Black Belt Code of Ethics

To commit to an oath is something that can be simply muttered or thoughtlessly blathered on to complete a level of entry to a group or organization. If not fully understood or practiced to the level of standard under it's design, it then simply becomes a forgotten thought and holds no meaning. Oaths are a lifeline to a guidance of discipline that are meant to be carried in an order of respect to maintain a standard chosen for said organization. An oath can be of a valuable tool of reference to something you held word to when one questions just what exactly did they agree too, and are those individual commitments being met. If you really don't comprehend its expectations or meanings or fail to uphold or practice each paraphrase, this can have a ripple effect. This effect makes the oath meaningless and makes individual overall contributions less valuable to the body of memberships and removes the ability to inspire.

One of my personal requirements was to take a section out of the Black Belt Code of Ethics and review one per month because I just don't feel it is given the respect it deserves or practiced to the level I swore to. I need to fully comprehend and find the true meaning of each section and apply it because the last thing I ever want to do is contribute to the watering down of a 2000 year old art that is powerful enough to turn crap into gold. If I want to become a true Black Belt then I must uphold and practice the standard I swore to or those below me that I am an example too will not see the value or what it means to not only become a black belt, but to carry yourself and be disciplined as one. To not utilize the code of ethics as a tool of guidance to my own Kung Fu will also remove my ability to advance and make it of the highest quality possible as my years of training progress.

To me my Black Belt holds a lot of responsibility and is not something that simply holds my pants up or is made for me to prance around like a god. My black belt is an example to not only the students, but my family and my community. So it matters greatly how I carry myself and how I train. It's important to openly practice and live by my oath I swore to. I hope by the end of the year I will have mastered each section and carry myself as a true Black Belt and provide my lineage the respect and justice it deserves. I guess we'll see as I follow up on each one at the end of each month and see if the change or discipline is obvious or if a discovery bears existence in the quality of my Black Belt. See you at the Kwoon. 

Redirecting the Root to Change

This week has been one of those weeks where not a lot was achieved due to sickness. One of those stupid colds/flu whatever the heck it is that fools you into thinking you are on the mend and then grabs you by the throat and slams you into the dirt....best ever. Along with this great sickness came a muscle cramp or knot, or something muscle like related that developed in my back that was very painful and brought on an angry bull with a thorn in it's hoof. Apparently this may be cold related, I didn't know your muscles could get sick, but I guess they can. I honestly think it was a combination of toxins that decided to take refuge as I am working on cleaning my body out as well. Who knows but either way it sucks ass and made the work day extra long and not much left when I got home. So basically jacks@#t was really achieved this week.

However, it did give me some time to streamline my plan a bit and work on some type of structure that can be adaptable to these types of situations that will continually drop out of no where at any given time throughout the year.  I'm not good a structure on my own. I have always thought of routine as boring, a structured life is for squids I always thought. I have always been more of a jump into the fire and deal with whatever comes at you in the moment. Something needs attention, just do it, no need to be all dramatic about it and all "Gentle Ben" like. The problem is with this approach is I will continually hammer away at something until it is done right, even if to me it's never good enough at times, before I will move onto to the next. This is dumb. Not necessarily the principle, but the inefficiency of the process is counterproductive and if you hammer away at something for too long the quality and the passion go right out the window....you just want to get it done, but you will never be happy with it.

 This is where the incremental comes in and the process of chipping away at it over a period of time until it's solid and of a high quality. Putting all your heart and soul into something for an hour and then walking and returning will build the ultimate result. Once it becomes a part of a process, it becomes part of you and not just something you do. My Kung Fu and all it's requirements is something I really want to take precedence this year. I want my life to change in big ways and the only way to really achieve that is to look at the root of my investment and adjust accordingly, even if that means deep change within myself and how I do things. See you at the kwoon. 

