A New Kind of Therapy

Seeking a solution.  That is why I lay on this table with a very large magnet masking taped to my head.  There are several things that you should leave to the professionals. A couple that come to mind are trapeze, jumping multiple buses with a heavy bike, crack sealing the Hoover dam and perhaps……biomagnetism. 

But what the heck, my muscles have felt like piano wires for the last two months.  A ten hour world wind trip to Fort McMurray on the weekend did not help the Sciatic one bit.  And let’s face it, my father in law can be quite convincing when he wants to be, and he is a chemist.  So, with a series of magnets I have now become his Frankenstein monster for the day.

The sciatic pain was greatly reduced for the most part. The skeptic in me attributes it to other explanations, none of which are any more logical.  But for now I will sit on these small magnets as I write this blog and if that doesn’t work, at least they work great for holding up the kids art on the refrigerator.

What’s next you ask?  Sticking my fingers in light sockets for electroshock therapy, Eating drywall (sorry to those that actually have that condition) or perhaps what I need most is just good old fashioned REST.

vincekrebs@blogspot.com

Got nothing

   
       Normally I write several blogs before I pick one I think that's the most appropriate to post. This week I haven't written any and have nothing really to say. Not that any of the others were anything special. Writing does help me to refocus and I am hoping that at the end of this that will happen. That's all.

Scott Fuhr

http://ihochuan.blogspot.ca
http://scottfuhr.blogspot.ca
http://flavors.me/scottfuhr
http://www.silentriverkungfu.com

Week 8

It's been a really busy week, lots of working late. It is the busy season for cattle producers so it's the busy season for me too. Even so, it's been a good week for training. I finally made it to class on Friday and was able to get in an hour or so at open training and on Sunday as well. I don't want to get too hopeful, but the weather forecast seems promising.

I have been thinking about guilt lately, specifically after reading some blog postings about how hard it can be as part of the I Ho Chuan team. I think this is my 6th or 7th UBBT/ I Ho Chuan year and I have felt a lot of guilt in past years. Feeling guilty for missing class or meetings. Guilt for not doing my situps or pushups. Guilt for not being more of a leader or for not starting a great initiative within the team, etc. etc. I think I have finally made the connection between guilt and the idea that my kung fu should be serving me. Guilt does not serve me. It makes me feel terrible about myself and want to throw my hands in the air and walk away. It makes me feel resentful towards kung fu and even the goals I myself set because here I am not accomplishing them.

Guilt in this setting is a useless thing. It doesn't accomplish anything. Sometimes life happens and you don't make it to class but that shouldn't be a reason to fall into a downward spiral. We are learning how to apply mastery in our lives, that isn't going to happen overnight. I have struggled with this a lot as someone who can't make a lot of classes or even open training most weeks. I just think it's important to remember why you joined in the first place, how terrible if your I Ho Chuan year made you never want to see the kwoon again because you couldn't stand it anymore. Just don't forget how much you love kung fu, and don't be so hard on yourself!
Sifu Prince

Diet day 8

Breakfast

Bowl of homemade steel cut oats with apples and raisins.  Two glasses of detox water.

Lunch

grilled tri tip steak
Two glasses of detox water
Two servings of chips.

Supper

Bowl of quinoa with onions.
Half a cucumber
Two glasses of detox water.

Snacks
Peanut butter and honey s andwhich
Four Lindt choc truffles.

I have noticed that my recovery time and energy level at this past Saturdays fitness class was better than expected.  I am have not been this rested in some time due to my holidays.  I am wondering if I was not getting enough quality rest? 

I am actively working on improving my diet and incorporating more whole grains and less refined starches and refined foods in general.  I have been feeling more "full" for longer periods of time than ever before.  I am also feeling more focused mentally than before.

I guess the old saying is true "garbage in, garbage out".

Ian Repay
Student of Silent River Kung Fu.

weekends

For most people this is just a Monday for me it's Sunday. Yes I get Sun/Mon off. Had a good night. did some housework and had my lessons with my sister-in-law. She assigned me more homework and I came home and got some of it done. Will make an extra effort to be in class this week.Had enough slaking, time to get back to business. We got 2 new students on Saturday morning. My co-worker took her kids in and signed them up. I feel really good about this because I am very proud of our school and I can finally speak with someone about it from work. They had tried a school in St.Albert and they were unhappy with them. I kept telling her about our program and they are now able to make it to the classes.So I feel like I was able to contribute to their welfare.
Did 3 loads of laundry and put it all away. Emptied the dishwasher then refilled and ran it. Took the garbage out to the curb. cleaned all the counters in kitchen.
Had chicken alfredo for supper then a cheese sandwich and 2 burritos for lunch then had some fruit for snack.
Sifu Jeannette Langner

Speed

On Friday we had a sparring class and we focused on speed. If you have good foot work and you are fast, you can hit like a lightning and avoid being hit. But you have to have the endurance to do so. Last year I watched a video of a Karate black belt fighting with a "street fighter". I remembered how fast she was and wanted to watch that video again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3OgpLmtQuE

http://csillag-stars.blogspot.ca/2014/03/speed.html

Snapshot:
Push-ups - 1,500 (8,000/50,000)
Sit-ups - 1,500 (8,000/50,000)
Nunchucks - 22 this week - 182 out of 1,000
Staff - 32 this week - 132 out of 1,000
Acts of Kindness 23 -  this week - 186 out of 1,000
Plank - 16 this week - 86 out of 1,000 minutes
Horse Stance - 19 this week - 95 out of 1,000 minutes
Qi Gong - 0 this week - 7 out of 365

How I Am a Hypocrite

I'm an animal lover. I have 3 cats, 3 bearded dragons and a snake. All rescued from unwanted homes. I would have a lot more too if room and money allowed me too. I love animals, I hate to admit alot more than people most days. I also eat meat, I see no problem with eating meat, but here's my dilemma. I made the huge mistake on researching where my meat comes from, it made me cry and absolutely sick to my stomach. I, like many others, liked to stay ignorant, imagining my bacon being picked from a bacon tree made me feel much better about what I was eating. I didn't imagine on what level many of these animals were being tortured simply to put meat fast enough on our grocery shelves. I won't go into gory details, but I can't claim to be an animal lover and continue to blindly shop for my food sources. I also can't imagine going vegetarian. What I can do, is be responsible. I can make sure these animals are having the best lives possible before being put down for human consumption. I will be researching farmers and making sure that I am not supporting something that is cruel and unnecessary. I urge you to do the same.

Sifu Lagner, I haven't checked your book the past couple classes, don't think I have forgotten about you.

Here's my accumulative numbers;

Pushups - 85
Modified Pushups - 1295
Tricept Pushups - 255

Situps - 135
Modified Situps - 480
Plank - 190

Miles - 96

Rounds of Sparring - 50

Lao Gar (the part I know)- 48
Ropedart - 46

Recorded Acts of Kindness - 78

Thank You

I was very happy to be at the kwoon today, hanging out with my kung fu friend, practicing, visiting, it was awesome! I didn't get to participate to the degree that I wanted to because of my shoulders. This week my shoulders went from bad to worse and I'm not truly sure what exactly I did except not let them rest enough. By Thurs, I was in constant pain and discomfort, both of my arms were going to sleep throughout the day as well as at night (waking me up which was not fun!). I decided to go and visit my  chiropractor who I haven't seen in a while.
Side Bar - I haven't gone because I usually like to rest after an adjustment to let the bones settle and the muscles relax. I was not willing to take the time to do that as I was afraid that I would get too far behind on my forms. The jokes on me because I have done fewer and fewer forms as the last few weeks have progressed because of the discomfort.
Back to the story..... I went to the chiropractor on Friday morning and she did a lot of work on my muscles as well as my bones. I feel great! For the first time in a long time, I didn't get woken up by the discomfort in my arms on Friday night. Woot Woot!!! Today while I was at the kwoon, I experienced some discomfort, sort of like a warning sign, while doing Tai Chi. I figured at that time that I should probably take it easy for the next day or two if I want my adjustment to hold. And attending the fitness class that was going to focus on upper body, complete with kettle bells, was probably not in the best interest of healthy shoulders. Or shoulders that would make it through the next week of doing forms, playing my guitar and working on my knitting projects, and of course, all the other stuff (groceries, carrying my stuff - kung fu and work). I helped my partner with with some Tai Chi moves, kicked the bag 200 times, finished my sit ups and completely loved being around all of the amazing people that hang out there on Saturdays. Thank you all for making my day:)

Sifu Robyn Kichko
http://mantismantle.blogspot.ca/

Diet day 7

Breakfast

Bowl of steel cut oats with maple syrup.

