the last (wait, I gotta check the archives...) EIGHT years, meaning I've put in my time but not been eligible for 4 years now, and I have yet to successfully* (see note below) complete one round of the I Ho Chuan, formerly known as the UBBT.

So does your lack of mojo seem so bad now?

Yes, everything above is true. *That does NOT mean I believe the last however many years have been wasted or a disappointment or unsuccessful... yes, unsuccessful... because I am moving forward and I will make that next stripe. I've never been one to rush things anyways.

http://dogsthinking.blogspot.ca/

A World Away

Coming back to reality is always so hard for me.  What makes it so hard is knowing that it will probably be a while before I get to go away again.  I just spent 3 GLORIOUS days in the mountains, doing things I so much love to do, with someone I love doing things with.  Truly, I am extremely blessed!

It was a tough decision to go away and have to miss my black belt class, the I Ho Chuan class and my fitness class.  Those things should be a priority for me, and in most cases, they are.  I am not really happy living here, or maybe I should use the word "content".  The winters are long, the summers usually not that great, weather very unpredictable, and it is soooo far from the mountains.  I have a hard time in the winters here, and it is in my summer months that I try to get as much "pick-me-up" as I can.  So, this weekend, I made the mountains a priority.  That isn't to say that I didn't do any kung fu while I was away, or think about it.  I thought about it ALL THE TIME.  My friend that travels with me thinks of my kung fu all the time too.  He is always figuring how much of my requirements I can log and what I have to do that particular day.

The first day was a sleep in day as we got into Fernie at 3 in the morning.  The ski hill didn't open till noon anyways, so we slept in till 11:00.  We were up on the Fernie ski hill by 12:30 and mountain biked till they closed the chair lift at 7:00.  By the time we finished our last run down the hill, it was close to 8:00.    It was absolute fun, fun, fun biking down the trails.  This year the trails were a bit trickier as the amount of rain this season has made a lot of ruts in the trails.  The best practice we discovered was to hover above the bike seat and trust the suspension system of the bike.  (you have to have a top suspension system and disc breaks to ride the trails).  When the trails got very steep, we had to hover just above the back wheel of the bike to stop us from going over the handle bars.

Our favorite trails to ride down were the ones that meandered in the trees.  These ones were skinny trails with roots and switchbacks around trees.  They were a fun challenge.  I thought often of my horse stance for most of these trails, as I had to hover above the seat with my feet both parallel to the trail, (toes forward)  If one of my feet was in the down position it easily caught on the side of the trail, or passing roots or just bumps in the trail.  Definitely was a fantastic way to work out and a sensational way to accomplish requirements!

The next day was a day of hiking in Waterton.  We hiked into some big falls and spent about an hour and a half there snoozing, exploring and eating lunch before hiking back.  It was awesome!  Again, a great way to work on requirements.  Later that evening we wandered around the townsite and had dinner, and then finished off the day at a dance at a private camp in the Waterton area.  The music and company was great and we had a blast!

Day three was spent on Waterton Lake in our kayaks.  This day was. . . . WOW!  The lake was so calm and the experience was amazing!  I have kayaked on the small lake, or swamp of  Chickakoo in the Stony area, but being on this lake made me realize what I really liked.  The scenery as always was out of this world.  We stopped at a beach area about 45 minutes into our kayaking, only to be scared off by a black bear.  We later followed that bear for about an hour up the shores of the lake.  We kept our distance from shore as the first time we spotted him, he was swimming across the channel.  It was really cool to watch and experience wildlife in this way.  To watch the bear stop and nibble berries, then have a scratch or two.  My friend and I were both surprised at how noisy he was as he wandered through the bush, and how the trees shook at his passing.

We kayaked for almost 2 hours and tried to scout out a place to try our hand at cliff jumping.  We then stopped on the shores for lunch, and a snooze.  I did a bit of exploring around the bend of the lake as well.  We kayaked back through the channel, then up and down another section of the lake shores.  We got off the lake just after 7:00 as the sun was going behind the mountains and it was 8:00 by the time we headed for home, getting back to Spruce at 2:00 am.

I do not take this weekend for granted, at all.  I fully understand the extent of how lucky I am to be able to go away on these types of weekends.  I am single, only 49 years old and my kids are grown.  I have no responsibilities to hold me home. . . . except for my kung fu.  I love kung fu, but I also love the mountains.  It is in the mountains that I feel like my real true self.  I feel I belong there, and they make me feel so whole, and fulfilled in my life.  I especially like Waterton.  It is like a world all its own.  When we stopped in Red Deer at 1:00 in the morning after leaving Waterton, my friend made a comment.  "It's like going from one world into another".  It really is.  Waterton is all mountains, and a beautiful lake.  Deer wander the town site along with so many families.  There are families everywhere and usually many generations together.  They are families bonding and loving, sharing and exploring, playing and laughing.  You see a few of the younger people with cell phones, but not many.  People come to Waterton to enter that different world of peace, beauty and serenity.

I had so much time to ponder about my life, and I thought on many things.  My friend wants to go back to Waterton before the summer is over.  ME TOO!!  But I have my kung fu to think about.  I did include in my requirements to spend 4 weekends in the mountains pondering on such things as my life and to absorb into every fibre of my being, those things I spiritually, physically and emotionally gain from being in the mountains.
I have pretty much come to the conclusion to be gone from Spruce Grove by the end of next year.  I really need and want to move closer to the mountains.  It is extremely hard to think of leaving my 4 kids and 2 grandkids, but I won't go far, so I can come back often.  Family is a huge priority for me, and I need to be a part of their lives and I want my grandchildren to have a close relationship with their nana.  I don't want to be someone they see twice a year.

My son has one more year of university and then I am really free to go where I please.  I have decided that if I am not in a committed relationship by then I want to make a change in my life.  If I don't move away, then I want to take a year and do some humanitarian service somewhere.  I have been researching this and trying to find the right one and the right places to go to.  Either way, I want part of my future to include being close to the mountains.  It may sound selfish, but I want to be able to take off on any given weekend and mountain bike, hike, cross country ski, hang out at a lake, a clear clean lake, not one that is all green and swampy.  I love the beauty of the agriculture here in Alberta, but I constantly crave the mountains.  They help my body and soul to unite, and to find peace is that unity.  I should feel that as a martial artist, but it saddens me to say that I don't.  For me, the mountains provide one thing and kung fu another.  Together they are a good balance for me.  Together they make up me.

Versatility

Yesterday many of us met and did a few rounds of sparring again. I'd say it went well for me personally but I'd be lying. I felt ok, but into the second round I really banged up my right shin, I know I need to build up some strength in my shins but this one really did some damage. Problem was after that I was totally useless. I had lost one of my main weapons and couldn’t compensate with any alternative forms of offense and defense for some reason. I know I’m still trying to get my sparring up to speed again but yesterday was really frustrating; everything I did was off – my timing, my precision. Going back to work on this for the next week with some shadow boxing should help some. Need to work on my combinations and again not just always relying on my right leg for my bulk of the work. Guess this is as good a time to fix these flaws that have crept in the past few years and see it as an opportunity to widen my versatility. Thanks again to all who came out yesterday and a special thanks to Sifu Lietz for the smack to the shins and another with a stick to the shins for good measure. Next time let’s have the bleeding stop on my shin before building up my conditioning on the leg...kids... Sifu Bryant

Should I call it balance or not!

Well the perfect time to write a blog entry.