Sacrifice vs Investment

This is one point of view I could never really grasp in regards to the I Ho Chuan class. Life in general can be of high demand with work and family responsibilities, let alone completing all of these requirements successfully and still finding your personal time to reset or wind down. How can this possibly be of any kind of investment when it seems like a lot of sacrifice and stress? Suddenly it feels like this is more of an infringement of your life and damaging to your well being. I've been there and often thought that Sifu has lost his mind and just doesn't get what it's like for other people that lead different lives. But in actuality, I was the one the missed the whole point of what this is about....I think I get it now.

When a person comes to this point, we fail to recognize what we agreed to do in the first place and the whole point of committing to a year of mastery. It may be hard to see or understand when you have to make a decision between going out to do something fun or not doing anything at all, to doing some requirements such as push up or form reps, but the investment is you and the example you will leave as a result of making that decision is where your investment begins to yield and provide opportunity and peace within. Sure your doing it with others, and that's a good thing, but this is your journey, what works for others may not work for you. So leaving ego, comparison, and judgemental positions out of the agenda is paramount. You are the captain of your destiny period, anybody messes with it, they walk the plank!

If you look at it from this perspective over the course of the year, you will see the investment over sacrifice. This year is all about you. You are going to take a whole year to improve yourself and strengthen all of your characteristics and immerse yourself in the ancient art of Kung Fu. The goal is to learn how to use your time efficiently and rid yourself of those things you don't need and recognize those things you do. Your going to figure out just what it means to see your goals through by self reflection, self honesty, and a test to pride and integrity in yourself. Think about it for a second, is it really a big deal to not do all of those extra things you do for just one year? Why do we beat ourselves up because we want to take some time to better ourselves, like one measly year. I think with this position as one progresses, one will find all the time in the world and then some to get their stuff done.

Yes, you are going to be some what selfish in the eyes of those close to you and at times not meeting your daily goals may encourage guilt, but it shouldn't and don't let these things interfere with what you set out to do. Guilt is a waste of time and an easy way to avoid a situation that requires a solution of action. So to hell with guilt, take the reigns and carry on forward. To hell with sacrifice of what you might miss, work those tools of awesomeness and build the best damn you ever!! Ha!

Over time your self improvements both mentally and physically and the obvious changes in how you carry yourself will speak volumes to those close to you. Those that don't accept are perhaps taking a good look at themselves and realizing just how much they suck and how they wish they could be like you! Committing a whole year to self improvement and a commitment to mastery to this magnitude is not for the faint of heart, so be proud of yourself and who you are.....just do it. Your doing what many people can't be bothered to do, your investing in yourself and laying it all out on the table, tearing it apart and rebuilding an awesome you. So put your signature on it, own it. Own the greatest investment you could ever make to your family and life, the investment of Kung Fu in you. See you at the Kwoon

Training with Weapons

Training with weapons can be a very fun, challenging, frustrating, and at times painful structure. Your going to hit yourself and other things with it, drop it on your foot, get it stuck in things, it's going to wreck stuff in your house or garage, your going to throw it....just to see if it really will stick in whatever your throwing it at, and then finally your going to come up with some really good ideas. Now you need to actually move with it and that requires picking the right stances. Great you've got the stances down for these killer moves but now they have to flow together. Here's where the creativity comes in and the test to see if you can actually do all of these cool things in these cool stances and still take out the bad guys with a grounded stance and complete definition to your next technique and bad guy without losing your weapon, hitting yourself with it, twisting yourself into a pretzel, sticking it in your foot or through your clothes or completely gift wrapping yourself. These are one of those times where you go back to seeing if it will actually stick in something 40 feet away, or maybe your dog won't find it this time when you throw it.(especially when you don't own a dog!!)  and once you get past the parts where you knock yourself out....it becomes awesomeness!!!

I hope everyone is doing well and making good progress with their weapons. I look forward to seeing what you all come up with. I did have much more serious thoughts to add but I couldn't get to journalling until late so I leave with this instead. See you at the kwoon.

