Utilizing down time

Nobody likes to have to take time out for sickness or injuries. I happen to love it in a way. This gives me time to sharpen up on the theoretical end of Kung Fu and educate myself on natural healing methods, foods, and read up on so much information from other martial artists and health and fitness guru's, if you will. I read a massive amount of the life long benefits of Qigong and how it will be part of my training from this point on. I learnt some really cool stretching techniques, more about diet while training, and it's cool to learn from the pioneers and some of the modern martial artists. I like to watch old school footage of martial artists sparring with no equipment and marvel on they're pain threshold. Let alone the amount of bones they used to break back then, wow. Old interviews with the likes of Bruce Lee, Joe Lewis, Ed Parker, Chuck Norris, and so many more, way too many too mention. I read about quotes and interviews from all kinds of Masters and Black Belts from so many schools and disciplines. I have also been watching some pretty cool movies, like the Ip Man trilogy. Ya I know they're movies but I also looked into every thing about him in real life. Pretty wild story and very cool artist.  It also gives me time to really dissect some of our techniques and why we train the way we do. For example, most of us have done the 15 rep push up on our finger tips. Once you reach five you lift a finger and do four more on four finger tips, then three and so on until you do the last single push up on your thumb. What's the point of this? We should just call this the " show off set ". I could be deemed to have a serious glue sniffing problem, but this is my perspective and how I apply it to my Kung Fu. If you think of all those fancy hand techniques and strikes we are taught this might make sense. In order to successfully utilize hand techniques, you need strong hands. If you have wimpy, soggy hands, you will hurt yourself more than an attacker. So when I think of the first five fingertip push ups, I think of strengthening the tiger claw. With the four, I think of strengthening the cranes beak or our grabs when doing joint locks. Without the thumb of course. With the three I think of strengthening the eagles talon. With two I think of the fish hook, with the thumb I think of the iron thumb, because it makes your thumb, well iron. I sure this benefits more than the techniques mentioned but this is what came to my mind. I guess the point of this blog is the engagement and your training will only stop when your down if you let it. So use the time to learn and plan. Educate yourself, that way when your healed and ready to go back, you're already that much better and that much more prepared for whatever comes at you. You know how to heal better and learn proper martial artist maintenance.

Animals and Earth

I love animals of all sorts. Maybe perhaps cold, but in some cases I would help an animal over some human beings that inhabit the earth, especially now a days. Growing up on a farm and growing up in a farming community offered ample amounts of exposure to all sorts of creatures. From having to feed and herd the cattle to past year during the summer, and back home in the fall, believe me I put on some miles at a young age. We had sheep, chickens of various types, geese, and rabbits. The presence of a dog was always there and many friendships. We also ate most of these animals. This is also something else I was exposed to at an early age. One thing about it though, my father made it very clear about the respect that must be given to animals. They must never suffer. They must be handled with care. They must be watered and fed, period. There was also necessary measures that were taken to insure they're place of residence was kept neat and orderly. When they were sick, a veterinarian was dispatched and they were taken care of. If it was too bad and there was no hope, we shot them. No suffering. When the cattle were being shipped out on the cattle liners, my father and his brothers would load the cattle. I remember my Dad used to always keep the cattle calm when they were being loaded. They used whips yes, but not much. He seemed to understand the cattle's fear. He also absolutely detested the electric cattle prod. I seen him once come unglued on a truck driver that thought he was going to get cute and use it. I think perhaps if his kids weren't present, he probably would've used it on the driver to "help" him back in his truck. Personally I would have used it on him until he pissed himself. That's just me.

The point of all of this is, I think I have finally watched enough documentaries and read enough facts about how damaging the whole food industry is to the animals and the earth, and to probably the most stupidest creatures on earth. Us. But we're right in the mix. As consumers of meat. The abuse and cruelty of animals is sickening, I won't go into details on this, but I will say we should be ashamed of ourselves. From killing 70% of the rain forest to accommodate livestock, to now dragging a net right on the ocean floor. A 50 acre swath is pulling out everything, from plants to sea life that we don't even eat, leaving nothing behind but a marine waste land. Pulled up to a floating processing factory that just discards life after separation that takes many years to replace. Can you imagine being so stupid and selfish. Like over fishing wasn't enough. The amount of chemicals in our food now is insane. From food giants actually trying to patent vegetables and refusing to stop modifying our foods, let alone tell us what the hells in it. Lagoons containing animal waste is being sprayed on crops and the run off is going into our own water system. Anyone notice the increase of Ecoli presence.

So I thought, what am I going to do. We have to eat. I can't take on the food company's. As much as I would love to take some idiot running one and throw him on an island made of his money and nothing else. Then throw him his wife and kids and tell him, " Here you go, lets see how your money is going to keep you alive now" I think the only way to make a difference, is to stop contributing to this. I think the only way to make a difference, although a small one, is to become a vegetarian for starters. I admit the thought did make me shudder, I've eaten meat all my life. It also made me feel like I am giving up something. Then I looked at my daughter and the decision became obvious. What have we done. What have we let happen. Why am I feeding her this shit and leaving nothing but a polluted planet behind for her and her family. Her generation. She has to know at least her parents tried to make a difference for the better. That her parents took a stand and stopped contributing to this madness. Although in one way or another, we're trapped into this agenda. I just have to focus on my own agenda to keep the awareness sharp and do what I can to reduce my participation and raise as much awareness as I can. You never know unless you try. The thing that bothers me the most is how we all sit back like sheep and let it all happen. How we are gagged and put in a position of helplessness because our governments do nothing and the most powerful and influential people are the most pathetic. Powered by a piece of paper with some dead persons face on it and getting away with murder on the largest scale. The whole planet and everything on it. I just don't know.

Thoughts from the deep

It's been very busy the last little while with the after math of a challenge and life. Spending three quarters of the year working everyday and trying to maintain all, has left behind a whole pile of items that need to be completed. Items that were set aside so I could take my Kung Fu and the discipline of mastery to a higher level in my career. I didn't choose a career to stay at the same level day after day. My focus has always been to excel, the sky's the limit only if you let it limit you. The same should follow suit for anything you are passionate about. If your ambitious and enjoy challenges and not scared to march to your own drum, this should never be an issue. If you don't, you become stagnant and in some cases resentful. A poor attitude develops and you tend to become judgemental and focus on finding fault in everyone and everything around you. You become an excuse master and accomplish absolutely nothing. Things around you are piling up and you are doing nothing but waiting for the perfect moment to get yourself together and have the perfect productive day. Guess what? The word perfect is a myth, from any angle, period. You steer your own ship and right now you are in the haul chipping away at what is the very thing keeping you a float. The very thing that is a complete composition of everything you are about. Everything you have respect for and gifts you were given by others to make you solid. Soon your journey will cease and you will go down with your ship. Then as you plunge to the bottom of an ocean of self pity, that you created, you sit. Looking up you see many hands reaching down to pull you back up. To help bring you up to heal and rebuild you and your ship. Instead of reaching up and accepting the help and being reminded of all the things you should be grateful for, you kick, punch, and bite. Pushing away the offering and isolating yourself further. You look up again and there are no hands there. Tolerance for the selfishness you have displayed is depleted. Trying to raise yourself to the surface is almost impossible because of the over bearing weight you decided to load your shoulders up with. These are your problems and your weight. You chose everything you decided to carry and now you must shed in order to surface. Some things are easily shaken off because you have come to the realization they are useless to you and you can't change what you can't control. As you throw those things off you begin to slowly rise to surface. Some things are not possible to shake off, they are in grown into your composition so you must find a place for it and continue to rise. Some things thrown off have many attachments that entangle themselves around whatever you leave vulnerable. Cut them off and get your point across in an aggressive matter if that what it takes. If things work out this way you should come to the surface and find all that you are made up of floating beside you and are completely salvageable, and what you don't is at the bottom where they belong. Looking further you see the same place you left off. The sea of anger and self pity has now turned to a sea of  peace and a goal driven charter. You see so much ahead that you should be grateful for and things that are going to make your journey fresh and fulfilling. Traveling with people that care about you and people that are willing to share what they can is all the back up you'll ever need. Don't make jerks out of them and isolate yourself. Embrace them and slap your ego and pride around a bit if that is also something you need to do. So fire up the drums and get back on the path where you belong. Most importantly ditch the self pity and the blame of others, you are the one doing the navigating. And if your not, talk to someone that's not afraid to tell you how it is and learn from them, instead of firing back with excuses.

One last thing to put out to those from the I Ho Chuan team that made it this far without scrolling ahead. I have an announcement to make to the team this Friday. It is something that is weighing heavily and must be mentioned face to face. I refuse to hide behind a computer screen and post it. Out of respect for the team and myself this must be done in person. See you at the Kwoon.

This years gifts

Being on a the snake team this year was a benefit on so many equations. I had many highs and although smaller low's, they hit very hard. The highs were being able to achieve a level of form with the sais. I really enjoyed working with the sais this year. It was my chance and a challenge to come up with a display of creativity on my behalf and from the input of others on the team. Even if they don't realize it, they're a big part of it and I feel pretty good about where the weapon form is. The demo we did on Canada Day was an awesome day and I felt humbled among the skill level that was displayed by the team that day on all fronts. It was great to be able to show up and help out the team whenever I had the chance to do so. Meeting people and working with them on a different level than Kung Fu is always beneficial and it feels better to step up to respect your commitment when an opportunity arises. Next up was the Tiger Challenge. This was the best day of the year. On this particular event you get to see all the hard work and training come out. It was probably the most casual and humorous sparring/ point sparring I have ever witnessed at a school tournament. People were laughing and the atmosphere was just cool. It was extremely difficult for me to do my forms this year. Probably the most nervous I have ever been at anytime doing Kung Fu publically. Usually I can go into a zone and before I know it I'm done. This time my heart was beating like a Mac 10 and I thought my head was going to explode, I could sense a number of mistakes and felt very uncomfortable. But I did it and I feel good about it. Certain areas in my training have matured to a better understanding. I'm starting to see how things come together and  how to troubleshoot my Kung Fu. The awareness to what I'm doing has multiplied. My quantity is not as high as it should be, but the quality to what I'm doing is getting better. What little time I had for most of the year was spent breaking down everything I needed to fix in order to continue. This year has really given me a lot of difficulties but a vast amount of training and life knowledge by overcoming obstacles and making mistakes. I think the last thing I really liked, for the most part, was the board breaking. The public failings make you feel like you suck, but every time a board didn't break I learned something. That's all I can really think of for now.

