Keeping things simple and manageable is something we all try to strive for. Life loves to challenge us and that is something that we can never control but we can control how we manage the situation efficiently and effectively. The current lifestyle that we live in doesn't make this easy. Everything has to be done THIS MINUTE, very few practice patience, nothing can be done fast enough, me first and hurry up already! As a society we have some how along the way been influenced and led to believe this is normal and packing as much stuff in a day or when we are on own time is just the way it is. I think some people right now are having a real long hard look at their lives and how we live them. I know I have and honestly it's been a great reset and moment of clarity as the machinery rests and the dust has long settled.
I have really been enjoying this down time and see it as a great opportunity to embrace the challenge and see it through. The overall cause of this down time is not so great though as people are put at risk, people are dying, and things are not so well overall. But I am using it as a time to catch up with my family, complete those long over due projects, and bringing my training back up to speed and where it belongs. It's given me an opportunity to re evaluate how I approach things and how I will chose to live as things come back to normal.
The biggest thing for me right now is to bring in a solid and effective routine to make great changes in regards to my Kung Fu. As I said before I am not good at routine at all, in fact I really suck at it. I have just always taken what I need to do and get it done as it comes to me. But that doesn't work so well when things become busy. It doesn't have to be intricate or erratic, it just needs to be consistent and something that can be maintained and adaptable. All it needs to be is 15 minutes a day to keep things moving along. As Sifu Brinker used tell us, you give me 15 minutes a day, and I guarantee you a black belt in 3-5 years. Of course certain aspects of training require much more time, but that is another point. You can get a lot of Kung Fu training done in this time as it's about the same time we did for warm ups before class. I remember pools of sweat on the mats and taxed muscles in this short period of time for years and a lot of things covered as well. This is what I'm working on very hard and with enough consistency it will become normal, even on those long days at work.
As far as the rest of my Kung Fu goes I am making great progress with many aspects. My forms and stances are coming along well and I have continued work on my dangling board breaks which have become very successful as I feel they are coming from the whole body and not just the shoulders. There is more breaks than swollen hands anyway. I have been working on the right reverse and will be switching it up to a left reverse ridge hand. From there I hope to accomplish some breaks with kicks, but that is a ways off yet. I'm also switching up into some demon training here for the next 2 weeks to give my stamina and strength a much needed boost as I am now comfortable that I have the form down well. I can't switch it up to demon mode if the form sucks because this will for sure cause an injury, form is everything if the intent is to build something strong, so I don't mess with that too much. I'm just really taking advantage of our current situation and see it as an opportunity and now that the sun is out and the snow is gone, the outdoors calls! See you on the screen!
Tuesday, 28 April 2020
Tuesday, 14 April 2020
The Quest for Definition
Reaching the point of definition, or the full body snap, with the proper grounding and skeletal alignment can be tricky to say the least. However achieving this is a crucial part of the mechanics to apply a technique utilizing the whole body. There is a lot going on and to be able to be in tune with all of these factors requires a huge abundance of both the physical repitition and sharp mental awareness towards the stances and technics involved. They need to work as one and what may feel very wrong at the time, may actually be right on the mark. But due to the high amounts of repititions that took place, the awareness just hasn't struck yet.
I have been working hard on proper skeletal alignment and grounded execution on Loa Gar lately and have made some really good progress. My techniques are now being led by the hips, completed at the center of my quadrants, and that back foot is now straightening out when I snap those hips and transition through the form. I'm starting to feel that conductor, not THE energy, but the snap that completes the connection, that final second when the technique reaches complete rotation and that back leg and heel is grounded firm, an explosion from the center out. (I think this is what is meant by compressing in our stances) It's weird but it feels weak as opposed to when I throw everything from the shoulder. The thing is, it's not, it's about 14 times stronger than the one arm because the whole body is now involved with proper alignment and timing. Keeping in mind all of this and slowing the form down has really smoothed out my flow and improved my timing. Now I just need to apply this to the rest of the school forms as well because they must move together. I'm also learning the new bow and how that translates into the forms, it's coming.
