Back in Time

I was able to finish my project early this week and will be back home late tonight. I an happy it worked out because I have been really focused on the lion dance and did not want to miss a practice We made some good progress the last practice and want I to keep the momentum going.

I have also joined the team next year as I feel it will help me once again while I am travelling for work. I am still working on my goals as I need to find ones that will best serve me and my family. I am close and I hope to finalize them in the next couple of days.

The wifi is down so I am doing this on my phone but I will post a numbers update soon.

The Lion Dance

I have to admit that this is my favorite time of year because it is Lion Dance prep time for the Chinese New Years Banquet. I have performed Lion Dances in the banquet a few times and I have also helped choreograph them. Last year was a year where I was heavily involved in the choreography. This year, I have a plan for the dance and am hoping we as a team can pull it off.

The plan is very intricate and involves a lot of personality and emotions and I am confident that the dancers will see the vision. I must admit, I do miss performing in the dances personally as it was a big part of my training and it has had a huge impact on who I am as a martial artist. The truth is though, the new (some are not so new but new compared to myself) dancers we have are inspiring to me and they have the same passion that I have so they have should be the ones perfoming.

Anyway, there is a lot of work to do and a lot of questions that I need to get clarification on but that is something that I look forward to working through as this is a new challenge for me that will only help me as I progress in m y training.

Live In Person

I was finally able to attend my first live I Ho Chuan class last week for the first time in a few months. Of course, it was right in time to start doing forms for the Chinese New Years banquet and I was nervous. I have not been able to keep up with my forms that much with my work schedule and I contemplated not going and just saying I wasn't ready yet. That would have been my path in the past but not this year. I just went for it to see more for myself where I am at.

I can say that my form needs a lot of work but I already knew that but now I know what to focus on for the Demo. The best thing I have done for myself this year so far was to just do it

21,500 Pushups

21,500 Situps

175 Spear Form

135 Horse Bench Form

700 Sparring Rounds

2,400 Kilometers

1,058 Acts of Kindness

Commitment

I am having a tough time trying to find enough time to do everything I need to do. When you are away from home for work, the things at home don't just go away. Your time to get them done in just decreases. This has led me to missing some classes and commitments to other things.

I am hoping to catch up on a few things soon which should allow me to be more reliable and consistent.

Home

I am heading home today and it looks like I will be around for at least a couple of weeks. I may have one more trip towards the end of the month for a couple weeks but my plan after that is to be home until the new year.

I know I have a lot of things that I have fallen behind on but I am trying not to stress too much. I plan on doing as much as I can when I can and as long as I am doing that, I know I will make progress.

Hopefully I will be back at the Kwoon tomorrow. I will post a numbers update later tonight when I am home.

Can't Think of A Fitting Title

This has been an exceptionally crazy year so far for me. Between the being away for work and the things with my mom, I feel like I have forgotten what the Kwoon even looks like at this point. The last time I was there was August 10th for open traininmg and that was my only time there since July 17th. I just now ralized that it has been over 2 months since I have attended any classe. With the limited internet and the long days (typically finishing around 8), I have not even been able to attend online.

The one thing I had before was the ability to attend online and that helped me stay connected with the Kwoon and the students. Now I don't know what anyone is working on or where they are at in their training. I am sure it is the same for everyone wondering about where I am at. I can say that some things are okay still and others are not. I have been extremely frustrated at points this year but I have reminded myself on quite a few occasions that I need to do what I can, when I can. This is my 100% at this stage on my journey and It will be a different 100% tomorrow.

I am hoping to be back sometime next week at least for a couple of weeks. I do still have some personal things to deal with though but I am planning to attend as much as I can.

20,100 Pushups

20,100 Situps

75 Spear Form

85 Horse Bench Form

500 Sparring Rounds

1,500 Kilometers

935 Acts of Kindness

Out of Touch

Once again my work trip has been extended to the 9th and possibly to the 16th. This along with the limited internet that does not allow me to attend online is leading to feeling so out of touch. I went from being at the Kwoon 4 nights a week to maybe 4 nights a month.

I am still working on my personal goals and core requirements as much as posible. My big focus is still the grappling and Sanda components and I am fairly happy with where they are at but it is tough to test by yourself. Anyway, hopefully I will be back next week but if not the week after.

Still Away

I am still up North working but am switching locations today so actually have internet for a few hours. Things have been very busy with long days and I have not had a lot of time for much else. I am scheduled to be home September 3rd but hopefully the new location will have better service so I can stay a bit more in touch. Anyway off to catch the next plane.

Back for A Second

I will be getting back home today but it will be for only a brief period as I head out again on the 7th. My time home will be spent checking in on my mom and trying to complete a couple projects at home. I am beginning to feel like life is starting to get too busy and I don,t have nearly enough time to do what I need too.

