Achieving Version 1.0

So I'm pretty excited about the weapon I chose this year. I remember being over at the weapon rack and looking over all the fun just sitting there and all saying "pick me!' and Then Sifu Freitag pulled the two short handled battle axes and I thought, these are pretty cool. It would be a two handed weapon so I could probably put together something from some of the other stuff I have been working on. Then Sifu said, "Or there is this one"  and that was it. Soon as I grabbed it and looked over it for a few seconds an incredible feeling came over me. I felt like I had just won the weapon lottery, it was love at first site. I still get pretty excited just looking at it. I'm not sure of the exact name, so I call it MINE.
 During class a lot of ideas poured in and that just reinforced my confidence to begin training with this weapon. I have been working on some techniques with each part of this weapon and I do have some that I think will be effective and I will use in the form. I'm trying to mesh my stances now to create a flow and not having much luck. There is a few kicks involved as well. The issue I have right now is I don't know this weapon completely. I haven't used it enough to trust it. I don't have the room to really swing it around and see how it handles at top speed, balance points, and which stances to use. And get this, apparently people do not like a person swinging around a almost 6 ft, shiny, pointy, spearheaded, axe from hell, in the middle of the street. Whatever. So once outside I will be able to learn to handle the weapon completely and confidently. Then I will begin to work on meshing stances and experiment with flow and stabilization during application and transition into the next technique. It is going to be a challenge to get something together in time for review. But if I keep working on what I have so far something should come together. Come on sun. See you at the kwoon

So this month...

So far this year is rolling along and the discovery of strengths and weaknesses have been exposed and are placed into certain levels or priority that will require immediate attention. Kicks and stretching are going to be a huge part of my focus this month. In order to stick to my plan I have laid out for the year I am going to try to do 1/5th (10 000) of my personal goal of 50,000 kicks and 2000 minutes of stretching by the end of the month. That works out to about 325 kicks a day and over an hour everyday of stretching. I have been doing Qi Gung almost every morning and this has helped out a lot as well. I feel the impairment that my lack of flexibility and low endurance is causing and how this is disrupting the flow and confidence to do techniques be cause the tight muscles cause so much instability and shorten range/ vector. With the lack of endurance it is causing me to hurry through techniques and the lack of flexibility removes options when training with combinations or sparring. Basically it completely messes with all of it. So I plan to do these kicks from various stances in order to have a balanced muscle structure to protect my joints and well rounded endurance in my legs and play with a lot of stretching techniques. My push ups and sit-ups are basically done the same way. For push ups, I have 5 different configurations and 6 for sit-ups, although lately it has been 5. The idea is to not cause only one group of muscles to develop and others to not, creating an imbalance and a disrupted joint path. This should keep the  muscles strong and in a balanced form around the joints and good solid core. Along with stretching of course. So I guess between that and work, and everything that comes along with it; reviewing the I Ho Chuan requirements,  reviewing the curriculum, random exercises and forms, or playing with my weapon, that's what I'm doing. See you at the Kwoon.

Concious to subconcious

The last little while has been going along alright as far as my Kung Fu is going. The biggest issue I have is a conscious routine that I can turn into a subconscious routine in regards to my training. I get bored of routines quickly and I lose the moment due to the fact it becomes the mindset that I have to do this. Then the nonconforming side comes out and the heels dig in. Must be the Taurus in me I guess. This mentality has to change or the odds of my Kung Fu evolving are going to remain slow and the odds of me achieving black belt slim to none. So I gave it some thought and thought of all the subconscious routines I have that I don't even think about, but perform almost religiously everyday. The thought process required is quite simple if you step outside of yourself and look at it for what it is. Your training cannot be viewed as a part of your job you hate, or going to the dentist, or paying taxes. It's not something you have to do because someone say's you have to. It's something you want to do, this is your chance to get rid of the day's events. This is the chance to release and relax. So I am trying to develop the excitement of doing all aspects of Kung Fu and the excitement of the I Ho Chuan requirements. I try to think of it all as a gift that I am lucky enough to be part of and create a solid structure so I can look back and be proud of not only a physical development to my Kung Fu, but the evolving of the mental side of it all. This is really starting to restore the excitement for my Kung Fu that has perhaps over the last while stagnated. I'm working on it and my numbers and reps are not where I want them to be, but they will be and a subconscious routine will develop and the numbers will start increasing. I think another huge difference this time around is I am trying to let my body run on auto pilot and not overthinking. When I am practicing my forms I lock my internal critic in a box. When I feel something is not right I make a small mental note and move my thoughts else where and I don't stop the technique or the form to avoid concentrating on that one thing. This definitely takes practice and I am no where near being able to let it all go, but I'm working on it. We'll see what happens. If I can mature this mindset, I think things should roll along cool. See you at the kwoon.