Today was a good overall catch up day. I wrapped paperwork from yesterdays field day and coordinated contractors for the next couple days. Spoke with Alana on final details for the Death Race 'Hike'.....I feel life is a major mind battle, so to feel better about the race, in my mind I call it a hike, that sounds so much more pleasurable. I've written a list of a few things that I need to complete when I return home for a couple days....maybe longer, yet to determine. I feel a bit of a mind release.....feels good!

Couple other things on my mind, I need to write a blog entry and go for a run. I had a thought that came to my mind while watching "Matrix", it is "Natural Equilibrium". So, without a lot of direction to head with my post. I thought I'd go for a 5km run to the office, with some papers that I'd like to shred/ recycle. If that doesn't sound weird to the average person.....well its a double whammy. I tend to need purpose and reason when I do something, acting aimlessly....ahhh, that doesn't go well for me.

Anyway, I head out in 30C temperatures with the sun just'a baking the un-watered lawns....and me! I make it to the office and I forgot my security key to access the building, I called a co-worker and he won't be at the office for an hour. Hmmmm....all is good, there are a couple trees on the lawn in front of the building, I have my Blueberry....I can write a blog entry or have I just done that?

When I heard the phrase, "natural equilibrium" on "Matrix", I immediately associated that to balance. The word that skewed it from meaning the same to me, was "natural". What I mean is I've been trying to find and incorporate balance in my life for numerous years. If it should be natural for us living in the "Matrix", I mean on earth, am I battling with something that will take care of itself naturally?

There are many ways of seeing our future, such as fate, there is the law of attraction, there is spiritual belief and that there is a plan (we are not in control of our destiny but our immediate actions).

For the most part, looking back......

Time for a few push ups, I'm loosing my thought pattern or maybe I never had one.

I'm back. I guess what I'm trying to bring forward to myself is, am I'm okay? Every step I take is not premeditated, because there is continually something in my path to alter my way. Therefore, I naturally adapt, if I didn't I can't image where I'd end up at the end of the day. I've said before that change is growth, without challenge there is no growth, so without veering off too far. My challenges end up as growth and in some weird sort'a way are all naturally equalized. The reason I'm having such a battle is that I may be getting in the way of what will naturally take place and maybe the end plan will reveal itself when I'm ready to accept my destiny. Whoa.....this sounds like I watched a little too much of this movie. But really how far fetched can some of this stuff be! I need to believe or convince myself (my mind) to become extraordinary, so, if I was to let my mind follow this natural equilibrium path...what would be the result and where would that fall in relation to my current beliefs? It sounds like stress relief to me!

Sitting under this Shubert Chokecherry tree, hearing robins flutter around, writing a confusing blog entry was apparently where I was meant to be today. Well my co-worker should be here shortly, so I can shred, file and then make another mile!

Another day of reflection with hopes of finding reason! I know the answer is within.... one day it will truly reveal itself. Until then, I will try to allow my mind the freedom to naturally find its equilibrium........I wonder how many times daily, I hear the answers to my situations and turn from them.

Oops....it turned out to be a short story.

Darcy Regier

More than one thought!

More than one thing on my mind this morning.....
- I have been spending time doing more activities with my daughter over the last little while and I am filled with many different thoughts and emotions. I have always tired hard to ensure that Katie knows the importance of being active and eating right. We started when she was very little and I took her everywhere I went, strapped to me or in the stroller. Then we graduated to me running/walking and her on her tricycle, I probably carried that thing more than I cared to! After that, the Tri-Leisure Center opened and I used to take Katie to the track with me. We used walkie-talkies and she would sit on a mat with her books and music and tell me stories and sing me songs over the air while I ran. It didn't seem like it was long before she was running with me, not beside but keeping her own pace, doing her own thing at the same time as me. It was pretty cool. Then we moved forward from there and she began to search for her independence! She wanted to be active with her friends, at the leisure center and sometimes outside. It is an interesting process for me to accept that I had accomplished my goal of instilling the importance of activity and acknowledging that it wouldn't always be me that she did her activities with as she needs to find her own way and figure out what works for her. I treasure the time that we do spend together and am pleased that she can set goals and strive to reach them, overcoming obstacles as she encounters them. Katie recently lead me on a 20 km bike marathon around the City of Spruce Grove (on and off the trails), it was a blast and humbling at times when I struggled to keep up. I am proud/pleased that I have passed on the importance of being active.
- What to eat and what not to eat! I am enjoying experimenting with different foods and am completely relieved to not have as much pain and discomfort. I have had some success and some failure in the kitchen but the best part is that my family is once again willing to try what I try in hopes of finding some positive affects. I haven't been doing this very long and sometimes my emotions try to lead me back to old eating patterns. So far, if I stop and assess, the feeling/need to eat something that will upset my stomach goes away with a little bit of reasoning. I did try DQ ice cream this week, I used to think this was a safe thing for me to eat, not so much. I am amazed at how easy it is to pick up on what is good and bad with my system nearly all cleaned out. My reactions are quicker and go away faster if there is only one food to deal with, I am looking forward to more and more success in the kitchen and with my health issues.
- I am enjoying spending more time with my I Ho Chuan teammates in the last couple of weeks, I am hoping that we can keep the momentum going and continue to find times and reasons to hang out together. The dragon dance is evolving as we have new members on the team and new ideas to try. It is a lot of fun and I am hoping that more teammates can come and spend some time with us. (Every Thurs @ 7:15pm ). It is also very energizing on Saturdays when there are more people at open training. I am loving getting back into sparring and re-learning some valuable lessons about keeping my guards up! I am also enjoying doing forms with a variety of people and learning about how others move, it is always educational! I have been playing with my chucks more in the last couple of weeks (relaxing! having fun!) and they are beginning to feel different in my hands. More like they are a part of me, instead of an extension of me. I don't know if that is right or wrong but that is where I am in the process.
That is all for me this week ( I probably shouldn't have blogged about one or another of these topics earlier in the week, but it didn't occur to me that I could blog  on a day other than Sunday!). I am going back to work on Thurs. so that means that I have to be more strict with my time, but I am excited about integrating more early morning work outs to my schedule. I have established some really good routines while on holidays so I am hoping to work out a way to keep some of that routine. I am surprised and impressed by what a difference in makes in my daily outlook when I get up early and work towards some of my goals.

Darcy 28th

Breakfast
3 cups of water; bowl of granols with berries and plain yogurt; bagel with a dash of "Celeb"

Lunch
4 cups of water; homemade burger; 1/2 cup of trail mix; 1 medium tomato

Before supper
1-1 inch square of dark chocolate; 1 dill pickle; 1 cup of protein  drink 2ith 1/2 a cup of berries mixed in; 2 cups of water

Supper
2 smokies.....yes, with hot sauce; 1 potatoe with onion; 4 cups of water

2 cups of water

Traveling

 

Well I'm off on a vacation headed south to hopefully rack up some km's walking and riding my bike in the mountains of southern B.C. and Alberta. Looking forward to a long over due break with my girls. I have a training plan for August and of course the last few months to try and finish strong that I will share when I return. See you in a week.
Brian Chervenka

A Non Lethal Dose of Good

Rained out for a day.   And It’s a Kung Fu night!  Double Fist Pump, YEEEEESSSS!  Probably forgot much of my belongings in Vermilion, but I was packed up in record time.  Beeline home and off to the Kwoon.  For me it was like unleashing a caged animal.  Like getting an injection of motivation, energy, discipline.