I am trying to remain calm and focus on my breathing as it is usually focusing on the simple things that helps. I only have 2 more projects on the schedule this year and that also helps. This will take me to the end of September however and there could be more added yet. This is when the panic starts to creep in again a little bit.

I am breathing in, I am breathing out....

14,100 Pushups

14,100 Situps

65 Spear Form

55 Horse Bench Form

460 Sparring Rounds

950 Kilometers

615 Acts of Kindness

Distracted

I must apoligize as I missed my blog last week. It has been a very hectic schedule with lots of travel and when I was home, my mom was in the hospital so I spent a lot of time there and my mind was focused mostly on that.

After a short few days home, I was back up north on another project which will take me up to August 3rd. I will then be home for only 4 days before I have to leave again. With that being said, I may not make it to the Kwoon on my next days home. Needless to say my training is not where I want it to be and I am doing the best I can with my situation.

Greenland

As many of you are aware, I am in Greenland currently for work. Their are quite a few similarities between the Canadian artic and here but there are also quite a few differences.

Similarities

1) Wildlife - Artic Hares, Muskox, Polar Bears, Foxes.

2) Tundra - Similar plants and rocky terrain (in non mountain areas).

3) Remoteness of communities - most here are fly in or accessed by boats.

Differences

1) Icebergs - We do not get any icebergs in the Western Canadian artic.

2) Mountains - Greenland is pretty much entirely mountains with huge glaciers that go right to the ocean (hence the icebergs).

3) Snow - Where we are at the snow has only melted about 15 km's from the ocean. The interior of Greenland is still completely covered in Snow.

4) Communities - The communities here look like the ones you see pictures of from Atlantic Canada with their bright colors and all neatly lined up.

There are so many more things but I just wanted to share some of the highlites. We were supposed to leave from Iceland last night but we got fogged in (just like in Northern Canada). We are scheduled to fly out today. I am supposed to be flying home on or around the 10th so hopefully I will be back next week before I leave again on the 20th for another 2 weeks.

12,200 Pushups

12,200 Situps

65 Spear Form

55 Horse Bench Form

450 Sparring Rounds

750 Kilometers

545 Acts of Kindness

The Heat

I once again must apoligize for my lack of connection. My days are a typicallly 12 hours with an hour travel each way making them quite long so I am unable to attend any Zoom classes. As more time passes, the more I start to forget what day it even is.Some of my numbers are slipping donwn because of this but otheres are getting a huge boost so I am just focusing on doing what I can.

We are also in the middle of a heat wave which is really strange for the artic. We have had close to 30 degree weather for most of my time here and we are expected to break 30 on Friday and Saturday which makes the project that more exhaustive.

Here is a quick summary of what is coming up for me. I am driving from here early Sunday morning to Yellowknife and then catching a plane Sunday afternoon to Calgary via Vancouver. I get in at midnight and then catch a plane to Iceland Sunday evening arriving at 2 am our time (8 am local). From there I will charter to greenland and then jump on a helicopter to fly to the mine site. Needless to say with the 6 hour time difference, i once again will be absent from classes.

I have to admit this is starting to affect my training more than I hoped it would as I find without being able to attend classes even virtually, the connection starts to get lost. Once the connection is lost, the motivation starts to wane. I had a slip this week but it may have been due to being in the heat for 12 hours. This is still no excuse and I have to be better and stay focused on my goals.

11,600 Pushups

11,600 Situps

65 Spear Form

55 Horse Bench Form

450 Sparring Rounds

670 Kilometers

501 Acts of Kindness

I have been mentally going through my forms but without actually doing them, i am not counting them for my own reasons.

No Connection

It has been quite the time away this time. The place we are staying has no WiFi and the cell signal is very spotty so I have been completely removed. I was able to get a strong enough signal tonight to actually access the internet enough to post at least something.

My work scedule has been extended so I am now moving to a different community on Monday. It will still be 14 hour days so I will still be disconnected from the Kwoon. I will be there until the 30th and I then travel to Greenland for 10 days. This will be my first international trip for work ever so I an looking forward to it. The plan is to be home around the 10th of July before I leave again on the 19th.

Needless to say my numbers are suffering lately and I am falling behind on quite a few requirements. This again was not unexpected and I know there are things I can do better on so I am refocussing and implementing s plan to change this.I have slso began to gocus on my personal requirements and have made done good progress there.

That is it gor now and hopefully this makes it onto WhatsApp.

At Work Again

Once again I am away for work with long days and limited access to internet so you probably won't even see me online for a while. I am currently scheduled to be gone until July 3rd so this will be a long stretch. I will post a numbers update within a day or so.

Injury

I strained my neck a few days ago and it has really hindered my progress. It is getting better and I feel I'm about 75% recovered. This along with the long days has put a damper on some of my numbers this past week but progress was still made.