Loading Up the Machine in Incremental Fashion

One thing that never strays too far from memory at every attempt I have ever made towards a year of engaged mastery with the I Ho Chuan class, is approach and perspective. The wrong approach can be amplified disaster with a ripple effect that turns into a wave of absolute chaos and a dulled and distorted perspective leaves you with no way to calm the situation and nothing to work with. The right approach and perspective will provide clarity and evolution along with some of the wildest opportunities and tools to work with.

 Let's look at this honestly. This isn't a hard class and the curriculum is a clear and solid base to work off of. You just have to put your own signature on it. Really though, what makes it hard and difficult is us. We tend to pile on all of these things and complicate the living s$#t out of almost everything we do instead of just staying true to basic plan of getting from point A to point B. We all tend to run out the gate...guns a blazing, foot to the floor, head first, all of nothing!! I'm going to do 400 of this, 250 a day of that, I've got this and that, I'm gonna do this, 42 different things going on in the first month!!! Aaaaaaaaggghh!! I'VE SO GOT THIS!! Then comes the 3rd month and your burnt out, angry, turn into a excuse factory, and blame the class and lack of time to do all of this stuff.....and then we isolate ourselves.  I know this for a fact...because I've done it...more than once. But really the whole problem in the first place was my approach and perspective. So, I'm not going use the insane approach this time or the all or nothing, because it doesn't work.  This time I'm going to go by one of my favourite motivational terms..Keep it simple stupid!! because it works.

My plan this year is to approach mastery with a clear and strategic perspective and a incremental approach. I want to go about it the same way I did when I went for the rank of Black Belt. I laid out the plan and upgraded each month. By the end of the month I looked back at what I set out to do and made changes for the following month to keep things rolling as smooth as I could.  This way if there was something that needed some attention or extra work, or I couldn't get to it, I had the capacity to adapt and make changes on the fly that kept things on track.  There was really never any stress this way and everything I was doing was of a quality that I aimed for at the beginning of the year and landed where I aimed for at the end.  It wasn't absolutely perfect and some things did get missed. But as a whole, that system worked very well for me and a mangle balance was maintained throughout. It may or may not work but I have a pretty good feeling about it.

So from now to the end of March I will be the setting it all in motion and develop a routine that is manageable and adaptable in regards to the curriculum and my personal requirements. First and foremost the goal is my hand and weapon forms, physical requirements and of course the mental part of it, the mind will make or break you. A little at a time and load up the machine so by the end of the year I'm moving plenty at an idle, and when I need to crank it up...all your going to see is dust and tail lights. Water and fuel is everything too, if it's not healthy or in some sort structure, count on burning out. I'll share my progress and fails at the end of each month and just go from there.

 Learning is failing and failing is learning, with out the two you'll never see mastery and for me, I really want to kick mastery's ass this year! See you at the Kwoon.

Year of The Dog

The year of the Rooster went by quick and another animal is bestowed upon us, the Dog. When I think of a dog, many characteristics come to mind and just how fitting it is to the requirements I have laid out this year on my quest for mastery.

 This year is going to be one of the most challenging and difficult list of requirements I have ever planned to see through. Much personal change and redirection as I feel I have reached a point in my life where I have to make some big decisions and difficult sacrifices in order to be successful and promote positive change. There is going to be plenty of risk involved, which is going to be very exciting as I have been a risk taker all my life and that isn't going to change.  I've always believed that life never goes anywhere or makes any progress or creates incredible opportunites if you don't take risks. This approach hasn't always served me well, but the incredible lessons of knowledge and success far out weigh the consequences I've had to deal with.

One area in particular that will be very difficult for me will be change. Adaptability is not really the issue here, troubleshooting is one of my stronger points. No, this is something else entirely. I'll be digging deep this year and hopefully by the end of it, things will be incredibly different and I will be cutting a new path. I also hope by the end of it I can communicate that openly. I guess we'll see.

