Don't bite off.....

I recently hit a reminder of what not to do in your training. I set a goal to do 10,000 kicks that shouldn't be all that hard considering I gave myself a whole month to do it. In all honesty I am barely a 1/4 way there. All these kicks take up a lot of time at the moment and steal from other parts of my training that I need to work on. Weapon forms, hand forms, techniques, etc. Things that I am way behind on like Loa Gar and 5 personal techniques. Also personal goals should take a back seat to the I Ho Chuan requirements, another recognized misdirection. My work schedule is not so time forgiving right now. 1 hour plus each way and 10 hours work doesn't leave much time, but it is manageable. If I stay away from the extreme training mentality and work a manageable and consistent rate instead of something that looks like a heart rate monitor short circuiting! I will be back where I started at the beginning of the year mentally and not lose focus and end up feeling like a failure. Not that I am there, but I have been. Therefore I recognize the pattern and know first hand how this can cripple your morale and focus and install stress. How easy it becomes to lose direction due to extremes. So I need to stomp old habits and get back to positive and progressive focus. I have a lot of trouble with routines so going off track of a fragile one that was starting to become a solid base sucked. It was my own doing but I caught it in time. Keeping in mind the past is the past and this is my journey and the march must continue. So primarily I will follow the I Ho Chuan requirements and school curriculumn first hand and practice quality over quantity instead of the other way around. I will go back 15 mins. meditation, stating 10 things I am grateful for, 1 rep of Qi Gung, 75 p/u and 75 ab exercises before I leave the house. The remainder of training can happen through out the day as time permits. Short term goals must still be a part of the plan but more manageable numbers. I can always raise the bar as my training quality and endurance matures. Training in Kung Fu happily and mindfully becomes more ingrained and more solidified. Training to the absolute extremes with no heart or passion will lead to lousy Kung Fu and failure of this challenge. Maybe I'm misguided and not getting it, or maybe something has finally penetrated my thick stubborn ass skull and this will continue to be my best year ever. See you at the kwoon.

Shotgun Post

In other words scattered thoughts.

As far as my Kung Fu is going, it's going slow, but it's moving. I'm really excited about this year. I'm really looking forward to grading and probably have the most positive outlook I've ever had. The year of the horse will be one of awesomeness to it's purest form. Everything in all aspects feels right. I just need to get my ass in gear. Less yak, more smack.

My goal of 10,000 kicks this month has taken a beating due to me being sick for almost two weeks. This isn't an whine, just a fact. One of our teammates has had a far worse experience than my little virus couldn't carry water for. That, and this teammate is tough and the engagement never left. Awesome example. So no cry babies here. Nonetheless, I feel a lot better now and will continue to try to achieve this goal. The biggest detrimental factor at the present moment is flexibility. I have a major imbalance of kicks to stretching ratio. It's takes less time to throw an abundance of kicks, than it does to stretch for the proper amount of time. The math is obvious and the lack of balanced discipline is prevalent regarding the issue. The shrinking of the muscle as it develops, and me not stretching properly, is causing me to throw myself continuously off center as I try to raise my kicks. As we all know, the more you work a muscle, the more it develops. That in turn also causes the muscle to shrink, which reduces flexibility, which requires a disciplined and committed stretching regime.
  Although my kicks aren't high, my crane stances are getting higher which is the cornerstone to all kicks and a stable center. So this is a good thing.

Weapon forms are due to be demo ready by May 15. I'll be ready for this. I'm really pumped about the Long Axe. (Thanks Sifu Freitag, for your help.) I did have some more techniques to show the class last Friday, but for some reason I get completely messed up in front of the I Ho Chaun and lost my train of thought. No sequence of form will do that. Oh well, you'll see soon enough. One thing that I am really working on is to differentiate stance transitions and sequences from learnt forms.  I have used sequences from some of our school forms when creating my personal weapon form. As a result it has completely messed me up when asked to do the form I have pirated from. Not cool.

One last thought is this. Anyone that is a student, and especially a I Ho Chuan member: COME TO A SAN SHOU CLASS! You have no idea what your missing. If you are really passionate about yourself and your Kung Fu, and you wish to look into the depths of it all, join this class! I Ho Chuan members, get in your rounds! You`re already there, what`s another hour! See you at the Kwoon!

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.