Live Forever or Die in the Attempt

Parade

2014-06-01T20:27:00.001-06:00

Saturday marked another Farmers Day parade with Silent River lion dancing down the street. It was by far the most time I've spent in a lion. It was exhilarating, nerve wracking and exhausting. Mostly I was just trying not to step on the feet of the head or get to far behind. I definitely felt like like I was a few steps behind all the time. The biggest moment of panic was when we went to do a wave, which I have never done before. I wasn't sure what to do exactly so I just copied the head, hopefully it looked alright.

Despite the bit of nervousness I had a great time. It was a lot of fun and I am glad to have had the experience. Being the tail sure gives the back a workout, mine is sore and stiff today. I was surprised that my shin is still aching from the bit of jogging I did. I smashed it pretty hard with my meteor hammer a couple weeks ago. It left a wicked lump and bruise which I manged to make even bigger while sparring during the pandamonium. Guess its not done healing yet if I can feel it while running.

Lion Dance

2014-05-11T20:53:00.003-06:00

Fridays class was the first time I've been in a lion. It was pretty cool, I'm sure I had a big grin on my face. I was quite surprised at how little I could see as a tail. I was trying not to be Casper but bending over as far as I was I couldn't really see the feet of the head, which meant I had no idea what was going on. I'm guessing I just need to try and bend over but keep my head up. I tweaked my lower back and it was bothering me most of the week. Hunching over as a tail was a bit painful. It was neat playing around in the head, it was bit more awkward to hold up than I was expecting. Its pretty hot under the lion. I'm already a pretty sweaty guy once I start moving. I can only imaging how much I'd be sweating after a lion dance. Might have to waterproof the inside of one!

Sleet on the Beach

2014-05-07T20:14:00.003-06:00

Monday was not exactly what I call beach friendly weather. It was the second night we've played volleyball. It was cold, windy and halfway through the first game sleet started to fall. It didn't last very long though and the sun eventually came out for a bit. I played in sweat pants, a fleece jacket and wool socks with no shoes. It was weird. Even with the bad weather we had a great time. Our team is going to win the award for most laughter by the end of the season, I guarantee it. The first night we played I think we baffled the other team with our joking around and laughing fits. I've really been enjoying it.

My hands are blistered up pretty good from practising the meteor hammer. The index finger on my right hand just got a new one in a different spot as another one was healing. I am going to have to start taping up my hands or something so I can continue practising without losing all my skin. I've got to pick up some medical or athletic tape. I slowly feel like I am making progress. I'm still not very consistent with pulling off moves but I am getting better. I still don't have a complete form yet but I finally have some pieces. I feel comfortable enough now with the basics that its time to start putting the pieces together. Still a long way to go until I'm demo ready but I will get there.

I have a meeting with my realtor this Sunday. House hunting is about to get serious. I'm excited but also not looking forward to the extra stress. It's been a bit chaotic lately, I could use a vacation.

House Hunting

2014-04-27T21:30:00.000-06:00

Things sure have been hectic lately. Work continues to be nuts, I've been working longer hours than usual. I've been working so franticly to get some projects out that by the end of work day I feel thoroughly drained. Its not helping me stay motivated, I'm not getting enough practice time in. I ran through some forms in the living room today, felt good, wish I had a bigger living room...

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before but I have a goal of buying a house this summer. I'm looking for a place in Edmonton right now, I've been spending a lot of time searching listings. This will be my first time buying a place so I'm a bit nervous. I'm even more excited! The idea of actually having a place to call my own, a place I can do anything I want with, is pretty neat.

I am definitely looking for a Kung Fu friendly home. I get excited every time I see a picture of a big back yard or a large stone terrace. I think its funny that I'm looking at pictures scoping for good meteor hammer swinging areas. Really I just want a bi-level with an open basement that has 10'-12' ceilings, that exists right? I might be dreaming. I have also contemplated getting a big lot and then building a free standing structure such as the one below... some of you might recognize it.

