to meet a challenge

To meet the challenge of the week...hmm. Tough one. I did look at the preset requirements first, and I have to say 2 jump out at me. Memorizing Mastery, and the mending a relationship. With memorizing Mastery, it is cool how often pieces of it come to mind ( I need to practice it again, I'm losing it) at different times, and how in the courses I'm taking and books I"m reading, the essentials in the passage are echoed. Its cool! Especially the parts of taking in events and experiences that go beyond the ordinary, and surrounding yourself with people that expect more of you than you do. Thats us team!! And while I'm uncomfortable with both praise AND criticism...yeah I know, I'm learning...this has been the best place to get both. The other one, mending a relationship, has taken on some interesting turns. I floundered for awhile, not really able to think of a relationship specifically to work on (my sister is speaking to me again..limited anyways :) ) and then I realized the opportunity was right within my own home. Problem--its not something that I can probably ever say is done. The person I have chosen to work on and with is my step daughter, Seana. She, more than any human on earth it seems, can drive me crazy! So, I have been trying to learn to step back, evaluate, not react, and be a more positive person around her. Ironically enough, instead of only having her with us on weekends, her mom has been working out of town, so we've had her all week for weeks at a time since the end of August. Talk about submersion! I have a loooooong way to go on that one..... My own personal requirements.....hmm. Some of them I am outright failing. Like being able to do chinups by now. Hah! Thats a laugh. I think the 2 that I have been working on steady and have changed me the most are learning to meditate daily and reading 20 books (not novels). The books have fed a hunger I had not realized was there and have opened up my world, pulling my thoughts along at the speed of light and making me hunger for so much more than where I am at now. Its so cool! And meditation--I've learned I like guided meditations...easier to focus. And walking meditations definitely are my favorite--so much easier in nature! They've given me a spiritual ahhhhhh that I was also missing. I'm surprised, looking back,how much I was literally starving for mental and spiritual growth and not realizing it; just getting by, but yet so full of yearning and longing for something unknown that I was inwardly screaming. And only now can I see it! Not that I've got to where I want to be by a long shot, but at least I'm moving and there is clarity, excitement and amazing things to learn. Thank you Sifu for the challenge! Great choice--I look forward to reading everyones!

Answering a Challenge

When I was going over the requirements and trying to decide which personal and which "pre set" challenge to blog about and how it has made me a better person and martial artist, there was alot to ponder. All, have changed and affected me in one way or another. For personal I chose 1000 reps of Da Mu Hsing. Initially I thought this would be a good form to work on and streamline because it covers every aspect of basic. Installing this kind of muscle memory and mindfulness would be a very good asset to my training pyramid and have a good solid base for any form or training involving stances and flow, stability, and of course becoming comfortable and recognizing center and applying the six harmonies. What I didn't realize is what kind of can I had opened and the questions that would arise along with the difficulties that I would encounter as I began to improve and the form matured. Ways I had been doing forms with a multitude of unfinished stances and a handful of bad pratices can all go back to my practice of Dah Mu Hsing. For a basic form it started to turn out to be somewhat complex. It seemed as I corrected one or two things, something else was definitely wrong or didn't feel right. As my flow improved and became faster my stances or some techniques would come short or just plain sucked from my perspective. Lack of flexibility and executing everything from my shoulders was more than apparent and the effects were more than obvious. Although as I progress the recognition and the ability to repair is present. I am starting to feel and recognize center and am mindful of the six harmonies. Every technique, foot position, wrist rotation is there, I just have to get it all to work together as one. I don't think a person ever totally masters a form, they just make it their own and continue to work and improve constantly, like a circle that never meets. So this particular requirement has made me more aware of all my Kung Fu, and the harder I work at it, the more I will constantly improve in my life journey as a practitioner of the art.

As for the pre set requirement I chose random acts of kindness. I always have had a natural ability and desire to help others. Whether it be mental or physical. If your down, I want to help in any way I can. If you need a favor no problem, lets get it done. I always tried to show respect and always be thankful towards others. But exposure to this challenge actually showed me that in some ways I am not so understanding or sympathetic towards others. In someways it has exposed just how little empathy I have towards people and how I expect aknowledgment when I say good morning to someone or hold a door for them and they look at me like they just did me a favor by allowing me to hold the door for them. The constant mentality that entitlement is king and everyone deserves everything, and under no circumstances whatsoever take personal responsibilty for any action. Materials and self are completely what life is about. This has been a very difficult challenge in some ways. On one or two occasions I didn't even want to do it. It is very easy to get discouraged or write off the fools, so to speak. Then I realized that is not what this challenge is about, aknowledgement or self gratification for doing something nice. Its about example and hope. Setting the example to others that may have lost their way or was never taught or grew up in a tight community setting to put others first. Hope, that people will look past themselves and try to reconnect the disconnection that is so prevalent and growing at a rapid pace. Maintaining the standard and responsibility to help each other and the world around us. I have realized you can't hold people to your own personal standards or principles or way of doing things. Every body has their own way of learning and progressing and that is what needs to be recognized and respected. But one can definitely lead by example and demonstration of what it means to live and practice kindness.
Thank you Sifu Wonsiak for this challenge.
Brian Chervenka

PUSH!!

