On Tuesday we went to Brookwood school in Spruce Grove to perform a lion dance for the kindergarten students. As we were waiting to start there were some children in the give that require special attention. They were playing with the drum and petting the lion. We decided to do an impromptu mini lion dance as they do not get to watch the main one we were there to do.
The drum was nice and quiet and we did a slower dance that was nice and mellow to allow them to enjoy it. Their reactions were priceless and this was the most fulfilling experience I have had in a long time. The smiles on their faces and the applause after will not be beat for a long time.
Thank you Dan, Tania and Jeff for sharing this experience with me. This goes to show that the smallest act can have the biggest impact.
Friday, February 15, 2019
Friday, January 18, 2019
Missing Out
This year has been a challenging one for me. Let me correct that as its only been challenging since August when I started working up North. As many of you know my current work schedule has me away for 15 days and home for 13 so I am gone more than I am here. The challenging part is that I only attend half the mandatory I Ho Chuan classes and black belt classes.
This is where it gets challenging for me because I feel like I am missing opportunities that others can take full advantage off. It doesn't bother me that others can take advantage of them but it does bother me that I can't. I know that every class I miss, every meeting I miss and every practice I miss is something that I will never get back.
This sounds like a depressing blog now that I read it but it actually isn't. The time away allows me to work on my fitness and conditioning and every opportunity that I miss allows someone else the opportunity to take advantage of it.
I have learned a lot this year about working around what life gives you and to do what you can when you can, This next year should be an interesting one as part of the I Ho Chuan but I know I will make it better than this year.
This is where it gets challenging for me because I feel like I am missing opportunities that others can take full advantage off. It doesn't bother me that others can take advantage of them but it does bother me that I can't. I know that every class I miss, every meeting I miss and every practice I miss is something that I will never get back.
This sounds like a depressing blog now that I read it but it actually isn't. The time away allows me to work on my fitness and conditioning and every opportunity that I miss allows someone else the opportunity to take advantage of it.
I have learned a lot this year about working around what life gives you and to do what you can when you can, This next year should be an interesting one as part of the I Ho Chuan but I know I will make it better than this year.
Friday, December 14, 2018
Catching Up
The past few months have been chaotic between work and travel and time seems to have slipped away from me once again. Working in Nunavut has been a challenge as it keeps me away from home and Kung Fu for 15 days at a time which means I miss over half of my classes now. The other challenge I am having is the travel that I have to do when I am home as this also cuts into my time at home and the Kwoon. I think I have been averaging only about 30% attendance at classes this past 5 months.
it has been a bit tough to feel engaged with the team as my schedule has me missing most of the meetings and half of the mandatory classes. The other issue is that the internet at the mine site is restricted so I cannot access Mighty Networks while on site so reading posts or blogs is a no go. When I get home, I try to catch up as much as I can but I never really do so I try to get to the ones I feel are important and comment where I can.
The other issue is the lack of training space available up there and surprisingly they dont have a bench that I could just swing around without destroying a few things. So what do I do? I utilize what I have available to me and work on what I can. I work on my conditioning and cardio everyday while on site. I will hit the gym in the morning and either treadmill or bike and then in the evenings I work on strength and endurance training. So far it has worked out well and it is something that I plan to continue.
This leads to next Years I Ho Chuan team. Do I join knowing the challenges or do I take a step back? We all know what the easy path would be, but I have never been accused of doing anything the easy way (according to September anyway). So I am committing to next years team knowing that I may miss out on some demos, half the classes, maybe most of the meetings and with being out of touch for aver half the time. I want to do this because it is something that I feel strongly about and it is a new challenge that I know will benefit me.
Back to this year. We are just over a month away from our banquet and with the holidays coming up I will be at one more official practice only and a few Thursdays and Saturdays in between. This means that I dont have the benefit of being able to rehearse with the team as much as I should be but that is something beyond my control. I will be there every chance I can get and I am looking forward to seeing how the demo is progressing and also how the lion dance is coming along. I will do what I can and am looking forward to being a part of this years banquet.
it has been a bit tough to feel engaged with the team as my schedule has me missing most of the meetings and half of the mandatory classes. The other issue is that the internet at the mine site is restricted so I cannot access Mighty Networks while on site so reading posts or blogs is a no go. When I get home, I try to catch up as much as I can but I never really do so I try to get to the ones I feel are important and comment where I can.
The other issue is the lack of training space available up there and surprisingly they dont have a bench that I could just swing around without destroying a few things. So what do I do? I utilize what I have available to me and work on what I can. I work on my conditioning and cardio everyday while on site. I will hit the gym in the morning and either treadmill or bike and then in the evenings I work on strength and endurance training. So far it has worked out well and it is something that I plan to continue.
This leads to next Years I Ho Chuan team. Do I join knowing the challenges or do I take a step back? We all know what the easy path would be, but I have never been accused of doing anything the easy way (according to September anyway). So I am committing to next years team knowing that I may miss out on some demos, half the classes, maybe most of the meetings and with being out of touch for aver half the time. I want to do this because it is something that I feel strongly about and it is a new challenge that I know will benefit me.
Back to this year. We are just over a month away from our banquet and with the holidays coming up I will be at one more official practice only and a few Thursdays and Saturdays in between. This means that I dont have the benefit of being able to rehearse with the team as much as I should be but that is something beyond my control. I will be there every chance I can get and I am looking forward to seeing how the demo is progressing and also how the lion dance is coming along. I will do what I can and am looking forward to being a part of this years banquet.