Easter

2014-04-21T20:36:00.003-06:00

I had a pleasant Easter. Spent time with friends and family, ate too much. Got some chores done, put my summer tires on and cleaned the inside of my car. All in all pretty good. I signed up with some friends for beach volleyball with the Edmonton sport and social club. So for most of the summer I will now be playing volleyball on Monday nights. It should be fun. I haven't played volleyball since high school, going to be interesting to see how many skills I've retained. Its going to be pretty casual, I expect the will be more laughs than spikes.

Purple

2014-04-13T22:09:00.001-06:00

It's been awhile since I journalled. I am pretty disappointed in myself for doing this yet again. Shortly after my last post I was sick for about a week, then the following week I was out of town for work. Unfortunately I didn't get much done during that time, the numbers definitely took a hit. Since then I've been trying to catch up. I've been trying to watch what I eat more, keeping track and weighing my self every day. I've been weighing myself in the morning right after I wake up, which I hear is the most accurate way to do it. Over the past two weeks I've lost about six pounds, I think anyway. My weight seems to fluctuate up to 7lbs during the day so I am hoping a consistent morning measure is accurate.

I've really been having a hard time getting practice time in with the meteor hammer. The only times I've been practising are on Fridays and Saturdays at the kwoon. Sometimes Fridays don't give me much practice time either. I'm not getting the hang of the weapon as fast I was hoping. I was expecting it to be a challenge since I've never learned a weapon like it before, and hinged weapons aren't my strong point, but its been harder than I expected. I knew I was going to have a slow start but I'm further behind the eight ball than I would like. The weather is finally good enough that I can start going outside. I'm going to start hunting for areas that are dry enough. Somewhere where I'm not going to get arrested. I hit myself in the side of the leg twice yesterday at practice which left a large, sore bruise. So far its the worst I've hurt myself with the hammer so I suppose I can't complain.

Ugh

2014-03-17T20:56:00.002-06:00

Not much to say this post. Progress with the meteor hammer has been pretty slow. I am having a hard time being consistent. Even when I think I have a technique down I'll still mess it up 1/4 of the time. I'm hoping that will go away with more practice. Right now basically all of my practice time is at the kwoon on Fridays and Saturdays, which isn't that much. It will be nice when I can start practising outside. I was sick for most of the weekend which was a downer. Friday during class I felt like I was fighting to throw up most of the time. Not quite a 100% yet but I am feeling better. Hopefully next week goes better.

Sneaky Pushups

2014-03-10T22:45:00.002-06:00

My car and computer are fixed! Its much nicer typing this out on a keyboard instead of a phone. A little less than a week ago I discovered a private area at work that I could do push-ups and sit-ups in. It's in our electrical/server room. While I was investigating, our IT guy spotted me and asked me what I was doing. I confided that I was looking for a private out of sight area to do some exercises. He seemed intrigued and gave me permission to use the room. Now its our little secret, I asked him not to tell anyone without my permission.

The floor was filthy so I brought a yoga mat and laid it down for the sit-ups. Whenever I need a break from the desk I wander over to my secret room to do some push-ups. So far its really been helping the numbers. I've been getting 200 done a day at work alone! I'm still a bit behind but I'll catch up in no time at this rate. I'm really happy I managed to find a good place, its the only place in the entire building that has a door that isn't locked or a common area.

Annoyances

2014-03-03T22:02:00.001-07:00

It's been a frustrating couple of weeks. My computer still isn't fixed so this is yet another entry from my phone. I decided to wait until today for this blog so I could use my work computer. Turns out that the version of internet explorer we are forced to use is so out of date that I can't get blogger to load properly and I cant write anything. So that was a wage of time.

I brought my car into the shop today to have it checked out. Turns out I need all new rear brakes and I have a broken spring. So I'm not driving my car until the spring is fixed. I am going to call around to some wreckers tomorrow and see if I can find something. If not I have to order from Toronto and the soonest they'll get her is Friday. Meanwhile I'm relying on rides. I might just rent a car. Going to be an expensive week.