October 13-14, 2013

100 p/u
100 s/u
5 stick form
5 sais form
Walked 2 km
Not much for training the last couple days but had a great visit with my in laws and managed to see my oldest daughter. I'm so proud of her and how far she has come, just when you thought they weren't listening. Looking forward to San Shou class tonight. A happy thanksgiving to all is in order as well.

October 12, 2013

50 p/u
Spent part of the day driving and now visiting with my in laws today. Not much training happening today but tomorrows another day.

Held the door for a person, brought my father in law some habeneros I grew, and was courteous to several on the highway.

October 10-11, 2013

200 p/u
200 s/u
14 weapon form
40 side heel f/ chambered position

Held the door for 2 people, gave a co-worker a sandwich,  complimented the crew for doing a lift and setting a structure like proffessionals.

I've managed to put in more time at the kwoon lately and  I'm getting closer to a weekly routine and, in the very slow process of stabalizing some what of a structure. If this pans out I can keep training at a maintenace level and start to create short term goals. Goals to enhance isolated areas in my Kung Fu that need work with the intention to reach a balance. Easy to plan, but requires work and as said in class, prioritization and commitment. Working on it that's for sure. This also is part of the quest for balance and it takes time. I'll use whatever I can find and when I run out I'll go look for some.

Just wanted to say a thank you to Sifu Beckett for her advice with a transition I am fighting with. I am applying Sifu's advice and changing some things that are causing instability during transitions and interupting flow and completion of technique. Al ready starting to slowly correct after a few reps.

October 9, 2013

300 p/u
150 s/u
150 reps of different ab exercises
60 inside cresent
20 side heel
1 rep of 18 temple motions
1 rep of long 1&2

Wasn't nice today, but I did use my manners every time. It's kind of funny the looks you get from people when you use manners all the time. I don't get it.

Managed to get in all three classes tonight. I am totally pumped about the way things have been going lately and the feeling you get when you can review, sweat, and get a good humbling to keep you in check. I also like the reminder of the expectations and responsibilities that come with your belt level. At the drop of a hat a Sifu may ask you to help with the class and teach or review any technique. As a Sihing you should know the curriculum. Well I was caught off guard tonight when I was asked to review some techniques with the yellow belts and at first I didn't remember. Fortunately another Sihing was there to help me shake out the cobwebs and set me on track. Thanks Sihing. But this lesson was not taken as "oh man I suck !", instead it was motivating to get better and add in some time to review each belt level and have a question ready for each class. Take the blow and correct it; move on.

Lastly thank you  to Sifu Playter for helping me tonight and giving his time to help me with my stick form.

October 8, 2013

150 p/u
150 s/u
5 weapon form
40 round house
40 side heel
40 inside crescent
4 rounds of sparring

Held the door for one person, complimented a stranger, and bought the person behind me in the line up a coffee.

Attended my second san shou class tonight and I can't say or recommend enough of the tremendous benefit the class is to not only yourself on a fitness level, but the huge benefit it is to your mental training. It is the jack of all trades to a training tool. If you are not attending or considering this class you are throwing away a huge opportunity and an accelerated benefit to your journey as a martial artist. I know I regret not joining sooner, but I'm here now and plan to stay.

It was really cool to see Mr. Repay back in action and picking up where he left off. Welcome back Mr. Repay!

October 3-7, 2013

500 p/u
300 s/u
100 cantilever s/u
100 leg raises
100 thrust kicks
100 roundhouse kicks
20 weapon form
10 stick form
5 reps long 1&2
10 reps of 18 temple motions

I didn't really get in the training I wanted to the last while. I was fighting a cold last thursday and then my parents came to visit for the weekend. I really enjoy seeing them  and give them my undivided attention since I don't really see them that often. Starting to finally beat this cold so back to the kwoon tomorrow night for san shou and making the time to attend every class I can. The tournament is just around the corner and I want to be ready. Not sure about the form I am going to do since I still haven't gone all the way through it yet but I won't give up anytime soon.

October 2, 2013

150 p/u
150 s/u
3 sais form
30 side heel
20 spinning back kick

Ran to the store for a friend, held the door for someone, and said thanks to someone that did the same for me.

Went over some white belt combinations tonight. I also worked on some pieces of my weapon form tonight. I am in a bit of a jam trying to make two techniques flow into each other. This particular area is a difficult transition that is requiring some work in order to make the form work. Oh well I shall remain relentless and take Sifu Playter's advice. Sifu said if there is a part of a form that is that is difficult and you want to scrap it, don't. Stay with the challenge and accomplish the technique.

I finally went to a san shou class last night and it was awesome. It is hard to describe the feeling actually, but it was good. There was only three of us but we had a blast. I regret not being able to get to this class sooner. But that was then and this an opportunity that came up and I took it. Only from one class and talking to another student about what goes on, I'm hooked. I am surprised to see more people are not taking advantage of the knowledge and conditioning this class has to offer. I know it was only one class but I can plainly see that this opportunity would advance your skills and conditioning on all bases. Not to mention the fun of a whole class that is based on highly skilled techniques and conditioning to skyrocket your sparring ability's. I also think that it would keep you motivated and installs the true meaning of discipline and respect.  Maybe the lack of attendance is intimidation perhaps. If you think about it, there is nothing to be concerned about. There are highly skilled Black Belts teaching that class and watching over the students. Or maybe it's the meaning of Kung Fu that raises second thoughts. Hard Work. What ever the reason if you can, come by and watch a class. If you want to advance your Kung Fu, JOIN THIS CLASS.

October 1, 2013

50 p/u
50 s/u
80 roundhouse
80 side heel
Didn't really see anybody today to be nice to. In honesty, I really didn't  look that hard either. When you wake up pissed off and annoyed with your own kind, you should just stay in bed. It's just better.

September 29, 30, 2013

250 p/u
250 s/u
5 sais form
5 stick form
5 Dah Mu Sihn
5 Hung 1 & 2

Held the door for two people, listened to a fellow at work who is going through a tough time.

Went to class tonight and enjoyed it quite a bit. I want to get back into the routine of attending all the classes I can, now that I am working normal hours. You lose touch and discipline when you are away for too long. Well it is what it is and you can't change the past, only the future. I am going to ignite that fire again that was once there as aggressively as possible to get that boost and then roll into the calm once I am back to where I should be. Sifu Brinker mentioned to us on Friday the necessity and the benefits of short term goals to enhance engagement and reduce the stress of training. My plan is to learn Loa Gar before the tournament and compete. This form was supposed to be my hand form for the I Ho Chuan. I haven't learned very much of it so this would be a good goal and a great challenge. Conditioning for sparring through running and heavy bag rounds should help prepare me for sparring and a review of all combinations over the next while should be beneficial for point sparring. I haven't picked a song yet for my weapon form so this will be a challenge since I love all kinds of music. Although I'm sure it will be heavy, I need to pick a song that will go well with the form and offer an expression of some sort. I just need to figure it out.

One last thing that I forgot, or a person I forgot to mention a few posts ago was Sihing Choy. Sihing Choy is an inspirational person to others and myself on so many fronts. I read all your blogs and can relate to the excessive work loads and challenges you are facing. You are a great example for the community and to the students of Silent River by leading through example and showing everyone around you the possibilities that can occur when you believe in yourself and follow through on your goals. I have a great amount of respect for you on how you have faced and shared the challenges of your family and shared the experience with the team. If you need someone for anything, I'm sure anyone on the team, including myself would be there at the drop of a hat to help you. Just ask, we're here to help.

September 28, 2013

50 p/u
50 s/u
10 sais form
1 rep of five animal form (Qigong)

Made it to a dragon dance practice today and it was awesome. I can honestly say I have a lot of fun when I'm involved with either the dragon or lion. I want to get more involved with both dances and in order to do that I need to get back into the kwoon more. I doing my best and the way things are heading so far its looking promising. That rhythm you achieve attending regular classes and sticking with the I Ho Chuan requirements is the only true way to stay engaged. We'll see what happens. As alcoholic's say, One day at a time.

September 27, 2013

100 p/u
100 s/u
22 sais form
5 stick form
20 hidden leg technique

Bought a friend coffee, called up an old friend that I haven't spoken too in a long time, and picked up some garbage that was spilled over in the alley.

I really enjoyed tonight's I Ho Chuan class. One of my most favorite parts is to watch everyone do their forms. It's motivating and inspirational to witness. Its was also good to hear someone speak up in front of the team and share something that is bothering them. I also want to send a message to those that couldn't be there. Mr. Repay it will be good to see you again. Your positive personality is greatly missed and I am looking forward to training with you when you get back. Sihing Krebs I can really relate to how you must be feeling. I know you had the intentions to grade this year and life took you for a spin. I know you are not where you wanted to be, but when you get back let's hook up and make the best of what's remaining and get a good start for next year. You are greatly missed by many and you have my phone number and email address. Use it, as a team mate I am here to help or listen. Anything you need, anytime. Mr. Leung, are you dead? Mailed yourself to Siberia? What's your story man. Regardless of where you are, or what frame of mind you are in, please get in touch with someone on the team, anyone, and come back. You too are greatly missed. You have not failed, the year is not over. But it will be soon. So get your ass back to the kwoon!