My weapon form is coming along well and making these new connections has both improved how to handle the weapon more efficiantly and smooth out the timing. To add to this I am far more aware the positioning of the weapon in motion and where it is to insure I reach proper definition at the execution point. For me I use the Lao Gar stance when I train with a heavy weapon because it provides a great counterweight and gives that reach and stability when I am trying to keep the weapon moving smooth and timed correctly, it's also great for transitioning between stances.
The last little while has been great because my attention is fully on my girls and my Kung Fu. I haven't seen much of them over the last few years as a result of my work. Now I can see my wife everyday and hang out with my daughter. Actually right now I'm teaching my daughter to drive. I wouldn't have had this opportunity if I was busy at work and it is one of those things as a parent that you only get one shot at. She's doing awesome but she needs to watch the speed and is already shaking her head at drivers!! She comes by it honestly though as both of her parents drive everything like we stole it.
My Kung Fu is also coming along very well as I have no distractions and just having the time to concentrate on it and build a routine has been great. With the roles reversed I can bring my routine into my work and hopefully it sticks, I'm not so good at routine, I just do things as they come. The problem is though my focus and prioritization becomes corrupted and suddenly the task at hand takes priority over everything and that is no good. So I'm really working hard to overcome this as a work ethic, focus, and commitment is not the problem. The problem is I need to remember that my best interests come first, not last, and if I can build a real strong routine and hold this mindset in line with everything else as my work returns it should all move together. For someone that is well known to be a troubleshooter in my field of expertise, I sure suck at fixing my own s$#t, but this is what this time is for and when all else fails, I go back to my first posts and hammer that home. See you on the screen.
I have been working hard on proper skeletal alignment and grounded execution on Loa Gar lately and have made some really good progress. My techniques are now being led by the hips, completed at the center of my quadrants, and that back foot is now straightening out when I snap those hips and transition through the form. I'm starting to feel that conductor, not THE energy, but the snap that completes the connection, that final second when the technique reaches complete rotation and that back leg and heel is grounded firm, an explosion from the center out. (I think this is what is meant by compressing in our stances) It's weird but it feels weak as opposed to when I throw everything from the shoulder. The thing is, it's not, it's about 14 times stronger than the one arm because the whole body is now involved with proper alignment and timing. Keeping in mind all of this and slowing the form down has really smoothed out my flow and improved my timing. Now I just need to apply this to the rest of the school forms as well because they must move together. I'm also learning the new bow and how that translates into the forms, it's coming.
My weapon form is coming along well and making these new connections has both improved how to handle the weapon more efficiantly and smooth out the timing. To add to this I am far more aware the positioning of the weapon in motion and where it is to insure I reach proper definition at the execution point. For me I use the Lao Gar stance when I train with a heavy weapon because it provides a great counterweight and gives that reach and stability when I am trying to keep the weapon moving smooth and timed correctly, it's also great for transitioning between stances.
The last little while has been great because my attention is fully on my girls and my Kung Fu. I haven't seen much of them over the last few years as a result of my work. Now I can see my wife everyday and hang out with my daughter. Actually right now I'm teaching my daughter to drive. I wouldn't have had this opportunity if I was busy at work and it is one of those things as a parent that you only get one shot at. She's doing awesome but she needs to watch the speed and is already shaking her head at drivers!! She comes by it honestly though as both of her parents drive everything like we stole it.
My Kung Fu is also coming along very well as I have no distractions and just having the time to concentrate on it and build a routine has been great. With the roles reversed I can bring my routine into my work and hopefully it sticks, I'm not so good at routine, I just do things as they come. The problem is though my focus and prioritization becomes corrupted and suddenly the task at hand takes priority over everything and that is no good. So I'm really working hard to overcome this as a work ethic, focus, and commitment is not the problem. The problem is I need to remember that my best interests come first, not last, and if I can build a real strong routine and hold this mindset in line with everything else as my work returns it should all move together. For someone that is well known to be a troubleshooter in my field of expertise, I sure suck at fixing my own s$#t, but this is what this time is for and when all else fails, I go back to my first posts and hammer that home. See you on the screen.