Hurt my shoulder last week and couldn't really get any push-ups done. It's feeling better now so I'm back at it, still can't do as many in a row as usual without feeling a bit of pain. I stayed for the San Shou class on Friday which helped pad the sparring numbers. That class is great for getting the sparring rounds in.

Sorry for the whiny post. Things have just been getting to me lately and I felt like venting. On a brighter note I finally feel like I'm starting to get the hang of the meteor hammer! I made some good progress at Fridays class.

From the phone

2014-02-23T23:27:00.000-07:00

Friday night my computer broke. So this blog is frustratingly being typed from my phone. I also cut my thumb and have a bandaid on so my phone typing is slower. Therefore I'm going to keep this one short. Fridays class was a lot of fun, I'm sporting bruises on my forearms and bisep from the elbow block techniques. I felt exceedingly proud to be sporting new bruises, which I find to be kind of hilarious. I like how us martial artists wear bruises like badges of honor.

I watched the UFC fight and was disappointed by just about every fight. I don't really follow UFC very much but when I do catch a fight they never seem to be all that great. At our table was a friend of a friend, who I don't know all that well, throughout the night he kept throwing out random martial arts advice. Now I am 95% sure that this guy has no martial arts training at all so I felt a bit awkward sitting there listening to it. Nothing he said was particularity wrong mind you. He told my one friend that you should punch with your first two knuckles, true enough. He talked about how he does lots of push-ups and the benefits doing them, which again I agree with so I didn't say much. He told my friend that he owns a punching bag and encouraged him to come over for a bag workout, yeah fine..

Then he told my friend how he could teach him some punches and kicks. At this point I really began to feel uncomfortable . Having someone, who I'm pretty sure knows very little offer to teach my friend while I, a guy with 10 years of experience , sits there listening did not seem appropriate. I don't know if it's justified for me to feel annoyed . Basically I think it bothered me because i felt like this person was acting like a poser. I don't think this person knows I train and I never spoke up to say I do. I felt like if I did it would be only to stroke my ego and to say if you if you are going to listen to anyone you should listen to. Anyway it was an odd experience.

They talked about wanting to join a place called the Panther Gym in edmonton but that it was too expensive. I don't know anything about panther gym so I had no opinion to give. Then my friend mentioned he was thinking of joining Krav Maga. At that point I couldn't keep quiet anymore and told him that he would be better served joining pretty much anything but Krav. From what I've seen, it's essentially a glorified "self defense system" that teaches you moves to beat other moves. I saw an interview with an instructor who teaches Krav Maga in edmonton. At some point in the interview he said something like, "we only spend our time working on techniques that work" and that they only spend time working on techniques. Then he showed some demonstrations. It only took me about 10 seconds of watching this guy move awkwardly to know he didn't know what he was doing because he had no fundamentals.

I guess I'm kind of ranting here. It just really bugs me how ignorant people are of martial arts in general. How they are so quick to jump onto things MMA related or whatever's being advertised with the most hype. I guess that's why it's so important for us to promote our art.

Hammer Time

2014-02-17T22:22:00.002-07:00

Fridays class was the first time I've swung my meteor hammer in a couple years. I didn't kill myself so that's good! In fact I didn't have any accidents at which I think made Sifu Rybak a bit jealous since her feet were taking a beating . I made my hammer a couple years ago but never really practiced with it much. It might be just a little bit to heavy, I'm a bit nervous about accidentally hurting someone. Also, when I spin it the centrifugal force is strong enough that its difficult to hold onto without the rope slipping in my grip. Sifu Robinson loaned me his meteor hammer, which is a bit lighter, I might practice with it until I am comfortable moving to the one I made.

Miss Gibbons showed me some moves and tips which were great to get me started. I have a lot of learning to do. It's both frustrating and invigorating to be back to square one on a weapon. I have never really learned a soft weapon like the meteor hammer so its very foreign. I'll be looking for help wherever I can find it.