September 26, 2013

100 p/u
100 s/u

Held the door for 1 person, told some guys on my crew I appreciate all they're efforts, offered to help my neighbor move in october

Didn't get much done today. I am fighting off a cold and don't want to get worse.

September 25, 2013

150 p/u
130 s/u
25 squat thrusts
60 thrust kicks
60 roundhouse
60 side heel thrust
60 spinning back kick
Hung 1& 2, 5 reps
stick 5 reps
sais 5 reps

Wasn't nice today.

Did some bag work tonight to do some different combinations and get a smooth flow for sparring. It would appear I'm out of practice. Worked on timing and a grounded stance with projection stepping followed with a strike and followed up with whatever came to mind. I changed up leads to train with all limbs and work on  flow and timing the rotation for a grounded impact. Crane stances need to come up a bit and work on some endurance. Did sais reps tonight full power/ full speed. I could feel while doing the form what was missed during a technique. But I didn't stop and think about. I did my reps back to back and I can tell doing the form slow for the last while has definitely helped. This also gives me too much time to overthink and completely mess up the whole thing. So I am going to change up the speeds and hopefully this gets me to where I should be at this point of the year. Once I can get the flow happening I can work on balanced endurance and grounded power with all techniques and actually visualize an attack and a defense.

September 24, 2013

100 p/u
100 s/u
5 stick form
5 sais form
Gave a homeless person my left over lunch, held the door for 2 people
Forgot to post last night. Not really much to comment on tonight except I had an awesome night with my little one. I took her to her running race and was able to watch her whole class. I'm so proud of her and how hard she works at things, smiling the whole time. I learn from Eva constantly. I also have to mention once again how great the black belts are with those kids. I am grateful for our school and the people that teach. Thanks.

September 23, 2013

150 p/u
150 s/u
20 squat thrusts
3 Stick form
4 Kempo
4 sais
Bought Erica and Eva surprise gifts today, held the door for 2 people, helped a fellow carry out a awkward box.

After doing a few stick reps I can see that it completely sucks ass due to neglect. I am going to start to do stick reps daily mixed in with my sais form. The different movements and techniques of the two should sharpen them both. Also I can use the stick as part of my weapon form maintenance. My wrists are welded together which makes articulation and completion of techniques difficult. So I will start to use the stick to try to open my wrists and learn more flow with a weapon by utilizing it to stretch. Although a tough day with a vehicle breakdown and a sick little one, and a bunch of little things that kept dropping from the sky, I still structured in some training. Things are starting to click every since I grabbed the wheel back and and now rolling with a nitrous powered chopper as my life ride, instead of an overloaded bagger. Its plain to see now that I look back I just piled on way, way too much. Can't help it though, I never back down from a challenge. But I may take a step back once and a while to learn from my mistakes and kick my egos ass.

September 22, 2013

150 p/u
130 s/u
18 Temple motions 5 reps
Sais form 5 reps
Bought Erica a coffee, held the door for someone, helped a guy that was out of gas.

Busy day today harvesting our peppers and tomatoes and catching up around the house and yard. Took the time to do some form reps in the grass outside. I like to do forms on different terrain to test the adaptability of a stance because the ground is never level. I find it works different muscles and points out all your weak balance points that you need to strengthen and be stable in your center. Thats my theory anyway.

September 21, 2013

50 p/u
50 s/u
Didn't really get much done today as far as training goes. I spent the day with my little one after I got back from helping at the kwoon. She is sick and needed some cheering up. So I guess overall this would be considered a rest day.

September 20, 2013

Fell asleep last night before I could post yesterdays training, so here it is.
100 p/u
100 s/u
15 sais form
Held a door for 2 people, told a person that doesn't work with me that he was doing a good job.

Attended practice last night and did my sais form so Sifu Wetter could time it. Don't ask me why but I can do my form over and over at home or even in the class with out too many mistakes or dropping my weapon. But once I get in front of a bunch of Sifus and others something always seems to mess up. I can flip my sais 100 times in a row at home without it hitting the ground, get in front of people on a dry demo run and bang, it hits the floor or a technique is not complete. To me it gives off the impression that you are not practicing and you are not demo ready. I am going to keep doing weapon forms daily, which really we should be anyway to stay on track for the requirement and to be ready. I think being away from the kwoon for a while has not helped either in regards to performing in front of others as well. I am going to be able to attend regular classes this week and am looking forward to it.

September 19, 2013

150 p/u
150 s/u
10 weapon form

Shared my lunch with a fellow worker that didn't have much, held the door for 3 people,   let a person through a busy intersection.
Still trying to get the motivation to do something as soon as I get up in the morning, not a morning person at all. But the sooner I can install this into some kind of structure the better. I was thinking today about how to get the mindset through my stubborness to create one that will work for me. I absolutely have to get this going but sometimes I am the hardest person to convince myself. If that makes any sense. I thought to myself a class is 60 mins long. Out of that 60 minutes, 45 of that is actual training. I have driven myself hard in that time in most classes. So 45 mins out of 24 hours shouldn't be that difficult to take for my Kung Fu in a day. But for some reason it seems to be a puzzle that I just can't solve. Although if I keep on top of my game , it will happen. Small steps I guess.

September 18, 2013

100 p/u
100 cantilever s/u 4 sets of 25
Long 1&2 5 reps
6 sais form
10 km biked
40 thrust kicks
Wasn't nice today I guess, I don't recall anything.

As I was doing sit ups tonight I was paying attention to what muscles were talking to me. This style of sit up I have been doing is working all different types of muscles but I really noticed three working areas, abs, back muscles, and the front of the hips. I have never really noticed this muscle (in the hips) area being worked before so I am going to stick with this style for the next while to balance and strengthen my core all at once,  better muscle building and time use efficiancy perhaps. We'll see what happens.
Still working on pieces of my weapon form and slowing down the reps to get it all to flow together now that I have disected a few areas.

September 17, 2013

150 p/u
150 s/u
6 weapon form

Held the door for someone, offered a person my chair, twisted over a piece of rebar sticking out of a parking curb ready to skew someone by the kwoon, took my daughter out to eat after her Kung Fu class tonight.

Worked on sections of sais form tonight. Trying to smooth out some parts that still have a little catch when trying to make things flow. Some tweeking. I am going to try to  use the hours of the day more efficiantly, like in the morning. This should be interesting thats for sure. Keep you posted.

Operation Restart under way

Last Friday I had the opportunity to attend the I Ho Chuan class and although it was from the bench it had an impact. There was things mentioned that helped put some missing pieces back in they're place and create a better view. Another thing that really helped was to put down the axe and ask a friend to listen and to offer some words and a perspective other than your own that is straight up, no bullshit. I never like asking friends for help because I have always felt out of respect and being grateful for that person, you shouldn't, unless you absolutely have to. Well I had too, and I'm glad I did. Lots has been going on all over but things are calming down and its time to get back to where I need and should be at this time in my training. I am no good at all about recording my numbers consistently, completely suck at it. In order to help this I said a while back I was going to put my numbers on my blog and give a transparent view of what's happening. I dropped the ball on that one but I do have my reasons and there is a lot to it. But its also time to put my money where my mouth is. I do accomplish something everyday, but how would anyone know unless you prove it. Problems! A few yes. Some I will share on another blog, others, forget it.  But the main reason I let my training get so out of a control and sporadic was not to train without the mindset and the dumping of all other things and to take that time that everyone needs. Somewhere along the way I lost my way and then back on the path and then ventured way out again. So I am going to try it again and post my numbers daily and what I am doing. It worked very well last time so this is something I need to prove to myself that I can maintain. Also to everyone on the team.

One last note that I must speak openly about is the announcement by Sihing Lowery. I completely respect her decision and will stand behind one of our teammates solid, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I also picture Sihing Lowery saying a famous movie quote from the movie terminator. I will keep that hope anyway.

100 p/u
50 regular sittups, 50 cantilevered style in two sets
15 sais form reps
biked 7 km
20 side heel kicks
10 squat thrusts

Let someone in traffic twice, picked up garbage in my alley.

I just sat down and stared at stuff

Going into this year I had it all planned out. I could see the next leg of my journey on the road to mastery and many landmarks along the way to guide me through the cliffs that would need scaling, the deep valleys, raging rivers, and the thickest jungle man has ever endured. I was creating a single path with my family, my work, and my Kung Fu all in tow. This was going to be the greatest evolution of all aspects of my life. I was challenged with the constant pulling in all directions at work and pulling through with confidence and grace. My girls were are all doing awesome and I couldn't be more proud. Kung Fu was really coming together on all fronts and I couldn't wait to make that escape and train to whatever I wanted to do with a seemingly endless supply of details I had missed along the way and new discoveries. I just said bring it on and I will fight it to exhaustion. Careful what you wish for.