Wednesday, 1 April 2020
A Pivotal Moment
I'm sure we have all had an event or a moment in our training at the kwoon that has had a deep impact on our Kung Fu that provided clarity or motivation to just where we were at and what we were doing and where we are going. A moment that answered a question that you didn't even know existed, a beam of light into a moment of darkness or uncertainty, and moment of success that exposed itself through countless failures or misconception, or just a moment that was so very cool to the individual that it inspired evolution or understanding to ourselves as a whole.
At this time many are struggling with the isolation and how to keep moving forward, I get that and understand. Isolation doesn't really bother me too much as I typically keep to myself as it is anyway and have had to train away from the kwoon for years so this is no big deal for me. But I thought perhaps I would send out a challenge/moral booster to others that may help or not. Nonetheless, it's worth a shot.
So here it goes, take a moment to reflect on a pivotal moment in your training that occured and inspired motivation, change, or appreciation. Was there a Sifu involved, a training partner, or someone you didn't even know? Where were you at then, what effect did this moment have on you at that very moment and how did it translate to where you are now?
My moment through reflection was something I really needed at the time. I have always been big on our lineage and almost to the point of relentless on tradition. I'm an old school cat for sure and embrace hard work and challenge. But at that particular time in my training I was uncertain about where I was. I was questioning my skill level and if I was showing enough respect to our lineage and our style. I was wondering if I was holding true the respect to my teachers and my past masters and doing enough to uphold the standard, practicing this gift to the best of my abilities. I was also wondering at the time if we were becoming watered down. Are we losing the potency or our lineage. Am I in the right place?
Then one time in the Kwoon one of our master level instructors was speaking of our lineage and spoke a little about each one of our grand masters, their teachers. Sifu was speaking of one in particular that I admired quite a bit. When I found out that he was part of our lineage I must have researched every thing I possibly could about them prior to this, so I was glued to every word Sifu was saying. But then something beyond extrodinary to me took place. Sifu looked right at me and said that I reminded him of this person, I was bult like him, I moved like him. I was vapour locked and of course my head swelled up a bit, because that was a pretty big deal to me.
But those few sentences changed everything for me. It answered all of my questions and motivated me so much. It gave me clarity and assured me I was in the right place. That moment proved just how pure our style of Kung Fu is and the commitment to tradition is by our instructors and the standard that has maintained at our school. But there was something much bigger to this that went far beyond me. Think about it for a second, you have a master level instructor, that see's one of his teachers, through one of his students Kung Fu. Thats pretty damn cool if you ask me.
So that's my pivotal moment that inspired me to train hard and remain loyal to our lineage, be mindful of appreciation and respect to tradition and our Sifu's. Protect and respect our school and maintain the art. This is also one of the very things that inspired me to go through the Black Belt code of Ethics, understand it and maintain it, break it all down and practice it, just like our Grand Masters. Continue to work on mastering our style through practicing curriculumn. But most importantly, it made me happy and proud to be a martial artist and carry on just like those before me did.
If anyone is willing to share a moment of reflection that had a profound effect on their training, please do. See you at the Kwoon
At this time many are struggling with the isolation and how to keep moving forward, I get that and understand. Isolation doesn't really bother me too much as I typically keep to myself as it is anyway and have had to train away from the kwoon for years so this is no big deal for me. But I thought perhaps I would send out a challenge/moral booster to others that may help or not. Nonetheless, it's worth a shot.
So here it goes, take a moment to reflect on a pivotal moment in your training that occured and inspired motivation, change, or appreciation. Was there a Sifu involved, a training partner, or someone you didn't even know? Where were you at then, what effect did this moment have on you at that very moment and how did it translate to where you are now?
My moment through reflection was something I really needed at the time. I have always been big on our lineage and almost to the point of relentless on tradition. I'm an old school cat for sure and embrace hard work and challenge. But at that particular time in my training I was uncertain about where I was. I was questioning my skill level and if I was showing enough respect to our lineage and our style. I was wondering if I was holding true the respect to my teachers and my past masters and doing enough to uphold the standard, practicing this gift to the best of my abilities. I was also wondering at the time if we were becoming watered down. Are we losing the potency or our lineage. Am I in the right place?