Lunch
Choc protein shake after fitness class and open training.

Supper
Two pan seared pork loin cutlets
Serving of steamed jasmine brown rice
Some homemade pickles
Four glasses of homemade detox water

Snack

Bacon flavoured potatoes chips (two servings)
Nutriti grain bar
Sunrype just fruit and fibre bar

Three reps of nunchucks form
Four reps of kenpo 123
140 sit ups
150 push ups

Ian Repay
Student of Silent River Kung Fu
Stony Plain, Alberta

Miss you guys!

Totally missed everyone tonight but am making some serious forward motions to change my career path:)

Sifu Robyn Kichko
http://mantismantle.blogspot.ca/

So Friday it is...

So apparently, no other day is better for me to squeeze extra time out of... at least not yet. I am starting a time-management course in a month and maybe that will teach me to squeeze time better. In the meantime, I guess am back to Friday blogging.

For me this year, the I-Ho-Chuan process is about making exceptional and sustainable changes to my life. For me, it is a process of really taking a serious look at myself - weaknesses and strengths, and at where I want to be - desires, wants and priorities; and then making the necessary changes that will put me on the right trajectory and allow me to find a place of peace within myself.

Not easy. But I am picking away at it.

I am re-reading Emery's Mastery in a whole new light this year. I have to admit that when I first read it last year, I really didn't get it. In fact, I did more than not get it, I totally resented it. Of course I didn't get this either. I preferred just to deny that it was important or relevant and view it as a chore that really didn't apply to me. I put it away and didn't think about it for a very long time. Then, at the end of my first year of I-Ho-Chuan, I reread it and I was shocked by what I got from it. It was almost as if I was reading a completely new Mastery essay. When did Emery go in and re-write it to make sense? This "new" version really made sense to me and I am starting to appreciate the message within - each time I read it, I get more and more out of it. Now, it has become a comfort for me to read rather than a chore that I worked hard to avoid.

I am glad that Emery re-wrote it. ;-)   And I am glad that I have grown enough to re-read it in a more honest and accepting way.

http://sharidactyl.wordpress.com/

Something Wonderful Happens Here, I Promise

It seems like as a team we've hit that first roadblock, where some of us are falling off the wagon or feeling the pressure of what we're trying to accomplish here. I always struggle to try and help, not saying that I'm a shining example for everyone, but when I hear about struggles with balance and life with kung fu or life vs. kung fu I just don't know what to say. I feel like I have an advantage over everyone- I started at a young age and honestly, kung fu was already ingrained in me before my life started. I had kung fu before I had university schedules, a job, a husband. Thus, I made everything fit in with kung fu instead of what many of you are struggling to do, which is fit kung fu into your everything else. I had the attitude of this is my life, accept it or not. The jobs I've taken had to bend around kung fu (to a point). My husband had to accept it as part of who I am- one of the reasons we're a good match is because he accepts it, if not fully understands it. I've approached my life from one angle whereas many others have to approach it from the opposite side.

Which gets me thinking, why is it that kung fu had grown so important to me, beyond a hobby or just something I like to do? Why have I taken such a hard stance, where I let it define all aspects of my life? I've given up jobs for it. I've removed people from my life because they wanted me to quit so I'd be more available to them. I've grown distant from friends who get angry with me for being unavailable Friday nights.

Yes, there has to be a balance. I choose to make it work because I can answer that first question- why is it so important to me? The answer is this- everything that I am that I like, everything that I've accomplished, everything that I feel I am capable of is because of two things- my parents and kung fu. I have a university degree that I couldn't have obtained if it weren't for the lessons I gained from my parents and kung fu. I have a sense of self worth because of my parents and kung fu. I have confidence, empathy, discipline, ethics, motivation and health because of my parents and kung fu. Its that simple. I understand what kung fu gives me. Doesn't that describe everything you want your children to grow up with? The best way to teach is to lead by example, no?

If you're struggling with balance, just remember why you joined in the first place, why you decided to join the I Ho Chuan. You recognized there was value in joining. Remember what that value is, remind yourself everyday what that value is.

http://dogsthinking.blogspot.ca

Diet day 6

Breakfast

Two pieces of homemade french toast
One cup of black coffee.

Lunch

One turkey sandwich.
Piece of left over pizza.

Supper

Turkey sandwich
glass of water.
Piece of fried chicken.

Ian Repay
Student of Silent River Kung Fu
Stony Plain, Alberta.

A Quick Update

It seems that for every step I take forward, something else seems to try and push me back. My sense of balance has returned (99%) but recently I have been finding myself exhausted during the day and having insomnia at night. I have been seeing a chiropractor for two weeks and have been seeing results. The only down side I seem to be having is this exhaustion, which I suspect is being caused by the reset to my nervous system. The insomnia started a few weeks into my lose of balance and I haven't not found a remedy that has worked yet. On Monday I went in for my first full day of work since the start of my ailments but the next day I woke with no energy. My bed seemed to be my only place of refuge and it took me hours to leave it. The following day I went into work but to only show the report given by my chiropractor and was told to stay home again until I was better. Because of this I will have to apply for EI if I want to continue with my "normal" life. This coming Monday I am seeing my GP again and am going over everything that has affected me over these past months.

I know I haven't been vocal about my personal requirements, but I have been setting up the necessary framework first. At the April meeting I will be showing this progress on what I believe will be a requirement that could benefit the whole team and even the school itself.

-Totals-
Pushups: 7250
Situps: 6580
Jian Form: 65
Kempo: 15
Acts of Kindness: 20
Rounds of Sparring: 8

http://lairdchris.blogspot.ca/
http://lairdchris.flavors.me/

time management

Friday's here and it's Kung fu day. 4 fun hours of Kung fu tonight. I will make sandwiches in the morning. Then when I get up I'll eat one then get some supper after San sou then get lunch for work. So I have finally found the best way to do all 4 classes. sleep early in morning, get up early, eat, then drink lots of water, then eat work and sleep again. This may not sound like a big deal but it is to me. I need so much work on my sparring and this has already helped me tremendously. So I will endeavor to keep on staying for all 4 classes.
Cleaned fish tank, did dishes, made bed, took out garbage, helped with shoveling.
Had pork steak and potatoes, then had rice and pork for lunch with an orange and an apple, then had a bagel and a lemon poppy seed muffin.
Sifu Jeannette Langner

A Moment of Clarity

For the last few weeks I’ve been in a bit of a slump. I haven’t had much in the way of motivation. I hadn’t done any training. I was eating garbage (not actual garbage, just junk food). I was frustrated (and still am frustrated) with the lack of balance in my life. I still don’t know how to achieve balance. I don’t know how to be in two places at once. How do you prioritize Mastery over your relationships? And if you prioritize your relationships, your pursuit of Mastery suffers. There are only so many hours in the day.