This year has been a fight. It probably wouldn't have ended up that way, but I let things take the wheel of my ride. Something that I never let happen. I became so obsessed with the challenge of work and my ethics of nothing is ever too much and I will take on anything that is thrown at me. My days got longer and I was working with people that expected more from me. Okay cool I am practicing mastery in my trade so this is my Kung Fu serving me. Not really noticing I was putting in the work of three people. Up at 5:00 in the morning and dragging my sorry ass in the house at  8:00 at night, everyday and all day. Giving my little one a smooch and tucking her in. Visiting with Erica for an hour and heading out to the garage or catching up on whatever I could, when I could. Doing whatever training I could and crashing. After being on this routine for months on end, it was starting to grind on me. Usually asleep before my head hit the pillow or not even making it to bed if I stopped to sit down for a minute. Seeing the absence of my presence in my youngest daughters eyes and the face of frustration in my wifes, was not helping. Although my girls supported me the whole time, I wasn't feeling to good about it. Leaving my team to carry my absence and having more difficulty to even show up to class. Any classes for that matter. Falling further and further behind in my numbers and growing more and more negative as the days go by. Trying to find the landmarks to guide me through have now disappeared. Blinded by the thickest brush, I could no longer rip them out. Looking behind me I could plainly see that I was now creating three paths instead of one. Everything that is close to me is now segregated. Looking at the hours I put in this year so far is somewhere around the 2500 mark, so even daily training was becoming very little. I did always accomplish something, but stopped recording it on my blog or writing it down. As people when we start to become overwhelmed, we look for sources to lay blame. I started to dislike work and the people I work under. I wanted my girls to take a trip some where. I have been guilty of shooting my mouth off outside the kwoon, blaming the I Ho Chuan program and installing the mindset of this is unreasonable and how the hell can anyone pull this off successfully and still maintain. My journaling went to the wayside, AGAIN. Shortly after my last blog I had enough. I just sat down and stared. Mentally and physically exhausted. I wanted to quit my job, step down from the I Ho Chuan program and do.... I didn't know. So what ended up happening is I went on a trip with my family through southern Alberta into B.C, and back through Nordegg to Rocky Mountain House. It gave me a lot of time to look at things and just chill. One night staring into a fire I built that the gods could see, I sorted it all out. I went back to my roots and devised a plan to get back on track and grab the drivers seat back. Quiting is for sheeple, not the driven.  I was sick and tired of letting life take the wheel. You have to handle your life, not let your life handle you. Regretting ever verbally bitching about the I Ho Chuan program and putting my negativity on others. I felt foolish. I am sorry to anyone I may have had this effect on and I meant no disrespect to anyone. Just selfish venting I guess.I have no intention of being a career Sihing and as I have said before, the longer you stay away from the kwoon, the more of a damaging effect it has once you have placed it into your soul. It's time to come home. So after all of that I am now traveling as one again, one path with all I hold close. Changing my priorities to Family, Kung Fu, and work. I have started to train again on a daily basis and my love for the I Ho Chuan is restored. It is not a sentence, but an enhancement. Work is work. I have tons of experience and am highly skilled enough to always find work. I will carry on as I always have. Bring it on. Sorry for the book I just wrote but I felt it was necessary out of respect for the team and to share a challenge I had to get through. See you at the kwoon.
Brian Chervenka

July 19-22, 2013

400 p/u
400 s/u
50 squat thrusts
10 reps of my weapon form

I phoned an old friend to see how he was doing, took my wife for supper, held the door for 4 people, surprised a co worker with lunch, and picked up a bunch of garbage at the local park.

July 15-18, 2013

300 p/u
150 s/u
100 leg raises
3 plank 6 mins. total
50 spinning back kick
50 thrust
50 roundhouse
5 km ran
6 weapon forms
I finally got up at 4:50 am in the morning to run to no where and back before work. I have never really been fond of running. The only time I really ran was when I absolutely had to. It usually involved animals, bullies and the occasional badge. So as much as I hate to run, I actually enjoyed it. I ran with my wife and we had a moment to talk and actually have some conversation. Instead the quick fly by and out the door. Its really nice in the morning and you can really appreciate the quiet before the madness begins. It wasn't all great at first though, its started with a bad attitude. I thought to myself, " Who the heck in their right mind gets up way too early to run 5 mins out of the bed?  Crazy people that's who." But once I stared to get going and wake up a bit, it wasn't so bad. I was starting the day with an accomplishment and that was a really good feeling, for the most part. So this is something I am going to try to do more often. My wife is a runner so you couldn't ask for a better running partner, I get training and some time together, so that's cool.

I held the door for 6 people, yielded to three cars, mowed my neighbors lawn and picked up a bunch of garbage off the street that someone jack ass threw out of his car

July 11,12,13,14, 2013

p/u 600
s/u 400
leg lifts 100
scissors 100
held plank for a total of 6 mins over three days
5 dah mu sihn
5 long
5 18 temple motions
5 hung 1 & 2
5 kempo
50 squat thrusts
 5 mins of horse stance time over 3 days

Over the course of the last 4 days my training has been sporadic and hard to get motivated. I can honestly say I am exhausted. Just trying to think has been a chore, let alone if I sit down for more than 2 minutes without something to occupy my thoughts and that's it I start to doze off. This week alone I have put in 78 hours of work and still trying to be mindful of everything that I am trying to accomplish. Throw in everything else that comes along, and wow this is just too much. Trying to keep up with things and get enough rest has been very difficult. It just seems there is never enough time in the day. I think the biggest issue is lack of rest and not eating properly throughout the day. That and I simply work way too much. Although this is part of my own mastery, this is a year of extreme challenges on everything. It is what it is though and that's it, carry on to be the best we can.

I held the door for 6 people, mowed my neighbors lawn, carried an elderly woman's grocery's, and changed a tire for a lady that was stuck on the side of the road.

I would like to thank Sifu Bryant for his advice on stance transitions. It has helped a lot in a difficult area in my weapon form. I would also like to recognize advice from Sifu M. Playter on the use of ankle weights when trying to improve on my kicks. The advice shared was they are a great tool provided your form is correct. If you build your muscles up executing kicks with incorrect form it is going to take twice as long to repair your problems because now the muscles you shouldn't be using are now stronger than the ones you should. Sifu Lindstrom also pointed out a very good observation about squat thrusts. I have a habit of starting with the end. I start by jumping in the air then doing the rest. Sifu made a very good point that this is a waste of energy, not only that but kind of a wasted trip. I found by going down first and then kicking the legs out and back I am getting a far better launch, which means more height. More height means a portion of my weapon form will be greatly improved. That and the squat thrust seems to flow better and your energy seems to be consumed much more efficiently instead of burning it up from a standing point. The reason I am adding recognition to my daily blog is because a while back I said I was going to write down advice I received from others at the kwoon. Well I thought maybe it would be of help to others if I shared what was given to me from others. Complete the circle I guess. See you at the kwoon.

July 9,10, 2013

200 p/u
200 s/u
5 weapon forms
50 snap kicks
50 spinning back kicks

My spinning back kick needs a whole pile of work. Timing, balance, flexibility issues, and accuracy are all in need of a major rebuild. I think I really need to concentrate on this one. Worked on stances and different techniques of the form to smooth out the rough edges.

Held the door for 1 person. Let some people turn left in front of me so many coming in the opposite lane could carry on. took my wife out for dinner.

July 7,8, 2013

150 push ups
150 sit ups
18 km biked
40 thrust kicks

Worked on the heavy bag tonight analyzing my punches. I was working on trying to time my six harmonies, well three of the six anyway. I have the tendency to use my shoulders more than incorporate my center and a ground back leg. I am trying to work on feeling the power coming from the ground and throughout the body to the contact point. I am also trying to work on the timing with the rotation of the fist at the end of the snap coming from the hip.

An observation I found tonight was leaving some of my joints vulnerable to damage should a strike occur. One that was not only involved in blocks, but also a strike. My elbows. Considering 7lbs could put your arm out of commission for anything, I found my arms completely straight on punches and blocks. Not good. Something to work on and break this bad habit quick.

I lent a vehicle to a friend that needs help to move some items. Complimented all the fellas at work on the job they are doing. Held a door for 2 people. Picked up scattered garbage in the alley.

July 5,6, 2013

250 push ups
250 sit ups
5 km walked
50 thrust kicks
50 round house kicks
5 weapon form

I worked on sections of my weapon form on Friday nights practice. I am trying to smooth out and repair those little things that are feeling awkward in the form. I am mostly working on the stances and transitions in order to ground stability and smooth out the flow.

Today I didn't really get a whole lot done except push ups and sit ups. There is always something to catch up on and it seems never enough time. That and I'm tired but I see the end coming closer to the project, which means the long days will be over soon and my weekends will be open. My intention is to use as many opportunities as I can to go to open training and get back to going to all three classes on Mondays and Wednesdays along with finally getting to a san shou class. This one I am very excited about going to.

I mowed my neighbors lawn, held the door for 2 people, and picked up garbage in the local play ground on the way to get my little one for supper.

July 4, 2013

100 push ups
100 sit ups
1 rep of hseih chein
5 reps of da mu hsing
7 km biked

The Live Effect

I finally watched the demo video tonight. I have been staying away from this for a few reasons. Of course the main reason is I don't like to see my self on video or pictures when it comes to Kung Fu. Not because I don't like to actually look at myself and see what I'm doing. Nor am I against its huge contribution to better yourself and fix your problems by actually seeing the mistakes you feel when you can't see yourself. If that makes any sense at all. The problem is I go to extreme criticism on myself and never seem to be satisfied with what I see. The first thing I seen right away was not breaking the first board. Man, how could I possibly have missed that one. But as I watched I seen the board go up instead of recoiling back and snapping effortlessly. Which tells me the board was too high and I was too far away. I see my leg is almost fully extended at the contact point instead of completing the kick through the board. Watching my sais form was not a good feeling at all. I practiced my form many times before the demo and did that ankle hook and release spin over a 100 times and seldom missed. I haven't felt good about dropping my weapon at all. All my stances were cut short and incomplete, especially the changing of the open x's 180 degrees. When I went from the right lead to the left, instead of a left lead open x I came up into almost a bow stance and then the rest just kind of fell apart from there. There is just something about a live demo that seems to make me go way too fast and not complete parts of the form. Similar things happened at the Chinese new year. Incomplete stances and techniques. Then I feel like I let everyone down and put a blemish on all they're hard work. Just a perspective anyways, I'm sure we all feel that way at one time or another. I don't really feel overly nervous but perhaps that must be the case. Something else to work on I guess. That and continue to work on my form and get in more reps until I can do it in my sleep. Well enough about that, I could go on but I'll keep that to myself.