I thought back a few nights ago when I recognized a death race shirt on a fella just stepping out for a run.  I pulled the truck over and talked to him, not because I am all that personable, but rather I NEEDED, this influence.  We talked briefly about training, what legs we were running, how things were going for this year’s endeavor.  That contact was important to me, because alternatively while out on the work site, most people deem walking to the truck for a cigarette and coffee more exercise than they wish to muster.

The way the world is now, most people involved in Kung Fu deal with these two extremes;  Torn between building something great  using the synergy of like minded people, and falling the other way under the influence of those that are the sinks and vacuums of everything that is good.

Obviously each person has a different level of positive influence they require to keep them on the right track.  Being away from the Kwoon and getting more than my fair share of people giving it the college try, I am starting to realize my personal threshold for dummies.  Surprisingly it is quite high.

The death race is coming up in a week, and this is a great event for so many reasons, but mostly because like Kung Fu, the atmosphere is rich with people that are health conscious, strive for physical discipline, and feed off other individuals of like mind.  The challenge for me as of late is not recognizing when I am reaching my dummy threshold, but rather where to go to get a dose of the good stuff.  I am slowly learning to take full advantage of every opportunity.  Even opening a newspaper and scrolling past the negative and reading the stories involving, as put in Mastery terms....miracles.

I feel as a martial artist, especially a Silent River Martial artist, we are dealers.  It is our responsibility to first tend to our needs for preserving what makes us exceptional.  To know what we require personally to keep us thriving positively, and then, knowing what we have in reserve to improve those we influence. 

Vince

vincekrebs.blogspot.ca

The Color Brown

Yesterday was a special Kung Fu class for me. I graded and acheived my brown belt, a feat that I am very joyful and proud of myself for accomplishing. I think back to when I was a white belt and saw the brown belts and thought how awesome, skilled, and incredible they were and that they were at a level far far beyond where I was. Now I am here as a brown belt. Do I know everything? No! Was the journey easy? Far from it. Am I happy to be here? Yes and I look forward to learning and relearning to carry me further along my path.

As I reflect back to when I was a white belt and how so much has changed in my life both in and out of Kung Fu, I truly am amazed. Basically my life is very different now than what is was then and I have the UBBT (now I Ho Chuan) to thank. And, of course Sifu Brinker for getting me started in all of this. I used the platform of the UBBT to design my life for me that involved (and still does) more than Kung Fu and I am continuing to use this platform today and will continue in the future.

As of Monday, I have started in the Quantum Leap program where one prepares for and takes quantum leaps in their life. The program consists of meditations/ visualizations, homework/action steps, training calls, one-on-one coaching calls, a weekend in Denver, and the 40 Days/40 Nights program where there is total immersion in going for what one wants. Excuses and victimhood are called out because in order to rocket launch forward one needs to come clean. I'm excited for this program. I had my first coaching call yesterday and I got very clear what my soul's purpose is as well as I'm to ground myself in joy. In my glass art the artist runs the show, not the business person (I have both sides) and I'm to make my decisions and actions based on wealth and joy not on lack and uncertainty.

As I see it both Quantum Leap and I Ho Chuan compliment each other so methinks it's going to be quite a ride for the next while. The only thing for me to do is ground myself in joy, let the artist shine through and enjoy the ride.
Sherri Donohue

Wonsiak

It's been a really exciting week for me.  My birthday is tomorrow, which means I get to take my drivers test =) Hopefully I pass, which means I will have successfully completed one of my personal requirements! (yayyy)

On a bit of a darker note, some of my friends were involved in a drunk driving accident.  One went in for surgery last night, I'm not sure what for.  Another is at the University Hospital with four cracked vertibrae.  And the others are in the hospital for other injuries.  No one was killed, thank goodness.  I've been thinking of them every day, and I can only hope for the best for all of them. 

Thats all for right now :)

Mud Heros

Ok, just have to put in a quick blog about MudHeros as I run out the door here. It was AWESOME!! Honestly after Sifu Stoddart and Sifu Freitags conditioning the obstacles werent that hard (thankyou!!). The run itself was the biggest hurdle, being through pasture (poop, rocks, etc) , bush (trees, hills, rocks, logs) and mud....slimy mud...it was the most tiring. But the other contestants were awesome, no one didnt stop to help if someone needed it, and the feeling was of fun and laughter. I think we should all do it next year!!! And hey, after hurting my back and not really training for the last month, I still ran it in 47 mins, the average time being 54. So yes, we can ALL do this. (And lets not mention Sean running it in 43 mins after doing no training at all....argh!) Lets do it!!! Theres a web site called sport stats you can go on and I think it leads to all the pictures:) But heres one to get you started....

Our Bags Are Packed!

Just a week to go and we are off to Grand Cache!  This week I have been going over the list of mandatory equipment to have and that which is recommended.  Our packs are getting full.  Duct tape on the recommended list didn’t surprise me, being there is nothing it can’t fix, however Vaseline, not sure about that one????  As nervous and a little anxious as I feel, I am definitely more excited than anything.  We have a great team and are going with the purpose of not only meeting a challenge, but one of having fun and enjoying the ride (or the run in this case).  

This upcoming week I am probably going to have to take it a little easy, as to not aggravate my knee.  I’m going to need it! 

Alana Regier

Blogging troubles

Hello i do not know what to say today, other then i hope everyone is doing well and is in good health. Sorry for not being able to write more. I just find it so hard to write about life and what i am doing. Or even if it is kung fu related. I am a person who does the same thing every day and my day to day rituals is almost always the same, but today my mind draws a blank and writing this is the best i can think of. Well I will  try and think of something to write next time, until then have a good day

Sihing Langner

Vacationing

Just a quick note from vacation land...Canmore is beautiful!! I love the mountains, the hikes, the water...and I could do without the mosquitos! Holy Hanna! I think the mother lode is in my campsite!We've had lots of different weather, done lots of small hikes and taught the kids how to get back in their kayaks after dumping them. And of course, they were better at it then us. Not fair! One of the coolest things for me was in a hike in the Grotto, we were going through a canyon area, and if you've ever heard the term 'living rock' , that was the sensation I got from the rocks surrounding me. Just pure energy or life, surrounding us. Very cool.

25 July

So, looking at the I Ho Chuan program, I will publicly admit that I have failed the program, due to a lack of attendance and commitment to key initiatives (i.e. the public demonstrations). No excuses with that at all...that was my own and only my own fault. I will also publicly admit that I will not be grading for my 2nd degree black belt this year. Simply put, I am not ready for it. Before I intend to grade, I will need to progress more and devote myself more to the school. The beauty is in the journey, not the destination...and I am happy with that. I am not in a rush, but I'm rather wanting to simply grow and develop in all the roles I hold in my life. The growth I have made as an individual is evident, and I am definitely not the same individual I was at the beginning of the program. So, where do I go from here? Forward. Always forward. Always pushing past old limits and slowly eradicating mediocrity from my life.


I am also liking this diet tracking blog. It has really forced me to look at my diet, and to eat cleaner and limit the amount of junk going into my body. If I can't kill it or grow it, I'll try to avoid eating it!


That's all for now,


Sifu Joe Harrigan

WOWZERS!!

Oh yah!  Saturday was awesome!  I worked out for 3 hours at the kung fu school, then 1 hour at the gym on the bike.  I felt so focused, and involved in what I was doing, and I felt the focus of others that were there too.  The next day, Sunday, my friend and I biked 25 k in the rural area north of spruce and stony.  It was a great weekend!