Sifu Playter made a comment on my last journal post and one of the things he said was, “When it’s time to work, work hard. When it’s time to play, don't think about working hard and enjoy the moment.” This makes sense to me but it also raises the question, how do you know when it’s time to work and when it’s time to play? For example, if I neglect a practice because I really need to take some personal time to spend with the wife, etc, am I not letting the team down? And what if everyone else on the team needs some personal time too? We end up with nobody showing up for meetings and practices.

I don’t have answers to any of these questions and it was frustrating me to the point where I didn’t want to participate anymore. I thought that if kung fu is creating stress and confusion in my life, maybe I should do something else. I stopped seeing the value in what I was doing. Last night I was helping a friend out with something and we were talking about how things were going in my life. We didn’t talk about anything kung fu related but he said something that really hit home and made me reconsider my attitude. He said that he had noticed a change in me, “ever since you started learning karate”.

I asked him what he meant and he told me that I seemed to have a “swagger” (his words), and I’ve been more positive and focused. It’s easy to be consumed by negative thought patterns and if you let them take hold of you, they can really dominate your state of mind. I realized that if my friend noticed positive change in me, maybe I was doing something right after all.

I’m definitely open to anyone’s suggestions on how to balance your life with the time commitments of the Horse Team. I just know that it’s going to have to start with a better attitude on my part.

Cory Smid
http://kungfucory.blogspot.ca/

Low Energy

I had a very low energy day! I think it may be because I skipped my rest day. Sort of by accident! Sometimes I forget or lose track of the day of the week during my work week, a common shift worker dilemma. I worked day shift on Sunday and automatically did my workout when I got up, so today I'm dragging my butt. I have to work tomorrow evening so I will miss my favorite classes of the week, i'll be back at the Kwoon Saturday morning :)

Sifu Robyn Kichko
http://mantismantle.blogspot.ca

Diet day 5

Breakfast

Two slices of whole grain toast, two eggs and three slices of bacon.
One cup of black coffee.

Lunch

Two sandwiches with turkey and mayo.
Side of pickles
Side of fresh salad with Tex mex dressing
Glass of white wine

Snack

One scoop of ice cream in a waffle cone
A small piece of magic square and a half can of soda. (Not my finest moment for snack choices)

Supper

Two pieces of the best pizza in the world from Nello's in Mesa Arizona.  Really it's "slap ya moma in the mouth" good lol!
Small glass of RC Cola (haven't had it in years)

After writing this journal and reflecting on what I ate it doesn't surprise me that I need to make changes.  However this is holidays for me and I don't normally eat like this everyday.  I do realize how easy it is to eat poorly. 

I read that through evolution our bodies did not easily come by the big three in abundance.  These three are "sugar, salt and fat".  Think back less than a hundred years ago and these products where not readily available and if they were they were very expensive for most people.  These three things are very addictive to most people and our food is full of them now more than ever before.  We become addicted to them and crave them when we reduce the amount in our diet. 

There have been huge lobbying by the sugar industry here in the US.  This lobby group is very strong and in fact uses the tobacco play book from years gone by.

The amount of refined sugar that is "hidding" in our food is ridiculous!   Refined corn sugar and in particular high fructose corn sugar is almost in everything we eat that has been processed.  The corn sugar industry is a juggernaut lobbying group.  They spend more in lobbying the US government than most countries spend on defense. 

Enough of my ranting for one night.

Ian Repay
Student of Silent River Kung Fu.
Stony Plain, Alberta.

Diet day 4

Breakfast

Two english muffins with jam.
One cup of black coffee.

Lunch

Plate of Chinese food.
Fresh pineapple and lime juice smoothie.

Supper

One piece of fried chicken
One fresh tomatoe, half of a fresh cucumber and one fresh radish.
One bottle of light beer.
Two glasses of water.

3 reps Kenpo 123
3 reps of Lau Gar

Ian Repay
Student of Silent River Kung Fu
Stony Plain, Alberta

Catching up

It has been an insane two weeks with work,  my computer crashed (lost all my email stuff) and had to be restored to factory defaults and all the programs downloaded and installed.  Then just to keep things fun ... a two day trade show and a three day business course last weekend. I haven't been in the office and I still have all the regular stuff.  So the result is I am behind on everything, teaching, form reps, situps, kicks, acts of kindness, blogs ... all of it needs to be caught up on.   So I will start catching up with the most important one blogging. 

This week I bought an ipad, easiest piece of technology I have setup in a long time.  Never used an apple product before and I must admit I am impressed.  Linked my email account, so I can stay in the loop with the school and can blog from home easily.  Got my evernote which I use for organizing things downloaded and the whole thing works beautifully with my wireless booster from home and its fast.  Still got lots to learn but so far awesome, I think I am in love!

Worked on my escrima stick form today and have actually gone backwards and not forwards because I have not been focused on developing it.  Yikes!  However March is almost over and the rest of the year is not so heavily booked up things will go back to the regular schedule. Now I am focused on catching up, will probably be sore but hey so what.    Looking forward to attending classes on Friday & Saturday, have really missed the training and people.

My Blogging Inspiration has been Covered Up

This week I was going to write about the wonderful respiratory effects that the warming weather brings as the snow begins to disappear. As everyone can see out their windows these last couple of days that the snow is back, covering up all of that nice bare ground and by doing that has given some of us a reprieve of dealing with SNOW MOLD. Maybe next year spring and summer will come to us in Alberta and I will be able to write about how Snow Mold affects me.

Where am I? What am I doing?

Peeks and Limitations

Well My knee locked up on me again on Wednesday. I was really hoping It would not because I was planning doing my kicking again. So now that is again on hold but on the up side of thing I reached a new carrier peek with my pushups and sit ups. Yesterday I did five sets of one hundred of each. That is a new record for me as fare as numbers and set I have done. So at least that is going well. Also I rediscovered how to maximize my sit ups. Regular situps just haven been taxing me any more so I was searching for something a little more challenging. I found if you rest your feet on something high you get to do a much more aggressive sit up. Its good I discovered that because my sit ups were getting a little boring and not really challenging. I am getting close to a demo ready form with a little more work I think it will be demo ready. Just a little more work on its flow and It will be ready. The next step will be to start performing it in front of people and then it will truly be ready to perform publicly. Must get it ready, must get it ready, must get it ready. I just figured I wold through a few more of those in there for good measure.

http://michaelplayter.blogspot.ca/

cleaning

As you may have noticed I am listing all the chores I do every time I blog. This is one of my requirements for the year. I'm trying to improve my time management skills. I am struggling with this because I stopped doing it consistently. This requirement has made me more aware of my time table and my lack of planning. So going forward I will have to do a different chore to compliment the ones I currently do daily. I need to stay on top of this because my home still needs a lot of work. Staying positive I can do this and change my lifestyle.
Had hamburger helper for supper and lunch then had an apple and an orange for snacks.
Did dishes took out garbage, made the bed, swept the floor.
Sifu Jeannette Langner

Theme of the Week?

I experienced more disrespectful folks today, yes, they were young (teens actually). It seems that they believe that it is okay to be mean to someone, perhaps shun them from a group, because they are different. How does that work exactly? Can someone say... I believe in this (insert belief) then it is okay for me to treat you with disrespect because you are that (insert individuality)? I thought that if you believe in something and that belief dictates that you be nice to everyone, it means everyone, not just the ones that you chose to be nice to, right? Am I way out to lunch here? Is there actually teaching that support only being nice to the chosen ones?
I dream of a perfect world, one where we all accept each other, celebrate our differences and treat everyone equally. My plan.... treat everyone with the degree of respect that I would like to be treated regardless of how they treat me. I believe that I can change the world, one person at a time. I know  that this is the root of our Acts of Kindness project and I am not just plugging the program. It really does work! If you start out each day with the plan of treating everyone (even the grumpy ones) with pleasantness and respect, imagine how much better our world would be, or how much better you would feel after being nice all day? It really does work, it can make tough times easier to handle. :)

Sifu Robyn Kichko
http://mantismantle.blogspot.ca/

What would you do?