Back when I first made my hammer I brought it to Hawrelak park a couple times and awkwardly tried to find a discreet spot to practice. I was surprised to find that there inst really any spot in the park that is hidden from view of passerby's. I'm going to make a point of finding an outdoor secret practice area this summer.

Year of the Horse

2014-02-09T21:44:00.001-07:00

Here we are one week into the new year. The banquet was fantastic, everything went off with out a hitch. I greatly enjoyed showing off the fruits of my labor. I didn't totally screw up the dragon dance so that's good. As usual it feels a bit weird going back to a normal schedule after the past few manic weeks. Here are my personal requirements for the year:

1. Lose weight. I would like to get my weight down to about 195lb and lose 2 inches at the waist. Basically I just want to burn off fat and put some muscle back on. I don't care so much about the number on the scale so much as the love handles.

2. 2000 front thrust, side heel, roundhouse and spinning back kicks. I want to improve the quality of my kicks.

3. Learn to Lion Dance.

4. 1000 repetitions of Ma Long Khun and meteor hammer

5. Practice ALL of the curriculum techniques and combinations until I have every one memorized by name and have no doubts about my proficiency with each one.

I'm going to give a quick explanation of each of these. The lose weight goal is pretty self explanatory. To accomplish it I will need to focus more on my diet and exercise routines. The kick goal is because some of my kicks not where I would like them to be. A large part of that is due to flexibility, which I need to work on. I had learn to Lion Dance on last years list but I became the head of the dragon and changed my goal to learn to dragon dance. This year though I would like to learn the lion dance so I doubt I can be in the dragon this year.

I chose meteor hammer as my weapon form this year and I'm excited about it. I think getting practice time in will be a challenge, especially in winter. I basically can't practice it at all in my place, I don't have the room. So I will have to get my practice time in at the Kwoon until it warms up and I can start going outside more. I'm already worried about getting version one ready on time, I have a long way to go. Lastly the curriculum requirement sounds a bit vague so I'll clarify. It's a back to the basics requirement. I want to focus more on mastering the curriculum. I've always been terrible at associating the names of techniques with the actual technique. I want to have each one forever memorized by name by the end of this year.

Anyways, those are my goals for the year. I was excited to see so many new faces at the meeting yesterday. It should be a good year, I look forward to working with all of you!

The Journey

2014-01-26T21:09:00.001-07:00

The other day I was browsing Wikipedia and came across an interesting article about the poles of inaccessibility. A pole of inaccessibility is a location that is extremely challenging to reach due to its remoteness from geographic features that provide access. This pole is often the furthest point from coastlines. Basically they are the parts of the world that are hardest to get to. The people who are most interested in these areas are of course explorer and travelers.

Now why would an explorer be interested in trying to reach an area whose only interesting characteristic is the challenge of reaching it? For just that of course, the challenge. It's about the journey, not the destination. I am fascinated by the human drive to push ourselves to our limits, to see how much we can take and accomplish. Reading the article made me think about the I Ho Chuan year and the challenges we set for ourselves. The way we set goals and strive to reach them for as much as the final result as the path towards them. I like to think of ourselves as explorers in our own way, searching for self improvement.

Banquet

2014-01-19T20:42:00.002-07:00

It's that special time of year again. With only two weeks left until the banquet, there is still lots of work to be done. Every practice matters at this point as we try and prepare ourselves to look our best. I am really happy with how far we've advanced with the Lion/Dragon dance and the demo. Its always inspiring to see the whole team working hard together. Kudos and thanks to everyone making it possible. The new years banquet is a great way to show the results of the I Ho Chuan year.

As usual at this time of the year I have become paranoid about hurting myself. All the dragon dance practices, especially having them back to back, has been rough on my ankle and shin. On Saturday the pain in my lower leg was really getting to me. I think everything should be alright though so long as I make sure not to overdo anything.