Thursday, October 4, 2018
Big Decision
I have spent the last month doing some consulting work in Nunavut and the North West territories with only 5 days at home in that time. This last 2 weeks have been spent in Fort Good Hope, Norman wells and Tulita in the NWT. The problem with training is it has been long days with no access to a gym so I have done a lot of push-ups and sit-ups in my room at night with a few burpees thrown in. Internet has also been not so good so I have fallen way behind on reading everyone's blogs as well as my own. I get home tomorrow night but there is a good chance that I may have to leave again Tuesday for two more weeks as the one client would like me back specifically.
On the topic of travel, the company in Nunavut would like me to continue until the end of 2019. This is a big decision as it will affect my how life and my Kung Fu life. This means I would be missing half the classes that I am supposed to teach, mandatory I Ho Chuan classes and I may miss the banquet. It would also be a huge adjustment for September and I dont know how she feels about it yet. This will be the biggest deciding factor for me. Anyway, I will let you all know when I know.
On the topic of travel, the company in Nunavut would like me to continue until the end of 2019. This is a big decision as it will affect my how life and my Kung Fu life. This means I would be missing half the classes that I am supposed to teach, mandatory I Ho Chuan classes and I may miss the banquet. It would also be a huge adjustment for September and I dont know how she feels about it yet. This will be the biggest deciding factor for me. Anyway, I will let you all know when I know.
Monday, August 27, 2018
Being Away
Being away for an extended period of time has been an eye opening experience. There is limited things you can do to train while at a camp so I was down to going to the fitness room every night to at least work out. There is no open floor space so you either lift weights or use a treadmill or stationary bike. I was able to go everyday so I am happy about that but that was all the training I was able to get in.
Being able to adapt to your situation is something that I have been working on for the last couple of years as I seem to be constantly changing where life is taking me. I think if I do end up going back that I should be able to do a better job of maintaining my training while away again. I will find out in the next couple of days so we shall see what is next for me.
I have attached a link below that shows you were I was if you are interested.
https://goo.gl/maps/32yy3FaJ1FG2
Being able to adapt to your situation is something that I have been working on for the last couple of years as I seem to be constantly changing where life is taking me. I think if I do end up going back that I should be able to do a better job of maintaining my training while away again. I will find out in the next couple of days so we shall see what is next for me.
I have attached a link below that shows you were I was if you are interested.
https://goo.gl/maps/32yy3FaJ1FG2
Friday, August 3, 2018
San Shou
I was going to write about my leaving for work but I want to talk about the San Shou seminar instead.
The goal I had for this seminar was to give people some insight into how San Shou is different from normal sparring and I also wanted to give the students some techniques that they could use in matches. Mostly though, I was hoping that this would help with there confidence and help them improve there normal sparring.
From what I saw over the last 2 classes, I would say that it was a success. I am not bragging about what I did but I am applauding the participants because all of them showed immense amounts of improvement from where they started. That is not saying that any of them were bad to start, but the execution of technique and the confidence in their abilities improved greatly.
I want to thank you all for allowing me the opportunity to be part of this and I also want to thank Sifu Brinker because his insight and experiences made it much easier for me to teach the techniques.
A couple of students have continued to work on this after class and on Saturdays which I hope will continue into the future.
The goal I had for this seminar was to give people some insight into how San Shou is different from normal sparring and I also wanted to give the students some techniques that they could use in matches. Mostly though, I was hoping that this would help with there confidence and help them improve there normal sparring.
From what I saw over the last 2 classes, I would say that it was a success. I am not bragging about what I did but I am applauding the participants because all of them showed immense amounts of improvement from where they started. That is not saying that any of them were bad to start, but the execution of technique and the confidence in their abilities improved greatly.
I want to thank you all for allowing me the opportunity to be part of this and I also want to thank Sifu Brinker because his insight and experiences made it much easier for me to teach the techniques.
A couple of students have continued to work on this after class and on Saturdays which I hope will continue into the future.
Tuesday, July 17, 2018
Stress
It seems like a recurring theme of mine for the last few months but it is still an issue. My work situation has not yet stabilized and the stress is starting to wear on me a lot more this last 3 months. When you have a small client pool that you rely on and they all slow down at the same time, this leads to a loss of income quickly. This has led my focus lately on trying to secure a more reliable income (Job search) but so far I have had not much luck. As I am sure most of you are aware, stress has a way of taking most of our focus and from there things start slipping by the wayside. I am trying my best to keep engaged and focus on my training but I am focusing most of my efforts lately on securing work.
With that being said, I do have some work lined up but it will take me to Calgary for the next week so I will be missing class starting tomorrow and I wont be back until Saturday the 28th. I am going to be back this Saturday for the San Shou Seminar as I have the weekend off and this seminar has been great so far.
I dont know what the future holds, but one of the things I am looking at doing may involve a lot more travel and that is something that will require a lot of adjustments and priority reshuffling. I will worry about that though when the time comes.
With that being said, I do have some work lined up but it will take me to Calgary for the next week so I will be missing class starting tomorrow and I wont be back until Saturday the 28th. I am going to be back this Saturday for the San Shou Seminar as I have the weekend off and this seminar has been great so far.
I dont know what the future holds, but one of the things I am looking at doing may involve a lot more travel and that is something that will require a lot of adjustments and priority reshuffling. I will worry about that though when the time comes.
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