I had an experience today on my way home from class. I turned into my alley and there was a male teenager walking in the middle of the lane. I waited patiently for him to hear my vehicle and move over, he didn't. I tapped my horn in case he didn't know that I was there, he responded my holding up a finger that may have meant that I was #1 in his opinion. I continued to follow him down the lane, he continued to express his opinion. When the lane split and we went our separate ways, I wished him well and went on with my day. Clearly this young man was quite anger and looking for a fight wherever he could find it, my choice was not to give him one. I have never been in enough of a hurry to begrudge someone the two minutes it takes to walk down my lane. Yeah, he was disrespectful, but he probably already knew that and didn't need me pointing it out. I could have been outraged, possibly angered by his behavior, but I figured that it would be a waste of energy and emotion over something that I had no control over. So that's what happened, what would you do?

Sifu Robyn Kichko
http://mantismantle.blogspot.ca/

Diet day 3

Breakfast

Bowl of steel cut oats
Slice of while grain toast
Toasted English muffin with jam

Lunch
Plate of smoked brisket with coleslaw and baked beans

Supper
Grilled chicken breast
Steamed rice
Steamed peas
Glass of red wine
Slice of pie and ice cream.

Mr. Ian Repay
Student of Silent River Kung Fu

Busy, Busy.

It has been really busy at work this week and I have not been at my desk until now. Life always seems to alter your plans every now and then. Hope that next week is a little calmer. Must remember what I promised and uphold it. Sifu Lindstrom

Hydration

This past weekend in the fitness class we were doing requirements for the fitness test.  I was very disappointed in a lot of  my results.  It felt like I had no energy.   I thought that maybe I was hitting a wall and going backwards.

On Sunday as I was doing my requirements I felt strong and good again.
I thought about it and realized what the problem was. On Thursday and Friday I had a few very busy days and was not drinking water throughout the day.   I usually drink at least 4 litres a day.  It caught up to me on Saturday and I think was the reason I had no energy and strength.



A lesson learned keep the water coming.


http://jimsand11.blog.com/2014/03/25/hydration/



Mr  Sand

Fan

My weapon is the fan. Although I haven't got the whole form yet I am enjoying the many uses it has as a weapon. Doing the form has shown me the graceful style of it with the challenge of continnuallly keeping the proper grip on it. This is harder than I first anticipated because of all the ways I have to hold it. I find the whole form very circular and it looks rather graceful when I can do it without losing my spot. All in all I am really enjoying the weapon I have for the year.
I had lasagna for supper and pork tenderloin with rice for lunch. then made a smoothie for a snack.
Did dishes did a load of laundry. Re made bed, took out garbage swept the floor.
Sifu Jeannette Langner

Don't bite off...

I recently hit a reminder of what not to do in your training. I set a goal to do 10,000 kicks that shouldn't be all that hard considering I gave myself a whole month to do it. In all honesty I am barely a 1/4 way there. All these kicks take up a lot of time at the moment and steal from other parts of my training that I need to work on. Weapon forms, hand forms, techniques, etc. Things that I am way behind on like Loa Gar and 5 personal techniques. Also personal goals should take a back seat to the I Ho Chuan requirements, another recognized misdirection. My work schedule is not so time forgiving right now. 1 hour plus each way and 10 hours work doesn't leave much time, but it is manageable. If I stay away from the extreme training mentality and work a manageable and consistent rate instead of something that looks like a heart rate monitor short circuiting! I will be back where I started at the beginning of the year mentally and not lose focus and end up feeling like a failure. Not that I am there, but I have been. Therefore I recognize the pattern and know first hand how this can cripple your morale and focus and install stress. How easy it becomes to lose direction due to extremes. So I need to stomp old habits and get back to positive and progressive focus. I have a lot of trouble with routines so going off track of a fragile one that was starting to become a solid base sucked. It was my own doing but I caught it in time. Keeping in mind the past is the past and this is my journey and the march must continue. So primarily I will follow the I Ho Chuan requirements and school curriculumn first hand and practice quality over quantity instead of the other way around. I will go back 15 mins. meditation, stating 10 things I am grateful for, 1 rep of Qi Gung, 75 p/u and 75 ab exercises before I leave the house. The remainder of training can happen through out the day as time permits. Short term goals must still be a part of the plan but more manageable numbers. I can always raise the bar as my training quality and endurance matures. Training in Kung Fu happily and mindfully becomes more ingrained and more solidified. Training to the absolute extremes with no heart or passion will lead to lousy Kung Fu and failure of this challenge. Maybe I'm misguided and not getting it, or maybe something has finally penetrated my thick stubborn ass skull and this will continue to be my best year ever. See you at the kwoon.

Moving Forward

Today was all about accomplishing small tasks to complete a bigger task. I think that I did okay! It is our fiscal year end, that means handing in receipts, filling out reports, and writing staff evaluations. I feel like I have so much work today, I can't pause for a second or I may just pause and never start again. This morning, I took a deep breath and decided that instead of wallowing in the millions of things to do, I would take one step at a time, stay in the moment and keep moving forward. It worked, I didn't finish a lot but I feel like a put a good dent in some of my evaluations, put in a holiday request (have to be booked before year end), planned some workshops to attend and to facilitate and of course the every dayness like supervising my team and the teens.
I stayed in the mode when I got home, made a nice dinner and cleaned up before my guitar lesson at 6:30. I definitely have a feeling of accomplishment today although I didn't really finish anything, but I moved forward a lot and that feels great :)

Sifu Robyn Kichko
http://mantismantle.blogspot.ca/

Requirement

     One of my personal requirements was get encourage Shelly and James to participate in some of the I Ho Chuan requirements with Kathryn and I. Not an easy task. Shelly has always been on a path of self discovery and enlightenment. So she already does a lot , just a little differently. James is only 10. He has expressed some interest in doing a blog , and some other I Ho Chuan goals , but really enjoys his free time. (His words)

    This goal , for me , is important because I see the value in it.  I thought it would be easy and would come quicker. It has not been either.

Scott Fuhr

http://ihochuan.blogspot.ca
http://scottfuhr.blogspot.ca
http://flavors.me/scottfuhr
http://www.silentriverkungfu.com

Diet day 2

Breakfast

Large black coffee
Two Dunkin Donuts - never had them before and always wanted to try them.
Egg white and sausage wrap.

Lunch
Toasted English muffin with jam and butter.
Two glasses of water
Bowl of braised cabbage.

Supper
Two hotdogs
Bowl of braised cabbage
Side of baked beans
Glass of wine.

4 reps of Kenpo 123
2 reps of Da mu sing
3 reps of long 1&2
2 reps of hung 1&2

Ian Repay
Student of Silent River Kung Fu

fiesta

We had a great time last night with my brother. We celebrated spring. Hopefully now it can come for real now lol. Seriously we had a great evening and got lots accomplished. My studies are doing very well.so it was a very positive night for me. We had lasagna and Cesar salad for supper and a nice fire going in the fireplace. We bought special additives to make the flames change color. A good time was had by all.
I had leftover   lasagna for lunch and some fruits for snack.
Did dishes put the garbage to the curb for pick up, swept the floor, made the bed.
Sifu Jeannette Langner

Youtube has Limits?

