One of Those Days

You ever have one of those days where you feel like the right thing to do is pick up a truck and throw it through a house. If anyone or anything pisses you off, you either smash it or burn it to the ground from the fire that comes out of your mouth.

I'm having one of these days today and I want to share it.

I'm concerned right now with where I am at with my Kung Fu. I had the full intention of making more time for training and achieving something that means alot to me. I swore I would not take on big hour jobs and in the beginning of the year thats exactly how it was going. Then opportunitys came up and here I am, doing exactly what I didn't want to and as a result my training has suffered. I'm tired and angry because at the moment I feel like my training is too little, too late.
This job wasn't supposed to be the complete shit show it is. I was supposed to be here and gone in 6 weeks, not 2 damn months.  I was supposed to be back at the kwoon attending every class I could, preparing for grading. Instead I'm up here trying to get a job done that was doomed from the get go. I mean don't get me wrong, there has been many challenges thrown my way and we have prevailed. But I feel like there is no way in hell I will be ready. Between that and out of touch, head up their ass bean counters asking why we are not done yet, after emails explaining the situation, with pictures of the multitude of challenges we face daily, they still have to mention we are over our field hours and when are you going to be done. Gee, Yah think we're over hours and I don't have a clue when we are going to be done because things are changing daily around here, some days by the hour! I hate the fact that bean counters run everything now a days. So out of touch with anything beyond the numbers no matter how much proof you put in front of their faces.
Things will get better I'm sure. I'll just have to forge ahead and keep working towards my goals and maybe get a good nights sleep. Tomorrow is a new day, I just hope I didn't waste another year because I once again became tied up in my work.

9000 RPM, No clutch

I'm having a really hard time this last while getting in any kind of decent training. I'm in a management scum position but it's a little different this project. It's a small project that has a lot to it with limited man power. So I'm not just in the office, but I'm also out in the trenches with the crew. After a long day it's hard to get motivated and sleep is not a myth.I want to get out and do something, and I try to, but the hearts not in it because I'm beat. I am getting something done, but not as much as I want or need to. Working every day, all day, for days on end and then training caught up to me. Although burnt, I continue until I have to rest. This is nothing new to me, it's happened before and I'm sure it willen again. It's discouraging though, you build a descent momentum and your focus is as sharp as a razor, endurance is picking up, your Kung Fu is becoming more and more defined and then boom. Your face first in the dirt.

There was a time when I would build a resentment towards my training and blame the I Ho Chuan program for all of this fatigue and time taken away from other things I wanted to do. I don't really do that any more. Instead I look at what is really going on. It's not the program and it's requirements that makes me angry, it's the simple fact that I work alot and I don't take the time I should be for my own interests. On the other hand, I have goals and responsibilitys. I have Kung Fu goals, career goals, financial goals, and responsabilitys to my girls and to my self that must be ful filled. Tough balance sometimes, but the show must go on. I'll just continue to do what I can and adapt along the way.

One last note I did manage to get home for just a couple of days to see my girls. I missed them so much and my little one didn't know I was coming so it was pretty cool.       Also we have one of our own up here on the job so I have been working with him a little on the curriculumn and trying some of my personal techniques. With any luck I'll have something put together. I haven't forgot about sending out some forms, so they will be coming soon. I will send you my first set and then I will send you another to see if there was any improvement. You'll have to bare with me though I messed up in a few spots and ended going into another form. Whatever, you'll see.

Training from the Confines

Well here I am once again training in the confines of a hotel room. The Smoke is back as a result of the wind changing direction. As frustating as it is, there's nothing you can do about it so you might as well adapt your training and get something done. I am dissapointed though, I really wanted to run again tonight. I have been tracking my time and distances with the intent to get faster each time and deplete the need for walking breaks. Typically I run until I am out of breath or my legs are about to give out. Once I catch it or my legs feel like they have stabalized, I run again and repeat the process. Maybe not the best strategy considering I am running on rocks, but it's working for me. My phone came with a really cool app that tracks my distance, inclines/declines, speed, and a map of my run. It tells me where I was fast and where I was slow and gives me top and average speeds. Pretty cool and highly useful. I guess you could say the dinasour is evolving. Who would of thought.