I was so grateful to all the members, and students that showed up at open training to spar.  There were 14 of us:

• Sifu Wetter
• Sifu Kichko
• Sifu Bryant
• Sifu Harrigan
• Sifu Beckett
• Sinhing Robinson
• Sihing Regier
• Mr. Regier Jr.
• Sihing Choy
• Sinhing Chessel
• Mr. Hamilton
• Sihing Langner
• Mr. Leung 
• Myself

The spirit of what we were doing was a great feeling in the room.  The spirit of HOW we were doing it-filled the room to capacity.  We were doing it together!  And it felt great!  I was overcome with gratitude.  Everyone worked together, was supportive, and encouraging.  I took a round house to the side of my head that made my ear ring a bit, and 5 seconds later, I took some kind of spinning kick to the other side of my head.  This made me a bit nervous, as I am not too confident as it is, but I am happy to say that there is no permanent damage.

I loved how it felt to be united and took an opportunity to share my feelings with everyone as we took a small breather.  I expressed my apologies to everyone for not being much of a team member and trudging along forward on my own.  I feel like I really missed the boat on this one, and I feel sorry for not realizing this sooner.  I encouraged everyone to help unite us all by reading journals, calling out for help, getting others to join in pushups or whatever they may be behind in.  A few others added their comments as well, and we were joined in our quest.  I loved it.

I am sorry to be missing this weekend as I attend a conference out of town, but I will be encouraging the team from a distance.  I hope we can keep up the open training sparring as I know for a fact that it did me a ton of good.  (aside from the hits to the head)  :)  If it did me that much good in one day, then I can imagine how much it will help me if we do it more. I have to say that it did me good not only to get some minutes with my sparring, but the unity within the team that I felt helped me immensely for my mental state.  It proved to me that I am NOT alone, and that I have others to help, uplift, encourage and support.  Sometimes I feel bad and unsettled when our results and how we are doing is often negative.  I think I need to try harder to keep everyone moving forward and add positive feedback.  I can't do it on my own, but I know how the rippling effect works and I am counting on it working here.  We, on this team are all good people and we are trying to do extraordinary things.  I commend the whole team for that and I am proud to know these people and have them be a part of my life.

Dragon Dance

Last Thursday I spent my first practice learning how to dragon dance. I quite enjoyed it. It was even more fun than I was expecting. Its also a lot trickier than I thought. Knowing which direction to move isn't always intuitive. Being aware of everyone else and knowing how to adjust your own direction and speed is very important. I can definitely see how it would take a fair bit of practice as a team to make it look smooth.

I have yet to learn the lion dance. I've never made a great effort to learn the lion dance, not really sure why. I'm oddly nervous around the lions, like they are something to be revered. Fragile and holy. They make me feel brutish. I'm uncomfortable even handling them much less being in one.  Its all very silly I know. I'm going to have to learn...

http://liveforeverordieintheattempt.blogspot.ca/

Great weekend

What a great weekend, beside the fact that I had to work which I seem to doing all the time now. I managed to get in an hour of sparring at the Kwoon with the group and that was fun, got a little feed back on my 5 techniques (always helpful). Learned at lot about myself and my opponents. We need to do that again.

Later that night I joined my family at the Lake with some friends and watched to fireworks. It was amazing, we were situated in the right spot and had great visibility from our beach.

On Sunday, we swan around the island in the morning, we wore our life jackets but the neighbours didn't, and it took about 40 mins for the trip. One day I would like to be able to swim around the island without the life jacket. Nice way to wake up and start the day. Played and swan in the lake for the majority of the day and I even managed to through in some Kung fu practise as well.

We also caught 11 fish, 10 walleye and 1 perch (the perch was Branden's first fish in 2 years, so he was pretty excited), that was awesome.

In the evening we went tubing. That was a blast, I haven't done that in a while.

Today, I'm sore but well worth the fun at the Kwoon and the time with family.

T-E-A-M work

Yesterday many of our team met at the Kwoon for open training. For us it was a chance to work on our sparring and any other requirements we wished to tackle. For one full hour we trained together through sparring and it felt great. For me it made me pause and think about our team and our mindset. Think about it, most of our requirements are personal in nature – forms, pushups, situps, acts of kindness, etc. I do most of this away from the Kwoon since this is how I like to train and go about my day, yet we are a team and some of our requirements need other people to be involved. I mean I can work on my combinations and such by myself but sparring requires another person in front of you (my wife doesn’t count I guess). It was nice to know that for that one hour there were over a dozen like-minded people working toward a similar goal – great stuff. As for the sparring, it went great, I need to work on a few things – a few bad habits have crept in but again another step in the right direction. This could turn into another good weekly habit I think. Sifu Bryant

T-E-A-M work

Yesterday many of our team met at the Kwoon for open training. For us it was a chance to work on our sparring and any other requirements we wished to tackle. For one full hour we trained together through sparring and it felt great. For me it made me pause and think about our team and our mindset. Think about it, most of our requirements are personal in nature – forms, pushups, situps, acts of kindness, etc. I do most of this away from the Kwoon since this is how I like to train and go about my day, yet we are a team and some of our requirements need other people to be involved. I mean I can work on my combinations and such by myself but sparring requires another person in front of you (my wife doesn’t count I guess). It was nice to know that for that one hour there were over a dozen like-minded people working toward a similar goal – great stuff. As for the sparring, it went great, I need to work on a few things – a few bad habits have crept in but again another step in the right direction. This could turn into another good weekly habit I think. Sifu Bryant

that was awesome fun

Yesterday was completely awesome. I have never sweat so much and enjoyed a day at the kwoon as much as that, except for pandamonium. I was already soaked from fitness class(nothing new there) and then an hour of sparring after that and I felt like I had taken a dip in a swimming pool with my clothes on. Sifu Stoddart really is great at getting us to work our butts off and enjoy it at the same time. I can't recoommend the class enough. All you need to be is positive, enthusiastic, fun loving and willing to sweat buckets in front of others. Even if you're not all those things come out and I bet you will be after a few classes. It has helped with my conditioning enormously. I love sparring with the members of the I Ho Chuan. I get schooled the entire time, but I don't fear being hit or overwhelmed. The control that the Sifus and Sihings have is something to behold. I learn a little bit from every person I spar with. I am able to see things, I just can't always get my body to respond in the correct way to block or strike like I should. I accept that at my level and totally expect it. I am getting more confortable sparring and really working on my level of control. I hope we have many more days like yesterday. I'm sore as heck today, but its a good sore. One that lets me know I worked hard and it was totally worth it. I'm the lowest belt level on the team. But that doesn't mean I have any more excuses or reasons to slack off or not be accountable to myself and the rest of the team. Sometimes being the lowest makes me question myself on how to encourage or help out the rest of the team. I have often noticed others on the team are missing blogging or aren't in class or the kwoon as much as they were at the beginning of the year. I am still struggling with how to approach them. If they aren't attending the same classes I'm in or not showing up at I Ho Chuan practise or missing the meetings, how do you just say "hey, how's it going?". That is something I need to work on and improve. I have been too wrapped up in my own journey this year and I need to be more engaged with the whole team. That is something I will improve on. I failed miserably at last years UBBT. Mostly because I didn't know how to ask for help or how to communicate my failures. I thought I had to be upbeat and positive about everything I was going through. It took a long time for me to get it through my thick skull that it was the struggles that Sifu Brinker was looking for. I have been lucky this year to get a better stucture in place and to set small goals that progressed towards the bigger ones. Not everything is going perfect by any means. My stick and flexibilty being the two big ones. But the biggest thing I learned between last year and this year was to not stop doing what worked and to readjust what wasn't. I have years to go before I even achieve Sihing level. But I can't thank Sifu Brinker and everyone on last years team and this years team for giving me such amazing examples to follow. I'm building a base for myself that I hope will be made out of granite and not the sandstone that was there before I started kung fu.