I'm finally getting somewhere with the chain whip, and I'm getting excited about it. I had hit a plateau with the weapon, managed to get a few moves down and had the ability to swing it without giving myself a consussion but then I was struggling to get any better or to be able to sting together pieces. Youtube can only teach you so much.

I think I'm past that now. I have bits of a form together, still need to work out the beginning and the end but I have some material now I can build on. This is my weakness however; I can copy and mimic other people, but I'm not very creative when it comes to putting together my own form. I get repetitive and boring. No fun.

I hope by this Friday I'll have the beginning nailed down. And I'm hoping to meet our next deadline and be able to perform infront of all of you proudly. It's just like when I was in school- if I was really interested in a subject then I'd excel, but if it bored me I tended to brush it off. The chain whip has my attention, and I still feel like a giddy kid when I pick it up, something like what Sihing Chervenka described with his long axe.

http://dogsthinking.blogspot.ca

Intensity

 So following a couple more visits with the witchdoct….I mean chiropractor, he is very happy with the progress that has been made over the past couple of visits.  He even said that I should return to Kung Fu but only at a 70% level.  OK, the fact that I didn’t take a break from classes is our little secret….got it?

In our past class, (which was magnificent by the way) I think many of us rediscovered something that we have been missing for a while.  INTENSITY.  When we first started I was wondering how do I balance intensity with strict orders to perform at a 70% level.  What I discovered is that intensity does not mean kicking your legs to overextension, stressing joints beyond the stretch limits of tendons, and dousing the brain in gallons of adrenaline. 

Intensity in the past class seemed to come from deep down, a rising energy that could not have been displayed any better than by Sihing Tymchuk’s demonstration of his front thrust kick.  Thank you.  I think everyone felt your intensity with those kicks.

Where I think I can save the 30% in the gas tank according to the Doc’s orders is working on staying loose and fluid in the techniques which is what we all strive to achieve.  It can only mean good things and greater improvement in my situation.

vincekrebs@blogspot.com

Now It's Sunday:)

I was really tempted to lay in bed this morning and skip my morning workout! It's true!!! I mentally pried myself out of bed and I am really glad as always that I did. My legs are getting stronger and my kicks are higher, I'm starting to feel like I might just be getting somewhere. I think that it really helps that I am stretching everyday after I finish, I don't have to spend the first half of my kicks getting warmed up and ready. My legs feel fresher when I start, than they did when I wasn't stretching as often.
I am doing sets of 50 with my sit ups which feels cool and I can feel my muscles working. I am also starting to feel the strength in my arms even though I am using 5lbs weights every other day. I am still having intermittent discomfort in my shoulders and arms, so even though my brain wants to increase the weight this week, I think that I will listen to my body and wait (maybe another week?)

Sifu Robyn Kichko
http://mantismantle.blogspot.ca/

Continuing on

Not much happening this week, other than I made a conscious effort to enjoy every day as much as possible. I woke up earlier in the week and felt somewhat cranky, looked in the mirror and decided I was going to either be miserable all day or do the best I could to make this day and the week enjoyable. I made an effort to be kind and considerate of others around me and it took a lot less effort to enjoy the week than to be focused on all the negativity I can dig out of my subconscious; something as complimenting "my Barista" on being there that early in the morning to give me a coffee . I went out on Saturday date night and  instead of throwing on jeans and a t-shirt I thought, "wait a second, this is a special night" and duded myself up in my best jeans, a new shirt as this is a special time. There's all those old sayings about saving the special dishes, dressing up for the occasion and waiting for reasons that are special to dude yourself up, but the heck with it, it was a special day.......I started out in the Lil Leopards class and when my little compadre ran across the Kwoon and grabbed my finger to do the run around warm up; it was special, all the money in the world can't buy that moment. Continuing on with the morning I was pushed to my limits in "fitness class" and wow, seeing where I'm at and how close of where I need to be, looking at what I need to fix on my sit-ups, really enlightened my day! In open training, Mr. Fuhr and I gabbed a little, analyzed a lot, talked some big people stuff, trained somewhat and were reprimanded by Ms. Fuhr for talking too much (nothing like being owned by 12 year old) and checked out what we needed to fix after we videoed our forms. I took myself out for a light lunch, caught up on some reading and finished off by making pasta from scratch for supper. I guess it's all about being appreciative of what I have in life; I may not have the most money, the fanciest house or car but I think I'm pretty lucky; my body works (the aches and pains are from activities people my kids age should be doing, but "I'm" doing them), I have dreams and goals, I'm no better than or less than, sometimes I wonder if I'm on the right track and the most random comments affirm that as if they're just being said to me,.....I'm just ok, the bad I believe has happened so I can appreciate the good. Sure there are going to be dark moments that will come up in the future, but for now this week has been ok.

Push-ups 1205 (7413)
Sit-ups 685 (3780)
Forms 12 (67)
Horse Stance 2:30
Gym 1 (8)
Sparring 25 (60)
Bike/run/walk 12k (41.6)

Diet & Weight

These two are linked together.  I have never really struggled with my weight before.  However after my three months in South Carolina I have struggled to lose the pounds that I did put on there.  Stress and eating poorly along with limited exercise was the reason for the weight gain. 

I have tried to improve my diet since being home and it has improved quite a bit but there is lots of room for improvememt.  The frustrating part is how quick my body got of shape and how hard it is to get back into shape.  The older I am getting the harder its becoming to stay in shape if my diet is poor. 

This is why I am writing this blog today.  I need to become more accountable for what I am eating.  The only way that I think I can do this is to publicly announce what I have eaten everyday.  So starting today with this blog I am going to publicly share what I have eaten.  I am going to do this until the end of April.

Breakfast

One chocolate croissant
Half a cup of black coffee

Lunch (went to Cracker Barrel rest)

Two eggs with ham, two biscuits with some gravy, baked apples, two glasses of sweet tea and some apple dumplings with ice cream.  Wow I didn't realize I ate that much for lunch!!

Supper

Baked cabbage with pulled pork, fresh salad and two glasses of water.  One light beer.

Ian Repay
Student of Silent Kung Fu
Stony Pkain , Alberta, Canada

Passion

I have to admit that as a kid I was never passionate about anything. Just do what you need and that is about it. My friends loved motorcycles (and could name them by sound), basketball (and were part of a team), partying (and were drunk...). I was average with everything. Never sticking to something or committing to anything. Maybe because I was scared of letting someone down or not being good enough.

Kung Fu was the first activity I was passionate about. I wish I had more time to learn and practice. Being passionate about Kung Fu is something that comes from within. You cannot be told "show your passion in class". You can develop passion in time but you either going to have it or not. You cannot fake it.

At the same time being passionate about Kung Fu doesn't mean you have to stand in the middle of the kwoon and scream all the time. Passion is internal.

Just some thoughts about my passion.

http://csillag-stars.blogspot.ca/2014/03/passion.html

Snapshot:
Push-ups - 710 (6,500/50,000)
Sit-ups - 700 (6,500/50,000)
Nunchucks - 18 this week - 160 out of 1,000
Staff - 21 this week - 100 out of 1,000
Acts of Kindness 27 -  this week - 163 out of 1,000
Plank - 6 this week - 70 out of 1,000 minutes
Horse Stance - 9 this week - 76 out of 1,000 minutes
Qi Gong - 0 this week - 7 out of 365


Ahhh - I need to get a Qi Gong routine

My New Discovery

Oh my goodness I've made a new discovery FIRE ROPEDART. I'm pretty obsessed with watching Youtube videos about it. It's so cool. Think about it...The lights go out, Sifu Wetter, Sihing Krebs and Ms. Gibbons enter the stage with their firey ropes of doom. The blackbelt candidates have to make their way through this firey maze and escape while the blacklight dragon charges ferociously behind...