I have chosen to resurrect my favourite weapon.....the Long Axe.....or more formally known as "MINE".  I absolutely love this weapon and I want to build off of my base form. If things go well enough I may be able to upgrade along the way to a live Qwan Do.

As far as my hand form goes I have chosen one I don't know at all. The strategy behind this is to keep the engagement level high as well as the challenge of mastering an unknown form in a year.

I'm looking forward to working with a new team and embracing a year of mastery through the I Ho Chuan class. I'm pretty excited about it actually, to completely immerse myself and my engagement set on demon training.

Here's to a successful year, here's to the dog. See you at the Kwoon. 

Hidden Tools

Along the way of our Kung Fu training a common question always seems to come up, "What's the point of this?" or "Why is this even part our curriculum?. A lot of times we fail to recognize the value of something or it's purpose especially when it seems like a never ending fail or we can't "see the forest through the trees", so to speak. If we can't see the mechanism or inner workings of something that seems so basic, and we don't see and feel instant results, it suddenly becomes stupid, pointless, and maybe even antiquated. If we adopt this mindset, we miss the intricacy and miss the opportunity to apply a hidden tool to it's fullest potential.

Have you ever wondered what's the point of board breaking? Why do we start breaking boards at white belt? How does breaking a board serve my Kung Fu, my instructors, and personal progress and understanding of Kung Fu? Why is a sequential break a requirement in order to become a Black Belt? Why does it have to be a public requirement? There is much more to it than just punching or kicking a board in half and I wanted to share a few points and cover a few of these questions from my own perspective.

What's the point? and why do we start at white belt? Board breaking provides a window for instructors to observe students on an individual basis to measure progress and understanding of sound technique with definition and just how they are applying it. Basically this gives an instructor the ability to troubleshoot all aspects of a students Kung Fu and help them pin point troubled areas which in turn will give them something to work on and grow with a better understanding of Kung Fu. Once they are promoted to the next belt level and they are asked to break a board, again this provides a window to a students progress and see just where they are at and are they learning. Yes, a high level instructor can see that much as they observe a student punch or kick a board because you are actually applying your Kung Fu to something. At a white Belt level a student is also beginning to learn and slowly apply the cornerstone of all Kung Fu, the six harmonies.

Once a student reaches the level of Sihing and is preparing to grade to become a Black Belt, a public sequential board break is required. The sequential board breaking requirement can summarize a number of important key factors to a students skill set and provide much information for the instructors. Not to mention this provides an opportunity to show personal creativity and discovery in relation to the student themselves. Things such as grounded stances, flow with definition and sound technique, accuracy while in motion, target distancing, progress to the understanding and application of the six harmonies and mental fortitude while under duress. By this I mean publicly or if attacked making this an excellent mental focus exercise as well.  I don't think there is any better way to test this or for your instructors to see if you can keep your cool and still apply Kung Fu to the level of a black belt than a public board break. This as opposed to being thrown in the middle of 4 people that want to beat the crap out of you and see how you do.

So as you can see there is a great tool that is given to us to work on many aspects of our Kung Fu. I have learned much over the years breaking boards and of course not breaking them but to me this is a very valuable tool that should not be overlooked. In fact one of the very few rare moments I have felt the void was during a public board break. The last thing I remembered was my foot going through the first board and the only thing that brought me out of it was when I kicked the holders hand on the fourth board, cool stuff. I've also have been using boards this past summer to improve my technique and to try to get a better understanding of the six harmonies. I have been trying to break boards by having them simply dangle from a small clamp.  I have had way more fails than success, but when I did, I never felt a thing and the board shattered. When I failed the board flew across the garage and my hand hurt. The good news is I could tell what was wrong and they usually always went straight. Once I get the hand techniques down, I'll move to kicks.

Boards can really mess with your head and make things swollen, but what they can give back is pretty amazing. See you at the Kwoon