On a happier note, tonight Eva and I biked 7 km and once we arrived home we did push ups and hsieh chein together. I really enjoy getting out and biking down the trails and listening to my little one talk non stop the whole time telling me what's what and following it up with a thousand questions. I wouldn't trade it for the world. See you at the kwoon.

July 3, 2013

100 push ups
100 sit ups
50 outside cresent kicks

Another late one at work tonight. I am really looking forward to the end of the project. Managed to get in some Kung Fu tonight, not much but something at least. I got an extra boost of energy when my wife surprised me with the new Black Sabbath disc, and it is awesome. It's like they never took a 30 year plus break.  So, although beat like a dog, went to my garage and shook the pillars of the earth with my own rock concert and pumped out some reps and kicks to say good bye to today, loudly!

July 1, 2, 2013

Biked 5km
150 push ups
150 sit ups
50 spinning back kicks
50 inside cresents
50 reverse round house
10 Long 1 and 2 reps

I can honestly say I didn't do a whole lot of training on Canada day. I participated in the parade as the back of the lion and had a lot of fun. I completely understand what Sifu Brinker means about keeping the lion moving is like herding cats. Its so hard not to want to harass every kid and dog on the block.  ( Not that I was the head but I could see enough) The high light of the day though was being in the demo. I felt very proud to stand beside all my teammates and even more proud and an honour if you will to represent our school. Sifu Wetter really nailed it. Good on him and good on everyone. It was also great to see other students and teachers from Silent River show up for support, it just displays the solidarity of the kwoon. I biked 5km and then later at night Eva and I shot off a whole big box of fireworks in the alley/back yard. Way too much fun.

June 30, 2013

100 push ups
100 sit ups
20 weapon form reps
Biked 10 km
50 side heel thrusts

June 28, 29, 2013

250 push ups
250 sit ups
50 inside cyclones
50 outside cyclones
5 kempo reps
20 weapon form
5 km walked

With the demo coming close all of our forms have to be top notch. With this in mind I have a few bugs to work out but I don't want to over do reps. The form feels pretty good and at the moment I want to maintain but be mindful of the techniques that need a little tweek when I do some practice reps.

I'm seeing flexibility as being a hindrance to the advancement of my kicks and techniques when practicing forms. This has always been a struggle for me. So I will have to stretch a lot more frequently in order for my kicks to improve. If you only had to kick at knee level I would be awesome. My conditioning has to improve quite a bit. There is still strength but endurance is not of what a Sihing should be. I'm going to, in the near future start installing squat thrusts with my daily routine and throw in a few burpees as well. I have been missing my daily bike rides lately and that really sucks because I could feel a difference in a short period of time with several things. I guess this would be another challenge that has been thrown at me from a full deck of wild cards. I have always had the advantage of working physically hard every day to maintain my strength and endurance and see accelerated progress when I was at the kwoon on a regular basis. Now that I have been in a management scum position I don't have that luxury because I am in the office most of the time or just out for walks. This has been by far the most challenging year for me and where I am at in my Kung Fu. The only thing to do is press on to be the best you can and do everything you can. That's it.

June 26, 27, 2013

150 push ups
150 sit ups
10 weapon form reps
50 round house kicks
50 hidden leg techniques
2 min. horse stance
 On the way home from picking up my daughter we seen a homeless guy on the side of the road with his life on his back and a sign that said "HUNGRY". So Eva and I went and bought him a meal and gave it to him with a bottle of water. I held the door for 4 people and bought the woman behind me a coffee in the line up.

June 24, 25, 2013

200 push ups
200 sit ups
25 round house kicks per leg
10 weapon form reps
10 board breaking sequence reps

I am in the process of trying to come up with five personal techniques. There is a lot of theoretical questions I have in order to fully understand the mind set to begin. These questions I am going to put forward to kwoon talk and see what kind of advice I can obtain and maybe something will come up to help not only myself but others that may be having problems.

Tonight I had the pleasure of hanging out with the team while they practiced the dragon dance. It was pretty cool to finally show up at a practice and see what's going on. Not only that I was asked to fill in the tail of the lion to help out. To keep the practice rolling and I had an absolute blast. Although I didn't have a real clue, I like being thrown in on the fly like that, jump in with both feet blind and go for it.
Brian Chervenka

June 22, 23, 2013

100 push ups
16 kms biked
8 kms walked

June 20 and 21, 2013

200 push ups
200 sittups
Walked 8km over the last two days
10 reps of Long 1 and 2
10 reps of 18 temple motions
10 reps of Hung 1 and 2

I did a bunch of Long, 1 and 2, 18 temple motion, and Hung 1 and 2 reps in the water today. It was the first time I have ever practiced forms in the water. What a great tell tale way to check resistance vs flow. It was also interesting doing the forms with the assistance of water. Taking away the pull of gravity gives you the time and the awareness of the technique throughout your whole body. From the transition to the grounding of it all. How you place your feet, the timing of your stance to the end of your strike. Once I removed myself from the water and practiced these same forms a whole new awareness to not only where I was shown of instability but a lack of continuous two handed mechanics. When one hand is dormant, even for a few seconds, the water gives it away right now. It's very hard to explain right now but I have definately discovered a new training tool that I plan to utilize in the future.

On a note outside of training I feel very bad for the people in southern Alberta right now. Imagine one minute your doing whatever it is you do, next minute your street is under water and your house is flooded and your being forced to leave. I hope everyone has gotten away safe and sound and has a place to stay and food in their bellies.

Brian Chervenka

June 19, 2013

150 push ups
150 sittups
50 thrust kicks per leg
25 triple kicks per leg
5 reps of board breaking technique

I am going to be out of town for the next 5 days which means I will not be at class on friday. I will have my tablet with me so I can keep my progress up to date and everyone on the team informed. See you all next week.
Brian Chervenka

June 18, 2103

150 push ups complete
150 sittups
10 reps of my weapon form
10 reps of board breaking techniques
Issue still prevelant with articulation into stance transisition but its coming along finally. Left handstill still needs to figure out what the right is doing in order to smooth out my articulation.
My stances are becoming more stable and flow is starting to come between right into left open x stance.
Board breaking techniques are going to require more work in order to make it flow. Right now I am working on the foot work because it seems awkward. Have spent sometime lately in settling into my stance as I strike to work on grounded power.

Why don't I just cry about it

Well lets see, I haven't been able to meet my requirements and on a scale I have already failed my chance at grading this year. My Sihing assignments are not complete and I haven't handed one in since... who the hell knows. I haven't been able to attend any practices and there is 27 of us on this team and there is still low turnouts. Reading blogs all across the map I see frustration coming through the ranks and from those that have been covering my ass and others on the team far too long. I see and read people having a moment of clarity perhaps and think maybe this is too much. We had a fair and generous warning shot about Canada Day demo and some of us don't even have a full form down yet, while others have. I witnessed the disappointment in many faces when there was talk of cancelling the dragon dance due to low turnout. There was a sting in the air. There was also a moment of me questioning what am I doing here, I am a contributing factor to this and right now I don't feel very good about it. I'm glad and in some cases almost envious of those of you that can attend the kwoon throughout the week and your journey is going well. Not all of us can do that. There is mention of guilt on several fronts. There is also nothing mentioned at all in some cases. I have not been a very good member of this team when it comes to providing a window into my training or my journey. The whole idea as mentioned at the beginning of the year was to design the dragon dance and demos as modular. That way if everyone on the team attends a couple of practices and does their homework and the fact that there is 27 of us, it should be a piece of cake. At any given moment, anyone of us could jump in and fill the position allowing everyone on the team some room to breathe or have the coverage if an absence is needed. Instead we have a handful of people that show regularly and a higher majority that doesn't. So if we require 9 people to do a dragon dance, what is the other 18 people, including myself doing. Nothing. It certainly would appear that way if your following me. I'm sure at this point in my blog I have some blood boiling. In some cases I'm sure there is the opinion of what the hell do you know, your never there. You don't even blog, and where are you at with your training. Why don't I just cry about it.