...Ok, back to reality...

I had my third San Shao class. It's still hard to force myself to go. I always feel bad for people who partner up with me since I'm the slow kid in class. Sifu Playter's knee injury doesn't allow him to spar much quite yet so he partnered up with me. He kept repeating similar strikes and kicks which allowed me to get my brain to calm down and start to figure out how to react to each thing. It started to help, by the end of the class I wasn't so frustrated. It's hard when I get different partners each round because they are all so different I don't get a chance to figure out what to do.

My week was pretty poor as far as numbers go, but I promised to post them so here are my accumulative numbers;

Pushups - 60
Modified Pushups - 1295
Tricept Pushups - 255

Situps - 135
Modified Situps - 480
Plank - 190 seconds

Miles - 82

Rounds of sparring - 50

Lao Gar (the part I know) - 36
Ropedart - 46

Acts of Kindness - 70

*I have to get much better at logging.

Week 7

Life is getting back to normal, although Adrien is away for work again so the kids have been missing their classes, just don't get home in time for them to go. I missed Friday AGAIN! I got my first bad cat bite, it's kind of a given that it will happen at some point doing what I do, man did it hurt! Doesn't look very spectacular though, puncture wounds are just holes. So just one day after even though I'm on antibiotics it's infected, gross. I'm having trouble making a fist with my left hand because of the location of the bite and the swelling, so no spear for now. I feel really frustrated, like I just can't move forward at all. I have been keeping up with situps, acts of kindness and my diet tracking at least. Getting back on track with my kms as well now that I can walk the dog again.
The Silent River community impressed me again this week, Chantal wanted to be involved with Pandamonium and raising money and came up with the idea of a bake sale. She was so excited about the overwhelming support from fellow students. I'm so glad that my girls are part of such a great group that allows them to be involved in something worthwhile and gives them a venue to spread their wings as far as leadership goes.
As absent as I have been from the kwoon I am trying to stay engaged on my own, it's not quite the same but here's hoping I'll actually see you all on the mats soon!
Sifu Prince

Saturday!

It sort of feels like Sunday today, no real reason. Perhaps that my work kids were really late to get up this morning and most of them didn't want to do much today. Lot's of movie watching, reading, music practice; a definite slower day. So I began to start thinking about my blog with the thought that I was a day or two behind. Guess what? It's not Sunday! This also means that I made it through a whole Saturday without moping around and wishing that I was at the kwoon instead of work (the only time I miss a Saturday is for work). I would love to spend some time at the kwoon doing my forms and hopefully I will do that tomorrow or Monday after work.

Sifu Robyn Kichko
http://mantismantle.blogspot.ca/

Holidays

Writing this one from my phone so it won't be that long.  On holidays down south and I'm really enjoying the break from winter.  Its nice to be able to go out in shorts and sandals all day everyday with the temperature around plus 30 and sunny every single day. 

However it makes it tough to stay focused on my requirements.  I havent kept up on my form reps while I have been down here and to be honest neither have my push up and sit ups.  I still have not fully accepted this process as a tool vs a hoop.  I believe in this process more than I ever have before but still I fall off the path...  Also I have a hard time doing my forms in a public place where people may be watching.  I don't want to draw attention to myself and I get embarrassed even though I know the forms look good and most people wouldn't even watch.

Well lots to work on but for now it time to go and head down to the bbq and beer festival for some great eats and drinks.

Mr. Ian Repay
Student of Silent River Kung Fu
Stony Plain, Alberta Canada

Getting out the BAD

Still working on me. Made great progress last week on focusing myself, relaxing and letting things go (like anxieties and angers). Then this week - WAM, I seem to be backpedaling. Not sure if it is two steps forward and one backwards - or just needing to get all the "bad" out before I can move on with the good... but I am planning on next week being better.

AND I have figured out that Fridays just aren't the best day for me to blog. I don't work Fridays and I figured it would be MY day to get things done. However, life always gets in the way and Fridays tend to be my most stressed-out day. So I plan to experiment this week and figure out a more positive day to blog on. I will blog a few times this coming week and see what feels best. If you don't hear from me in the next couple days, it is not a good sign. ;-)

www.sharidactyl.wordpress.com

Friday Morning Feelings

So, I’m writing this journal entry with mixed feelings. I’m starting to feel some significant resentment towards kung fu and the effect it’s having on my life.

When I was in Mexico I found myself unable to relax. All I kept thinking was how I was behind on my numbers and how my kung fu was suffering while I was away. Every time I had a drink on the beach I started to feel guilty about being on vacation. Why should I feel guilty about taking a holiday to see my little sister get married? And I know that I could have done my pushups, situps, etc, but the point is that I didn’t want to. I wanted to get away from everything and not worry about anything from home.

It was also frustrating for me when I came home and I got really sick. I basically did nothing for a week. No gym, no kung fu, no work. So when I started getting better, I was also behind on everything else in my life and I needed to catch up. The past week I’ve been feeling physically much closer to 100% although I’m still a bit short of breath and I have a nagging cough. But regardless, I have had no desire at all to do anything kung fu related.

Prior to this past September, I had spent the last 7 years working out of town. I’ve missed birthdays, I’ve missed holidays, and all kinds of other events. The best I could say was that I popped in and out of people’s lives. I was unable to sustain any kind of personal relationship. Most women think they’re ok with a boyfriend that works out of town until they have to experience it. Trust me, it’s not easy. So now I’m working at home and I’m able to do all the things that I wasn’t able to do before. Lo and behold I’ve even met someone awesome. But now it’s kung fu that’s getting in the way. How many times do you tell someone that you can’t spend time with them because you have class on Friday nights before they get fed up? I know I’m starting to get fed up. I can only rearrange my schedule so many times, or ask her to rearrange her schedule so many times before enough is enough. So, I’m going on a date tonight and if that makes me a bad teammate, so be it.

I guess the bottom line is that I’m having trouble finding balance. I went from no kung fu 6 months ago to 6 days a week, every week. I knew when I joined the Horse Team that it would be a huge time commitment, but I had no way of knowing how I would deal with it. I enjoy my time at the Kwoon. I’ve met some pretty amazing people, and I’m definitely not quitting; I know that’s an impossibility. To be honest, I don’t know what the solution is for the way I’m feeling. I’m just going to do what feels right for me and hopefully that will also be the right thing for the team.

Cory Smid
http://kungfucory.blogspot.ca/

Habit forming

I don't really feel like I need to write another blog today, I just need to re-establish my routine. Have a great night everyone:)

Sifu Robyn Kichko
http://mantismantle.blogspot.ca/

Ma Lung Kwoon

Not to sure about the spelling but that what this post is about. Since my knee issues I have not practiced this form due to the fear of my knee locking up however in the past week since the black belt class where we did the form I have started to do it again. If feels good to be back doing even one hand form on a regular basis. So much of my training is based around form practice that when I cant properly do them It physically hits me hard. I loose balance, leg strength, foot work and even the emotional connection with the forms. it really does a number on my training. So I am glad to be doing it again even if it is more modified then I would like it to be. Some good news, my knee has not locked up for a week now and it is feeling a lot better. It is hard to stop myself from doing some of the things I want to accomplish this year due to the injury but it is necessary in order to prevent more permanent injury. Some thing I have really missed is the bow in out ceremony at the begging and end of each class. So much of my mental and physical engagement is produced in that little even that it really throws me off not doing it right now. The mental grounding and the physical stimulus mixed with that tiny little moment inside the void really is the best way to start and end a class. I hope to soon be back doing that part of classes but for now I have to longingly wait and watch.

http://michaelplayter.blogspot.ca/

Goals need a plan

For the first part 7 weeks of I Ho Chuan my focus was on the stated goals we have pushups forms etc.  I have put a routine around these and am keeping up.  What I am  starting to do is put the plan in place to reach my other personal goals.