The beginning of a hidden discovery within

Well back home and back to reality. While I was away I started my training regime on Febuary first much like the rest of you. I started with Qi Gong on the beach first thing in the morning followed by push ups and situps. I managed to get in some form reps and some running. Although the numbers aren't where I wanted them to be, the quality is there, and to me that's all that matters. This is due to the fact that as long as you are doing things mindfully, but not mind fully, ( practicing Wu Wei, which I will give my perspective in a bit ) it is automatic, and you are becoming stronger and stronger everyday and your endurance is getting longer and longer everyday. Flexibility, stances, muscle memory, techniques, kicks, punches are all going to improve, so stay cool and roll with it all. You will reach your goals, they are already completed, you just have to get where they are.  This applies to all your Kung Fu. Therefore doing make up sets will be easy, which is not something you should bank on but something that will come involuntary.  I found in the past getting all wound up about numbers and reps stress a person out and in a sense your setting yourself up for failure or unnecessary stress. You lose the whole essence of your Kung Fu, you are travelling in parallel, not as one. Your Kung Fu should not stress you out. You have to look at as a stress reliever, and an escape from everything else. Is it not part of your daily challenges and should it not coincide with everything? Of course, it has too, but it should be treated as an escape, a personal journey of cool excitement. A life tool that installs tranquility and a potent health and physical enhancement. The most important part is to remember, THIS IS YOUR JOURNEY. All though we will all travel in parallel with each other on our paths to mastery, we are all different. Worrying about where others are, and where you are not, frustrations and bad attitudes are ego based. Toss your ego in the garbage, it's a detrimental contribution to contaminating  your Kung Fu. It will grow like a bad weed and it is highly contagious to others around you. Concentrate on your Kung Fu, but have a strong supportive hand out to help others on the team and kick your ego to the curb. One more very important action required is to have fun, and enjoy your journey, it's a gift, not a sentence.

Erica bought me a book for Christmas that I read extensively on my trip. In fact I read it twice. Bruce Lee's; The Toa of Gung Fu. I have already installed some of the things I have learned to my daily Kung Fu and was reminded of some things that I used to do, but some where along the way have let my ego fog my thoughts and discipline. That was then, this is now. One of the many things that struck me that I want to share, was a section on Wu Wei. Wu means "not" or "non" and wei means "action," "doing," "striving," "straining" or "busyness." It doesn't really mean doing nothing, but to let ones mind alone, trusting it to work by itself. Wu Wei, in Kung Fu, means spontaneous action or spirit action, in the sense that the governing force is the mind and not that of the senses. I have heard Sifu Brinker speak of this practice but never really understood it until now. I have the tendency to have an all are nothing approach to things. I tend to over think a lot of my techniques and forms while doing them. Which, under this definition, has thrown wrenches into my training gears and has impaired my advancement. Although I am the type of person that requires a "blue print" to all my Kung Fu, I like to get good before I get fast. I need to achieve a correct form and know it is being done properly before I will continue. To just roll into any aspect of Kung Fu that you don't understand or are performing incorrectly as fast as you can with no knowledge as to why or a solid base is stupid and I refuse to practice this way. However, once I have a correct base and form then I can apply Wu Wei. It really does work. To give you an example. As I was running, I was thinking about my strides and what I need to do to "fix" them so they feel better. My brain was telling me to stop because of the burning fatigue I was feeling. I thought of this discipline and just let my mind wander and let my body do what it wants. When I finally came out of it, I was running along smoothly, nice even strides, and I felt no fatigue as I travelled at least a mile. Way too cool man! So now that I know I am capable of this, let the practice of Wu Wei commence. See you at the Kwoon.

From one animal to the next

As I sit going over my plans I have laid out for the year of the horse and go over the successful moments and the failures of the year of the snake, I contemplate. I think about people on the team and how they have grown. I think about how I interacted with most of them and hopefully I helped them the same way they helped me. We don't really realize at times how the smallest comment or even just a smile will inspire you to do your best and remain engaged within the team. When you see others training and sweating, they're forms evolving, the mixed emotions, new discoveries within themselves, overcoming life problems, sickness and injuries, it inspires and makes you feel proud.  When you have a group of people doing awesome things and are not afraid to hold you accountable when your not, it keeps your own discipline in check. I had the pleasure of training with some really awesome martial artists this year. For that I am grateful and a big thanks goes out to the team that helped me so much.
I had some lows yes, but who hasn't. Just gotta keep going and not give up. Probably the toughest issue I had was when I realized I wasn't going to be here for the banquet. How the heck am I going to finish now and what's the point anyway. The year has been mostly missed and now I am not even going to be here for the finish. It couldn't end this way. So I offered to the team as a reliable sub and did my best to follow through and help out where I could. This was the best part of the whole year for me. I helped out my teammates in a time of need and it meant so much to be there with them. I participated in various spots in the dragon, helped out with the lion, and was a crash test dummy for the candidates. I had the opportunity to see the full dance and the demo, it was just awesome man! I did mange to make a video of my sais form but in all honesty I am glad it won't be part of the demo. To me it's plastic, and if anything would take away the authenticity and completely thrash the flow. So I'm cool with that and I'm so proud and moved by the finished product of the demo, nice work team! You all look awesome. One more cool highlight of the year I need to mention, I am sporting one of the most wildly coloured black eyes in my life into which has been an excellent source of attention pretty much anywhere I go. Thanks. Getting back to the candidates, you guys look awesome and I couldn't be more happier for you. Good luck. To the rest of the team good luck tomorrow night and Happy New Year to you all! See you at the kwoon.

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.