Preparing for Today, Tomorrow, Next week, and Next Year.

Its been a while since I have posted but today is a good day to start again I feel. This past year has been what I would call a down year compared to last year. I have done well on a lot of my requirements but a couple have slipped and thus I don't feel the same excitement as I did last year. I also don't feel that sense of accomplishment and I have to admit I miss it.

So what's different this year? I can't specifically say it was this and this but more a factor of multiple things which has led me to where I am at. This led me to wane on what my requirements for next year should be and I didn't get mine in until the last day. I know, shame on me but I wasn't really thinking about them with the proper intent behind them.

What changed for me, was I read my "speech" from the New Years Banquet to remind we why I am doing this and it got me excited for not just this year but next year as well. this helped me set my personal goals as I picked ones that I felt spoke to me. I am posting my personal goals for next year and why why I chose them so you all can hold me accountable to them.


1) Spend 365 hour talking to family with no electronics or background noise. I find myself distracted sometimes and then the conversation gets lost so this is an area I need to improve in.

2) Comment on every journal that is posted. I did this last year and it helped me feel more connected with the team and also motivated me to journal regularly as well.

3) Complete an 8 week workout routine every 3 months for a total of 4 in the year. I have done this this year and it helps me with my Kung Fu conditioning. The start dates will be March 1, June 1, September 1 and December 1.

4) Read 12 books. I spend to much time on my phone, computer or tv and need to disconnect more.

Gratitude

This post is in response to Sifu Brinker's post from last week. I want to thank him for the kind words and to say I agree with him 100%. Not for what I did as I think everyone that helped with the renos deserves the same credit as I do because it was a team effort. I agree that the renos and lion dancing have improved my Kung Fu and they continue to improve my Kung Fu to this day. I would also like to thank Sifu Rybak as without some not so gentle prodding from her, who knows how long I would have missed out on the benefits of lion dancing. Thank you both and thank you to the entire SRKF family.

Bob the Builder

So after 20 years of working for someone, I had to make a decision that was not an easy one to make. The company I was working for was great, but it was a tough go to get customers to sign on as they are relatively new and this industry is based on past service. I have had some success, but not quite enough and a decision had to be made. I made the decision to become a consultant and now work for myself. I still have a relationship with them and I receive a portion of the profits for all business I bring them.

The nice thing about this, is I am free to do other things and one of those things that I love to do is build things. So what I am going to do is start building small structures and sell them in my spare time. This will include doghouses, bus shelters, playhouses, sheds and gazebos. I find working with wood very relaxing and calming so why not do it. There are a lot of companies and people out there who do this already but I am not looking at this as my main source of income but as a hobby that I can maybe turn into some extra money.

Getting back to working for yourself. It is a scary but exciting time as there is no one to report into but yourself and your family. I need to motivate myself because there is no one to tell me what I need to do. My wife is very nervous right now and I cant blame her as this is a situation neither one of us have ever been in before.

Anyway, that's what's been going on with me this last little while, wish me luck.

In Control.

I find it funny how I talk to myself a lot more these days. There is a lot more self doubt and the negativity that creeps in. This is then followed up by me calming myself down by saying all I can do is put my best effort into what I do and there is nothing else I can do. I cant control what other people think or do but I can hopefully influence them. My actions can influence them either positively or negatively but that is on me and me alone.

It seems to be a constant theme with me these past few months, but the uncertainty of your work situation tends to have that affect on you as anyone who has gone through this will know. There are not many things guaranteed in life and I am learning to recognize that. I am not able to completely block them out and I don't think I want to as it tends to keep me grounded but I am getting better and calming myself down and being able to focus on things that I can control.

Old Friend

Today was a good day. Most days for me have been good this last while as I have changed my mindset and am now trying to not worry as much about life and what it has thrown at me this last while. I still have my health, I still have my family and I still have Kung Fu.

Recently, I have been spending more time trying to go to some of the other classes as I have really enjoyed the new grappling aspect of our training that has been introduced and I get excited when we are able to pass on this knowledge to the students. this has also made things much better for me.

The reason today was exceptional, is I got the chance to meet up with Ian repay today after morning Kung Fu. Ian was a student of mine but has been gone for almost three years now. It was nice to be able to sit down and just see how he was doing and what the future for him holds. Through Kung Fu, we built a friendship and even though I have not seen him for over a year, it was like we talked every week.

This has made today a great and I hope we can get together more than once a year in the future.

Blog and Away.

