So What Now?

Well it's been officially day one of being a Black Belt? Do I feel any different? Honestly I'm not sure, I am still just kind of floating right now on a cloud of awesome, way the heck up there. Lastnight was amazing and obviously one I will never forget anytime soon. For the most part I stayed pretty calm and maintained my excited buzz and I was so happy. The only time I became nervous is when it came time to read my speech. Oh man, my heart was going off like the zombie drumming. I havent spoken in front of that many people in a long time, but I did it and calmed myself down enough to get through it. When I got home I just kind of hung out and reflected on it all and really cherished the moment. As much as I thought it would be cool to sleep with my black belt on....well I share a bed so we all know where that idea went. As I think about today, I realized the need to plan for tomorrow as my journey has just taken another turn.

One very important part to remember is I just can't suddenly shut it all off. I haven't arrived anywhere. It's not time to just coast along. No, actually now is the time to really crank it up. New goals must be set, conditioning must be maintained, and all that was tested must remain sharp. It says so right in the Black Belt Code of Ethics....and I said " I Do", so I damn well better. From what I can see and have witnessed, those red stripes at the end of a Black Belt take time and effort. Much like the journey that brought me to this point and this one will be even more difficult. I can't wait, this is going to be awesome.

I have actually started to make some plans for the year in order to stay engaged and advance my skill. I will continue with my weapons training as I really enjoy this area. I haven't decided if I will take on another weapon or continuing to work with one of the  4  I have and further the forms. All the weapons I have at my disposal each have a base form to work off of, so maybe we'll see how I can advance them. I noticed as I continued to practice my 5 techniques they began to evolve and things started to change involuntary in some cases such as footwork and application. That's all good and everything except when they begin to change during a public demo.....at my promotion..... without any warning to me or my partner. I screwed a couple of them up lastnight and felt kind of stupid but when Mr. Duncan and I were practicing earlier in the week we kind of seen that coming. So I plan to continue working on these techniques and just see where I can take them. I think I will take on some Tai Chi perhaps and just really work on all aspects of my Kung Fu. I have other thoughts too, but I believe I will do a little consulting before I apply them to my training. One thing I will continue to do is journal. I have actually really took a liking to recording my discoveries and thoughts.

I just wanted to say congratulations to all of the Black Belts that were promoted lastnight, very very inspirational and a great example. Congratulations also to all the students and their achievements, well done everyone. Of course I have to say congratulations again to Sifu S. Csillag and Sifu C. Prince, well done ladies and it was amazing to train with you two. I gues we'll see you Thursday night!!!

I also wanted to mention a couple of other Black Belts that helped me along this journey.
Sifu Rybak, thanks for always having faith in me and your continued support over the last few years when I couldn't be at the kwoon preparing for demos. You always said, "I know your training", or "fix this or that for next time" and that always helped me stay engaged.
Sifu Adrien Prince and Sifu Vantuil, you two helped me in several areas, but one area in particular was when I was posting questions on Kwoon talk. I would get stuck on things while training at home and post questions and you two would always post a response that would help and I would be prepared for class on a few belt levels. Thanks for that. Also Sifu Adrien Prince thank you for always taking time to help me with the technical areas of my training and Sifu Vantuil for giving me some Tai Chi exercises to work on and always offering assistance when I needed it. ( Even if I did them in Catapillar D9 mode) Thank you.
Sifu Harrigan from my very first class to where I am today you have helped me in so many ways and always offered advice and direction when it came to several aspects of my Kung Fu training, I appreciate it, Thank you.

To the Monkeys thanks for being such a great team. I really enjoyed seeing so many of you overcome your obstacles and come out on top. This team was so kick ass in so many ways. Your individual personalities and hard work is what made this year so special and I'm so glad you guys were a major part of me becoming a black belt with your never ending support, Thanks so much Monkeys, I wish you the best! One more thing before I forget again, Sifu Lindstrom you were in my corner right from the beginning and that never stopped all year, thank you for all of your support.

Well that's about all I have for now as I struggled just write this and try to focus, still on a major Kung Fu buzz and all that took place lastnight. See you at the Kwoon.