Mental Game.

I must apologize for falling off the inter-earth for a while there. I am feeling quite a bit better physically lately but am struggling a bit mentally still. I am not sure how but I do feel a bit disconnected from the school and the team as the focus has been on home lately. We were fairly lucky with our accident and am just working on getting through that.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

My life has been very preoccupied since last Monday. I am posting some pictures of our vehicle so you can see for yourselves.

Perspective

I had planned on talking about the Tiger Challenge but was sidetracked by what happened on Monday. I was on my way to class with September in the vehicle when we hit a moose. The impact was hard enough to deploy the airbags. I feel very lucky that it wasn't worse and am thankful that September was not hurt worse considering it took out the passenger door right behind her. I may post pictures at some point.

Technology. Bahhh.

I am beginning to hate my phone. It has this feature that lets you know when you are supposed to do something all you have to do is program in a date and time and it will pop up with a message saying you need to do this. It can even be set to repeat every week at the same time. This way you will never miss that deadline again. Sounds flawless except for the fact it has a snooze button. I can’t do it right now but I will as soon as I can, so I hit snooze. After 5 or 6 times I hit dismiss and then forget until the next week and the cycle starts again. It’s time to start ignoring the technology and start building a habit. I assume you all know what my reminder in my phone is for.

Grading?

I have been thinking a lot about grading for my second degree. I have some many questions about where I am at and where I should be. I am unsure of what is required and what is not. The year has been a struggle to find some consistency due to injuries and some personnel issues. I am still hopeful that I can salvage the year.

Where to go from here

This has been the question running through my head a lot lately. Life can be very overwhelming at times and it feels like you are getting nowhere. I have been unable to spend a lot of time training this last while and I am feeling the effects. The thing that I have focused on this last two weeks is things I can do. Mostly that has been going over the curriculum in my head and trying to see what I can remember and then reviewing it to see what I have forget. It is not much but it has been a big help and I am ready to get back to training.

I'm back

I finally made it back to class this week. Even though it was only 2 weeks and a bit, it definitely felt like a lot longer. The disappointing thing is I'm back for a week and then it's renovation time. Normally, I have had a lot of involvement in the renos but this year I am not as involved. It's a strange feeling and even though I will be helping out, it's not going to be the same with no walls to destroy.

Still around

I have been forced to take some time off recently due to my personal life. It has only been 3 weeks but it seems like forever. If you are not going to the Kwoon consistently, it becomes easier to not go. I am not at that point, but I can see how that would become the case. I should be back fairly regularly starting next week. See you all soon. Sifu Lindstrom

Out of touch

I have felt out of touch and removed for the Kwoon lately. There have been a million things happening lately and it has been a struggle to get there lately. Between work and home I cannot seem to find the time to make it. It seems like I am taking the easy way out and skipping the one I feel is not necessary but it isn't that way at all. I miss being there and being a part of the atmosphere. Hopefully September will see some normality return to my training. I would like to adds that boot camp was awesome this year. The seminars put on by the other instructors were inspiring and well done. I want to thank everyone who was there for making it a great day and a congratulations to all the participants who took part. You guys are truly inspiring.

Boot Camp

Boot camp will be this Saturday and I am looking forward to it. This will be my 4th boot camp and third as a black belt. I regret not going before as I was unsure and nervous. It was one of the contributing factors to me getting my black belt and I will continue to go every year as it continues to improve my skills. I look forward to seeing as many people there as possible.

Recording?

No matter how many reminders I put on my phone, I always seem to miss my designated blog time. This means end up doing most of my blogging at the Kwoon which makes it really difficult to put a lot of thought into it. I have some things I would like to put out there but then I feel rushed and just ramble for a few sentences and call it good. Maybe I should record myself and just say what I mean to say. I can then edit it after as it will probably need to be organized a bit. I shall attempt this and see how it works.