Well tears and whining don't look good on me. I have been thinking of a way to help bring a positive twist to it all. I see people down and I want to help. I am going to try my very hardest to at least get to some practices besides Friday and help fill the void of missing team members. I owe them and I owe myself. I have been practicing my forms and board breaking techniques and both still need work. One of my personal requirements was to be the best example I can to my Sifus, fellow team mates and a shining example to the rest of the school. As you can plainly see, that's not happening at all as far as I'm concerned. But I am doing the best I can. I need to take the reigns of my life and training to do exactly that. Although I blew my chance to grade I am going to amplify my training to the hard core level it once was. To train as hard as possible with the mindset that I am grading this year and time is moving fast. I accelerate better under the gun anyway. I want to advance three times my skills from where they are now and see how far I can get by the end of the year. Starting tomorrow I am going to post all my numbers and everything I do towards my training daily on my blog. I hope that with this I will shoot out of my comfort zone and expose a completely transparent window to my highs and lows with the intention to inspire others on the team and other students. As a proud member of the I Ho Chuan it is my responsibility to not only be part of the elite, but to lead like someone from the elite. To inspire up and coming students and carry on the tradition and standard of those that cut the path before me. To show those that have taught me that they haven't wasted their time, and to continue the standard through my own evolution. The bottom line is respect. Another tool I want to make a huge contribution to is kwoon talk. I want to show through example the value of this tool and awaken the knowledge of the array of black belts that monitor it and want to share their advice. It has helped me before on many fronts and others need to see this. Its like a black belt on stand by 24 hrs. Then maybe later on down the road, I can just smile about it

Brian Chervenka

Cherishing the journey

I remember as a kid getting that first sensation of something absolutely awesome and cherishing it forever. Like a certain type of food that took me about 20 mins. to eat. Still to this day whenever we make something yummy for supper I save the best part for last. Enjoy it. Savour it. This same practice goes for my interests and whatever it is I'm passionate about. Whether its maintenance on my bike or any of our vehicles or projects around the home. Even my work once in a blue moon I can take the time to do something extraordinary, really enjoy it and beam with pride. That doesn't happen very often though. But still you can accomplish something awesome at the speed of light by never losing your passion and remaining true and solid to you and just how you see the way things should be done on your life journey. I like to take my time and think everything through and understand the mechanics of it all. Not everything can be done this way though. Some things have to be done at Mach 9, yesterday. Perhaps that's what makes us successful in these situations. By taking the time to understand and feel what we are doing and becoming passionate about them brings the solution and masters of our creativity on so many levels. I feel the same way about practicing Kung Fu. I am cherishing all this time and the gift of the art. I feel very grateful to have been taught to the point I am at now, by amazing people. I cant help but sometimes wonder though if I am stalling my training with this type of mindset. Maybe there is a certain thought process lying underneath telling me that if I accomplish black belt, the cookie is gone. I know this is not the case, to me this is where your personal journey begins. But I wonder if this does have an effect. Something to ponder.

I had a really good time last weekend with the team. You guys looked fantastic, you can tell the hard work that is taking place with everyone. I beam with a lot of pride and feel very lucky to train with such talented people. Yes there are huge struggles for everyone, but we bulldoze through because that's what we do. From reading everyone's blogs, to witnessing first hand the struggles involved, the injurys, and of course the most stressful part of it all time away from the people we love. Once the smoke clears, it is very humbling and inspirational to bare witness.

As of late I have been trying to get in a bike ride every night. If possible I shoot for 10 kms. I have one of those speedometer/ odometer with way too many buttons that took me a little bit of time to figure out. Now that I have its been a very good tool. It tells me my average speed, time, distance, and top speed. I am working on building a lot of endurance and strength in my legs, so these numbers should help. I have also trying to get caught up on my push ups and sit-ups, because those are behind quite a bit and I really need to get my conditioning back up and then some. So right now I am very sick with a bad cough and shoots of pain going through my bones, from head to toe. When this happens I try to read about diet, kung fu, or watch one of my many Bruce Lee films. Also thanks so much for letting me have a position in the dragon during the parade. It really meant a lot. I can honestly say that was one of the better days I have had in sometime. Thanks team, and thanks Sifu Rybak for the help when you were at the tail.  See you at the kwoon.

Have a look through this window

Lets get this out of the way first. No, I haven't been blogging. Yes, my numbers are low. Yes, I am angry with myself and how far I slipped out of the picture. If the team is upset with me, I understand. I couldn't agree with them more. Those of you that took the time to ask me how things were and how things are going, offering a hand if I needed it. Thanks. When you are away from the kwoon for a lengthly period of time it sometimes feels like you are walking into a room full of strangers and people don't even know you walked in. Those of you that didn't please feel free to approach me or if you prefer I will approach each and everyone of you to explain myself and will be more than happy to take what I have coming. Which is a heavy reminder of my commitment to you all and the requirements of the curriculum. Don't think for a second I don't care or forget where I come from. I am a life long student of Silent river Kung Fu  and my loyalty to the school is etched in stone. I feel like a poser and a weak link on the team. As I have not been able to be a solid member of this team. Someone that can be counted on. Something I have always prided myself on all my life is being solid and being a figure of support to anyone or anything I commit to. I don't feel like that person right now. I have been trying to juggle a whole pile of items at once and it has been very difficult at this point. Things are very busy and I am not going to go into a whole bunch of excuses or reasons. I will say this much that where I am at has been the toughest area I have ever been in for a long time. I won't deny the fact that I did seriously consider stepping down. Not because I am a quitter, but because I am not too proud or realize when I have made a wrong decision or a mistake. Being mediocre has never been part of my life and "good enough" has never been a consideration. I am stubborn and have spent much time trying to figure out problems or going over things continuously until it is right. Only to refine it in another form. There is no such thing as perfect, it is a myth and a fallacy many of us fall into all the time. But there is a thing called constant evolution. It just goes back to the basic symbol and the thought process of the circle. Once you close the circle it starts over again as more bold than the last.

When I get in these situations I go to the drawing board and try to figure out just what exactly it is I need to do to make this work. Yes, on my own. I have taken care of myself for a very long time. I am not good at sharing my problems with people. My problems are my problems and I have no interest in burdening anyone with them, let alone share them with anyone that may be reading this. I know this is not the idea behind this program and I am slowly trying to come out of it. This is not an excuse to not blog or have constant engagement. My engagement is very low right now. Well obviously, I am not even following through on the minimum requirement. Work is consuming all of my time and when there is free time I am either sleeping or spending it with my girls. Trying to train when you are completely burnt and carrying a load that is meant for two people doesn't promote a very solid thought process or physical endurance to really do anything. My conditioning is not what it should be and that hurts my training as well. Being able to attend last I Ho Chuan class was the breaking point for me and perhaps the sting of humility I needed to get the ball rolling back where it should be. Since my engagement was so low when working on my form I couldn't believe how far behind I was. While doing reps in the back I was asked to fill in a void in the demo. While I was practicing the reps were starting to flow and it felt a lot better than usual. Although come show time it completely sucked ass. But I learnt a really valuable lesson and a reminder of the expectations of the team. At the drop of  a hat you should be able to get up there and do your form. Anywhere, any time and if you can't that is a tell tale sign you are not practicing. Getting thrown into this situation is a lot more doable if it is a form you already know. But when its your own, and your not practicing, not so. So I have been forcing some time in to practice my form and I am trying to get in 100 plus reps before Friday. I know I was pulled from the original line up for understandable reasons. But if someone can't make it and a sub is needed I will be ready. That goes the same for my board breaking techniques. I have been getting in some distance on my bike and that is the kind of break away I need to stay engaged and just to keep my sanity since I highly doubt I will make any classes this week, with the exception of Friday of course. I will be there and I will be at the demo. So the plan for the next while is to play catch up on all my blogs and get them up to date along with my other requirements. Also, for what it matters, my apologies. See you at the kwoon

Brian Chervenka

My life as a rabbit

So far the month of April I am staying committed to being a vegetarian. The smells of barbecues in the spring air has been challenging though. There has been many a time I almost broke down and raced straight to the store to buy something that was once alive with the intention of putting myself in a meat coma. Actually the transition hasn't been that bad. I did notice a difference in how I feel though. I don't seem so full and can for sure feel a change for the better. I have been experimenting with all kinds of different foods and vegetables. Vegetarian burritos with some kind of beans and sweet potato as filler. Lots of different grains like quinoa, bulgar, and others I am not even going to try to spell. Basically I am eating everything I can get my hands on that's not meat. Smoothies, fruit, vegetables I didn't even know existed. I guess the most important part I have benefited from this challenge is the amplified awareness it has created to what I eat. I have watched what I eat for the most part, but now I watch closer. You can't trust these companies that supply us with food. They are infested with greed and don't seem to care how many people they kill or install diseases. My intention is to somehow get more involved in the agenda to bring this more into the public eye. To help stand beside those that choose to devote some of their time to stop this craziness. The amount of poisons that are put into our food is staggering. Our medical system is already exploding with sick people. Whats that going to be like for our children or future generations that are stuck with the burden of a overpopulated and highly expensive health care system. How can we as people let our government allow owners of food companies to sit on a board that decides what can and what can't be put into or distributed as food. Talk about a major conflict of interest. How can it be okay to genetically modify food or try to patent a vegetable. It's not. So this is one of my long term goals to raise awareness and make a solid commitment to my children and to others.

