The leaves are turning, the weather is getting colder. Where did the summer go? Why does time fly so fast when you blink. Before we know it, the year will be over. Its very hard to keep in the moment but we must take that deep breath and focus or we will miss everything that is happening around us. It was busy last week and another one up and coming. I find these busy weeks easy to slip away but I want to appreciate each and every minute of them. So enjoy the cool evenings and the changing colors of the leaves. Soon we will be heavy into dragon practice and getting ready for that time of year. At least I haven't seen any geese fly south yet!
See you on the mats!
Sunday, 26 August 2018
Sunday, 19 August 2018
Helping too much?
How much do we help and when? A number of things recently have come up at work and at home that has me looking at this. Sometimes there is a very fine line between helping someone and helping someone too much, so how do we find that balance.
Helping someone too much does not allow that person to grow. It does not give them the opportunity to make mistakes that they need to make. It does not let them make choices for themselves and live through the consequences. So why are we tempted to help someone too much? For me, its because I don't want someone to get so discouraged that they quit. I don't want to see them hurting, I don't want to see them fail. But does this really help? The hardest thing as a manager, a friend, and as a parent is sitting back and letting them scrape their knees, letting them fall down but then being there to give them a hand back up. I have to constantly work at taking that step back, knowing it is for their own good but it is so very difficult.
I am very thankful that these incidents have come up recently because it has made me reflect on being the teacher and the student. Nothing helps clarify things when you are able to put yourself in both roles. How do I become a better student so I am not putting someone in the spot where they are helping me too much? When do I ask for help and when do I take the risk and be okay if I fall down. When I am in the teacher role, does someone really need my help or just the confirmation that I will be there to support their decision? Am I supplying the correct type of help? Do I need to find someone else to assist?
Will I stop helping others? Absolutely not! I need to look at each situation, each moment, to try to determine if my actions are truly helping. There are many ways to help each other, we just need to find the right one.
See you on the mats!
Sunday, 12 August 2018
Its all about me!
How am I doing? That was a question raised at Saturday's meeting. With poor cell reception, I was able to say that this has been a great year but does that mean I am 100% successful? Absolutely not! So why has it been such a great year?
This year things are starting to click. I have started to feel a forward progression even though there are ALWAYS things to improve on. But the most important change has been the focus on me. I have taken accountability and responsibility for ME. My training, my attitude, my goals, my attendance. Being a mother, its been MANY years since I could say "It's all about me!". This does not mean that I am ignoring my family, or putting them second. It means I am making sure that I am making choices that will help me meet my goals.
But I think the greatest rewards of this year are the benefits that Kung Fu has given me in every day activities. My work is very, very busy and there has been many times that I have been on the brink of being overwhelmed but by taking responsibility (and a deep breath) I have developed plans to get back on track. I find that I have less excuses at home or at work. I have more energy to do things, not just think about doing them.
This weekend I was at Dillberry Lake for a family get together, hence the poor reception. Dillberry is a provincial park on the Alberta/Saskatchewan border that I lived at for 6 years of my life. (Yes, I grew up in Provincial Parks and had the BEST childhood adventures but that is for another blog). As I drove into the park, I noticed a hiking path that was across the highway. Why had I not taken this trail before? I could not answer that question, so yesterday I grabbed one of the willing kids and off we went. We were gone for 1.5 hours and did over 6 km and we had a blast, talking the entire way. These are the types of activities that I never did before but am enjoying so much now.
I know that I am only half way through the year and that things can change in a heartbeat especially if I do not pay attention to them. So I will continue to work on improving my stances, my flow, my kicks, my numbers, my fitness and my shoulder. This way I hope I can improve on an already great year. Moment by moment, step by step, moving forward. Who knows what tomorrow will bring!
See you on the mats!
This year things are starting to click. I have started to feel a forward progression even though there are ALWAYS things to improve on. But the most important change has been the focus on me. I have taken accountability and responsibility for ME. My training, my attitude, my goals, my attendance. Being a mother, its been MANY years since I could say "It's all about me!". This does not mean that I am ignoring my family, or putting them second. It means I am making sure that I am making choices that will help me meet my goals.