Everyone Read This

I've been a part of Silent River Kung Fu for the vast majority of my life. I've seen how it can change people, or alternatively how some people choose to walk away. Recently, being a part of the UBBT and now the I Ho Chuan, I have seen this first aspect of Kung fu amplified huge, and I see it every day in the people around me.

I know we've been struggling individually and as a team. Sifu Brinker has developed so many ways for us to succeed, and yet some of us, myself whole heartedly included, continue to struggle with things that should become as easy as breathing. And every time this happens, Sifu Brinker works his butt off to help us, and still ends up pulling out his hair (well, you know what I mean).

So, to Sifu Brinker I say this- you are an extraordinary man who has encouraged, inspired, motivated and changed countless of us into better people than we would have been without you. I am truly sorry that we (me) let you down, but I can also say that despite what you may think, it is NOT your fault. As I mentioned, we are all better people because of you. There's a saying about a horse and water that fits right here. You seem to have found yourself a lovely group of stubborn and silly horses.

And now, to my fellow team members and to every single member of SRKF, and to every other person who happens to stumble across this particular blog- what are we waiting for? Why do we continue to struggle with things we know are obtainable, beneficial and extremely important in our own success? So, get on with it! I challenge all of you to end this year the way it should be ended and to show Sifu Brinker that he has achieved what he is trying to achieve with us. I will not let him think that he has somehow let us down. And I do not want any of you ever again considering letting him down! Because that is exactly what we do every time we skip our push ups, miss a class or figure later is a better time. We let him and ourselves down. No more. Not an option. Got it?

http://dogsthinking.blogspot.ca

Gluten Free

This really is gluten free bread!

This has been a tough week, healthwise. I have IBS and usually can keep it under control with healthy eating and plenty of exercise. When I add stress to that then it doesn't seem to matter what I eat, I get sick. So I have been doing some research (not successfully) and wondering what else I can change about my diet to decrease these bouts of pain and discomfort. I finally asked for help and received way more than I deserved (I have turned down help before) and I think that I may be on to something.
I have slowly been eliminating bread products from my diet. I stopped eating any white flour a couple of years ago as it seemed to upset my stomach, then I stopped eating wheat flours ( a weird allergic reaction reared it's ugly head during practice for the Chinese New Year's Banquet ) and switched to rye only. I have noticed over the last few months, that when I have rye bread, I don't feel as energetic as I do without it. That lead me to (hat in hand) ask for some information about eating gluten free. I had heard a little bit about it ( in I Ho Chuan meetings) and from a friend who is celiac but I had no idea what it entailed. I have been gluten free since Thurs (maybe Wed, I would have to check my food journal) and I feel fantastic! It did not take much of a change as I have been taking away things when they don't provide me with the food energy that I am looking for. Last year when I was on the UBBT team, I spent a great deal of time trying to maximize my food energy so that I could do more things in a day (my theory is, if you are going to demand great things from yourself, you have to give yourself the fuel it needs to get there). I continue to be just as busy on the I Ho Chuan team and continue to demand a lot from myself ( if you have no energy then it is an uphill battle) and I continue to monitor my food intake and be very aware of how I react to it. The last few days have been fantastic, I continue to get as many things completed each day but I am not completely wiped out at the end of it. I have no pain and my stomach has settled down to normal. I don't feel deprived of anything ( well, I would like a gluten free muffing that didn't taste like baking soda!) and I am eating healthier than ever. Instead of waiting patiently for things to be done so that I can rest, I am completing tasks and requirements and then looking for more to do.
This is just one more thing that I have UBBT/I Ho Chuan to thank for. Striving for mastery in every aspect in my life is the only key to successful living.

Where am I

Back from Whitehorse this weekend.

I enjoy Whitehorse, I try and take time out to visit some of the historical sites there.

Lots of Canadian history. I think we have it easy compared to what some families had to go through back then but that’s another blog all together.

Where am I…

...that is the theme for the I Ho Chuan team(unintentional rhyme).

My sai form has been one of frustration. About 6 weeks ago, it was to the point, where I had to put them down.

I have been trying to create a form that is worthy of a demo but has meaning and originality. It is quite apparent to me now that this is really a 5 year project the way I envision it and trying to cram it into 6 months has only left me annoyed and resentful.

It was Mr. Chervenka that suggested I try throwing the knives outside…so I did.

SHAZAM, I say!

Suddenly its fun again. Creativity is back and I can see how the weapon really is a weapon and not something I am twirly around like a fool.

I am certainly not finished the form, it is a long process that will take years to perfect and master but thanks to an I Ho Chuan teammate I have been pushed forward again.

Thanks to the I Ho Chuan philosophy I am better than I was and I feel the wheels moving again.

But not so fast…not sure if it was overdoing the sai form, push ups or age, both my deltoid muscles have been screaming in pain to the point of hindering further practice. Ice,heat and rest have not helped so I am going to have to seek other resolution, seems like something always pops up. If motivation is gone the body is able when the body breaks down the motivation is back on line.

Looking to make motivation and the physical ability come on line at the same time, then look out!

When I ask myself "Where am I at this point of the year" I don't mean to sound angry , it is not anger but frustration with where I thought I should be.

A visit with my Aunt put things in perspective again...its not a race against time, time always wins but its the challenge to savour time that counts.

A Common Theme

The last few blogs posted seem to have a common theme about them.  They speak honestly of where people are in their life and the difficulty and challenges people are facing to meet their requirements and commitments.  I don’t believe that for anyone, being a part of the I Ho Chuan  team, is a walk in the park and life is rosy all the time.  We all face setbacks and discouraging moments.   Being honest with ourselves as well as with fellow team mates is the only way to change discouragement to something positive.  I listen to everyone in the monthly meetings openly tell the struggles they face and I find I can relate to everyone on some level.   It is reassuring to know that I am not the only one feeling bogged down, falling behind or struggling with feelings of disappointment and discouragement.

We are our own worst critics.   We have high expectations for ourselves and are disappointed when we don’t meet them.   We have all chosen challenges that are just that, challenges; they aren’t supposed to be easily accomplished.  We forget that life has a way of throwing obstacles that make us go off course and maybe fall a little behind of where we think we should be.  However, like has been said, when a person looks back to the beginning of the year and looks at the numbers add up in their log or sees personal challenges met or positive changes taking place in their relationships, how can we ever say that we failed? 

At the beginning of the year, my first couple of months were brutal.  I admit I was guilty of neglecting some of my other commitments, thinking that I had to put everything I had into my kung fu alone.  I wasn’t sure how to juggle everything and thought I had to pick one thing over the other.    It was in spending time on my personal challenges that I woke up.  I realized that if I neglect other parts of my life and only focus on kung fu alone, in the end, what have I truly accomplished

 Right now, I feel immense relief that I’m not neglecting the things that are truly important in my life and feel an incredible peace.   I am enjoying where I am and what I’m doing.   I have missed the demo and a meeting or class here or there, and have felt guilt every time.   I have had to accept that sometimes there are other places I have needed to be.  I am still totally engaged and determined.  I have set my goals and am going to do all that I can to accomplish them.   I’m not sure where I’ll be come fall, but I do know that I will be closer to my goal than I was at the beginning of the year.  I still have struggles continually, but I have found that I have been handling them differently than a few months ago.   Taking things day by day, step by step, trying to move progressively forward in the process.