Two of my goals are a half marathon and a long distance paddle board.  Now that the snow is going I have focused my mind on what I will need to do to do these things.  I have set dates now to get each of these accomplished. Now that I will be able to get out side more (I don't like running in the winter)  I am focused and have got support from my family to help me achieve these.  They are on board to push me to achieve these goals.  Now all I have to do is the work.

I know this blog is a bit similar to my last but I have focused a lot on these goals in the last week.


http://jimsand11.blog.com/2014/03/20/goals-need-a-plan/


Mr Sand

This blogging thing

I decided that I would write a blog every day in order to challenge myself. I considered some of the  challenges that I would face but of course not all of them. I set a routine for myself so that I would be able to remember everything. At the end of each day, I sit down and record all that I have accomplished and then write my blog. Sounds simply enough, who can't do that? I have been doing it nearly every day for the last couple of months, there was some faltering at the beginning but I expected that. What I didn't expect was that as I get more into my routine, I add more things to do each day, push myself a little harder that I would actually forget...Some of you that know me better than I do probably could have predicted this and in retrospect, I could have to. Now I just have to make some adjustments.
I was really missing my Sunday morning blog... reflecting on my week, sharing the ups and downs, I really liked it. I decided that I would break my routine of blogging at the end of each day on Sundays and write in the morning like I used to. It didn't work, it threw me off for a couple of days, I had to work really hard to get back into the routine of evening blogging.  I also thought that I would blog in the morning on short change, that failed for a different reason. If I blog one day in the morning and the next in the evening, throw in 16 hours of work, approx. 5 hours of sleep, I feel like I haven't been engaged in my kung fu for days. So evening blogging it is, I just have to make it so high of a priority that I won't miss it. It may take a couple of days to get back into the swing of things but that is my latest plan.
It's sort of funny that when you make a goal to challenge yourself, it doesn't feel like it will be hard, just challenging. Maybe I need to recognize that sometimes, challenging is hard! It doesn't make it undo-able, just hard!

Sifu Robyn Kichko
http://mantismantle.blogspot.ca/

friendship cup

I was contemplating our challenge with the friendship cup and it seems I am learning more from all the blogging that is being done by the active participants. Now I know all of are are supposed to however if you can't attend the classes or any meeting this is our only contact. I have learned so much already from everyone's posts. Imagine how much better this can be if you all participated. This really does help me stay mindful of my kung fu, or even my personal goals. This is me begging Please blog and let's get this team going with 26 new blogs this week. Yay team Thank you in advance I promise you won't regret it.
Did dishes,took out garbage, made the bed
Had chicken with potato salad, then had beef with rice teriyaki for lunch, an orange,apple
Sifu Jeannette Langner

staying focused

It's almost the end of march and I feel annoyed with myself. I had all these great ideas for getting my goals accomplished and I find I need to kick myself in the butt. This is why blogging is so vital. I can blow some frustrations out and I feel better. I will start doing my sets of pushups and sit ups in the mornings. I have to make a rule for myself. They have to keep going. Find ways to get forms in as well. should be happening on my days off. Why not??? I need to stay engaged this will not succeed if I am not engaged. Big breath in focus my mind focus my body. Where am I? What am I doing? Yes this mantra really works for me. So onward with a lighter heart and a spring in my step time to do my sets.
Had pizza for supper 2 slices, 2 slices for lunch and an apple and a bag of fruit.
Put laundry away did dishes and took out the garbage.
Sifu Jeannette Langner

Improvements

I worked on my Tai Chi Broad Sword form for thirty minutes today, it feels pretty good. It is not quite ready to show others but I feel like I am moving forward and that is a good thing. I only had 30 minutes and should have done my hand form as well but I really wanted to make sure I have the sequence for the sword form into repeat mode. Tomorrow will be a good day for my hand form. :)
I increased the number of reps I am doing with my weights, same weight for this week, I hope to increase the weight next week. I am starting to feel stronger with some discomfort in my shoulders, but not a lot of serious pain. I think that I am on the track for improving my shoulder strength.

Sifu Robyn Kichko
http://mantismantle.blogspot.ca/

Holiday Hangover

Ever try do anything with a  hangover? I just got back from 10 days away, yet a well needed break just the same. It's good to be back to familiarity again and yet see how quickly one's training has slipped while trying to get back into focus again. I made it a point everyday to do pushups and sit-ups, but there were some days I let my numbers fall behind. Taking time out for my requirements seemed to always draw a crowd; the guy from smokers row on the beach commenting on what a great way to finish the day; doing Tai Chi, forms and 100 push-ups (I asked him to join me next time, he declined), I didn't realize anyone was watching! The unimpressed customs official who asked me why I needed a cane when I  hurdled over the walkways instead of walking back and forth like everyone else did; I explained I was trying to stay "in character" for some training I am doing and wanted to always have my cane with me and although I can be quite charming in the right circumstances, he wasn't having any of it. It was explained to me very sternly to go back and recheck it, as in "their" country these are the rules and it wasn't going on the plane with me. I thought about a good rebuttal, except, he had a gun and I had a cane. I did find time to review my curriculum, make notes and get through several chapters of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and for some reason this year, I'm able get into the book and grasp what I'm reading instead of wasting the energy I was using before to hold up the plane, keep an eye on the wings, engines, fuselage, judging the crew, figuring out who might be a terrorist or should I just say my fear of  flying wasn't there and I was just simply more relaxed. Finding open areas in the airports, school yards, the jungle and the like always afforded some workout time but it wasn't the same as being back home. Now being back, referring to a hangover analogy; things are still somewhat disoriented, trying to review the past 10 days events, I'm not really grounded yet, and thinking did I do some of the things that are now a memory and sure enough I did except for this time they're all good. This blog might not seem to be a serious reflection of where my journey is going but it gave me some time so get myself ready to go, to get, to grasp, to reach out, to execute the ever-changing upcoming plan for this year. During my "alone time" on the beach, in the jungle, hiking etc. I took a look at all the distractions pulling me away from my direction, but they will always be there, but I can deal with them when the time comes. Robert.

Push-ups 1075 (6208)
Sit-ups 325 (3095)
Forms 6 (55)
Horse stance 1:30
Gym 0 (7)
Sparring (Does verbal count?)  (35 min)
Walk/run/bike 17.6k (29.6k)

We're not in Kansas anymore

I decided to take a small break, head somewhere warm, refocus on what's important and just basically chill out for a while. I'm in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve in the Costa Rican jungle for a week then it's off to the west coast to explore further and add more to the contrast of this incredible country. Sounds exotic right, except, everywhere I go, "I take me"! I've been frustrated as of late, but with what "it" is I really haven't figured it out yet; the only solace I've found was at the Kwoon, being active with others is the only thing that has kept me out of my head. A few years back, a friend who cares more about me than sometimes I do, looked me straight in the face and said "You have no right to enact your feelings on another human being, unless they're good"! That had to be the most profound statement that keeps me in line when life's frustrations happen or in other words "I'm not getting my way". I'm not sure if anyone else can relate, but the last time I checked, there is one steering wheel in most rental cars, but between two control freaks buckled in for the long haul, this does have its moments. Here I am in absolute paradise, driving along with the whitest knuckles you could imagine, up three hat sizes,  with that pulsating garden hose sized vein in my forehead, not sure when the last time I exhaled was, trying not to say anything wrong, but my silence is absolutely deafening along the drive (not saying anything doesn't make it right either). By the third day, my mind still not settled, I had nothing left, except to do those stupid push-ups and sit-ups, that was my only constant. I went on a strenuous hike in the morning in +35c, finding my 6 minutes and when it was all said and done I managed to get myself "centred" instead of being "self centred" and things started to fall into place again. I think that was the first time the push-ups and sit-ups made sense and weren't just a hoop to jump through. Now that things have somewhat calmed down inside, I'm learning a lot about the jungle; those cute little fuzzy pods that I just had to touch, aren't fuzzy.....I spent an hour pulling out some type of stinging splinters from both hands, then doing my best picture pose up against a tree, only to find out that it's protected by thousands of thorns up its trunk, did produce a few "F" bombs and some fast reflexes, that tiny little green tree snake, that's another story, but here on day 5, I'm starting to learn not to touch things,......even though I want to. Robert.

