Hot weather

It's so hot! Makes it hard to do any training. I don't know how people do it in hot countries.

Drink lots of water I guess.

Basic numbers: 202 crunches, 208 kicks, 204 pushups, 4 reps of tai chi and  reps of broadsword.

Acts of kindness: made Mike's lunch and some breakfast, helped change the tires on the car and gave my dog a treat.

Today I consumed: 2 pieces of peanut butter and jam toast, some leftover pasta and 2 chicken fajitas. I drank 9 glasses of water and one cup of coffee

Tai Chi Inspired Training Day 13, July 2

I am doing something despite the heat and I'm in the coolest (as in temperature) part of my house. I'm grateful that I did not have to wear the Buddha helmet and robe today.

Kicks: Holding my crane stance as well as concentrating on my foot position in the front thrust. I noticed that I had more stability when my breathing was in tune to my kick (amazing, eh?). I also practiced my thrust kick while sitting on my Swiss exercise ball. Going by the wobbliness of the ball, I'm gathering that this was a test of my core muscles as well.

Core: Side to side pelvic tilts on the Swiss ball while holding my shoulders calm. Interesting exercise and I can feel more than my abdominal were worked.

Forms: Did a blocking (as in movement) sequence in my left fan form so now I have one series of movements and now visualizing on a second. Still working out how many opponents as well as the nature of this part of the form. Right now it's more of a fight against a sore loser and his buddies. I got into the kneeling position for Awakening the Dragon, wiggled around a bit to feel more comfy and did the form that felt pretty good and my breath in my belly versus my shoulders. I am keeping my arms lower so that I'm neither taxing or raising my shoulders. I am seeing the progress being made with Awakening the Dragon and I am very happy about that.

Speaking of the shoulder, it's owly today and not sure why. The heat? Sleeping on it more? Not sure.
However I am pretty down with this ice cream on a stick idea. Made a new flavor today: chocolate cherry with a splash of Amaretto.
Sherri Donohue
My Blog

Tai Chi Inspired Training Day 11, 12 June 30, Canada Day

Tai Chi Inspired Training Day 11, June 30

It's Sunday and my usual rest day. For something different, Dennis and I volunteered at Eden North Skydiving for their provincial championships. Gorgeous day for the event. That was the first time I have seen skydiving live at the jump zone and I was surprised at how these people scream in for a landing and then so elegantly land. Plus the sound surprised me, something you don't hear on TV. My impression of the sky full of parachutes was "look at all the pretty colors." But then again, that's me :).

I incorporated Lung 1 into my forms and have noticed some hiccups. Yes, holding my breath would be one.

Tai Chi Inspired Training Day 12, Canada Day

Sunny and hot marks July 1 for Canada Day this year and so does the dragon/lion dance and demo at the Multicultural Center. This is the first year for me both in the festivities and as a vendor at the event as previous years have been spent at the Ponoka Stampede. I must say that I had a lot of fun yesterday and very happy where I chose my tent location. Yes,  we specifically chose the location so that the team would have a place to rest and be out of the sun, a factor for me too. Having the team gathering at my tent was cool. One young fellow looked behind my tent, saw the dragon and said, "Hey there's the real dragon den." Thought I'd mention that. Kudos to the team for a demo and dance well done!

I was the Buddha for the dragon/lion dance and now have much more appreciation for Sifu Vantuil who usually plays the Buddha as it's not as easy as it looks nor is it easy to breathe in that helmet. When I saw the video of me, my first thought is that I resembled a chicken flapping my arms about, definitely not the graceful flow that Sifu Vantuil has. Hey, guess what aspect I am working on!

Being that the temperature was upwards of 30 degrees C, movement wasn't a huge priority for me, on the other hand, my homemade fudgesicles are. However, in my tent during the lulls, I practiced fan movement (open, close, and snaps) with my left hand. It gave me something to do besides think about the heat.

As a vendor the first evaluation of an event is sales, but it's not the most important. Venues are actually marketing avenues. I was informed of a Tri-Community Artist's collective for local artists and am looking forward to hearing more about that as well as cooler weather. :)
Sherri Donohue
My Blog

Yay Canada Day!

Great job everyone! The demo went really well. Everyone's hard work paid off.
 It will be good for all of us to take a break from practices for a bit, but we need to get back at it soon for Chinese New Years. If we start early, we don't have to go as intense which will be nicer for everyone.
Thanks Sifu Wetter for organizing this one. I hope you keep organizing things....the more experience you get the better off you'll be.
Everyone should realize that organizing something like this is a big learning opportunity. If anyone wants to grow, organizing a demo will make you.
I know some of you guys still need to do a couple of more demos....now's your chance to step up and shine leadership-wise.

Basic numbers: tai chi: 3, broadsword: 1, pushups: 204, crunches: 202, kicks: 208

Acts of kindness: wished a lady happy canada day while buying the parade candy, picked up the lettuce and candy for the parade and demo, let some people ahead of me in line, got Julia a wade pool so she could cool off. Played with the dog outside and gave him a treat. Took Buddah robe home to wash.

Today I consumed: a breakfast sandwich, 2 freezes, some leftover chili with bread and some pasta. I drank 9 glasses of water, a coffee and an ice cold pop.

july 1

What a great day!! I'm blogging very late as its still too hot to sleep in my house. Great job on the demo everyone! Definitely no yak, lots of smack:) Thank goodness the mini van didn't hurt the dragon. I got to go kayaking after--did a 13km run down the Lobstick river, lots of class 2 rapids with a set of class 3's. I've never actually kayaked any rapids. This is how it should go:

and this is how I did it....

Good thing it was warm out! So this entailed some hiking through the bush,I did find my paddle thank goodness, and Sean having to chase the kayak downstream. All good in the end, we still startled 2 deer and a fish that thought Seans kayak was some kind of big bug. Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day!

Ahhh… finally inside where it is a little cooler!    After spending the morning and early afternoon at the Canada celebrations and battling junipers all afternoon (it was close but I won in the end), it is time to get out of the sun.  Maybe next time I can pick a hotter day to burn the dead branches. 

I’d like to say a big congrats to everyone who participated in today’s demo.  Great job getting lots of oo’s and ah’s from the spectators.  This is the first July long weekend I have actually been anywhere near Stony Plain.  We usually sneak our kids out of school a few days early and take off for the first holiday of the summer.  It was really nice being here this go around.  I’ve had a tough time getting into this year.  I have been guilty of spending too much time missing last year instead of embracing this one.   The past week preparing and today are exactly what I needed to refocus and get excited about this year. 

As we were waiting for the demo today, I couldn’t help but notice the relationships that have and are developing among the I Ho Chuan team.  Being a part of this team has given us all a chance to get to know each other outside of regular classes and is one of the coolest benefits of the I Ho Chuan.  It only makes sense that likeminded people would get along and like hanging out with one another J

Alana Regier

http://alanaregier.blogspot.ca

 

Happy Canada Day

I'm so happy. I broke all 4 boards. This was a a learning process for me an d I kept changing my sequence until I felt I got it right. Practicing with real boards in class makes a huge difference as real boards are different from shields and from the re-breakable boards. I want to thank my two sifus - sifu Bryant and sifu Masterson - who help me getting to this sequence. I want to thank my wife who helped me practice. And I also want to help everyone else for the encouragement and support.

The rest of the day was great as well. First with the Parade, then the Dragon Dance and the demo. I felt we all did a great job. I could hear the spectators and I think they really liked it.

Happy Canada Day everyone!!!

(and than you sifu Masterson for the photo I used for this blog)

http://csillag-stars.blogspot.ca/2013/07/happy-canada-day.html