Thought 3

3) Shoulder still not right. Frustrating. I have to admit that it has been getting better lately. It is not at 100% but I can now do some pushups as well as pull ups. It has really affected me mentally and I feel like I have not really started the year yet. I am hoping to steadily increase my numbers and finish the year strong Sifu Lindstrom

2) Chain Whip

I still am working on the new tricks with the chain whip. I have a form but it is very short and boring I find. I am trying to throw in a flip and a flying technique but they are a long ways away from being form ready. Must keep practicing. Sifu Lindstrom

Failure 1

To carry on with my blog from last week. Our demo was rained out after so many people put in a lot of hard work to get ready for it. We have another demo coming up on Canada Day but have no idea where it is going from here. I enjoyed trying to choreograph the last one but being away for 2 weeks really hurt and it felt like some people were unsure of what to do to get in the demo. It feels like the first attempt at a demo was a failure as it was a struggle to get something together. Not so much as a failure by the team but a failure by me. It is true that you will have ups and downs on your journey and this was a low point for me. Time to move on and only reflect on what has happened and learn from it.

My mind today

I am at a loss as to what to write this week. So I have compiled this list of random thoughts. 1) Saturday’s demo was rained out. Dissapointing as it was looking pretty good. 2) Learned a couple of new tricks with the chain whip. Exciting. 3) Shoulder still not right. Frustrating. 4) Shoulder is better. Encouraging. 5) Trying to learn so untested tricks with the chain whip. Scary (it hurts). 6) Going to Kung Fu. Rejuvinating

Demo Ringmaster

Trying to piece a demo together is very difficult to do. We have had a lot of people unable to make practices and some people were unsure of where they stand. I just read Sifu Freitag’s post and I couldn’t agree more. It’s been a struggle to build the demo due to injuries and some team members work schedules. You start to build and then it changes for some reason or another. My goal is to have everyone on the demo team by July 1st. Will that happen? It depends on all of us to make it happen. We all need to practice and continue to improve our forms. For this reason, I do need as many people as possible to show up on Friday’s and Saturday’s so we can continue to grow and evolve the demo. I too am not a fan of having more practices besides those two but as far as this Saturday’s demo goes, we are still a long ways away from a presentable demo. Therefore, we need to practice on Thursday as this gives us one more day to get ready. If you are not there on Thursday, that’s okay as we can still see where you are and fit you in during the normal practices (if you are ready). I hope you guys understand what I’m saying and where I hope we can go with this. Sifu Lindstrom

Pandamonium

I am writing this while taking a small break from the awesomeness (spelling??) that is Pandamonium. I have been a part of this for 5 plus years but for some reason this year, I finally got it. By got it, I mean a form for my weapon for the I Ho Chuan. In all my years of doing this I have never taken full advantage of the situation. This year has been a struggle for me for two very different reasons and therefore I am way behind where I should be. Today has presented me with an opportinity that I have never taken advantage of until now. It has given me the opportunity to develop my own form and now I can continue to perfect it and modify it. I had some basic moves but no real plan or flow between them. If I not been here and actually focused on this, I may have been a month, two months or I might not have ever got to a working form. Thank you Pandamonium. Sifu Lindstrom

What is Internet

I apologize for posting this late but we have had no internet for the last week. You would think that being a popular tourist location that wouldn't happen. Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know that things are well but I am looking forward to returning. I will be back for classes on Wednesday.

Vacation

I am leaving on vacation tonight and I have mixed feelings about it. The demo is coming along nicely but there are some things I would like to adjust. I am leaving it with Sifu Ryback and Sifu Playter to continue on with and I am confident in their abilities it just would have been nice to be able to be a part of it from start to finish. I will see you all in 2 weeks.

Still Going

I am still working through my issues but it is getting better. The one thing that I have realized in all of this is how important family is. I have been neglecting my family for a while now and it is going to take some time to mend that. My wife is the most amazing person that I know and I must focus on showing her that and everything else is secondary to that. Another thing that is helpful is coming to the Kwoon. Just having the connection with everyone is awesome. Thanks everyone.