As far as my training is going, slow but steady. Some requirements are not bad, while others are completely messed. My focus lately has been my weapon form and Long one, and two. Working my way towards a 10 min horse stance. Doing some five animal form reps whenever I have some time. Trying to get in some kicks and stretching. Time is lean right now but I am doing whatever I can. Pretty soon I will starting riding my bike again and that should help alot for mileage and endurance. I want to ride my bike to class in the near future. I just have to ride to the kwoon and see how long it takes. Then pretty much set a time and consistently try to do better. I have to work on my 5 techniques here pretty quick. I am also in the process of learning Lao Gar and it's moving ahead little by little. That's all for now.
Brian Chervenka

Changes

Lots going on this past while. My little one turned 9 yesterday and I can't believe how the time has flew by. It seems like yesterday she was as long as my forearm and peeing on me at just minutes old. The first words, first steps, and the first line she read and the first scraped knee. It was a great feeling to have her need her Dad to help her along and make things better. She took on Independence very early and I was so proud to see her determination to take on everything. Starting with turning on lights, to feeding the cat, to growing her own flowers. Barely able to talk but saying very curtly, "I'll do it, I"ll do it!" As much as I love to see how well she is growing, in some ways I don't want her too. I can't help but feel the sting that all parents feel when their child becomes more and more independent and needs you less and less. I do realize that she will always need her parents at some point and as long as your child is alive you will always be a parent. It doesn't stop at 18 and it doesn't stop when you die. They will need you at every stage of their lives and its very important to balance that fine line between smothering and giving them the freedom to mature. Making sure you give them the life basics and timeless advice so no matter where they are, or you are, your guidance will always be there because all your teachings are ingrained into them and the understanding of love and acceptance is always there no matter what the situation. Its carved in stone. Happy Birthday little one.
As far as training goes I am slowly getting somewhat of a routine going. Its taking a while and its been difficult to get going sometimes. I am basically exhausted and trying to maintain some what of a schedule. My diet is completely out to lunch and metabolism up and down. So in order to get things back on track I am going to start back to square one as a whole. Coffee needs to go, because I drink too much of it and end up not eating till way late in the afternoon. For those that have spent long periods of time away from the kwoon will know what I mean when I say it is very damaging to your training. Yes it is your own personal journey, but the kwoon is where all of our training began. There is an indescribable energy and a house of expectation that keeps you focused both there and at home. But a prolonged absence can weaken that drive and I guess in some ways discipline and respect to the art. Taking on a new type of fuel that I am actually kind of excited about because I have never done it before. More fruits and vegetables and sourcing different types of protein could be fun and will do me some good I'm sure. I officially signed up for san shou tonight and will be ready to get a good schooling from our elite next Tuesday. As far as getting in time to train I will just have to make changes to suit as I have done before. So be it.
Brian Chervenka

Gears of my machine

First of all, I want to appologize to not only the team but give myself a slap for posting a couple days late. I am not going to go into it but it involves a word that starts with "w". Looking where I am at regarding my training is going to involve a number of changes. I have to open up the drive train and change out the gearing. Right now they are gummed up, rounded and in some places chipped. Not to mention the oil is dark. As of late my diet completely sucks, metabolism requires a tune up and cleaner fuel. I basically live on coffee and sporadic food binges with absolutely no balance. No time off and burning out as a result. Numbers are low but consistent and I am following through on writing something down everyday, although vague, its happening. I plan on doing some major changes in the next few weeks. Ripping open the gears and changing them out to a whole new gear set. Mix up the ratios and get back to the top fuel state I was in a short time ago. I really want to grade this year and I really want to pass. Enough said on that. First, in order to stay engaged and demand performance, not to mention a good schooling, I am signing up for san shou. I feel after listening to ample amounts of advice and witnessing the benefits in others around me this will be highly beneficial to my soon to be advanced and demanding training regiment. Second major change which in all honesty, freaks me out a little. I am going to try get my diet on track and burn a different type of fuel I have never considered, ever. For the month of April I am going to try to be a vegetarian. This will do me some good to clean out the system and detoxify as I'm sure there are copious amount of toxins and probably a small I beam in there somewhere. My wifes on board which is good because she knows way more about this stuff than I do. I think if it wasn't for my partner joining me, it might be easy to say to heck with this, I'm not a rabbit, give me a steak. It also gives us an opportunity to try to reach a challenge together and thats always cool. Well thats all I have for this week. See you all on Friday.
Brian Chervenka

Setting the targets

Looking ahead into the new year raises the bar of  actually how far I need to be in my training to accomplish earning a black belt. I feel in a lot of ways I set myself back farther than I actually thought. Not so good if this is going to be the year I take the challenge of grading. I learnt much from the mistakes I made last year, which should make things a lot better to plan and organize a routine for this term. As sceptical as I may seem at this moment in time only installs the determination to succeed and fulfil my goal to get to the next level of training. It was mentioned at the meeting that a person shouldn't put the accomplishment of black belt as a triumph to the top but look at it as another plateau or another turn in your path to wherever it is you envision as your destiny. I have always looked at it this way and I do see where I want to be. I know in my heart and in my future vision I can accomplish this with a few added things to keep the mindset where it should be. First step is to journal absolutely everything I can for reference purposes and focus. When I was journaling regularly last year the inspiration to go above and beyond came to be an installed motivator, it does really work if you stick to it. I'm not going to get wrapped up in the numbers like I did last year, it just installs stress and brings you down if you let it. This challenge is designed to be fun and hone you and your multitude of skills to a perfectly polished and sharp machine. Don't get wrapped up in the numbers. Stick to the plan and see through the requirement for what it really is and the numbers will take care of themselves. I will mix up all the requirements again because that will take the monotony of it away. I found trying to do a bit of everything each day became way too overwhelming and took the fun out of it. I plan on completing the less time consuming requirements first and foremost, to concentrate on one thing at a time aside from remaining dedicated to the physical requirements. One thing that a person taking on this challenge should understand right off the get go is don't try to do this all on your own. I'm not really cool with reaching out to others because I have done things on my own for a long time. Last year taught me something new. You are no less of a person to ask for help or be willing to work with others to accomplish your goals. They need you just as much as you will need them. I gained a lot of help and inspiration from members of the team last year. Sifu Wetter posted a multitude of advice regarding a plan to layout a weapon form which was very helpful. Thanks again Sifu. If any one is interested in what he had to say I can forward you his post. It was an awesome tool from a Sifu that has a few weapon forms under his belt. Sifu Rybak gave us all a swift kick in the ass that we all deserved and motivated us to put our skills out there and get our first demo together. It was pretty cool witnessing the creativity that Sifu coordinated and to be part of the end result. Sifu pushed us out of our comfort zones and expected more out of us than what we may have felt was good enough. Thanks go to you too Sifu Rybak. One thing that I did was write down any piece of advice or something that stuck in my head from a team mate and wrote it in my journal and I intend to do the same this year because it helped keep the motivation up and the connection true to the team. If you are stuck on something use, kwoon talk. This is a tool that is highly neglected and it is probably one of the greater displays of how dedicated our teachers are. There are a number of black belts that check kwoon talk quite frequently. I have posted many question regarding training and have always received advice or direction within hours. Not only from one black belt, but several, which gives you many perspectives on how you can decipher and solve your problems. I have a really good feeling about this year and look forward to training and succeeding with not only my teammates, but those that I will work along side with to achieve black belt this year.
Brian Chervenka

Fuel

I am spending alot of time lately pondering on diet and the food that is distributed to the public. Most of it is absolute garbage and I really don't understand how you can loosen regulations on what is and what is not allowed to be put in our food. I really don't get how you can legally get away with installing disease such as cancer and diabetes and all the effects that come with genetically modifying our food in the name of money, and literally and slowly killing people by the masses. Where I come from that is known as murder and quite frankly these are people we can honestly do without. There is also the total bullshit claim of how they're so many more people to feed and they have to do this in order to feed everyone. Once upon a time before the corporate disease and sociopaths took over everything, we had hundreds of thousands of honest farmers. We had great economic relationships with other countries that supplied us with natural, non modified products. We used to have massive sugar beet farms, animals that used to be fed by crops people grew. Now we use corn syrup and steroids.  Then came a bunch of clowns that said why are you wasting all that time and money to feed your livestock. Grow massive corn fields that require very little maintenance or overhead and shoot these steroid implants in the cows ear. Feed them corn that has nothing in it really that is of any benefit to man nor beast. The corn fools the animals digestive system to think it is eating what it is supposed too and the steroids make the animal grow that much faster and the money comes in that much quicker. No more extra costs, just quicker profits with less overhead. For those of you that eat meat you will notice something if you really pay attention. Most meat nowadays has no flavor and when you cook it, its mostly water. Welcome to the world of steroids. All this crap is altering our genetics as people and killing us. If you don't believe me try to hook yourself up with a farmer that feeds their animals naturally and see if you can buy a chicken off him or whatever. You'll realize I know what I'm talking about. I came from a farm and lived in southern Alberta, an area that was rich with pork, chicken, and beef farmers. I seen the crops change and the steroids come in. I also seen how normal people became rich fast and the after effects. Another good example is wheat and soy. Wheat wasn't bad for you like it is now because the seeds my father bought weren't altered to grow the perfect kernel regardless of weather or soil. To be the right weight and size. There was also many places to buy different types of seeds. Now you can probably count on the fact it is monopolized by some corporation with some sociopath at the helm. Soy, same story. Pretty sad overall when you look at all these shareholders that are financial backing to disease and murder. Thinking that just because they put a sociopath in place to run operations, that it washes their hands of all responsibility and they didn't know. Really though, how pathetic are you as a person to poison woman and children and think we are all stupid in the name of money. How much is enough. When are we going to stop being sheep and start restoring the community and annihilate the disconnection. Why are we as a whole buying into the crap that we read and watch on television and see it as truth. Why have we let corporations become stronger than the very people we voted in, to run our governments. The same people that should have stepped in stopped all of this from happening in the first place. Things have to change, but one mans rant/meltdown isn't going to do it. We have to change together as people.

