Last blog post for the year 2011

The UBBT 8 challenge has truly made a change and a difference in my life both with my Kung Fu and with my family around me.

I would definitely participate in it again, and recommend it to everyone.

My goals for the UBBT 8 where;

1. 52 Journal entries
2. 50,000 Push ups
3. 50,000 Sit ups
4. 156 reps of Wudang 5 Animal Qigong
5. 2,080 chin ups
6. 5,200 kicks
7. 1000 acts of kindness
8. 1000 Liters of water consumed
9. 1000 reps of Lao Gar form
10. 365 fruits (I do not eat fruits, so I am challenging my self to eat at lest one fruit a day)
11. 365 days pop free (Quite drinking pop and other soft drinks)
12. Read 3 books on sailing (required reading for ASA Certification)
13. Learn how to sail a boat (take sailing lessons on one of our fresh water lakes)

(Regarding goals 12 and 13 – I have always wanted to sail around the world when I retire so these goals are working towards a longer term goals I have)

14. Grade for Black Belt

My accomplishments and failures are;

1. 42 Journal entries L
2. 51050 Push ups J
3. 51170 Sit ups J
4. 206 reps of Wudang 5 Animal Qigong J
5. 2082 Chin ups J
6. 7018 Kicks J
7. 934 acts of kindness J
8. 1092 Liters of water consumed J
9. 931 reps of Lao Gar form L
10. 365 fruits eaten J
11. 365 day pop free J
12. 0 books on sailing read J
13. 0 sailing lessons taken J
14. 1 Black Belt grading completed J

Some of the main things that I learned from participating in the 2011 UBBT 8 was that never stop doing your push-ups and sit-ups, 50,000 is not impossible and it will help keep you focused on the other goals that you have set. Don’t set your goals to low, you will be amazed on what you can get accomplished in a year. Never stop journaling, there are great benefits both personally and publicly that comes with journaling.

I will miss being part of the 2012 team next year but I will be following along with their progress.

An End is only but a New Beginning

Greg Wiebe

Stony Plain, AB, Canada

www.silentriverkungfu.com

Continuing On

As the end UBBT 8 draws closer I am finding it harder and harder to be able to put down in words how my journey is going. I am beginning to sound like a broken record, about injuries or aliments, triumphs, setbacks, and most of all the progress that I have made.

There has been so much going on lately (mentally, physically, and emotionally) that I have not posted a journal lately and I must apologize for this.

Journaling is such a great tool to help organize and sort thru issues and conflicts that are going on in a person’s life.

Greg Wiebe

Stony Plain, AB, Canada

www.silentriverkungfu.com

T.E.S.T

Technical

Extreme

Standard

Training

Greg Wiebe

Stony Plain, AB, Canada

www.silentriverkungfu.com

Not Doomed

Last night the Sihings had a practice session and I brought my daughter with me to work on my 5 techniques. Sihing Lindstrom watched and worked with my daughter plus gave her some pointers and instruction. He was able to watch and see what was happening and make corrections. Sihing Gamble also noticed a crucial thing that helped my daughter to be able to performing a shoulder role that was plaguing her on my last technique. With their eyes watching from the outside and giving comments, we came alone way last night and with a lot of practice and patients over the next week I believe she and I will be working together almost as good as Sihing Lindstrom and I.

Thanks Sihings  

I am truly grateful to be part of such an amazing team of Sihings.

Greg Wiebe

Stony Plain, AB, Canada

www.silentriverkungfu.com

DOOMED

When I was informed by Sihing Lindstrom (my training partner) that he will not be able to my partner during our grading when I perform my 5 techniques, I thought “Ok that would not be too much of a problem, I will just get my daughter to fill in”, easier said than done. I now have been working with her for a few days now, and it appears that I may be doomed when it comes to performing my 5 techniques at the grading. At this point I am at an opinion that working with a family member may not be a smart thing to do.

Doomed, Doomed, Doooooooooomed.

Greg Wiebe

Stony Plain, AB, Canada

www.silentriverkungfu.com

Experiences

Nightmares, confidence, memory gaps, injuries, eureka moments, confusion, success, failure, doubts, etc….

Are just some of the things I have experienced through the year as I prepare for the Black Belt Test.

Greg Wiebe

Stony Plain, AB, Canada

www.silentriverkungfu.com

The Day is Coming!!!