I have been slightly out of touch these past few weeks as it has been a busy time with house problems and with work pressures so I am once again behind on not only blogging but on reading blogs. I may be behind, but I am still planning on reading everyone's blog to see what they have been going through and where they are at. I hope to become more consistent with this now so I can keep up to date.

I feel like I need to explain missing the last mandatory class. My wife's aunt passed away on the Wednesday unexpectedly. They live in Montreal/Australia so do not see them a lot but it was still shocking. The sad part about that is she had lost her uncle (Arizona)to cancer not even three weeks before that. It has been a tough time for her and I felt I needed to be at home hence my absence.

Panic, Not Quite but Close

I have been feeling some pressure at home and at work this last month and a bit.

As many of you are aware, I started working for a new company on February 1st. This company is a hazardous waste recycling and disposal company on a 6 month trial basis. We deal with everything from used oil, glycol, rags to paint, acids and toxics. The biggest problem is trying to get in the door with a company. You don't have a contact name, or they like the people who are servicing them already, or if you do find the person to contact, they often wont return your call. It is quite different moving from a large well established national company of over 1,500 employees to one that has 20. I just need to keep at it is all and hope some things start to work out.

At home we woke up to a flooding basement on Monday morning. So with no idea of what to do and many hours of sucking up water with shop-vacs, we dug up the corner of our house to see if we could locate our weeping tile and hopefully where it drained to. We located it and found it broken where it connects to the drain and also discovered the drain was frozen. So after a couple of thousand dollars, we have the drain cleared but still have to fix the pipe connection.

Anyway, this has kept me quite busy and distracted and I have had to miss a couple of classes this past week. I hope things settle down over the next couple weeks and things start rolling along

Sparring Lesson

I have been going to the Tuesday free sparring session since it started and have used this to work on specific things with my sparring. The first couple sessions were specifically on a couple of techniques and the last three have been on staying in a right lead and working on in close fighting.

What I learned is that in right lead I tend to keep my left guard low and I turn away slightly. What that means is I am more exposed and I limit my striking. This past Tuesday I tried to focus on staying square and keeping both guards up. It felt a little awkward at first but by the end it was feeling more comfortable.

With the guards up, I was able to work on in close fighting more.

I definitely got hit a lot but it was all controlled and is how I learned about my guard being slightly to low. Hopefully we can come up with a way to ensure that more people can get in on this awesome opportunity that we had.

Catching Up

I have been focused on catching up with peoples blogs a couple of days this past week. I didn't realize that I was over a month behind on a lot of them. It is important to stay up with how the team is doing but it has also given me some great insight. In just a month, you can start to see the change in someone because it is right there in front of you. Sometimes it is hard to see so it is good idea to go back and read their old blogs to see how far they have come. just something that I have observed while trying to get back to the present.

Time Is Limited

I have been extremely busy at work since I started. I am trying to build a customer base from the ground up and it has been a struggle so far. Most people I know are happy with their service and want to stay with the same company. Any new company you want to talk to has its on challenges. You can either send an email to their general email or call them and try to get to the person you need to talk to but so far its been a lot of we will pass your information on.

I have had some success but its not going as well as I had hoped but I am staying positive and continuing to work away. Hopefully things will pick up soon and maybe then I can find some more time to do other things again.

Journals

Last year one of my the things I tried to do was read everyone's journal and to make a comment on it. It was not one of my personal requirements but something that I felt I needed to do. In previous years I had been guilty of not only not blogging but also not reading everyone else's blogs. I felt disconnected and not part of the team.

I started reading blogs consistently just before the year of the monkey started. What a great way to see where everyone is at and what their struggles and success's are. From there I decided to comment so that they knew I had actually read it.

Sometimes it's difficult to make a comment but I always do and shall continue to do this year. I'm a little behind so far but I will be reading all your blogs soon.

The most awesome lion/dragon dance ever

This was not what I was going to write about but after watching the video at last nights I Ho Chuan of our dance from the banquet I changed my blog. That was an amazing dance I felt and seeing it just confirmed it for me. Considering that we did not have a dance until January, that was a true representation of what an amazing team we have. Great job everyone and I wonder what this years will hold.

What is the I Ho chuan

I figured I would share my speech from the banquet as a windup to the year of the monkey.


What is the I Ho Chuan

• Silent River Kung Fu's I Ho Chuan is a year-long mentorship program based upon the Ultimate Black Belt Test - designed by Tom Callos of California.

