As I have been working on my numbers for the week I came to the conclusion that in order to fully take advantage of and complete the push up/ sit ups a person should probably adopt several different hand configurations and placements in order to create a broader strength and indurance. It could also help in the prevention of early joint wear due to repetition and consistant fatigue in the same zone. I have started changing the rep numbers and hand placements to try to develop all muscle groups around the joints and others I don't commonly use.

One of the things I struggle with in kung fu training is sittups. we have a love /hate relationship. They are constantly a work in progress for me. I usually have to use my arms to assist or take a run a it. After speaking with a fellow student I started doing reps with a weight on my chest and it has changed the way I see doing them in my mind because now I am more in touch with my core and what areas need to be engaged to lift my upper body and the weight.

Other than those few revelations thats all I have this week.

Brian Chervenka

One with vision

I recently finished reading the Steve Jobs autobiography and it definitely changed the way I viewed the man and his legacy. Working in the technology field myself, his impact was profound and far reaching. Much of the technology around us was due to his vision of the future and what it could mean to the world. What struck me most was his ability to get full potential out of the people who worked for him. Sometimes this was a stressful and demanding environment they were put in, but many when all was said and done were in awe of what they had accomplished. Finishing the book, I recognized the true genius he was and the power of one individual to change the world around him. Every day I try to look back and ask myself did I accomplish anything of value for that day. As I grow older I always strive to make myself a better person, but a great individual makes those around him even better. This is what I hope to improve upon as time goes on. Sifu Bryant

sparring

As most of you know, Sihing Robinson has got us the opportunity to do some extra practice on thurs nights. And, as most of us need sparring numbers, this last week we tried some.sparring. It was very good--relaxed. There were two of us that are nervous to spar, and for the most part we did ok. (And I've got the bruises to prove it!) I did, to my everlasting embarrassment, get overwhelmed and broke down. I think for me thats the worst thing I can ever do is to let down my guard like that. I felt horrible, especially knowing that just made an entire roomful of guys want to run for the door. To their eternal credit, they havent razzed me yet and didnt run. Sifu Wonziak and Ms Donahue helped me calm down, we even all chatted afterwards and yes, I will spar again. With my teams help, I can get through this, and I'm glad that even now when the team is just getting to know each other AS a team, they were willing to step in and help.
I know lots of us are afraid to spar. I hope mentioning what happened to me will help more of us step forward with courage and try again. With a group like this that is willing to help and grow together, we can do anything.

Busy Day

What a day today woke went to silent river Kung fu to help out with the destruction, which went really well, lots of people showed up, and we even finished early than expected. After all of that i went grocery shopping, for some vegetables and meats. when i got home i worked on my physics assignment, then wrote two essays, for school, and now of course writing this blog. I am sure other people have had more crazy day than me, but it has been awhile since i had to do so much in one day, but all in all a pretty good day. It feels good to get a lot accomplished in one day.

Full Steam Ahead

Another week gone by and I still feel very positive about my decision to do the I Ho Chuan. I am very pumped and feel so strongly that this is going to be a good year for me in so many ways. I wish this awesome feeling could be bottled up and pulled out for good use on days I struggle.

I have had an issue with my sciatica every morning this week, but as my mornings move on, the pain slowly subsides, and goes away. I am very aware of my back and taking care of it, as I have had back surgery in the past for a pinched sciatic nerve. I do NOT want to go there again. I have also pulled a muscle in the side of my thigh, but notice if I give it a bit of rest it gets better. As soon as I push it a bit too much as I did on Friday afternoon, it hurts something terrible again.

Funny how panicked I get with small injuries when I am on a big mission such as the I Ho Chuan. I want NOTHING to stand in my way!

Inspiration

I read this amazing book in the last week, it is called Ultra Marathon Man, confessions of an all-night runner by Dean Karnazes.
One of my friends that likes to run recommended that I read this book if I was ever looking for inspiration and motivation. I wasn't really sure what to expect but I was immediately taken in by the author's writing style. As I read and was amazed by how articulate this guy was in sharing his journey, I began to feel more and more like putting my runners on and heading down the road. He shares some familiar ideas;
' it became clear to me that the Western States Endurance Run would be primarily about one thing: not giving up. It really didn't matter how long it took to get the job done; what mattered was getting it done. This was an exploration into the possibilities of self. Being a champion meant not quitting, not matter how tough the situation became, and no matter how badly the odds seemed stacked against you. If you had the courage, stamina, and persistence to cross the finish line, you were a champion. '
Dean also takes his passion and uses it to help others. He has run 199 mile relay races to raise money for children to have organ transplants. (the relay is designed for teams of twelve to run 5.5 miles each, three times, Dean ran it as a team of one). He has run this relay twice and on the third time, challenged himself by adding on an additional 26.5 miles (a marathon). He may be a little bit crazy for doing some of the things that he does but I don't think so. He is no different that we are as we push ourselves to do 1000 of anything in a day, a week or a year. We are all striving towards mastery and pushing mediocrity out of our lives.

Moving forward slowly

After reading Sifu Masterson's blog anything I have to say seems unimportant. Anyway I had a better week than last. I received my new tai chi sword. Its very shiny and cool, and I was shown the first few moves in the form. Now I feel like there is some progress forward.I also had a very good tip from another black belt to use the Wii boxing to do some shadow boxing with. I'm not one for these kinds of games but I got a good workout with it. I don't know if I can count this as a round of sparing but I'm going to until someone says I can't. Life got in the way a lot this week, so I only logged 5k.I regretted this but my legs didn't. I still suffer from leg cramps that stretching only relieves some of. I did a real neat evening class on Saturday where you learn more about yourself through painting, seems there are a lot of people looking for themselves in weird places these days. Posted by linda shipalesky at 4:15 PM