Vacation Time

 By this time tomorrow I will be on a sunny beach! I am looking forward to this break. The only time I truly get a break from work is when I am out of the country lol. A week of sun, sand and the ocean. A perfect reset. 

It was a great week leading up to being on vacation as well. Normally I would be working several late nights and losing sleep about what I was forgetting. This week was organized, not many fires to put out, and overall a very smooth week. I was even out of work a half hour after we closed on my last day yesterday! 

I am thanking this to a great week at Kung Fu. The week started out a little stressful, and with misunderstanding. A great one on one with some deep discussion provided clarity. I value the relationships with my instructors and my teammates like no other. No matter what is going on in life, I can always depend on these people around me. So thank you to all of you. It means the world to me. 

I often find if I am struggling with something in Kung Fu, it seems to filter to the rest of my life. I liken this to Kung Fu being such a large part of my life. One is not separate from the other. I also find that when I am struggling with something in life, it is Kung Fu that provides grounding for me. I liken this to my journey in Mastery. As I’ve said many times before, we are all going to go through challenges and ups and downs, it is what we choose to do with these times that matter. 

My motto for a beach vacation - tomorrow I will have My toes in the water, and my a** in the sand. So my song of the day https://www.google.com/search?q=toes+zac+brown+band+lyrics&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-ca&client=safari#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:7450954c,vid:MwPsA5psiS8,st:0

Push ups- 8600

Sit ups - 8520

Form reps - Hand 115, weapon 104

AOK’s - 537

Sparring (modified) - 105

KM’s - 347

Blogs - 15

Providing Clarification

 I made a comment after our meeting on Thursday, and I feel I need to clarify a bit and provide some perspective from my view. I had stated how I felt about a comment provided after one of my blogs and how I didn’t feel great about it. In no way did I mean for that to sound contradictory to the benefits and importance of blogging. Our blogs are our story, our journey, our thoughts and feelings, as they are meant to be. I certainly feel blogging is one of our requirements that provide a very important aspect of our training and our journey. Sometimes when I blog I feel what I’m saying may not come across as intended. I blogged about this yesterday as well. When we are provided feedback, it is always meant to help, always meant to further us in our training in a positive way. I’ve never been involved in a group, or team where our instructors are so invested in their students. I struggle with blogging, and that is why it is so important that I do blog. Feedback with all of our training, including our blogs is meant only to help us progress. I think it can be compared to getting feedback with a technique or stance to help us evolve or better understand something, and maybe with a correction to help. It is important to not let our egos lead our thoughts and feelings about this. My ego got the better of me in this situation at the time.

I’m an emotional person, and sometimes I feel this is one of the best parts of me, and sometimes not so much (like my black belt speech lol) Don’t get me wrong, I am proud of my speech, and it was written from the heart, I just wish I could have gotten through it a little smoother. I wish that I could reign in my emotions at times. It is also because of this that blogging is difficult for me. When something is hard, we tend to learn more from it.

ush ups- 7820

Sit ups - 7900

Form reps - Hand 105, weapon 90

AOK’s - 521

Sparring (modified) - 75

KM’s - 333

Blogs - 14

The Blog about Blogging

 This is probably the requirement I struggle the most with. I am not a writer, I have always struggled to get the thoughts and feelings inside to come across on paper in a meaningful way. This struggle has certainly stopped me from fulling a requirement and commitment in the past. That’s not only cheating myself, but my team. I’ve also written a blog about blogging before.

We always talk about how to get better at something, we practice of course. I find when it’s not something physical to practice, it is that much harder. 

I made a commitment to myself this year to proactively blog. Just do it. It won’t alsways be good, and most often not insightful to those reading it. The important thing I have at the forefront is this is not for you, it is for me. Even though I may not be a great or insightful writer, I can go back to any of my blogs and know exactly where I was and what I was doing. This is why we blog. For our own journeys. We are not all the same physically, so why do I pressure myself to be the same in other areas that aren’t physical. 

And happy Earth Day tomorrow 🌎

Thank you to all that came out yesterday to show our community a little love, it was such a great turnout, and always a great day to be part of. 

Push ups- 7720

Sit ups - 7800

Form reps - Hand 105, weapon 90

AOK’s - 517

Sparring (modified) - 75

KM’s - 330

Blogs - 13

The Aches of Aging

 It seems as of late, there is a new ache/pain almost every week. Is it only due to aging? I feel that it is cumulative of aging, and limitations of injury. When injured muscles and joints are limited to movement, or repetition. Building them back is a process, sometimes slower than we’d like. These new found aches are not injuries, but rather from repetition. That I believe is an aging thing. 

This latest pain isn’t due to building back from an injury, but rather being caused by continuous repetition. This past week I had pain in my hand and wrist. I was in absolute agony by Wednesday. This was being caused by typing on my keyboard. 25 years of serving, and now more than 11 years on a keyboard everyday. Eventually our joints/muscles are going to rebel I suppose. So in being a martial artist of course I have a wrap, bandage, or guard of some sort for pretty much all joints lol. A few days of wearing my wrist guard, and frequent stretching and it is feeling much better. 

I also feel that keeping active with Kung Fu certainly helps. I don’t think recovery time would be as quick or positive if I was simply a practicing couch potato. Kung Fu is life, not just a few classes in a week. Exercise, healthy eating and lifestyle, and of course mastery. Even when injured, sore, or in pain there is always Kung Fu, and always a way to keep practicing. My push up numbers did suffer a little this week, but I was able to get my sit ups caught up to my pu numbers.

Push ups- 6700

Sit ups - 6900

Form reps - Hand 90, weapon 75

AOK’s - 489

Sparring (modified) - 60

KM’s - 295

Blogs - 12

Some Days are Hard

 Some days are just harder than others, that is simply the ebb and flow of life. Yesterday was one of those days for me . Nothing bad happened, no particular reason, just one of those days. I’m tired, and that I’m sure adds to the blah. I’m mostly over this cold, but still coughing, especially when I lie down. I’m trying not to continuously medicate, so the cough keeps me up at night. 

The only thing I wanted to do after work last night was go home, wrap myself up and be oblivious. So of course, I went to Kung Fu class. Definitely the right decision, and I’m better for it in so many ways. The Kwoon itself, and the people within ground me. Class was difficult, we are learning a new form, and reviewing some grappling. Unfortunately I’m still physically challenged with my knee, and still recovering. Maybe because of my mood, I pushed harder, went deeper in stances, and didn’t break as often as I have been. I was pretty limited with grappling (my apologies to my partner Sihing M Ward, as it limits you too), but attempted what I could. My knee swelled up pretty good like it did after the first couple of weeks after surgery. But it felt good to push limits. 

Today I feel better, not because I got more sleep, but because I am more grounded. I’m grateful that I have Kung Fu, as it helps me to make good decisions, and better myself. 

Push ups- 5900

Sit ups - 5800

Form reps - Hand 55, weapon 30

AOK’s - 454

Sparring (modified) - 55

KM’s - 255

Blogs - 11