?? What

I should not have left my blog the way I did last time as there was a lot of questions after. I cannot go into details but there has been a lot of things going on outside of Kung Fu lately. These have affected my home life and my Kung Fu life extremely negatively. I have had a discussion with Sifu Brinker recently and i hope to start getting things back on track. It may take a few days or weeks or maybe longer but I will still be here for my classes (both teaching and participating) as that is the one thing that has kept me connected (especially San Shou). See you on the mats. Sifu Lindstrom

I Quit

This was probably a poor choice for a blog title considering the date. First off, I am not quitting the team. I am referring to my work. I have been under a lot of stress at work lately and it has been affecting my home life and my Kung Fu life. Today I have decided to make changes which will increase my workload but will decrease my stress load. FYI, writing this from a hotel room in Fort McMurray. Awesome hey!

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.

Today's 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.

Almost Forgot

I almost forgot to blog today hence me writing this an the Kwoon. I have 3 topics that I would like to discuss if my next threee blogs. I will keep this short and just list them here. 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 will try and cover these all next week. PS: Must remember to transfer this to theteam blog as well. Sifu Lindstrom

???

I could not think of a title so am going with the big ?! This is appropriate as I need to decide on a couple of things in the near future. I am not going to dwell on what specifically but I believe I have used up all excuses and need to move forward. Sometimes I feel like the automatic vacuums that just move until they bump into something and then change course except that one time when they get stuck and just keep bumping into the same obstacle over and over and over a………….

You Must Read This

Did the title work? Just checking. Seeing if anyone is out there to read my ramblings. As most of you are aware, I have a shoulder injury that has hampered my training lately. It has had issues for years now but at the beginning of December it became much worse. I have done what I can to let it heal and it was starting to get better but it is now much worse. I am not sure why but now the frustration level is even higher now. This is not so much a blog as it is more if a way to vent. It feels like someone is pulling on your arm to the point it is coming out of the socket. Arrrrrgh!!! Okay I'm done. On a positive the showers are almost complete (finally) and should be complete after tomorrow. It is nice to get the new team involved early but unfortunately there are still lots that don't. I am not sure why but it does not help the team spirit when there is already resentment beginning to creep in because it mostly the same people showing up again and again. I know this probably won't influence your decision but remember that we are all on the team and must act like one if any of us are to succeed. FYI out if a team of 26 only 10 made it out to the renovations last weekend and after tomorrow you will not get another chance until the lady week of August. I'm out.

Friday is the 14th!!!!

It will be the First Official class this Friday for the Year of the Horse and I will not be there. Is it something that cannot be avoided like not being in the country? No. It is for the simple fact that it is Valentine’s Day and after the past year, I have realized that I need to focus more time on my personal life. It may seem selfish and there are no unexcused absences but this is very important to my wife and therefore important to me. I apologize to my teammates for this but I will see you all on Saturday.

End of the Year

Being part of the I Ho Chuan team this last year was an emotional rollercoaster. It started off well and had some definite highs and lows along the way but it did not end how I had planned or hoped. The last 2 months have been a definite low due to the fact I was very limited in what I could do. I think I lost part of the feeling of being on the team as I was not in the demo or part of the dragon/lion dance. It can be frustrating and lonely being on the outside trying to get back in with someone holding the door closed on the inside. Without my teammates I would have stayed outside but they helped open the door for me and that is what the team is for. Thank you guys and with the start of a new year the motivation is back but I need to temper that so I can first recover fully. See you all at the Kwoon. Sifu Lindstrom

Lion Dance Post 2

Lion Dance Post 2 It has been inspiring to see the new lion dance from the outside. I am able to see the dance for what it should be and how it looks as a whole. I have only seen it from the viewpoint of the lion or on video which does not give you the whole picture. Everyone is doing really well and it gets better every time. I am looking forward to the day I can once again participate but for now will encourage and support.