Family is Kung Fu

I have been spending a lot of time lately reading everyone's blogs and I realised that many of us have had the same injuries or struggles in the past or are currently experiencing them. Its amazing that we live such different lives away from the Kwoon yet we all have had such similar feelings and experiences in our lives. When you are a member of the I Ho Chuan team, you are a member of a family. Even if you do not get to see that family that much or you will feel like an outsider and don't know if you should come back, I can tell you that that is not true. We have all struggled from time to time and have been away for long stretches (some longer than others) but speaking from experience, you will always be welcome. This got me thinking as to why this is. For me, I think its because we all share this common activity that has become a large part of our lives and helped to make us the person who we have become. When somebody is away for so long, it feels like a part of something is missing. Its hard to explain the feeling but I believe anyone on the I Ho Chuan knows what I am talking about. However, when that person is back, the feeling goes away. This blog is not directed at any person but more as to how I have felt in the past and what it felt like when I came back. My job will take me away again in the future with no idea of when or for how long but i have learned a lot in this past year and the support of the team will make it much easier to come back through those doors. Kung Fu has done some great things for me and I hope that anyone out there that doesn't know if they can come back or if they should come back, I am telling you, you can come back. You are part of something special and will always be welcome.

The Ying and the Yang

I have seen some people reflecting on their blogs and commenting on how negative they feel they are. I know I have felt that way about my own before as well. I believe this is due to the fact that when we evaluate ourselves, we always know we can do better. No matter what the outside world sees, our internal view is a lot different. It can be tough to see positives when you have had a year in the I Ho Chuan that has not gone as you had planned. I emailed Sifu Brinker a couple of weeks ago to discuss with him being a part of next years team and what my goals were to finish this year on a positive. I decide that to have a successful year next year, I needed to start making change now. Is it what I originally set out to do last January? Short answer is no. When I look back at what has transpired this year and where I am not, its hard not to be negative especially when trying to share it. I know what I should have done and definitely know what things I could have done to make this year more of a success. The point of this is to know that being critical of yourself is an important tool in bettering yourself. So when I blog going forward, there will still be some negative content but I will also include positive content as well. Life is about balance and to be successful you need to be able to use the negative as a way of improving yourself so you can continue to grow as a martial artist and as a person.