On another note, I found a set of ankle weights and some resistance chords up here so that was a great find because I forgot mine at home. I struggle with my kicks in several areas. I'm finding that the weight of my leg is not enough to increase the strength in different muscles so I am using the extra weights with the hope that this will help. Also I'm not very flexible which really sucks when you are trying to get height and a full extension on your kicks and not knock yourself off center. This happens to me all the time and makes my spinning back kick a complete disaster. So I can do what I have done in the past and throw a fit and not do it, or I can fix my damn kicks. I reduce the amount of weight and carefully throw the same kicks that Sifu Olsivik taught us to do before we do the Qi Gong Five animal form. Stiff swinging, inside/outside cyclone, straight out to the side, and another I'm not sure what you call it but your back foot points to the outside and your kicking foot goes straight ahead. Your feet kind of start out like a "T". You guys all know how we use the resistance chords at the kwoon. Even though it's only been a day or two, I can already see how these tools are going to help. I guess we'll all see in a week or so because I am going to work on my kicks next week. I haven't really set a numbered goal, but I have a visual goal. This weekend I am going to film myself doing two forms, Loa Gar as far as I know, and Da Mu Hsing for my fellow students and Black Belts to check out. I am looking for help and advice to any area that needs it. The following weekend I will send two more forms and some kicks with the same intention.

As highly beneficial as Qi Gong has been to me for some reason it always ends up on the back burner. I have decided that this is another tool that I have been given and just letting it rust. I am going to make time no matter whats happening to use it. The benefits are endless and I feel very good when I stick to it. So that's what's happening now. I will send another video out probably on the weekend. There are a few things I would like to touch on. Talk to you then.

Getting Closer

To some of you this may be nothing spectacular, but to me I just won the geek lottery. Coming close to dispatching my reptilian brain thought process and literally smashing my tablet and phone was a very close reality. However stuborness and patience prevailed. I still have a long ways to go but at least now I'm getting somewhere. It's been eating me up quite a bit of not being able to accomplish this earlier. I don't want my team mates thinking I don't follow through on my words and I'm just plain full of s#$t.
 What you see here is the beginning of the storm that came in last week. It went from daylight to black in a very short period of time followed by lightning and rain. It was pretty gross actually, the smell of freshly put out campfire was strong and the puddles the next day were black.

Here's what it's like on a smokey day.....

 And when it's not. It's actually been worse, to the point where you can't see the trees down by the water.

This area here is where I go to train. It's pretty isolated and you don't really see too many people down here. If you do, they are running by, walking, biking, etc. They don't really pay too much attention to me. This is where I think I can start swinging my axe around without too many problems. If it does I'll find somewhere else.

So this is the start of my recorded journey up here. Hopefully a few posts down the line I'll have some footage to show you guy's with a request for advice.

Got Smoke?

I've been having alot of trouble lately trying to get some blogs out there to you guy's but it looks like I have managed to get everything working some how. I have a few blogs in my draft folder that I will be posting all at once. I said I would share my journey so your probably wondering what the heck. So here it goes.

Pretty much most of my training has been indoors due to the high abundance of smoke from the fires. It labours your breathing quite a bit with very little effort on your behalf so I have been trying to stay out of it since I spend most of the day in it. Although at times it has been so bad we had to shut down. Air quality warnings are coming out in the high 10's and beyond so no sense hanging out in that. It gets so bad there is actually smoke bellowing in the streets and buildings a few hundred feet away can no longer be seen. Yellowknife is basically sourounded by fire.
I did find a cool spot to train outside though, it's fairly isolated so I don't have to worry too much about confrontation and hopefully I can get my axe out. I do have some photos I want to share with you guy's but for some reason I can't get them to upload. I am a full blown technological idiot and  I just want to smash these things. Oh well I'll figure it out. Maybe it would be easier from my phone I don't know.

