A Great Day

The boot camp this year was phenomenal! The seminars were either physically testing, mentally testing, or both. I always enjoy seeing what I can or cannot do, what I can improve on and what I excel at. The boot camp is a great way of seeing who you are.

It's very difficult to say what my favorite part of the day was, being that everything brought something neat and unique to the table. That being said I'll go over what I enjoyed about each one.

Starting off with the walking meditation and chi exercises was a good way of getting in the right state of mind for the rest of the day. I got a better understanding of how chi works and it was a good reminder of how important Tai Chi is to my progress through kung fu. 

The fitness seminar sped the pace up. It definitely got the blood flowing. By the end I was sweating bullets! This may also have something to do with the temperature rising quickly outside.

The striking seminar was a good review of the combination we learned in Shaolin Combative class. I was working on my flow to make it seamless from beginning to end. This was interesting with new opponents!

Learning broadsword techniques that came directly from China was great! I found it interesting that even though the left hand wasn't holding anything, it was still just as involved in the movements as the right hand. To get a chance to learn from Sifu Beckett who trained fulltime in China was a unique opportunity.

I didn't realize what I was missing in my classes until Sifu Rybak showed us just how easy it is to get complacent. The tips and tricks to be completely in the moment are invaluable! I will be sure not to let my brain trick me into thinking I know what's coming next. 

We learned some of the basic movements involved in Wing Chun. It seemed very different from our own style. A lot of close quarters and sticky hands practices were emphasized. It was awesome! This was a good chance to see what other styles of kung fu are all about. This was Bruce Lee's original style before developing Jeet Kune Do! 

The flying kicks were something else. I honestly didn't think I would be able to perform spinning flying kicks like that, but Sifu Playter explained and simplified them in such a way that it made sense to me. It was a blast!

Grappling was intense! That and very tiring. Who would've thought rolling around on the floor used up so much energy. 

Self defense psychology really got me thinking about how I act and how much I pay attention to my surroundings. It's scary to think someone may have been observing my actions without me knowing to determine whether they'll attack me or not. 

Unfortunately due to the insane heat outside we ended up dropping the fitness test. This is alright though, instead we practiced some knife techniques. I don't ever plan on using them on anyone but it's good to know what someone might attempt to do to me.

Last but not least was the 2 Km run. The hot weather did not make this easy, but it wouldn't be fun if it was! It's a real test to tire yourself out thought the day then do a run like that. This was a great way to end the day, I'm glad we didn't forgo it.

The boot camp is not only at chance to learn different styles or techniques. It's also a great way to spend a day with a group of amazing, like-minded people, to create or strengthen bonds and to just have a good time. I know I did! 

See you on the mats

Cold Feet

I can't stop thinking about my trip to south America coming up this fall. Unfortunately, they are not thoughts of excitement and anticipation. Rather, they are thoughts of worry and uncertainty. When it comes to equipment and supplies I'm feeling pretty good, but this is going to be the most outrageous experience in my life at this point. What if something goes wrong?

My Spanish is nowhere near at the level I thought it would be and that is concerning. Knowing how people can take advantage of you when you know their language, let alone when you don't, it's kind of scary. Plus this is one of my I Ho Chuan goals, so this is doubly troubling.

My other concern is if I saved enough for the whole trip. I've never gone on this long of a trip so I'm just going by what others tell me. 

I have just been over thinking the whole thing lately, that's all. I usually don't like to complain about such things, but I simply needed to get it out there. I feel better about it already. 

Thanks for your time everyone. See you on the mats!

Blood, Sweat and Gears

I have always wanted to do a long distance bike tour. Especially for a charity organization of some kind. I kept putting it off, mostly because I was unsure where to start or how to get involved. Two years ago, my uncle was diagnosed with progressive MS. My family was devastated. This gave me the push I needed to finally get my butt in gear and get involved. Last year I signed up for the Leduc to Camrose MS Bike Tour and started handing out pledge sheets. My mother drove the truck behind as a support vehicle and I rode through the route. It was great seeing all those people riding for the same cause!

This year I was able to convince my mother to ride along with me. It was an incredible time! I spent the last few months training and preparing her for this tour, everyday after work we would do a 20 minute run around the area. Each time we would push a little more, trying to beat our time from the day before.

The first day this weekend went smoothly, considering the weather. We were fortunate enough to have the wind on our backs for the majority of the day and we made some pretty good time. We were still quite tired when we got to Camrose, passing out in the tent for a couple hours before supper. The food provided was delicious and the speeches were heart-wrenching. To think that this affects so many is unbelievable.