As the date of the Black Belt grading draws closer I am filled with mixed feelings of dread, excitement, sorrow, and anticipation. I dread all tests of all kinds, but at the same time enjoy them. I am excited to be grading this year with such a great team of candidates, which have all supported each other along the way. I am also filled with a sense of sorrow that this part of my journey is near at an end, but I am also full of anticipation on what will come on the next part of my journey. 

Greg Wiebe

Stony Plain, AB, Canada

www.silentriverkungfu.com

Theft

On Saturday September 17, 2011 in between 16:30 and 19:00 my trust in our fellow men was shattered. Ok I will be the first to admit I am sheltered from the real world (the bad parts of it) by the way I choose to live. I live in the country on enough land that I cannot see or hear any of my neighbors that are adjacent to me. The biggest city I go into on the majority, is Spruce Grove and I am never there very long when I do go there. Yes I may go into Edmonton from time to time to see the chiropractor but I go in and then leave, not spending any more time in Edmonton then I have to.

Ok back to what happened, I had went into Edmonton after our UBBT meeting on that day feeling good about the positive things that had come out of the meeting. The reason I went into Edmonton was to take in my son’s Ipad for repair, it was not charging and would not hook up to the computer. So I ended up at West Edmonton Mall at the Apple Store (they were great) to see what could be done with his Ipad. I came out of the mall with a properly working Ipad feeling pretty good and ready to go home, but when I got to my vehicle I had found that it had been broken into and anything of value (to a thief) was gone. I was shocked and disappointed that this could have happened. But what upset me the most was that the thief/s had taken my Kung Fu bag with all my equipment in it. I commented on this to the Police, why they would take my bag on not my sons that was right beside it, while they were looking for any evidence that forensics would need to be involved in (blood on the shattered glass, they found none). All they did was ask “Was it closed, was it heavy?” and I had my answer. Yes my bag was closed and my sons was open easy to see what was in it and take what was of value. Mine on the other hand was closed and felt heavy so they took it, and would go though it later the police told me.

I now have had a day to reflected on what had happened, and what had been stolen, and my only regret was that the thief/s had taken my 2nd degree Brown belt when they had taken my bag. And they wont care about all the the blood and sweat that went into getting that belt or that the belt had given to me by Sifu Brinker and the two black stripes on it was given to me by Sifu Rybak (most likely it will end up in some dumpster or back ally) 

I did learn a lot yesterday but the most important thing I did learn was, if you are going to leave a bag in your vehicle leave it open, if thieves are going to break into your vehicle they will most likely take what is of value to them and leave the rest if they can see that it is of no value, which may be worth more to you then anything that they had taken.

Greg Wiebe

Stony Plain, AB, Canada 

www.silentriverkungfu.com

Lost! If Found Please Return

In August my routine had been turned upside down and sideways, since then I have been fighting to get back the motivation and drive that I had towards my training and conditioning. It is becoming a battle that I fear I may not win. I seem to be just going through the motions now and my spirit is not in it. I have wondered off my path.  I am hoping that by writing this down and admitting it to myself that it will give me the push I need to win this battle and find the path that will allow me to continue on in my journey. Without the spirit the body can only go so far.

Greg Wiebe

Stony Plain, AB, Canada

www.silentriverkungfu.com

Acts Of kindness

Tracking Acts of Kindness has been hard for me as I have mentioned in past blog posts. This week I wanted to mention that this is still a problem for me. I do recognize the acts I do for others but I still struggle with counting them.

I do want to mention that for the past week I have been drive around with a slow leak in my passenger side rear tire and four people have come up to me and let me know that I have a low tire, and two others have left notes on my windshield to let me know to.

It is nice to recognize and receive an act of kindness.

Greg Wiebe

Stony Plain, AB, Canada

www.silentriverkungfu.com

Back at Last

Tomorrow my kids arrive home after their two week stay in Nova Scotia. Yes I am excited to see my kids again, and have been spending a lot of time thinking about them. So to say the least, my mind has been more on how they are and what they have been up to instead of been focused on my training, like I wanted to be while they were gone.

At our last UBBT meeting I had mention that my kids had left on their vacation and I found that my motivation was lacking. Sifu Brinker had commented on this and said that even a little thing like my kids leaving for could disrupt my routine enough that it would affect my motivation. I spent some time on this concept and realized that a person’s body/mind is always looking for an easy way out, from doing anything hard, it seems to a nature instinct or a lazy instinct. I have maintained doing pushups and sit-ups and my forms even though I did feel like doing them. I am hoping that when they get home and we back into our regular routine, things will get back to normal and my motivation will come back.

