Another day

Pretty much at a loss for words this week although I did have a chance to recollect and get my thoughts and training back on track. The large load I was once carrying, and dropping things all over the place, is substantially lower and much more managable with of course that bit of difficult to keep the challenge up. I have managed to spend some really cool times with my wife and my daughter which have been really lacking and it felt so good to get caught up. Outside of family other things are now alot more managable and running smooth. It has worked out quite well actually because I am able to help out at Silent River and still get my training in and all things outside of it all. I don't know but I find the closer in touch I am with the kwoon the more motivated and focused I am in my training, I just feel better about everything and everything around me. Work is pretty cool as of late, I am on the tools and connecting steel at a quick pace, which is where I sort all my problems 8" flange to work off of , 40' in the air, and a fast crane. Life is good and Kung Fu rules. Later.
Mr.Chervenka 

Caught in the middle

Log onto Kwoon talk and there is a need for help, checking calender Nope, supposed to have the weekend off  but imparative phase at work  needs to be done and your the foreman. Another request put out to the students for help. Can't, daughters competition and wife has weekend conference. Next request, nope relatives coming to stay or have to head out of town. Monthly I Ho Chuan meeting coming up and have to miss due to repeat situations as stated earlier. I haven't been able to attend a meeting yet this year and I feel like I am letting our team down and not pulling my weight. I am really starting to feel bummed and don't feel like I am connected to the team or our school that I really want to help. I guess what I'm trying to get at is I would like to appologize to the team for my absence and for not being to help our school when help is needed, after all it is one of our requirements as a UBBT member. I would be lying to all of you if I said my requirements are coming along good as of late, they are not and I am falling behind, barely getting push ups in, although it's at least something each day. Anyway I just felt obligated to at least explain myself and push on with the hopes things will start to slow down a bit and I too can sit down with the team and share and listen and learn and get caught up on my requirements. Until next time.
Brian Chervenka

Ball of confusion

My training and numbers are coming along, but I am in a haze right now regarding my surroundings. Just a little frustrated with the way we are becoming now a days. Self entitlement and all about money and image. Who cares about anything except what your wearing, what your driving and taking absolutely no responsibility for anything and demanding that the government should do everything for you. Honestly I am quite concerned with the well being of hundreds of people that live in this fantasy, with the mentality that natural disasters and food shortages only happen else where, or a word I am completely sick of the economy completely crashed. If you think about it how many people actually have water, flashlights, food ,blankets, alternative power sources to survive on stand by if needed. Better yet how many people would have the knowledge or ability to survive and take care of their families. Surviving would be easy, just go to your food bank right? Sure you and about a million people all demanding they get food now because their entitled to it and WE as in ME am hungry. How about the amount of skills that have been lost and the complete disconnection people have now with Internet and those little mobile computers that every one and their dog is completely entranced in called what used to be a phone. All that free information and complete effortless convenience. Now shut the power off across the board. What now? So many things and people rely on technology and all these great things , which really evolution is always a great thing, but I think it is massively abused and is washing away the creativity and the potency that people once had. If it is not mindless and effortless very few people want anything to do with it. That really saddens me. So I try to do the best I can to teach my family or anybody for that matter any life skill or manual ability's that my father and others have passed to me. At least I can say I tried and put somebody else first before myself and just knowing that it made a difference kind of balances I guess. I won't deny some I really don't want to help. I'd rather slap them silly, so I guess thats where the challenge of random acts of kindness comes in. Anyway thats enough of my random rants for now.

Brian Chervenka

Wallpaper to inspire

After a week plus of our computer being down I can get caught up on my weekly blogs. There has been mention of a lack of motivation and mindfulness in training for people, including myself. I know from personal experience its not hard to lose focus or simply not want too. Doing push ups over and over and situps become terribly boring. Yes you can challenge yourself by increasing your numbers per sets or different configurations, adding weights etc., but it still gets old fast when you are training everyday. Every individual needs something to motivate and challenge both physically and mentally, its a must. We also need inspiration from what we perceive as great or stimulating, a mentor of sort. Whether it be an individual, place, time, literature, technique, form, or a great memory, we need it like fuel. Fuel for a martial arts engine that requires constant rebuild or modifications or a complete change out for something that suits the duty, if you will. I came up with something recently that I hope will do at least some of these things.

Our basement where I train is a little cluttered and lacks room because of the current lay out and obstacles that need moving. Nothing worse than stubbing a toe or almost wiping something out with a kick or punch practising a combination. So I started to make room, throwing away stuff that we are never going to use or relocating it to a shelf or crawl space. Repositioning the fridge, deep freeze, treadmill to make a small gym. I have some spare mirrors that I have hung and will probably see about purchasing some mats. Okay now we are getting some where but I need character, motivation, and maybe a touch of cool factor to make it my own. So I hung up our curriculum, all if it. This way I feel more disciplined and efficient. If I want to practice something its right there in front of me, it should also help me accumulate more questions to ask at the end of class.( I hate not having a question or at least an answer when asked by a Sifu) So this should help. I have put up pictures of Bruce Lee, Joe Lewis, Chuck Norris all great martial artists, and i'll probably put up others that I just dont know or haven't heard of yet. I have tunes to crank up and annoy the hell out of my wife or just simply to set the atmosphere for self induced pain. I have different literature to review and use, and also hung up Mastery that we are to memorize. I'm also thinking of putting up several quotes that I enjoy from these books and others I will run into or read about. One book in particular that I really enjoy and refer to when I need that boost or a good smack upside the head, is Walking a Tigers Path by Master Margitte Hilbig. This book covers ultimate challenges, amazing accomplishments, and a deep look into how it all started in Canada and especially the hard work, dedication and extreme sacrifices it took to start up in Calgary and Edmonton. Master Hilbigs account is one of the few perspectives that you can actually read about and learn how our lineage began and those that worked hard to continue the art we all practice today. I hope I will be lucky enough to meet her one day, that would be way cool. I really like these words from Master Hilbig