There are general requirements set by Silent River Kung Fu's Black Belt Examination Board and personal requirements set by yourself.

General I Ho Chuan Requirements
• No quitting.
• Log 50,000 pushups and 50,000 situps.
• Master two forms with a minimum of 1000 repetitions one of which is a weapon form.
• Log 1000 rounds of sparring.
• 1609 kilometers running/walking/biking/rollerblading or equivalent. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”
• Record 1000 Acts of Kindness.
• Mend a relationship.
• Maintain a public journal that is updated at least once a week.
• Maintain an online presence.
• Qualify for and perform in at least three public performances.
• Learn to Lion Dance.
• Compete in the Tiger Challenge.
• Zero unexcused absences from I Ho Chuan classes or meetings.
• Excel with your core class curriculum.
• Organize, lead, and participate in important SRKF projects.
• Memorize and recite Mastery by Stuart Emery.

As a team you will:

• Organize and lead SRKF’s Adopt-A-Driveway Program.
• Organize and lead SRKF’s Annual Kwoon Maintenance Project.
• Organize and lead the school to raise $20,000 for SRBF’s Pandamonium fundraiser.
• Be active participants in all school projects and initiatives.
• Complete a public four-board break. (Sihings)
• Create five personal applications. (Sihings)
• Complete grading day. (Sifus & Sihings)
• Qualify to teach at the forms seminar. (Sifus)
• Set your personal requirements.

Everyone’s journey is different. hence the need for personal requirements.. These personal requirements should be something that you are passionate about, something that will help you achieve mastery and something that will push your personal boundaries.

These are the requirements but what does being a member of the I Ho Chuan do for you. For every person it is different but this year I finally figured out what it has done for me.

1. The physical benefits are the easiest to see. This year I lost some weight and improved my physical conditioning. How did this happen? By just doing the physical requirements, they motivated me to push harder and take that next step.

2. It not only improves your life but the lives of the people around you. thousand acts of kindness makes you aware of the people around you and how your actions can affect them. This has made me more aware of how any action, no matter how small can have a monumental effect on another person.
3. My kung Fu knowledge and skill has improved. By doing over 1000 reps of 2 forms, you are able to fix the small things and improve your eye for detail.

4. It is a process and takes time to start showing benefits. Some things come more quickly but you are building habits that make you a better martial artist and a better person. This is my fourth year in a row being on the team and my fifth year overall. I have struggled with the process in the first 3 years but I was making changes and this year I finally was able to see those changes.

For the first few years of my training at Silent River Kung Fu I was just in Kung Fu to improve my physical condition, but something changed in my mindset this last year. I met with Sifu Brinker about a month ago to discuss grading for my second degree and we also discussed my struggles in the past and what made this year different. It was at that point the words to describe what was different came to me. I was someone who was just doing Kung Fu and now I am someone who is actually in Kung Fu. The reason for this change has been having a successful year in the I Ho Chuan. When you are surrounded by like minded people with the goal of improving themselves and the world around them, it makes it an easier transition and a lot more fun.

The Time is Now.

Our banquet is tomorrow and I have been thinking a lot about what has transpired this year. It has been a year with a lot of ups and downs but mostly ups.

I was going to talk about what the I Ho Chuan is about and what it has done for me but I will wait until after the banquet for this to truly put the year in perspective.

Time to enjoy the moment and prepare for tomorrow and beyond.

Bad Timing

Injuries always seem to show at the worst time. Last Thursday, I pulled a muscle in my back. What a horrible time to happen with the demo and lion dance practices both happening that night. I took it fairly easy and felt a little worse after but not as bad as I thought.

Then Saturday came and after Lion Dance practice it was way worse. From there, we had our meeting and sitting around it started to tighten up quite a bit. Right after the meeting, I had my grading but beard down and pushed through.

This blog started about injuries but ended by being appreciative of what Kung Fu has done for me and for the people who have helped me along my journey. Thank you all.

Excitement is building.

Our Chinese New Years banquet is coming up fast. This time of year the nerves start to get frazzled. There is the demo to practice and the Lion/ Dragon dance as well.

We just started building the lion dance and we only have 2 Saturdays to go so it should be some exciting times coming. The demo is mostly there, but again there are things to fix and areas we can improve on.

So many things and yet my favourite time of the year. We are completing our year in the I Ho Chuan and it feels great. The year has had many ups and downs but now is the time to focus on what you have done and all that you have accomplished. Nervous for the 28th but can't wait for it to be here.