So as I said alot of training has been done from my room which doesn't leave me much space. I move all of the furniture into the kitchen and train in the living room. It's getting something done but it sucks because once I'm finished, I put it all back and off to work or off to bed. My nieghbors below me really don't dig squat thrusts either. This isn't really working out the way I planned. With endless sunshine and nothing else to do I thought this would be like the ultimate training regime. Locating the local rec center wasn't so hot either, but I did find another gym to go to. I checked it out and it has alot more equipment and better atmoshere. Not that I'm a high maintenance person, I just have a really good intuition of people or situations and where things could go. Then again real life practice might work. Probably not, so I'll stick with the other plan.
Once I can get another clear day I want to get out and run 7.5 km around the lake that is just a short distance away. I want to run this as fast as I can and then do some kicks, forms, or combinations under fatigue. We'll see and hopefully you will too once I teach myself how to upload videos and pics. Until then I'll keep posting my numbers on the website.

Float Planes, Water Bombers, and Houses on the Water

Arrived in Yellowknife a few day's ago attempting to get a job rolling and places to train besides my room. As far as work goes, you couldn't ask for a better jobsite that is right beside the lake. The only draw back at the present moment is truckloads of steel and materials that are sitting on the highway. Sitting because of the 176 forest fires that are burning up pretty much everything including the roads. It's pretty sad the amount of forest fires burning in western Canada right now. Water Bombers are flying over continuously, fueling up and back out. I have to commend the brave men and women that are fighting those fires from above and on the ground. I hope they all come home safe.

As far as my training goes at the present moment all it has been in my room. I have scoped out some walking trails that are of various terrains I intend to run on. I hoping that I can find some isolated areas and use one of Sihing Krebb's suggestions of reaching a destination and doing forms or anything pertaining to Kung Fu. I also located the local rec center so I'll check that out too.

I did manage to smuggle my Long Axe in the sea can so I could keep my weapon form sharp. I have figured out a few blocks and strikes that I want to add into the form. This once again however poses a challenge. Without going into specific details, you have to really watch where you train here, let alone swinging an axe around. Fortunately one of the guy's on the crew used to live here, so he is helping me find an isolated spot.

Well that's all I have for now, more to come and hopefully some pics or videos. I hope you are all doing well in your training and enjoying summer.

Your doing what?!?!

Well 8 more days and I'm off to Yellowknife. I sit with a lot of mixed feelings. Excitement of a new career challenge and another way I'm going to have adapt my training. Some would view this as a really stupid move considering this is a grading year. But unless your willing to come up to me and tell me this or give me a whole pile of golden advice, I don't really care what you think. Because I see it as an opportunity to show you can move the kwoon to a remote area and still uphold your commitments and still maintain your training. Easy to say yes, but I've done it before and I'll do it again. The only difference is this, you are going to see me train. You are going to continue to see my daily posts on the website. The team and even perhaps the school is going to see it by me recording video footage of my Kung Fu and posting it on the schools website. My blogs are going to be more frequent as well. I'm basically taking those of you that chose to support me on this challenge every step of the way. My intention is to seek advice and support from people on the team and hopefully inspire others. I also want to promote the schools website and use it for what it was intended to be used for in the first place. Through this I am hoping to create a tool for those that are out of town a lot or chose to train privately. You still need help no matter who you are or what level you are. If this pans out the way I am hoping it will, this will set a standard and offer a tool to next years team. There is always going to be someone who is going to have leave town or chooses to train at home.

Other feelings I have are concern. Concern that I am going to fail another year because of my absence. Intimidation through my overall knowledge of all that I need to know, and just how much I don't know. Regret that I am going to miss another bootcamp and possibly another forms seminar. I will be missing a whole pile of classes that I really need. The odds are not in my favor really. So why do it?
 To prove to myself that I can do this and I can pursue advancement in my career, better my life and training through staying loyal to the I Ho Chuan program and be ready for the fall. I'm staying positive though. The only thing I have to be concerned with is work, eating properly, and training. I don't have all the other distractions that are in my every day life. So this is as a really huge bonus. Another advantage is that one of the guys on my crew has training or has trained, so this gives me someone to work with if I need a crash test dummy.
 If I fail, at least I can say I put my heart into it and tried. If I succeed I can chalk it up as one of the greater challenges I have ever done. See you at the kwoon.