The ride today was vastly different than yesterday. The weather was about the same, but the wind. The wind! It helped us out so nicely on Saturday, but today it was out for revenge. I knew there was a catch! Our pace was nothing in comparison, the wind was just too strong. By the time we made it to the lunch checkpoint, I noticed a huge lineup of people loading up their bikes into a large cube van. This is probably due to the heavy wind.

I turned to my mother, who was starting to show signs of fatigue and asked, "Did you want to hitch a ride there to next checkpoint?"

She laughed, "Are you kidding me? I signed up for this thing and I'm going to see it through. I sure as heck am not going to let some little wind stop me!" This was the response I was expecting. She's a tough lady and won't stop for anything. A trait her brother shares in his fight against MS.

Pushing along we finally made it back to Leduc, the last leg was better as we only had a crosswind and most of it was downhill. This ride was grueling! However, I enjoyed every bit of it! Why? Because this was nothing compared to what someone with MS has to deal with. People like my Uncle. Keep fighting Uncle Ray! They'll find a cure yet!

I also couldn't help but think of what Sifu Beckett is going through right now. GBS seems similar to MS and wanted to ride in support of her recovery as well. I miss you Melanie! Everyone here at the school misses your warm, positive attitude and selflessness! Have a safe, speedy recovery and hope to see you soon.

See you all on the mats! 

Let's Do This!

Hello team. Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend the upcoming meeting. I am already committed to the Leduc to Camrose MS bike tour the entire weekend. I wish I could be in both places at once. I like to make a point of being at every meeting and every class. Last weekend, Sifu Brinker stepped in and gave an intervention for the team. He is concerned with our recent lack of attendance to the I Ho Chuan classes as well as the lack of encouragement from teammates to attend. I share his concern. We started off incredibly strong! So strong that it was challenging to find room to practice my form on the mats, it was awesome! 

I do understand that life gets busy and some circumstances are unavoidable. This week was pretty jam packed for me and I felt my motivation waning, my numbers show that clearly. I recognized this was happening and I am correcting it promptly. If I can do something to help you make it to the kwoon you let me know, I will do what I can. The more that show up to practice the better. We can't keep making excuses, we all joined this team for a reason. We are learning mastery! It is a never ending process, to push beyond what we think we can do and then when we think we've had enough, push a little bit more. We need to work as a team to create the extraordinary out of the ordinary. It's not easy, if it was everyone would be doing it.

The unofficial classes are great tools towards our success in the lion dances and dragon dances. I for one would like to get more practice with the dragon and I'm sure I'm not alone. At the beginning of the year, Sifu Brinker was hoping we could do a double dragon dance. However, by the time Farmer's Day came along we didn't even have enough for a single dragon! This is something we need to change. 

This is why I am challenging the team, let's help each other out and call for help when we need it. Let's work together to get as many of us out to the kwoon as possible! Let's setup a dragon dance for Canada Day! Let's prove that we are the best team yet!

See you on the mats everyone!

Mindset

For the past few months my outlook on the world around me has been slowly changing. For the first time in 6 years I can say I genuinely enjoy my job. At first, I detested it, coasting from day to day, thinking about anything else that I could be doing at the moment. I felt pretty good about the technical training, but as soon as I returned to the field I became miserable again. After a while I started to tolerate it, reminding myself that there are a lot of jobs worse than being an electrician. However, my mind was still not into it, I kept convincing myself that I wasn't good enough for the job and insisted that there was something out there better for me. The only reason I stuck through with it is the fact that I promised my family I would get my journeyman ticket before quitting. I was still unfocused and unsure what I wanted to do with my life. I didn't have the right mindset.

Lately I've been thinking about how I think when it comes to kung fu. I stay focused and engaged, in turn I am enjoying it greatly and seem to be grasping the concepts pretty well. So I asked myself, "If it works with kung fu, couldn't it work with my job too?" I conducted a few tests, almost tricking my brain I was going to the kwoon instead of work. It started working! Almost like making a fake smile which eventually gives you real happiness.

I don't even need to trick myself anymore. Now that I am truly focused on what I'm doing, I feel great about it. I wake up and look forward to going to work. Rather than finding ways to make it through the day, comparing myself to my more successful co-workers and putting myself down, I now try to see how I can improve the efficiency and quality of my craftsmanship each day. I feel great now!

Your mindset greatly affects your life. The same activity can be either enjoyable or excruciating depending on how you go about it. Marty McFly explains it perfectly, "If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything."

See you on the mats!