Greg Wiebe

Stony Plain, AB, Canada

www.silentriverkungfu.com

(Scary) True Story

I often have dreams, as well as nightmares, about kung fu. My dreams are probably fairly common- I kick butt with cool weapons or I can jump from tree to tree like Chow Yun-Fat. My nightmares usually consist of my students deciding to go crazy, climbing the walls, screaming & yelling and hanging from the rafters on the same day Sifu Brinker decides to give a surprise visit, and there I am yelling at some random kid to quit beating on an adult, all the while Sifu is giving me the eyebrow glare, with a 'tsk tsk' finger wag.

Then there's what I dreamt last night- completely and utterly failing the test for my next stripe.

And it wasn't that I had bad technique on my side heel, or broke my hand on a board. It was... Tai Chi. My nemesis. Oh how I both love and loath you.

It was grading day, there we all were, gathered in the old elementary school gym (that's always the setting for these dreams). There were so many second degrees going for third. Strangely, several were black belts from years past, several from now that are still first degrees, one was even Spock. Yes, Dr. Spock, pointy ears, overly logical and formal with a bad hair cut. And if I didn't achieve my 3rd, he'd be standing to my right instead of two rows back.

Spock and all the others were asked to perform the Tai Chi form together. They did, most of them. Many could not make it through the form, and I could see Sifu Dennis docking points off for whatever was not sufficient or for what they didn't know. Then, I went, all by my lonesome, doing great at first, then struggling, then utterly forgetting everything I knew. Oh the shame.

Then, mercifully, I woke up. It was 5am, I had to get up for work in an hour, but now I'm sweating, my heart is pounding and my mind is reeling. Oh how do I go back to sleep when I'm all wound up?

Then (this is all a true story) I remembered something Sifu Brinker said in the last UBBT meeting- "if you think you're too busy and don't have the time, I'll show you how to set your alarm one hour earlier". Well, by golly, I had woken up one hour earlier and now I'm extremely motivated, after that scary dream!

Guess what I did... how'd you know? And, today seems a bit brighter now. Brighter than yesterday, and definitely brighter than 4:59am this morning.

Khona Rybak, Silent River Kung Fu, Alberta

Alone

After getting back from vacation it was a whirl wind of 4 days of unpacking the trailer, washing cloths and get the kids repacked so that they would be ready to fly out east to visit their Grandmother and Grandfather in Nova Scotia on Saturday August 6^th. So now it has been a week since my kids left and the house is empty and quite. Staying engaged in my training has been tough this past week.

Greg Wiebe

Stony Plain, AB, Canada

www.silentriverkungfu.com

Vacation is over, back to the grind.

The past week I was on vacation with my family, our vacation may not be like most people now a days think a vacation should be (sand, sun, a tropical ocean breeze, a beautiful resort). We did have the sun and the sand, but also the rain, mud and mosquitoes that come with the Alberta weather, and the beautiful resort was a mud filled clearing that was filled with trailers, campers, and RV’s.

Vacations are fun no matter where you go as long as you’re with family and friends, and every year that is exactly what we do. We go to the same mud filled clearing up at the Brazeau Reservoir to enjoy time with friends and family, to do some water sports and ATVing.

The only thing I find hard on vacations is to keep up on my training in Kung Fu and Blogging (no internet). So back to the grind.

Greg Wiebe

Stony Plain, AB, Canada

www.silentriverkungfu.com

Vacation

It’s been a whirlwind around here lately. Getting ready to go on vacation, driving kids over to friends houses and back, work get a new operating system and then reconfiguring the new computer that they gave me while trying to learn my way around Windows 7, and meet dead lines before I leave on vacation. Whew glad that is over.

Greg Wiebe

Stony Plain, AB, Canada
www.silentriverkungfu.com

Acts of Kindness

I am still struggling with the Acts of Kindness. I do know when I do them but most of them I right off as not worth recording since it is something I would normal do anyway without thinking. I also do notice missed chances when I could have done an Act of Kindness, and have started to kick myself for not acting faster or for being in to much of a hurry to stop and take the time to do something nice for a fellow person. By the end of this years UBBT I hope I am recording all the Acts of Kindness and I stop missing opportunities to do an Act of Kindness, so I can stop kicking myself. 