But I think the greatest rewards of this year are the benefits that Kung Fu has given me in every day activities. My work is very, very busy and there has been many times that I have been on the brink of being overwhelmed but by taking responsibility (and a deep breath) I have developed plans to get back on track. I find that I have less excuses at home or at work. I have more energy to do things, not just think about doing them.
This weekend I was at Dillberry Lake for a family get together, hence the poor reception. Dillberry is a provincial park on the Alberta/Saskatchewan border that I lived at for 6 years of my life. (Yes, I grew up in Provincial Parks and had the BEST childhood adventures but that is for another blog). As I drove into the park, I noticed a hiking path that was across the highway. Why had I not taken this trail before? I could not answer that question, so yesterday I grabbed one of the willing kids and off we went. We were gone for 1.5 hours and did over 6 km and we had a blast, talking the entire way. These are the types of activities that I never did before but am enjoying so much now.
I know that I am only half way through the year and that things can change in a heartbeat especially if I do not pay attention to them. So I will continue to work on improving my stances, my flow, my kicks, my numbers, my fitness and my shoulder. This way I hope I can improve on an already great year. Moment by moment, step by step, moving forward. Who knows what tomorrow will bring!
See you on the mats!
Sunday, 5 August 2018
Qualities of a Blackbelt
This week in class, Sifu Brinker asked us what are 3 qualities of a black belt that we have and 3 that we need to improve on. Initially my list was
Qualities I have: 1) determination 2) perseverance 3) leadership and caring
Areas I need to improve on: 1) fitness 2) kicks 3) attention to detail
The more that I thought about this, the more that I had to really look at my choices. If I am saying that I am good at perseverance, than my numbers should be bang on and they are not. If I am great at determination, than my fitness and kicks should not be an issue but they are. Sifu said that sometimes you think you are good at something, but in reality you need improvement.
There was a couple of ways I could have processed this information. I could have let it set me back and started the excuses but I did not. I started my running program again and have been increasing my numbers each time. Today I ran (ran/walk) 5.7 km in 47 min and have ran 17K in the last 10 days. Its constantly improving but there is far to go. I have been working hard on my Kempo form and have been really starting to feel when I am pulling my shoulder during a punch or transferring my weight back instead of dropping my center and moving forward when transitioning from stances.
I also noticed that my cardio in class was not hitting the range I wanted it to. I realized that during warm-up, I have been holding back, wanting to make sure I had energy for my class. I decided that if I need energy later in class, I will deal with it then so I better give it 110% now. Funny thing, there has not been a class that I needed to slow down in. There have been hard classes but they always felt good after.
After a lot of self reflection, I would say that my list is still the same but I would change the wording to "Qualities that I have - but still need work" because the more that I work on these qualities, the more they will assist me improving the others.
See you on the mats!
Qualities I have: 1) determination 2) perseverance 3) leadership and caring
Areas I need to improve on: 1) fitness 2) kicks 3) attention to detail
The more that I thought about this, the more that I had to really look at my choices. If I am saying that I am good at perseverance, than my numbers should be bang on and they are not. If I am great at determination, than my fitness and kicks should not be an issue but they are. Sifu said that sometimes you think you are good at something, but in reality you need improvement.
There was a couple of ways I could have processed this information. I could have let it set me back and started the excuses but I did not. I started my running program again and have been increasing my numbers each time. Today I ran (ran/walk) 5.7 km in 47 min and have ran 17K in the last 10 days. Its constantly improving but there is far to go. I have been working hard on my Kempo form and have been really starting to feel when I am pulling my shoulder during a punch or transferring my weight back instead of dropping my center and moving forward when transitioning from stances.
I also noticed that my cardio in class was not hitting the range I wanted it to. I realized that during warm-up, I have been holding back, wanting to make sure I had energy for my class. I decided that if I need energy later in class, I will deal with it then so I better give it 110% now. Funny thing, there has not been a class that I needed to slow down in. There have been hard classes but they always felt good after.
After a lot of self reflection, I would say that my list is still the same but I would change the wording to "Qualities that I have - but still need work" because the more that I work on these qualities, the more they will assist me improving the others.
See you on the mats!
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