Making Connections

The Kinsmen Christmas Hamper event was a great opportunity to make new connections!  I had the opportunity to meet many of the Todai's and their parents during the announcement of the event. 

Doing my shift at the Red Apple with Todai Khawas was the best part of the entire event.  Todai joined Silent River close to the time that the Kwan Yin Healing Project was taking place.  I explained how the folding of cranes, flowers and notes were helping me when I was in the hospital getting my bone marrow transplant.  I showed him a picture of the Lego Lion that I got in the hospital and of course it was also with pictures when I had no hair.  I explained how it was Kung Fu that helped me get better and heal.  He shared all the things that he liked about Kung Fu and it was a pleasure to get to know him better.

A few days later, as I was walking into the kwoon, he stopped me outside to tell me about his class.  That was the highlight of my week!  Making this connection with Todai Khawas wouldn't have happened without Silent River Kung Fu and his engagement in The Kinsmen Christmas Hamper.  I look forward to making that connection stronger and building new ones.

Pushing limits

Yesterday we did spinning kicks to the spine in our class. Now, if we were fighting two year olds, I might stand a chance and those mirrors are so humbling.  What my mind thinks I should do and what my body actually does is a “little” off but I’ve gotta keep trying.

Last night I woke up in the middle of the night with aching hips and knees.  Not bad pain, just enough to wake you up and my first thought was “that pain is earned”.  It’s been over 3 years since I threw that kick, almost 3 years since I did that amount of kicks.  Three years is A LOT of time but yet it has passed so quickly.  These years have allowed me to keep pushing limits but in a safe way so that I only had a good ache and not real pain and next time I will get a bit higher in that kick.

I am in I Ho Chuan

The I Ho Chuan program is about mastery of Kung Fu.  I’ve been in the program for over 8 years yet it wasn’t until this week when I realized how I’ve been doing it wrong this entire time.  

Lately I have been doing so well with some of my personal requirements: Tai Chi, yoga, exercise classes, meditation. All my requirements are moving forward and I was happy, basking in those accomplishments. 

I would celebrate the areas that I was doing well in and glaze over the areas that I was failing.  My philosophy at work was to have your strengths so strong that they overshadow your weaknesses.  I took this philosophy into my Kung Fu but guess what?  That is wrong!

This mindset means I am not looking critically at all my requirements. I am accepting “Good Enough” and saying it’s mastery. I can come up with many reasons why I have not reached all my numbers, but those reasons are just excuses.  

Without looking at ALL my requirements, especially the mandatory ones, I am not approaching them mindfully.  I may be improving but I am not embracing mastery if I don’t develop and implement a plan. I need to be honest with myself and not accept “Good Enough” if I want embrace the true purpose of the I Ho Chuan program.  Now the advantage of the I Ho Chuan program is it gives me the ability and confidence to reset and start again. I have finally found a routine that is working for me so this week I will expand it to mindfully focus on my push ups and sit-ups.

Numbers

Pushups (equivalent) - 7,330

Sit-ups (equivalent) - 2,680

Kilometers - 1410.8

Weapons form - 248

Hand form - 320

Sparring - 65

AOK - 2055

Piano - 1/50

Tai Chi - 46.5/50

Yoga - 38/50

Meditation - 24/50

Practice makes better!

Last week I started to speak to our classes about the Kinsmen Christmas Hamper.  It definitely started out rocky but by day 2 it was easier and the other days even better.  I really haven’t spoken like that for years now and boy was I out of practice but as Sifu Brinker says the more you practice your vocabulary, the better it will become.  I definitely got better but I have a  long way to go.

Why am I doing this?…as of tonight we have 5 people signed up that are not related to the IHC team.  That’s 5 more than last year!  Can’t wait to see what this week brings.

Numbers

Pushups (equivalent) - 7,220

Sit-ups (equivalent) - 2,620

Kilometers - 1380.5

Weapons form - 240

Hand form - 310

Sparring - 65

AOK - 2015

Piano - 1/50

Tai Chi - 45/50

Yoga - 36/50

Meditation - 22/50

Increasing endurance

I can tell my exercising and training is paying off.  Last weekend I played pickleball for 2 hours with no breaks.  When I started in September, I needed a break after every match.  Last weekend I could have used a break but I powered through.  This week I enjoyed having a break but I didn’t need it and was excited to continue.

It helps motivation when you can see improvements like that and I owe it all to small consistent steps.

Ramblings of the week

This last week has been busy between home and work.  I will be missing 4 exercise classes, a Tai Chi class, and my black belt class.  Missing class upsets me because I am missing out on that day's learning.  Missing class also means that my daily Kung Fu training has also suffered and that too makes me upset. It was not long ago when I had to drag myself into class, honestly all classes except Tai Chi.  It was because I had so much work to catch up on as well as dealing with fatigue.  So being upset now actually makes me happy because I am no longer dragging myself into class.  It is not a chore, it is what I choose.  

When I got my blackbelt, it was emphasized that this is a journey, that it is just the beginning and not a goal.   Immediately moving into cancer treatment gave me little time to sit and embrace reaching my blackbelt milestone.  I had to take a breath and keep moving forward on a journey that was like no other.  Looking back on it today, I still don't understand how I did it.  My Kung Fu journey gave me the strength to keep moving forward and it has shown me how everything in life can relate to my Kung Fu training.  Those are the things that I hold most dear.

This week I was also involved in a small inperson group meditation and it was amazing.  The feeling of energy, of chi moving not only through myself but within others was enlightening.  Working on energy training is a new area of Kung Fu that I am excited to improve.

That being said, there will be little change to my numbers but I refuse to stop trying.  

Numbers

Pushups (equivalent) - 7,220

Sit-ups (equivalent) - 2,620

Kilometers - 1323.8

Weapons form - 240

Hand form - 310

Sparring - 65

AOK - 2015

Piano - 1/50

Tai Chi - 45/50

Yoga - 36/50

Meditation - 22/50

Failures and Successes

As per my previous blogs, I was taking an exercise program through WellSpring for an hour twice a week to rebuild muscle and stamina.  That 12 week program has finished and I knew if I didn't schedule something immediately, I would lose the traction that I was obtaining so I am now in a maintenance program.  This is still twice a week for an hour at a time but there is less time committed to stretching and I needed to pull out of my yoga class as it was a conflict.  

Although I am building muscle and cardio, I miss the stretching.  I need to figure out how to incorporate that now into my days.  But this year has shown me that it is all about priorities and if it is a priority, then I need to figure out how to fit it in.  Now that being said, I also realize that to be sustainable, I need to ensure that it is not a chore.  Something to get done or check off because those are the easiest to make an excuse NOT to attend.  

I am enjoying getting back my strength and improving each week but more than that, I realize what I need and how to do it.  That is a huge step from the beginning of this year and if it wasn't for all the things that I learned through failures and successes through my Kung Fu journey over these years, I know I would have quit a long time ago especially these last few years.  Kung Fu keeps me trying and learning from my failures.  Those are the things I need to succeed.

See you on the mats!

Oh, I also got my last live immunization so I am officially a two year old LOL.  I have been emailing Martina (my donor) and she took Kung Fu briefly but has been doing Judo for many years as well as she is a volunteer firefighter.  It's so cool that she has some of the same activities as here.

Numbers

Pushups (equivalent) - 7,220

Sit-ups (equivalent) - 2,620

Kilometers - 1286.8

Weapons form - 240

Hand form - 310

Sparring - 65

AOK - 1975

Piano - 1/50

Tai Chi - 45/50

Yoga - 36/50

Meditation - 20/50