Then one time in the Kwoon one of our master level instructors was speaking of our lineage and spoke a little about each one of our grand masters, their teachers. Sifu was speaking of one in particular that I admired quite a bit. When I found out that he was part of our lineage I must have researched every thing I possibly could about them prior to this, so I was glued to every word Sifu was saying. But then something beyond extrodinary to me took place. Sifu looked right at me and said that I reminded him of this person, I was bult like him, I moved like him. I was vapour locked and of course my head swelled up a bit, because that was a pretty big deal to me.
But those few sentences changed everything for me. It answered all of my questions and motivated me so much. It gave me clarity and assured me I was in the right place. That moment proved just how pure our style of Kung Fu is and the commitment to tradition is by our instructors and the standard that has maintained at our school. But there was something much bigger to this that went far beyond me. Think about it for a second, you have a master level instructor, that see's one of his teachers, through one of his students Kung Fu. Thats pretty damn cool if you ask me.
So that's my pivotal moment that inspired me to train hard and remain loyal to our lineage, be mindful of appreciation and respect to tradition and our Sifu's. Protect and respect our school and maintain the art. This is also one of the very things that inspired me to go through the Black Belt code of Ethics, understand it and maintain it, break it all down and practice it, just like our Grand Masters. Continue to work on mastering our style through practicing curriculumn. But most importantly, it made me happy and proud to be a martial artist and carry on just like those before me did.
If anyone is willing to share a moment of reflection that had a profound effect on their training, please do. See you at the Kwoon
Transparency Through Absence
Well the last little while has been a drastic change for many. Being isolated to our homes can be a little overwhelming and to some degree unhealthy if we don't keep our minds and bodies occupied, thank goodness we are martial artists. Another thing to be very appreciative about is our Sifus'. They are going above and beyond to keep the school moving forward, taking the risks to go to and from the school in the middle of a pandemic to manage and continue to teach the art of Kung Fu and on top of it provide some one on one time. It's all pretty awesome really and speaks volumes to the level of commitment our school has to the art and it's students.
The thing is though, although we are seperated and the Kwoon is shutdown for the time being, I feel the connection to each other is closer than ever. We have a really good opportunity to remain transparent and the discipline of team involvement can still be had through technology. Although my blogs have been late,(which I am about to change today) I am driven to post my forms weekly to show my progress and journal the same, to keep training hard and mindful of what I am doing. I am driven to stay as connected as I can through Kwoon talk and try to awknowledge every post I can to let people know, we are in this together and we are here for each other.....together we stand, divided we fall.
It's weird but I feel more connected and have probably the strongest connection I have ever had to my I Ho Chuan year and others on the team. I am driven to transparency more than ever and look forward to seeing this most challenging year, one of our best. This is a strong team, probably the strongest I have ever seen. The adaptation to change and the voluntary contributions, each member displaying their own individuality but maintaining the mindset of together inspires me tremendously. I feel obligation and discipline to train hard and maintain my commitments and just pull off a great year of awesomeness. Well done team, train hard, stay positive, stay connected and we shall continue to blow peoples minds right out of their skulls through this teams awesomeness!! See you on the screen!!
The thing is though, although we are seperated and the Kwoon is shutdown for the time being, I feel the connection to each other is closer than ever. We have a really good opportunity to remain transparent and the discipline of team involvement can still be had through technology. Although my blogs have been late,(which I am about to change today) I am driven to post my forms weekly to show my progress and journal the same, to keep training hard and mindful of what I am doing. I am driven to stay as connected as I can through Kwoon talk and try to awknowledge every post I can to let people know, we are in this together and we are here for each other.....together we stand, divided we fall.
It's weird but I feel more connected and have probably the strongest connection I have ever had to my I Ho Chuan year and others on the team. I am driven to transparency more than ever and look forward to seeing this most challenging year, one of our best. This is a strong team, probably the strongest I have ever seen. The adaptation to change and the voluntary contributions, each member displaying their own individuality but maintaining the mindset of together inspires me tremendously. I feel obligation and discipline to train hard and maintain my commitments and just pull off a great year of awesomeness. Well done team, train hard, stay positive, stay connected and we shall continue to blow peoples minds right out of their skulls through this teams awesomeness!! See you on the screen!!
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