Thanks to everyone who has been so honest and open to where they are and how they are feeling.  Sticking together and encouraging each other is a whole lot easier when you know more about your fellow team mates.

Alana Regier

http://alanaregier.blogspot.ca/

Addition to last post....

Because my world has done a 180, doesn't mean that I've planted on my head in the sandy soils of Brooks. I'm still staying active and putting in a lot more kilometers than I have in the past 10 years. My engagement with Silent River has died off majorly and I felt it during my last return, but I must emphasize the last decade of kung fu will never leave my heart and soul. My actions for as long as I am on this earth will have an influence of kung fu embedded.

Challenging myself has become a continual process, without the realization that I'm even doing it. Many of my I Ho Chuan goals/ challenges have slipped, which doesn't lift my spirits any, but at the same time I realize my situation and still aim high and hope for the best, all the way around. My focal point for the last few years has been strongly on my mental being, so as I look over my shoulder I see how I have changed, I see my accomplishments, I see what I stand for and that it has not been jeopardized.

When I look around me, in the field/ career that I have been living, I am an odd ball; its not a secret and from what I see, I say that proudly. It may sound like the oilfield has me wrapped up like a mummy, like the majority of my co-workers...but no, my legs are still free, that's how I'm still able to get the km's in! lol All joking aside, I see it a bit differently... I have set out to be different and extraordinary, and the funny thing is, I hear it on nearly every job that I am one of a kind, but I've never seen it the way I should have, until now. It's who I've set out to be and its happened, people are seeing the difference!

My world will do a 180 again, at some point, and I will be back in the kwoon as I had been a few years ago; I will be attending church and be with my friends and family as I have wished for. I will challenge my current personal challenge with vengeance and do all I can to ensure that my family does not suffer because of it.

p.s. Happy Birthday Sifu Lietz! (Shau)


Darcy Regier

darcyregier.blogspot.ca

Truthfulness

I have reflected a great deal on the last couple of posts.  I am really enjoying the honesty in both Mr. Chervenka and Sifu Regier’s journal entry.  These posts have got me thinking about truthfulness. 

What makes a person an excellent human being?   When we talk Mastery are we talking about mastery in just Kung Fu, or mastery in other aspects reverent to our lives.  I think it is easy to get caught up in chasing a particular goal, to get so focused that we forget it is the process that makes things great. I think a trap I have fallen into at times is one in which my efforts may be focused on the goal of black belt such that neglect creeps into other aspects of my life.

I think the blinders have to be removed every now and then, and you have to give an honest review of where you are at in life.  You may be achieving your requirements in Kung Fu, but where are you at with other aspects of your life.  Are relationships falling off the rails, are you missing important events, are you neglecting certain aspects of your job.  If this is the case, then I don’t think Kung Fu is serving you in a positive way or the way I think it is intended.

Are you meticulous in your training, yet hand in a half effort report at work, or miss out on your child’s baseball game.  I think it is important to look hard to see if there is a great disconnect between what you learn or teach in Kung Fu, and what you do outside of Kung Fu.  Naturally, focus and hard training in Kung Fu will spill over in positive aspects of your life, but I feel that leaving a bomb crater around every place except the Kwoon can be dangerous as it will eventually lead to resentment.  This is what I am feeling with my job right now.  I enjoy my work, but I can’t help but resent the fact I am missing church, family, Kung Fu, friends and events that make me who I am.

I have decided to assess my spirituality, family life and relationships, achievements, work ethic and quality and be completely true to myself.  My job as of late has led to neglect on more than one front.  If I am being completely truthful, Kung Fu at times has also. What I feel is important however, is constant self reflection.  This is what I believe Mr. Chervenka has just undergone by reading his post.

Some things I have noticed with myself since joining the I Ho Chuan.  Initially, I looked at it as a high bar or benchmark to see if you have the heart, the moxy.  Am I made of black belt fibre?  To a point I still believe this.  But now being away from the Kwoon for a couple months, I stand further from the action, and see it more as a process to force self reflection (or self destruction).

I don’t know why, but the requirements of work have never forced me to ask the tough questions like the UBBT and I Ho Chuan has.  With work, I have always blundered on, head down, butt in the air.  As of late, I have never had this many conversations with my wife regarding what seems to be working out, what isn’t, and what may need to change.  Self reflection and evaluation has been at an all time high for me.

It reminds me of a piece of advice a person gave to me before heading off to Forestry school.  He said, you are not going to college to learn about trees, you are going to college to learn how to learn.  There was a great deal of truth to that.  I am thinking more that the I Ho Chuan and UBBT is more the development of process rather than a means to an end.

Vince.

vincekrebs.blogspot.ca

Mr. Chervenka's Latest Post

I just wanted to thank Mr. Chervenka for writing my next post. Seriosuly, I'm not glad to hear that my teammates are going through this, but I'm glad to hear that he was honest, sometimes not an easy thing to publicly admit. The ending was great!

Sometimes pulling yourself from that deep rut, is like trying to pull yourself and your rubber boot from a mud bog which has just reached the little red line on your boot! My boot has been stuck in the mud for a while now and the red line is disappearing.

Working a full time position 5.5 hours away from my family, house, friends, kung fu is a challenge, not...has been a challenge...is a challenge!

I've been wanting to write on this for a while now, but didn't want to speak on emotion or without understanding all my issues and what was impacting what. Honestly, I need my job to support my family and myself. I was hoping things would play out a bit differently and I wouldn't have to reveal what I did. This career challenge has put a huge spin on my life, in the past I came home a lot more than I do now, still never meeting a balance but it was enough to keep myself motivated and engaged.

I'm still hoping for the best and I'm not sure how far to reveal my thoughts. This might be a good place to end, as it is my life and I have a choice to make change....fingers crossed! So, hopefully things will stop spinning and I can pull my boots from the mud and find my way!

Darcy Regier

Well...

I'm not quite sure what to post about. My mind is in quite a few different places right now. My blog posts recently have been late because of lack of access to the Internet.

This summer has been really busy for me. With the move, family functions, etc. it's been challenging to find a way to place time aside for myself. I've been trying to squeeze it in wherever I can. During our trip to bc, at every rest stop we stopped at I was outside training. It was beautiful and I felt really at peace with myself.

I'm hoping that I can keep this up until the end. I want to finish my journey strong.

wow that was a hot week

This past week was sure a challenge to keep up with my structure, due to the heat. I got lots of walking in, but running, especially with our dog was out. He was suffering much more then I was. I am sure I can sweat standing still in a hot room. So this week was all sticky and icky. I drank tons of water and kept up my structure so very happy to not give in and just not do my training. On Saturday I took my kids to their swim meet in Devon. I managed to bake to a nice medium rare from 7 am til 5:30 pm that day. I was totally blown away by my kids persistance and effort. Jordan won one race and finished in the top 5 in his other 2. Shelby got a 7th, an 8th and a 9th. What made me very proud of her was that she didn't quit. She was getting over a head cold and was very tired. She even said to me that there were a few times she wanted to stop, but she didn't and finished every race. I can't ask more then that they try their best and not give up. At the end of the day they both ended up on 2 relay race teams. They weren't expecting it and it was a bit choatic as the teams were formed last minute but again they tried hard and didn't quit. I surprised them with large slurpees on the way home. I really missed not being at fitness class or open training. But I got to spent an awesome day with my kids and that is so rewarding to me. I did get in lots of pushups and situps. Even though people thought I was nuts doing them in the heat.