Tai Chiathon

2014-01-11T18:21:00.001-07:00

The past week I have been practicing a lot of Tai Chi. I think i might have overdosed on Tai Chi because last night I dreamed about doing it. I dreamed I was practicing and critiquing myself as I went along. Maybe I actually learned something while sleeping. That would be pretty awesome. Now that I finally know the entire form I can start working on the finer details. I look forward to fixing my bad habits and exploring the finer points of the form.

Condescending or Passionate, with a side of Alienation

2013-12-12T00:19:00.001-07:00

The other day I was talking to a coworker about something and he jokingly (I think) said I was being condescending. Later on that day I was reflecting on what he said, trying to analyses my habits to see how much truth was in what he said. It got me thinking about how there is a fine line between being condescending and being passionate about something. It's pretty hard to confuse the two when you are being positive but when talking negatively about something, what matters more, what you say or how you say it?

Remember "Mastery" by Stewart Emery? My favorite part is the bit where he talks about living with so much mediocrity. My Kung Fu journey certainly has made me less tolerant of mediocrity and I try to surround myself with as much quality as possible. So while on the quest to expect more from myself and others I can sometimes be outspoken on my opinions. If I think something is bad or lacking quality I'm not afraid to say so. What worries me is, at what point does voicing my opinion make me sound like a jackass. Is it just the way I express it? The words I choose and the level of enthusiasm? Or is it a matter of how often I give opinions?

When it comes topics like art, music, movies and food it's often a matter of preferences. That's not always the case though, some things transcend preferences and fit squarely into good and bad categories. For example, McDonald's food is bad. I'm not saying I can't enjoy a quarter pounder now and then but there is now denying that McDonalds food is lousy. Its cheap, low quality and it really doesn't even taste that good. At the office we often group up to go out for lunch and I have one co-worker who's top choices are always A&W, McDonalds or KFC. Therefore I hardly ever go eat out with this person.

Something that really baffles me is how uncomfortable some people get when confronted with enough enthusiasm. I'm mostly talking about the positive, happy, I LOVE THIS THING kind of enthusiasm. I think people tend to get alienated if there is a big difference in passion levels. If you really like something and you share it with someone who can't identify with it you might just drive them away.

I don't really know where I'm going with this. Just something I've been thinking about. It's important we try to stay aware of the way we effect those around us and the way we carry ourselves less we be misinterpreted. Its now time for bed, falling asleep at the keyboard...

Healing

2013-11-19T22:30:00.002-07:00

I've been trying to take things easy lately to give my various aches and pains time to heal. I think its been helping, my ankle feels better. Still thought I've been really down about some of the recurring problems I've been having. Both legs from the knees down keep bothering me now and then. I never used to have these issues before, its like it started happening overnight. Now I'm always paranoid about making things worse. Maybe I need to start working on strengthening certain muscle groups.

On a positive note, my physiotherapist started a new laser treatment on my finger and it seems to be helping. Back in may I hurt the index finger on my right hand and its been giving me issues ever since. I think I badly bruised a ligament. It was a couple of months before I could even close it enough to make a fist and it hurt like the dickens making contact with anything. Even now I cant close it all the way and still have some pain punching things. Obviously not being able to hit anything solid with my right hand gets in the way of Kung Fu activities. The new laser treatment has made a noticeable difference. Today was my third session. I'm hoping that after a handful more sessions that the discomfort goes away permanently.

New Things

2013-11-03T20:59:00.002-07:00

I had another great time at our annual tournament last weekend. Everything ran very smoothly, judging was fun and so was competing. The dragon and lion dance was flawless yahoo! I'm happy with the way my sword form has come along and with my results in the competition. Winning the black belt grand champion felt pretty good. Thank you to all the people who helped the tournament happen and Mrs. Csillag for organizing the pizza party afterward.

Unfortunately I think all the dragon dancing has been rough on my legs. I've been having mild ankle problems the past couple weeks and after the tournament its really been bugging me. Its clicking and hurts to run on so I'm going to try and give it some time to heal. I was testing it on Fridays class and I definitely think I should take it easy for a bit.