Greg Wiebe

Stony Plain, AB, Canada
www.silentriverkungfu.com

Kudos

I have two friends who are leaving today for the UK to compete in something called Mongol Rally 2001, "16,000km of adventuring bliss through deserts, mountains and steppe tackled in a tiny car your Granny would use for shopping. The Mongol Rally is hurling yourself at 1/3 of the Earth’s surface in woefully unsuitable vehicles to see what happens".

I have to say kudos to them for taking up something like this, where there are no prizes for first or last, only an opportunity to raise money for charity and a chance to travel across multiple countries where no one knows who you are and you know nothing about.

I wish I had the courage to do something like this. They're leaving behind their friends and family for two months, and I'm sure they will come home if not with an accent, with many new expressions and stories.

Its amazing. Good luck to you guys!

If anyone is interested, their website, built by Steve (one of the two guys going) is http://silentnoise.ca/mongolrally/

Khona Rybak, Silent River Kung Fu, Alberta

Countdown to Christmas

It admit that "Countdown to Christmas" is a weird title considering that we are now in the dog days of summer. July has just started so what's with rushing the season? I'm not rushing the season I'm taking advantage of the dog-day slowdown to think about what I want to have on my table for the Christmas season. What worked well last year? Is there a new product I can introduce? What would give me a better advantage for selling this Christmas season than last Christmas season? For me this is time for reflection and for planning.

Now is also the time for me to make the majority of my product for the upcoming fall shows. It may seem weird to make icicles and tree drops when it's BBQ season outside, but that's when the Christmas line is in production. Also this gives me time to get my Etsy shop (SherriD Lampwork Glass http://www.etsy.com/shop/sherridlampworkglass) and Facebook fan page up, stocked and running so that I have a good database come Christmas shopping season. I've already had "warnings" of an order.

During this reflective time I am also looking at my Kung Fu training with the "same eyes" of what works, what doesn't, what do I need to ramp up and which goals shall I keep (and delete) for next year. I must say that I am very much liking our team's challenges as they help keep me in the present.

As for the raw foods and healthy eating the fresh fruits and berries have started appearing in the stores and I am stocking up big time so that I can enjoy the freshness in the winter months as well. I am also taking advantage of when bananas are on sale and freezing those as well. Thanks to Sihing Lowery, I have discovered a wonderful new way of having soft serve "ice cream" (non-dairy of course) with the ingredients being so simple. Take a frozen banana, chop it, put in food processor until it looks like soft serve. Voila!! Pineapple and strawberries (insert imagination here) can also be added. But wait!! Here is the chocolate version: 1 frozen chopped banana, 1 tablespoon raw cocoa, 1 tablespoon almond butter (I used peanut butter), put in food processor and process until it looks like soft serve. Yummy!!

For me the dog-days of summer are a chance to not only wind down, but also to plan, prepare, and play. Do what I love to do with the playfulness of summer. Works for me!

Sherri Donohue
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Family Time

July 1 was Canada Day and for the long weekend I took my two kids out to the Cadomin area to do some camping, quading and also to visit with their Aunt (my sister) and her husband. We were also camping with other family members and friends. It was a great weekend spent with the family with a lot of great scenery viewed and appreciated.

I am guilty of not keeping up on my UBBT requirements over the weekend and now I am working on making up for those lost days, but I don’t regret any of it. It was great to get out and be with my family.

Greg Wiebe

Stony Plain, AB, Canada

www.silentriverkungfu.com

Schools Out !!!

Tuesday June 28 was the last day of school for the students in the town of Onoway and with that as of Monday June 27 was also the last day of classes at the Onoway Silent River Kung Fu School for the summer. I know that classes will resume again in September when school starts again but as always it is still a sad time for me. As a Sihing and an instructor at the Onoway School I have been given the privilege to be able to guide and watched as each of the student’s progress in the martial arts, and I am thankful to be part of there journey. We have a great group of students out at Onoway and they all have made excellent progress this year. I wish them a happy and safe summer and will await their return in the fall. In the meantime while I wait for the Onoway classes to start up again, I will be spending my new found free time out at the Stony Plain Kwoon helping out and continuing my training there. (I hope to see some of the Onoway students training there also)

Greg Wiebe

Stony Plain, AB, Canada

www.silentriverkungfu.com