There is a chance that I may be back late Friday night which would mean I could be there for the Tiger Challenge. I will not be able to confirm this until later tomorrow but fingers crossed as it would be nice to be there. Regardless, I will be home on Sunday at the latest but will be leaving again on the 1st so will miss Farmer's Days and the parade. I have a lot scheduled for my short time at home but I will try to make it to the Kwoon as much as I can.

10,600 Pushups

10,600 Situps

65 Spear Form

50 Horse Bench Form

420 Sparring Rounds

412 Acts of Kindness

Life up North

I apoligize for being so disconnected this week but my days on this project are typically 15 to 16 hours with travel time. I typically leave at 6 in the morning and do not get back until 9 at night. This does not leave a lot of time for anything besides eating and sleeping. On top of this, the hotel we are at offers WiFi but you have to buy it and it is not cheap. This would make logging into class difficult even if I could.

Needless to say, all my requirements are taking a hit this week but some things I am mangaging to still do.

10,300 Pushups

10,300 Situps

65 Spear Form

50 Horse Bench Form

420 Sparring Rounds

390 Acts of Kindness

Busy Busy

This has been an extremely busy work week for me as I had quite a few projects in Edmonton that went quite late. This unfortunately meant I had to miss class last night and I do not like that. I always get a lot out of them and they are also a lot of fun.

On the work front note, I will be leaving on Sunday and will be back on May 27th at the earliest. I will then leave again on June 3rd and be back around the 20th. During this time I will likely not be able to attend many classes as it is about an hours travel each day to site and then an hour back. This is going to makecstaying connected difficult but I will try my best.

I am writing this on my phone so hopefully it works. I will post a numbers update tonight or tomorrow as well.

Disconnection

The current site I am at has no internet connection unless I am at the main office or in the lunch room. On top of this, the dorm rooms also do not have any tv's. This means that I am totally unconnected except for in the mornings while at breakfast and in the evenings during dinner. I will not be able to attend any classes online but will try to keep up as much as possible on WhatsApp.

My goal during this timeperiod is to try and focus on the grappling sequences and the Sanda aspect of Kung Fu. It is not ideal conditions but I have quite a few things I can work on wothout needing to be connected.

I was able to post this as I drove back to the main camp and sat outside the building so I had enough signal to send it

8,900 Pushups

8,900 Situps

48 Spear Form

42 Horse Bench Form

375 Sparring Rounds

320 Acts of Kindness

Blogging

There has been a lot of posts about blogging since the meeting Thursday and I wanted to explain where I am at on this.

In the past, I was never very great at this requirement. I do see the value in it as it allows me to evaluate where I am at currently and it is a record of where I was in the past. I also know it also allows others to see where I am at because I read everyone's blogs so I know where they are at.

So why did I not do it consistently? This was simply because I did not make it a priority and it usually fell by the wayside. Another reason that I didn't do it is because I always wanted to write something that was going to be inspiring for others to read. That is not how my mind works though as the thoughts in my head never come out the same when I try to write them down. I usually have a great idea (in my mind anyway) but I can never seem to convey the thought accurately. Another issue is I never blog about my thought soon enough and by the time I try, it is too late and the point I wanted to make is blurry or completely gone.

This year, I am making blogging a priority. I am not quite where I want to be yet, but it is getting closer.

8,400 Pushups

8,400 Situps

41 Spear Form

38 Horse Bench Form

365 Sparring Rounds

302 Acts of Kindness

Missing Opportunities

I will be missing out on a couple of opportunities coming up due to work and I wish I could participate in both. The first one will be the Pitch-In-Project this Saturday and the other one will be the Tiger Challenge in May.I have been able to participate in both of these in the past and they have been a great experiences for me.

The Pitch-In-Project is a great way to spend some time outside of the Kwoon getting to know your training mates on a more personal level. It will also allow you to interact with some people you may not know from SRKF.

I know a lot of pepele get nervous when it comes to competeing but nothing but good things come from it. The best part is it is only for SRKF students and you will be cheered on the entire time. I wish I could be here for it but I am scheduled to leave May 16th and wont be back until early June. I encourage you all to sign up as you will not regret it.

7,800 Pushups

7,800 Situps

35 Spear Form

35 Horse Bench Form

350 Sparring Rounds

280 Acts of Kindness

Numbers Update

This is just a quick numbers update.

5,600 Pushups

5,600 Situps

15 Spear Form

15 Horse Bench Form

150 Sparring Rounds

210 Acts of Kindness

I have made some good progress with one of my personal requirements and it should be cpmpleted within the next month or so. I really need to start focussing on my wepon forms however as they are way behind.

In The North

I found out late Monday that I had to go back up to the Yukon for work again. I also found out that I was leaving on Tuesday. There was not a lot of time to prepare so it was a hectic day yesterday. I am supposed to fly out on Sunday so hopefully I will be at the Kwoon next week.