I have been doing fairly well at my requirements, but have hit a bit of a bend in the road.  Before, I was keeping up and it wasn't too bad.  I enjoy the challenge and love pushing myself.  This helps me a lot with my motivation.  I am still keeping up and moving forward, but it is becoming more difficult as of late.  It is really quite a chore to do all the things I need to do.  It isn't coming as easily as it did before.  Still, I push myself and keep putting one foot in front of the other. 

Tonight my legs feel the result of that pushing.  Tylenol will be my friend tonight, before I crawl into bed., as my legs are aching terribly.  I have not been off my feet since 5:00 this morning.  It is now 9:30, and I just made it home from the kung fu school.  I am beat.  I am off to bed.     zzzzzzzzzz

?

I don't know what to blog about. There are so many things racing through my head and I don't know where to start. Life's been hectic to say the least. The more I try to get my personal goals accomplished the more I feel my training slipping away.

Fall

So here are a few pictures from my family album. These are a few of the things that cross my mind when I think of fall.
- Having Katie "help" me rake the leaves in the front yard is a memory that always makes me smile
- I love the color of flowers in the fall, the orange being my favorite followed closely by dark red
- I always say a little good bye to the green leaves and look forward to seeing them again in the spring

I sometimes wonder if we can focus on the simpler things in life, perhaps life would be a bit easier. If we stopped worrying about what we didn't have and how long it will take us to get it, would we be more satisfied? If we are grateful for our lives and concentrated on helping others with theirs, would we be more fulfilled?
Those are my thoughts for now
Sifu Kichko
 http://mantismantle.blogspot.ca/

Shadow Ninja's

I’ve since moved from hotel life to trailer life.  It has been a good transition as I am now in better control of making healthier meals and I am getting better and more consistent sleep.  The transition was tough as it came close to Sifu Regier’s challenge of shadow boxing in confined space.  The day I received the challenge I remember precisely. 

Here I thought a battle with the trailer sewer hose was big.  This I hadn't counted on. Ninja’s had somehow gotten into the trailer.  Dressed in black, one Ninja had already gotten into the cupboard and had a mouthful of dry mini-wheats. So with nothing to lose I launched down from the bed and snapped a side kick into the first victim.  He flew clean past the table well into the kitchen and straight out the tiny one foot window.  A second one wielding a stick.....no..... a battle ax came flying from the 3 foot squared bathroom.  Crossblock, knee to the guts, second Ninja down.  

Suddenly ominous music was playing.  Obviously the worst Ninja had been hiding in the closet the whole time.  He was obviously the leader because like all good martial arts encounters, the best Ninja is always dressed in a different color.  He wore crimson yellow and definitely meant business.  What was this!?  In his hand he had popped the top of my Pringles.  BIG MISTAKE.  After a fight of epic proportion the battle was over, the ninja’s were vanquished......for now.

This was an interesting challenge.  Practicing kicks, punches in confined space is nothing new, but a full out attack of shadow boxing ninja’s makes things very interesting.  I sometimes like tapping into the imagination for shadow boxing, forms, techniques.  It adds some realism.  What I also noticed in the exercise is how I missed circular motion on my opponent.  With the very limited space I had, everything had to stay linear, so my techniques and sparring style adapted.  I would say it got a great deal simpler, sticking to more thrust punches and front thrust kicks.  Most importantly was an awareness of surroundings and concentration on technique rather than getting in on an opponent opening. It was a great challenge, thanks Sifu.

But I don't Feel Less Wise...

I have to start by apologizing for being mia this last week. Things just came to a grinding halt for me, and it was more because of lack of planning than anything. I never had a fallout plan for if things went bad when I got my wisdom teeth removed, and of course Murfys law had to step in.

But I'm not mia anymore. I'm back. In spirit, anyways. And with all this downtime I've managed to pick a new demo song, came up with a couple ideas to improve the existing demo and came to realize the awesomeness of family, both the related and the kwoon versions.

Public thank you to my ma for all the soup she's made over the last week. Thank you to my pa for playing chauffeur. Thank you to my hubby for the sympathetic shoulder.

And thanks to all you guys for picking up the ball, both in my Onoway classes and in my various commitments in Stony. Hugs all around.