Where I'm at, and how I got here

When I first started this challenge it was in a land that had many different roads that I wasn't used to or with some requirements, wanted anything to do with. For example blogging, I have never blogged a thing in my life let alone work with a computer much. Recording a handwritten daily log of each step of accomplishment. Being nice to everybody, repairing a wounded relationship, setting personal goals that we all have but keep them on the back burner. Keeping it there until we believe the timing is right. But really we are just procrastinating or blatantly being chicken #$%&. All the more reason to jump into it with guns a blazing. I remember going over the requirements and thinking this is going to do wonders for all aspects of personal improvemnt in not only our training, but bettering ourselves as people. This is probably a very good thing because for the most part we all try to be decent, but there is a major #%&hole in all of us at some point that rears its irrational or selfish head. This made it very exciting and a stiff challenge, something we all seem to love as martial artists. It was also at the time when the black belt promotions were happening, there was a fire of inspiration that was blazing within. I still to this day hold each and everyone of those black belts in very high admiration and respect. It was the most influential group that I have witnessed and I hope to fulfill the standard that not only they set as candidates but to the school and our lineage. What better tool could you be given than this challenge to prepare and train to be a black belt. I went into it wide open, trying to do a count of every requirement daily. For a while this worked pretty good.
Then life and obligations and commitments kicked in. Soon keeping up with the challenge wasn't so manageable anymore. the guilt and the feeling of being uncommited set in. More and more requests for help came on kwoon talk and our monthly meetings came up and I couldn't make it. I never back down from a challenge or not do what I say I'm going to do. So in order to stay true to the challenge I started staying up later to fill the numbers, log them and so on. Staying up later and later to complete numbers and complete tasks around the house and whatever else came up. Time with family and my responsibility to my wife and youngest daughter, time that should always come first but doesn't always work out. Then lets start dealing with the guilt and the personal critizisms that we all beat the crap out of ourselves over and over until we are way down. A few months of this and exhaustion set in big time. If I sat down and didn't have anything to occupy my mind or body I would fall asleep. Nodding off driving home from work, not cool. I often thought to myself there is no way I'm going to make it through alive if I don't change something quick. When it came time to train I was beat and really started to just do things mindlessly and sloppy just to get it done. I started to resent the challenge and kung fu in general. Thinking I have to go do this, now I feel I am being forced to do this and if I don't I'm pussing out and should just backout. Yes quitting did come to mind so I knew at this point I really had to get it together. Like the old saying "there is no such thing as can't" and I never quit. Then the nonconformist nature I have fires up and teams up with super stubborn. Now I am doing very little everyday and living with the guilt and thought of being a poser. After all I am training with silent river black belts, the top of the line. You can't buy this kind of exposure and experience. Let alone all the sihings and fellow students that I train with.
So I stood back and really thought about a way to make this work and how commited I was to the challenge. So I looked and seen how far I have come and what requirements I have completed and really it wasn't so bad, but ofcourse to ourselves its never good enough. One goal I worked really hard at was to be a sihing by june, I earned 6 stripes in 5 months, I didn't fulfill the goal but nonetheless I felt good about how far I did get. I have participated in everything I could and felt extremely proud to be in our demo. I ignored the segregation and the numbers and started doing what I could whenever I could. Basing my progress daily and not concentrating on all, assessing my strong points and focusing on the weaker. My push ups and sittups have fallen behind but I'm not concerned about those, with my new approach some days I'll do 50-70 other days 300 plus and I feel good about them. I am mindful of the techniques and am doing things properly not just doing the old half push up or sittup at mock nine. Same with kicks, forms, sparring on my heavy bag or whatever. I am concentrating on quality. When I go for walks or bike rides I am being mindful of my steps or miles enjoying nature, thinking about Kung Fu or just spending time with my girls. I am not concerned with the final numbers, they are a goal setting process. The way I am approaching this thought process is if I am going to do all of these requirements in such a massive quantity they better be done properly and they should mean something. Otherwise I just wasted a pile of time and all of this training was for nothing.
Overall when it comes to some of the requirements I won't see completion, with others I will. I push very hard some days and others not so much but still getting something done. My engagement and adaptability to life and my Kung Fu is fairly balanced at the moment and my mind set on the whole thing has improved greatly. Now its more like it should be, I can't wait to do more Kung Fu, I can't wait to go to class or hit as many classes as I can. The only thing left hangin really is my absence at meetings or other times when I can't be there for the team. But I am doing my best. Sorry for the long post but since I have missed so many meetings I thought it would be the right thing to share with alittle more depth from me and the five animals.
Brian Chervenka

Jasper

I spent the weekend camping in Jasper. Its the first time I've been out camping this summer. Seems to be harder and harder to get people together for trips. It felt great to be out in the woods again. Saturday was spent swimming at lake Annette and some light hiking. I managed to get a wicked sunburn on my shoulders and back from the beach.

The weather was perfect Saturday but kind of lousy Sunday. The mosquitoes at the campground were absolutely terrible so we tried to spend as little time there as possible. We visited Maligned lake Sunday and I was amazed at how high the water is everywhere. The boathouse at the lake was underwater. I've always wanted to canoe across Maligne lake and camp on the sites there, hopefully I will be able to do it this summer.

Silver Lining in Every Cloud

So, I've been focusing on my powerlifting training for Alberta Provincials (thus partially explaining a lack of attendance at Kung Fu). How did it go? Simply put, it was an absolute gongshow.

Long story short, I bombed out (i.e. did not make a lift out of the three attempts) in the bench press. Bench shirts and squat suits have a "groove", wherein the movement is assisted effectively by the piece of equipment. If your movement pattern falls out of this groove, you'll be fighting against the shirt or suit (and will probably not be able to lift the barbell). On my first and third attempts, I got out of the groove and the barbell ended up drifting over my face and slamming into the racks. My second attempt was mostly in the grove, except a lack of speed and strength at lockout resulted in the barbell stopping 2/3rds of the way up.

It was a good learning experience, giving me the bitter taste of bombing out of a meet and the motivation to train harder and smarter. For the next competition, I will need to get stronger, and to learn my equipment better. With that, I cannot (and will not) remain bitter or angry at the experience that occurred. I must learn from it, and be humble enough to accept that the failure that occurred was purely my own responsibility. Only then will I grow and succeed. Not only will I be training harder, but I'll be cycling more training in Kung Fu back into my training regime (as the taper that occurred working up towards the competition is done and over with).

Sifu Joe Harrigan

Busy week

Hi everyone two days and two birthdays. Started the first birthday with working in the morning for 9 hrs of merchandising then i had to help throw a birthday party for my friend, but it all went well. The  second birthday i had to help my aunt move her pellet stove from her garage to her house, with no dolly, and the distance was about 30 feet. So not that bad, then i had to help her get ready for her birthday party, and once again it all went well. Also, i was not able to get my full number for my push ups and sit up and forms that day, but i did as many as i could. To tell you the truth i like having busy days it lets me know that i am accomplishing something, not always everything, but something. Well that is all I have to say today, everybody enjoy the rest of your week!!