Better Late

My post this week is a little late as I have been travelling a lot in the Yukon since Sunday afternoon. I had just finished one project late Sunday and then had to travel 3.5 hours to another site for Monday morning. Last night was another late night and although I was able to view classes, I had to do it while travelling. These are just excuses and I probably could have found the time to blog, but I didn't and that was my choice. That is on me and I own it.

I am relieved as tomorrow morning I am finally heading home. However, I will not be back into Edmonton until 8:00pm so I will miss all classes tomorrow. There is also a good chance I will not be there Thursday as well as I might be heading to Calgary that day. Next week is spring break hence the Kwoon will be closed. This means we will be 7 weeks into the Year of the Dragon and I will have made it to the Kwoon once so far.

I could easily start to get frustrated like I have in the past when I have been away so much, but I knew this was coming. I have to keep that in mind otherwise it will be a frustrating year if I focus on this and not on why I joined the team. My goal remains to do what I can, when I can and just put in as much effort as I can.

4,200 Pushups

4,200 Situps

5 Spear Form

5 Horse Bench Form

100 Sparring Rounds

270 Km's

140 Acts of Kindness

Mental Training

The current site I am at has no facilities for me to use. I basically have my room which is basically a hallway with a bed on one side. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed with this but there is not much I can do about it. So my focus has been on the mental side of my training which has been reviewing the grappling techniques and applications and trying to put them together in a sequence that makes sense and flows together well.

I figured I would let all of you know what I do for work and why I am away so much. I travel to sites (active mines, remote communities, abondonesd sites, etc.) which generate or have generated hazardous waste (oil, fuels, acids, batteries, toxics, compressed gases, etc.). Once onsite, I inventory the waste, sort into similar materials or disposal locations, label, arrange transport, supervize loading and then complete all documentation. Typically I will have 1 or 2 people under me depending on the size of the job. Most of this work occurs in The Northwest Territories or the Yukon and involves a lot of places that are fly in only. The farthest I have been is Sachs Harbour on Banks Island and Ulukhaktok on Victoria Island. That may be the furthest North Kung Fu has been practiced.

3,200 Pushups

3,200 Situps

5 Spear Form

5 Horse Bench Form

100 Sparring Rounds

220 Km's

105 Acts of Kindness

Travel With A Plan

I am flying out shortly to Whitehorse and I am then driving to an abandoned mine site about 3 hours north of Whitehorse. I am unsure about internet capabilities while I am away so you may or may not see me for the next couple of weeks.

Even though I have no idea what facilities they may have, I have a plan to start working specifically on one of my personal requirements (a grappling form). My vision is for it to be a two person form that will incorporate applications that flow together and give both partners different aspects to work on. I am also going to be working on another project which I am extremely excited about and hopefully it will come together in the next 2 to 3 months.

I am trying to use differnt situations this year to focus on different aspects of my training. I have only been to one class so far this year so I am hoping my plan works.

Early Struggles

We are two weeks in to the Year of the Dragon and so far it has not been smooth sailing. I am away for work right now and I typically work 12 to 14 hour days everyday until the project is done. On top of this, I am staying in a camp that has limited facilities and not a limited space. My struggle is finding space and/or time to do anything right now. I am still able to do most of the core requirements but not anything with my weapons or a couple of my personal requirements. I knew this going into this year and so it is not a suprise to me.

I also found out that next week I may be there only Tuesday and Thursday possibly and then I will be gone again for at least two weeks. That will give me limited time to get some quality practice time in but I plan to take full advantage of it. I know specifically what I will be working on and when I plan to do it.

Although I am not able to be there in person, I will continue to be there online whenever I am able to. I have also been reading everyones blogs to help stay connected with the team. Hopefully I will see some of you next weeek and if not then in two to three (or maybe four) weeks after that.

Why Join

I was looking at my work schedule for this coming year and it is going to be very busy. I will be start with the GNWT project on May 16th and it will continue into mid to late October. With this schedule I will be gone for 2 to 3 weeks at a time and home for one or two in between. Before this, I will have some projects in Whitehorse, Yellowknife and a couple others including possibly Greenland.

With all this in front of me, I decided this was a good year to join the I Ho Chuan team. Why would I do that? That is a very good question and one that I found really easy to answer. One of my most successful years on the team was when I was away for work a lot during Covid. It kept me engaged and focused on my goals so I figured with another busy year coming up, this will be a great way to stay engaged and help keep me on the right path.

You may not see me a lot in the next few months but I will try to be online as much as possible. This may be hit or miss as well as some of the places I go, do not have a very stable internet connection. However, being a part of the team will allow me to focus on my journey wherever I happen to be.

My weapon choice this year is the Chinese Horse Bench which will be interesting to practice while away and I am also going to work on a spear form from 2016 again.