Knee Update

Well I have had some tests done to my knee and this is what has been found so far. I have a cyst in my knee and they think it may just go away on its own. However I am going in for a MRI any ways to make sure that it is not something more severe. The MRI should be able to tell me if there is a cartilage problem or not and that would be very helpful information. The cyst is a little troubling to me because that is how Tiffs issues started a while ago and if it does not disappear in the near future I think I may go get it checked out. Just to make sure it is not something more severe. Anyway I just thought it was time to update the situation.

http://michaelplayter.blogspot.ca/

Sparring

To be honest I am writing this blog only because of this picture. And by no means does it have anything to do with my journey towards mastery. (Ok well it might)

Sparring can be one of the scarier things in the martial arts or it can be one of the funner (I know that is not a real word Mom) aspects in the arts, when it is done a safe comfortable environment.

Ok sparring when it is not so much fun, in my opinion is when you dread going there knowing that you’re going to have your but handed to you again, end up being bruised and potentially injured. Now that is not fun and who would want to keep going back to something like that.

Now sparring when it is fun, again in my opinion is when you can’t wait to put on the pads, square off with your opponent, knowing that your opponent has no intentions on hurting you orfear of being hurt themselves, your weaknesses are shown and your skill has been improved. You leave with a smile on your face and sense of accomplishment in your stride, along with anticipation for the next time you get to spar. That is how I see and feel the Sanshou class has become for me.

If you want to see the picture please visit my blog by clicking on the link below.

Where am I? What am I doing?

Family

Now I know I've committed a year to the team. However I will take the time I need to celebrate my husbands birthday. It was yesterday on St.Patricks day. Hence his middle name Tom Patrick Langner. Now this doesn't mean I've lost sight of my priorities. I think of them constantly. I won't neglect him because he is such a big part of my life. I feel OK with this as a high priority in my life and I will still continue with my commitments to the team. Had a good night with him we watched a movie and had bar-b-cue steaks. A very pleasant evening for all.
Did dishes, 2 loads of laundry, took out garbage.
Had steak and tortellini for supper then a fruit smoothie for a snack, and bowl of noodle soup for lunch.
Sifu Jeannette Langner

Shotgun Post

In other words scattered thoughts.

As far as my Kung Fu is going, it's going slow, but it's moving. I'm really excited about this year. I'm really looking forward to grading and probably have the most positive outlook I've ever had. The year of the horse will be one of awesomeness to it's purest form. Everything in all aspects feels right. I just need to get my ass in gear. Less yak, more smack.

My goal of 10,000 kicks this month has taken a beating due to me being sick for almost two weeks. This isn't an whine, just a fact. One of our teammates has had a far worse experience than my little virus could carry water for. That, and this teammate is tough and the engagement never left. Awesome example. So no cry babies here. Nonetheless, I feel a lot better now and will continue to try to achieve this goal. The biggest detrimental factor at the present moment is flexibility. I have a major imbalance of kicks to stretching ratio. It's takes less time to throw an abundance of kicks, than it does to stretch for the proper amount of time. The math is obvious and the lack of balanced discipline is prevalent regarding the issue. The shrinking of the muscle as it develops, and me not stretching properly, is causing me to throw myself continuously off center as I try to raise my kicks. As we all know, the more you work a muscle, the more it develops. That in turn also causes the muscle to shrink, which reduces flexibility, which requires a disciplined and committed stretching regime.
  Although my kicks aren't high, my crane stances are getting higher which is the cornerstone to all kicks and a stable center. So this is a good thing.

Weapon forms are due to be demo ready by May 15. I'll be ready for this. I'm really pumped about the Long Axe. (Thanks Sifu Freitag, for your help.) I did have some more techniques to show the class last Friday, but for some reason I get completely messed up in front of the I Ho Chaun and lost my train of thought. No sequence of form will do that. Oh well, you'll see soon enough. One thing that I am really working on is to differentiate stance transitions and sequences from learnt forms.  I have used sequences from some of our school forms when creating my personal weapon form. As a result it has completely messed me up when asked to do the form I have pirated from. Not cool.

One last thought is this. Anyone that is a student, and especially a I Ho Chuan member: COME TO A SAN SHOU CLASS! You have no idea what your missing. If you are really passionate about yourself and your Kung Fu, and you wish to look into the depths of it all, join this class! I Ho Chuan members, get in your rounds! You`re already there, what`s another hour! See you at the Kwoon!

Ugh

Not much to say this post. Progress with the meteor hammer has been pretty slow. I am having a hard time being consistent. Even when I think I have a technique down I'll still mess it up 1/4 of the time. I'm hoping that will go away with more practice. Right now basically all of my practice time is at the kwoon on Fridays and Saturdays, which isn't that much. It will be nice when I can start practising outside. I was sick for most of the weekend which was a downer.  Friday during class I felt like I was fighting to throw up most of the time. Not quite a 100% yet but I am feeling better. Hopefully next week goes better.

Sifu Jesse Wetter

http://liveforeverordieintheattempt.blogspot.ca/

Spring

Days are getting longer, warmer and sunnier. It feels good.

I completed my staff form (for now) and I need a lot of practice. It is hard to practice at the kwoon as it requires space and the ceiling is not high enough. Few more weeks and I will be able to practice outside. :-)

http://csillag-stars.blogspot.ca/2014/03/spring.html

This Blog is Brought to You by the Number 2

I wrote this on my phone again and thought I had posted it but just realized that it didn’t so I better get it up now(with some editing). Last week(ish), I mentioned theses three things I wanted to discuss: 1) Attendance: Meetings and Class. 2) Pandamonium : Importance of and inspiring others. 3) Uncomfortableness: Developing a form at the Kwoon and then performing it. I am starting in the middle.1) 2) Pandamonium : Importance of and inspiring others. I asked the students in the advanced and intermediate Teen/Adult classes to do some research and try and find a direct connection between our 5 charities and SRKF. The response has been phenomenal, and I can see people starting to get a sense of how important these charities are. I believe that some of them may have started out by just trying to find the connection and ended up figuring out what the charity was actually about. Hopefully this will inspire them to be more passionate about Pandamonium and make it a successful day. We have covered the Simon Poultney Foundation in both classes and will look for a new one tonight. Sifu Lindstrom

Hard act to follow

     We had a chance to see everyone's weapon form on Fridays class , well everyone that was on the mats. Very inspiring to see the talent we have on the team and how far we've come in a short time. Disappointed with my form , I don't know the whole form yet , but have practiced a lot  what I know and thinking back I m not sure I made one move correctly. I mean I freeze , not every time , but in Fridays class I definitely did , went thru the motions in and mostly the wrong order and with poor form. Kathryn's first comment to me was "Wow you sure screw up a lot when you're in front of everyone." Something I need to work on.

     No argument from me on that. She was a hard act to follow and I'm proud.

Scott Fuhr

http://ihochuan.blogspot.ca
http://scottfuhr.blogspot.ca
http://flavors.me/scottfuhr
http://www.silentriverkungfu.com