I tried something new on Wednesday. I went to a fencing lesson for the first time. I've been interested in trying it for awhile now, I think it looks fun. I started looking into and lo and behold Edmonton has a fantastic fencing club coached by an Olympic gold medalist. The coach's name is Jujie Luan and shes a legend. My first class was certainly interesting. I was pretty much just thrown right into it. Jujie was very busy and trying to fix one of the electric scoring lanes so I didn't get much instruction. Her son taught me four basic parries, the lunge and then I was fully geared up and in a lane with an opponent. My partner explained the basic rules to me and gave me some pointers. We stabbed each other for awhile and I started to get the hang of it.

I felt a little out of place and awkward since I didn't know anything about anything. Kind of like my first day of class as a white belt. The hardest part of trying something new is stepping through the door for the fist time. I'm glad that the hard part is over with. I had a good time though and learned a lot. I am going to take more lessons until I have a better idea if its something I'd like to continue with.

Tournament

2013-10-22T21:29:00.000-06:00

I'm excited and a bit nervous for the tournament this weekend. It snuck up fast this year. Its always a fun time, I always have a great time judging and helping out. Its a fantastic event for everyone to come together and show their Kwoon spirit. Always a big motivator to see everyone pitch in to make everything happen. The only thing that could make it better is having more students competing.

Every year I have that hesitation, that doubt, the question, do I really want to compete? And every year I do and am glad for it. It's a great opportunity to show your hard work and to boost your confidence. Even if you don't win a medal you've overcome the biggest hurdle by just putting yourself up in that ring. When I'm in a tournament, especially doing forms, I don't really think of it as competing against others. I tend to feel its more a personal challenge, like I'm testing myself in front of a crowd.

Tournaments are probably one of the biggest influences I've had that helped relieve my fears of public demonstrations. It really does help getting comfortable performing. For those of you struggling with demo's or even speaking in public, you should be signing up for tournaments. Orange belt to blue belt I used to go to the Ging Wu open tournament, and occasionally Cheney's. They were always positive experiences and it was really cool getting to compete against people of all different styles. For those of you who have never been to an open tournament I highly recommend it.

Aches, Pains and Story Tales

2013-09-17T20:19:00.001-06:00

Again I find myself guilty of not blogging for far too long. I've had plenty to talk about lately but always seem to get sidetracked when it comes to putting electrons on the screen. Today I set a mini goal of GET STUFF DONE, which includes this post. Groceries have been purchased, bills have been paid, mild cleaning accomplished and laundry is spinning, time to journal. As a bonus I get to write while listening to a brand new record which just arrived in the mail!

A couple of weeks ago I hiked the Skyline Trail in Jasper with Sifu Robinson and a couple of his friends. It was a great time had by all. It felt great to be back in the mountains breathing fesh air and sweating on rocks. It was also my first and probably last multi day backpacking trip of the year, which makes me kind of sad. I definitely didn't get out as much as I usually do. It was a pleasant trip down memory lane as I had hiked this same trail before in my teenage years. The only bad of the trip: I positively destroyed my right knee. It was the first time I've ever experienced knee problems to that degree and it has me worried. I hope it was an anomaly caused by a combination of overdoing it and extra weight. The first day might of killed it since we hiked about 22km with 600m of elevation gain.
In all the trip was around 46km long which pads the numbers nicely.

My knee and calves were out of commission for the first half of the following week. I felt decent enough for some dragon dance practices by Thursday. I was only mildly wounded before the dragon dance demo which by the way went very well. Kudos to everyone for coming together for the practices and the awesome performance. I am quite proud of having been the head for three performances now without completely screwing up and ruining everything. After the dragon dance demo I was surprised to find my left leg was really hurting. This time it was the outside of the leg below the knee all the way to my ankle. My lower legs have been touchy since then so I've been trying to take it easy and let them heal. Thank you Sihing Donohue for the vet wrap, I'll have some on for the next practice.