'' A true martial artist is not concerned with belts or ranks, with which style is better than which, or even how many techniques they know. The true martial artist is only concerned with one thing: learning. To learn is to become disciplined, to gain knowledge, to become self- reliant and ultimately leads to the road of self actualization. This knowledge is the ultimate equalizer in any confrontation, either on the street or in ones mind."

These words will definitely be put up, if thats not motivational, then I don't know what is.

Brain Chervenka

An accumulation of distance

Things have been going fairly well lately with the exception of a few bumps here and there. My numbers are staying pretty close to where they should be and now I have to work in some kilometers. I never was much into running. I didn't see the point in running some where if there was no fire or a bear chasing you. Waking up at 5:00 a.m. to go outside and run to no where and back.

Well that perception will soon change, seeing the benefits of learning to run is something to look forward to. My wife is a long distance runner so I'll learn how to run properly and gradually build to a solid endurance and measured distance.Then I have something to gauge off of and try to improve my distance or time.  An added bonus to this is we get some time together, thats a tough one around this house, much like everyone else trying to make a go of it with work, children, life. I'm sure this is understood all too well. I'm going to research lengths of pools, walking/ bicycle paths, and in door tracks to try to get as many ways to travel by your body power as I can and rack up some kilometers.

I very glad to hear that some of our injured teamates are starting to recover already and chomping at the bit to get back to training. You are setting the bar for hard cores on this team, good on you guys for displaying drive, determination, and patience. Thats all I really have this week, until the next.

Brian Chervenka

Blind to the obvious

I have to admit I really didn't understand the valuable tool of a hand written journal when it came to my Kung Fu. I thought the real way to my Kung Fu is through hard work and discipline; blood, sweat and tears. Just do it. Why would I want to sit and write about Kung Fu when I can go beat my heavy bag or keep doing form reps or practicing with my weapon But after starting to log my daily/ weekly requirements it made sense. How else can you really improve something if you don't step back and break things down on paper. My hand written journal was very vague and not a lot of attention to detail. For example I would write down said requirement and just simply a number. I have to be more descriptive and record what kick or form I'm working on and what problems or improvements are occurring and why. Where is the problem in my side heel thrust that makes them so difficult for me. What advice or example or improvement have I consulted or experienced and recorded on what date and for what form or kick. None, just a number and catagorized under kicks. So as of now I write down exactly what I am doing specifically and what feels right and what sucks. While I did a couple of reps of da mu singh I noted my flow with the dragons whip transition into the spinning back kick, my center was off and I rose in my stance. My high back stance is unstable due to lack of flexibility in my hips. Then when I stretched I worked on my hips and legs and recorded it under my stretching minutes and specifically why. As the quest for center and improvement carries on I now have references to specific details of my own account and what problem solving tools have I used or have been taught by my Sifus and piers. After these thoughts finally penetrated my thick skull and penetrated my cast iron wall of stubbornness, I felt rather foolish for not seeing the advantage in the first place. Hence, Blind to the obvious. Until next week.
Brian Chervenka

Keeping cool

This past week and a half has cost me some numbers and a lack of staying on my game. It sure doesn't take long to fall behind in your numbers if you have unexpected deviations and you can't meet as many of your numbers or requirements daily that you want too. Normally when this occurs I start to beat myself up on self discipline and accountability, and of course fish for justifiable (in my mind) excuses. I'm not doing that anymore. As long as I can get anything of something in each day I am going to meet my requirements. I have been staying positive and telling myself its going to work out and it won't be that hard to catch up and remain focused on what exactly it is I am trying to accomplish. Of course its not easy and you have to be mindful at all times. This is a very difficult challenge to anybody. Nothing beneficial comes easy, it takes hard work and failure can happen, but thats how we learn and improve.  I find if I tell myself its not that bad and approach it from an on lookers point instead of being in the trenches things work out well and I see success ahead, its easier to keep cool and not start to develop that sense of overwhelming and doubt in yourself, freaking out over numbers or something that hasn't been started yet. This is where a very common and very modern habit comes in, I quit. This is just too much, I don't have time, I'll try again next year, all excuses we hear and at times, use everyday somewhere, at some time. Well to hell with that! Full steam ahead for the I ho chaun team 2012! One more thing that has been great for learning and drive is reading everyone elses expierences. It gives you a great sense of never being alone and some really good insight. Until next week.

Brian Chervenka