Not Much

At this point  I am at quite a loss for words. Lots going on this last little while and many things on my plate. I don't want to fall into the same groove as last year of not blogging because I have nothing to say or I don't feel anything is revelant. Any type of word or communication to the team is revelant and is the bare minimum requirement.  I can say the energy was high in the kwoon last friday and a huge assortment of weapons which should make for some pretty cool weapon forms and fight choreography. It was also really cool to see some new and some familiar faces this year. I look forward to training with you all. I also look forward to training and preparing for grading this year.
Brian Chervenka

Snakes and Ladders

I guess in some ways last years kick at the I Ho Chuan could be compared to this game. For me and the many great people I met on this journey. You ascend up the ladder, feeling good about things and getting that much closer to your goals. The excitement of looking down at how far you climbed. Seeing the carnage of all the challenges you have beaten, only to move ahead farther than you thought you could. Growing into a smooth steady climb and making all the right turns and avoiding those snakes. Pulling off huge accomplishments and starting to pick up momentum in your goals and increasing the numbers in a steady almost tranquil frame of mind. Forms are looking good, getting in some distance, really starting to become one with your weapon. Push up reps and sit up reps increasing everyday. Achieving that state of organic humanity by evolving more and more into your empathy and rolling back to how things should be by focusing on doing the common good for anyone that is within your kindness radius. Then an injury occurs, whoosh down you go. A few more rolls and you discovered something cool in your form. Back up you go. Getting in good reps and a fairly descent routine. Life came into play and yep, down you go. But this time your back at the bottom of the board only a few feet from where you started. So next roll you take a different path, thinking that way didn't work so lets try with the shorter ladders. Thinking that if you play it safe you will make it to the end. Confidence is back up so you take a chance and shoot for that long ladder. Two moves later you drop down half way, then back up, and down. Pretty soon you have a melt down and toss the board in the air and punch it in two. Thinking to yourself this is a dumb game anyway and who in their right mind puts themselves through this mental and physical yo yo of success and failures. Just to give good measure you give it one last kick and move on to something you know you can win all the time, every time. Like the alphabet or counting backwards from a 100. Then you and your brain are becoming boarder line moosh. You think to yourself I need more, I can't let a challenge beat me. So you go back and find all those scattered pieces. Dig out that darn board and duct tape it back together. Find your favourite color and give it to your most challenging opponent. Life. Find your second favourite color and give it to your other opponent, training. Take the color you hate the most and roll with focus. This time you are going to make it to the top because you have an idea of what to expect and what it is you need to do for recovery. What you don't know, you take the risk and accept the outcome. Because its the risk takers that prevail and learn from failing. The challenge becomes the addiction and losses are another form of challenge not defeat. The balance of it all that leads to the accomplishment. Being one at the top of your game.
Brian Chervenka

Let them be

My little one has been in Kung Fu for a little while now, and I was ecstatic when she said she wanted to try it out. I have always taken the position to support and let her try whatever interest she decides to partake and let her discover it on her own. If she enjoys it and wants to excel, then all the power to her and I will help no matter what. If she wants. Not because I feel it is my right to. If she chooses not to, so be it. I have no interest in forcing my daughter to continue something she doesn't like. I also don't think its healthy to stand over her and constantly bark out what she is doing wrong, forcing her to practice and then of course the lecturing all the way too and from class. I feel that would stunt the creativity and remove the life lessons of discipline,challenge, defeat, triumph, self confidence, and of course setting her own life path that she absolutely needs in order to evolve and mature properly with out me taking that experience away or shielding her from it. I also did not want to install a type of resentment towards me because perhaps I lacked patience or smothered her when she was trying to learn and out of my own selfishness and not letting a kid be a kid regardless of the interest she observes. I mean shes 8 years old and has a long road of discovery ahead. But what a better tool could be introduced than Kung Fu to help her see ahead and handle obstacles. Although this interest was a little different because her Dad practices it too, but I still wanted to keep my distance and see what transpires. I felt that the only way to really see if she takes to Kung Fu or not was to let her find the bug and learn on her own and patiently see if she would approach me for help. Sometimes there were moments of struggle to not tell her what she was doing right or wrong or pay attention and stop jack assing around. In other words, stop being a kid and you will be a little satellite of me. Not cool. So the only intervention I really imposed was the praise of what she did do, and did you do your Kung Fu homework. A few times I did ask her if she was really that interested or are you doing this just for dad. She told me she still liked training but may want to go back to being a cheer leader. She missed it. So I thought well lets see what happens. Much like Sifu Masterson's observations of her son, I thought perhaps I should just pull her out because she was fooling around and didn't really seem that interested, then something changed. As I watched her I seen she was trying alot harder and you could see progress in her form. She was telling me how very excited she was that she was going to be in the banquet demos. She started to practice more at home. Cool the installation of a goal. One night I heard this little voice coming from down stairs shouting every step of Hsiegh Chien, and then the moment I was waiting for, my little one looking up at me asking if I would come see how she knows the whole form and would I help. I couldn't help but beam with pride. So a few nights here and there we are practicing our forms together with the goal of doing our best for the banquet. Throwing in push ups and sittups and some other training. I still tread lightly but am grateful for stepping back and witnessing young discovery. For letting her be.
Brian Chervenka

Two wheel training

When the weather gets like this in the month of January, I can't help but become frustrated because its a tease for spring. Warm weather means get on my bike and ride. Its very similar to the state of euphoria that we feel when we set foot in the kwoon and train. So many different senses are awakened and yes even with a motorcycle there is still the quest for center. I spend whatever time I can performing regular maintenance and check fluids, revamp or replace certain parts. Researching and checking out new parts and deciding what upgrade will make it go faster, handle better, and impose constant and concrete reliability. Observe and ponder the mechanics of it all and use every moment I can to educate myself on all aspects . Honing the skills I know and diving into the unknown, the challenge of taking worn out or expired components apart and putting it all back together to make it perform like new or beyond. The importance of recording in a maintenance journal of all I have done and what I have learnt so the option to always look back and have the reference of mistakes  I made and ended up pushing my bike home or just before bringing the beast alive to look down and see a leak or return from a ride and discovering a bolt I may have missed. To track all the different fluids that have gone in and when its time to change a filter. After all the trial and error is experienced and the understanding of the mechanics is understood, I can now become one with the void of riding. Smelling the different scents of nature, being sensitive to the different temperature changes, and of course the risk of it all. You and a space of less than a foot from the asphalt at speeds much faster than we're meant to be. Steering the bike with your hips and not just from your shoulders but basing all off your center. navigating a corner and just when to let off and set up and when to gun it. The calm and then the immediate reaction it takes to steer around a deer, or head butting a sea gull at about 120. ( that almost knocked me out). Some times its just a casual ride on a back country road and then next thing you know someone doesn't see you and rolls out of a drive way right in front of you. You experience an incredible adrenalin dump but deep down you know, if you don't stay cool and in control, you are going down or you might freak out and seize up and ride straight into a tree. Not panicking are the only way to not lay down your bike. But there may come a time when the only way to survive is to lay the bike down and hope for the best.
What does this have to do with Kung Fu?To some, not a damn thing, to others, if you change some of the words too training, forms, kicks, journalling, techniques, sparring, diet, stretching, break falls, confrontation, triumphs and let downs, it may be deciphered as a code of relation to Kung Fu.
Brian Chervenka

A different application of Kung Fu

Not quite sure exactly how to start to journal about how things have been going lately but the relevance of putting something down at this point is imperative. Over the last two months and now into the new year, it is quite full. My days start at 6 a.m. and on a good night I'm at home by 6:30. every day. But the work doesn't stop. emails, phone calls and planning and paper work continued on until ..well there goes another email notification and its now 9:30p.m. Trying to fulfill my responsibility's as a father and husband and then get some training in was tiring to say the least. So too manage, I had to sacrifice some of my training. As much as I would love to be a machine, I am not. My family will always be first and they didn't see much of me. There wasn't enough time in the day to make classes and it was too a point where I wasn't going to make it in time to pick up my daughter from her class. Before the Christmas break  there were nights that I didn't get home until 9 p.m. and then back at work for 6 a.m. How are you supposed to train like that and still maintain all responsibility's. In the span of the first two hours at work one day I answered 27 phone calls, 14 emails and was in the middle of spotting a truck load of steel while delegating and running a job with 4 crews and 37 men by radio. Then came the brilliant idea of "Hey, I know, lets start a night shift, that will help everything" said one of the idiots that would be of more use as a wheel chock than anything else. Now I'm at the job until 7 p.m. to delegate and set up the night crew foreman and my own work is falling  behind in a job I am new to. I think if it wasn't for Kung Fu and how much it has amplified my determination and showing me to not think of things as stress or grating but a view that all things are a challenge and this is all part of true mastery, I would have told everyone that was in my path where to go and how to get there in fine detail. For example, when a clown that has absolutely no knowledge or concept of well, anything, is asking me over and over how long will this take, after I have basically ran him through every stage of a said procedure, I probably would have responded as " Well, lets see if you pound your head up your ass and tried to roll to the city and back to the job, we'll be done in half the time it takes you to get back. Oh sorry, I see you already have your head in place, but we'll still finish long before your back."  Since I have been training I don't talk like that anymore, although at times its hard not too. I have learned to deal with people and situations with a more diplomatic approach. Leaving emotions or irrational responses where they belong and viewing it as a challenge, maintaining a solid disposition and solving the problem swiftly and displaying professionalism in its finest form and setting a good example to those that work with me, working on mastery in my chosen field. This is one of the ways I have taken my Kung Fu to work. I didn't have alot of time to do many follow ups on my physical training with the exception of sneaking in push ups when I could, but worked on mastery in a combined form of my occupation and my Kung Fu. Everything I have taken on in my life I have wanted to do well and do it with integrity and pride. I can't do things half way and call it good. If I am putting my heart and soul into it then that's where my solid focus will be, and that's where my determination will be until its being done properly and is up to the standard that I have witnessed from those before me. My approach to my Kung Fu is the same and that's why, although yes damaging, I had to slow it down a bit. But what is there is concrete and will not take too long to pick up where I left off. As time goes on I am starting to get a better handle on this level of my work and its all starting to get a little more manageable. As I am learning to plan ahead more and figure out easier ways to get more things done in one shot the more I am finding time to get back into the physical end of my Kung Fu. See you at the kwoon.
Brian Chervenka