Oh and I pulled a muscle in my bicep throwing elbows at Fridays class. All in all I feel awfully broken these days and its annoying. I decided today to try and book a physio appointment to have the legs and my finger looked at. I've never been to a physiotherapist but work covers it and now is a good a time as any.

Lots to do

2013-08-11T20:40:00.002-06:00

So far Tai Chi seems to be going alright. I'm slowly starting to see a bit of progress. I've come to realize that learning by the end of the I Ho Chuan year is unrealistic. There is a ton to learn but I'm going to try my best. It will take some serious practice time to even just remember it all much less have good technique.

We've left demo practices by the wayside for a while but we can't forget what we went through last time. I hope everyone has been practicing to be ready for the next one. We will be trying to organize some more demo opportunities for anyone who still needs the public performances.

The Week that was

2013-07-21T21:21:00.000-06:00

Hmmmm what to write about... I'm at a bit of a loss. I got a throat infection and had a sore throat most of the week. I also lost most of my voice which made the incessant phone calls at work a bit of a chore. The antibiotics seem to have done the job and I'm feeling better. I went for my first round of golf of the year. I usually only get out golfing 3-5 times a year. I bought my first set of clubs last summer and have been trying to get into it a bit more. The round went pretty well, I sank a couple huge putts and it felt awesome. I walked the course which was good for about 4km.

Hurray! Landmark event at Fridays class! I finally ended my sword form. I've reached the point where I don't want to add anything else to it. Now I just need to perfect it. I also reserve the right to completely change things if I can come up with something better. On the downside I also managed to pull or strain a muscle in my leg. I've been hobbling around all weekend and super sore.

I'm excited to be teaching a seminar at bootcamp this year. It's been awhile, I think the last thing I taught was my pole form. One day I would like to see a field full of Kwan Dao's but some might call that unrealistic.

Sifu Jesse Wetter

Tai Chi

2013-07-14T21:51:00.001-06:00

I attended my first ever Tai Chi class on Saturday. I had fun, it was an interesting change of pace. The first half of the class I felt a bit awkward but I was comfortable by the end. Taking an hour to cover two moves really drove home how much I need to learn. I'm way behind the eight ball, I should have started Tai Chi ages ago. It will be a huge challenge to try and learn the entire form by the end of the I Ho Chuan year.

Pessure Release

2013-07-07T22:08:00.001-06:00

With the Canada Day demo done and gone, the hectic practice schedule has come to a screeching halt. While I certainly enjoyed the craziness and excitement of preparing I'd be lying if I said I'm not a bit relieved. Between work, which has been nuts, and the dragon dance/demo I was starting to get a bit stressed. Much of the weight was released as soon as Master Brinker said, "Good job". I was extremely happy with our performances. It went great and I'm proud to be a part of it.

Now that we all have some more free time it is important to make the most of it. With the extra freedom I see opportunity. I have many things that I need to start focusing on. I'm hoping to finish version two of my sword form soon. I want to finalize it so I can start perfecting it. I am very close to being finished. Another big one for me is I need to learn Tai Chi. I should have started ages ago but the Tai Chi class schedule does not work well for me. I've put it off far too long, partly because I'm afraid I'll be awful at it. At least what I've been doing with the sword should help a bit.

I am happy to have a check mark next to the three public performances.So much to do so little time left in the I Ho Chuan year.

Upcoming Demo

2013-06-23T20:00:00.001-06:00

I can't believe there is only one week left until the July first demo. We have a lot of work to do in a short amount of time. I'm happy to see some new faces in the demo, glad to see people stepping up. We are going to need everyone at the practices this week to finalize things. The dragon dance is coming along nicely. We are short on time there too but things are going well so far.

It's been a crazy couple of weeks for me. It was my fathers birthday last weekend as well as fathers day. Today was my moms birthday. Between work, Kung Fu and family activities I feel like I've just barely managed to keep everything under control.