Sihing Langner

Another week

Another week has passed, where did the time go? Lets see, worked at the Restaurant, did Mayoral duties, replace a dock, fixed a deck, practiced a little Kung fu, spent time with family and friends. Again, it's midnight and I'm trying to get a few things done (like this)before bed. With all the extra water the last couple of days, my work load has increaesed. I'm having to deal with residents regarding the water and why it got so high. I even did an interview for CBC, which aired on yesterday's news. That was kinda of interesting. As well, I have to deal with two insurance claims. Not like I didn't have enough things on my plate. Time for bed, 6am rolls around really fast when your tired. www.wchoy74.blogspot.ca

Together We Must Go!

After teaching the childrens classes tonight I left to do some church volunteer work.  Part of my responsibilities are to visit a couple of ladies (2 separate families) once a month.  With those visits, I give a bit of a small message.  Tonight my assignment was to talk about lifting each other up, so to speak.  "...and let the strong tenderly nurse the weak into strength, and let those who can see, guide the blind until they can see the way for themselves".  Interesting enough, is that about 90 minutes prior to this, I had a meeting with Sifu Brinker and we talked about the same thing.  The only difference was, that instead of talking about everyone pulling together to cross the finish line in this life, Sifu Brinker and I talked about pulling together to cross the finish line of the I Ho Chuan.  I use the term "finish line" but it isn't really a finish.  It's more like a beginning to a change in ourselves, that we have all chosen, and made a commitment to make.

I know that I have been very guilty of plunging ahead with my requirements, without even thinking about my team members.  I realize now that getting to the end of my requirements, isn't going to seem so rewarding if some of the team is left behind.  I am sorry for my ignorance and selfishness.  I plan to change that.  I hope I don't get annoying as I try my best to pull everyone together and try to find ways for all of us to be successful, together.  Take one toothpick and it can snap in half with the flick of a finger.  Take a handful of toothpicks and it can't be broken, even with the strength of a fist.

16 of 52 Juggling Act

So as usual I am late with this posting, my diet posting is behind as well. Honestly I feel like a juggler on a high wire. I get steady and I am tossing situps, pushups, tai chi broadsword, the tei hua form, journalling, eating right, etc and they are just flowing nicely then, work gets busy (jiggles the wire) my mom gets sick, (jiggles the wire), or for example dragon/lion dancing practice gets added to the items to be juggled list ... oops! Dropped that one! I do not seem to have enough hands, time or skill to juggle all these things while balancing on a high wire.

So today I am very frustrated with myself and with all the commitments and responsibilties that I am dropping, and failing to accomplish/complete. I hate disappointing myself and other people.

Right Before My Very Eyes

Last Thursday after Dragon Dance practice, a few of us gathered in the parking lot to have a chat like we usually do, but this time it was very different for me. Aside from the frivolity and good humor there was very much a message that was directed specially for me and even though I wasn't sure I wanted to tune in, I was tuning in a bit and reminded even louder on Friday "thanks" to Sihing Lowery. After our conversation the message was "bothering" me more and more.

I love to play in the kitchen, love making good (and good for you) treats and playing with recipes. Believe me, Dennis is well-fed and his lunches are not boring. The suggestion was that I  consider selling my gluten-free/dairy-free goodies as there are people out there who 1) don't know how 2) don't want to know how or want to 3) don't have the time 4) don't have the ingredients (they can be costly in small quantities) but given the chance would gladly purchase quality from someone who does. This got me thinking about the possibility of making my kitchen results skills available, but to do this it would be on my terms as I see far too many business owners who spend way too many hours of the day being a slave to their business. No thanks, I have 5 facets to my life and all must be included and very active for me to be in harmony with myself.

For starters, I would start small such as among friends. The "menu" would be spontaneous and fun for both me and the customer. One week could be brownies, the next cupcakes, the next "ice cream", the next chocolates, next pizza crusts, who knows, but the variety must be there to maintain my sanity and also make it a "what's on tap this week" for the customer. The batches would be small to preserve the quality of homemade as well as preventing overload of any one type of goodie.

Would the idea of selling gluten-free/diary-free goodies work? I don't know. Maybe there would be no interest, but maybe there would. The worst that would happen is that I would have to get another freezer to house the goodies until chowdown time. For now it's something to play around with and a serious thought to consider.
Sherri Donohue

Another chapter.

So these past few weeks I have been tackling my other form, being the spear. It has been going slow, but again that is to be expected. One thing that has been the same as my other weapons is the feeling of the connection with me and the weapon itself. Sometimes I will force the weapons movement and be working against it instead of with it. It just takes some time and patience. Another good week of good progress and of course I have the blisters to prove it. Still feeling like each day is another step forward in my progress which tends to make me want to tackle the next day and see what lies ahead. Sifu Bryant

Teach Them and They Will Grow

I had the opportunity to spend some very quality time with my 3 year old grandson this weekend. We had a lot of fun. We started the day at the kung fu school, where he took part in the 9:00 class. His mom, step dad, auntie and uncle were there to watch as well. After lunch, I took him out to Lake Chickakoo for a ride in my kayak, then we went to the outdoor sprinkler park. Lots of laughter, exploring, and lots of learning.

 I took the opportunity to try and teach my grandson appreciation for the outdoors. I told him that he should always try to respect and protect the outdoors and the animals that live there. I taught him about the blue dragon flies and how they eat moskitos. "Should I punch them nana?" (Like in kung fu) Oh no, I had to tell him, as well as the fact that we don't hit anything or anyone unless they are trying to hurt us or our family. I taught my grandson that the reason the birds were flying low and chirping so loudly as they swooped close to our heads was because they were trying to protect their family and their home.

 We saw lots of baby ducks and my grandson learned how important it was for them to stay close to their protective mother. He learned about the beaver dam and I told him of the beaver that chased me a few days before, slapping his tale on the water to tell me to go away from his home. After our kayak ride, we went for a walk in the trees. He loved it! I have taken him camping before and on a road trip to BC. He often speaks of the BIG mountains with such excitement, it thrills me. He remembers the thunder storm from camping, even though he was barely 2, and asks me all the time, "go camping nana?"

 I am blessed greatly to live close enough to be a part of my grandchildren's lives. I am hoping that my grandson can be a regular student at Silent River kung fu, but we just haven't figured out the transportation side of things, and I have a bit of a concern that he is still a bit too young. His mom, who made it to 2nd degree brown years ago, also wants to come back. This pleases me greatly. Again it is a matter of transportation as they live in Edmonton. I think it would be so cool to have 3 generations of martial artist in the family

Make it Happen

I don't have much time to write, I'm packing again. This time its to Whitehorse and its work. I will be gone for a week and to be honest I am wishing I was back already.
As much as I try to plan ahead and anticipate the challenges of training away from home, motivation is always the biggest hurdle.
Whether its holidays or work its the influence and temptation of the other people you have to manage.
By this I mean, its easier just to go along with the others as opposed to finding the time to get some training in.
Sometimes the work doesn't end till late in the night and exhaustion sets in, coworkers want you to come out to the bar after work, holidays with family...they like to load you up with too much food and sometimes you find yourself three days away from the last time you did any training.
(see how I like to blame other people for my own laziness!)

Anyways, the plan is to get up early, do what I can in the hotel or surrounding trails and make it happen.