Slumps

A slower post today and a little unpolished, but a post needed to be done!

I have always worked well with weapons, I think. Sure, there are some weapons that I found were easier to work with than others, but for the most part I have always been able to pull together my own form without too much difficulty. Yeah, slumps occur (or “writers block”, you could call it). But they never last for too long. Usually.

On Saturday, I think I was able to finally get through a few slumps. In both my sword form and my spear form, I had been stuck for several months. With my sword, it was a matter of how to move forward in a way that was both unique and similar to the rest of the form I created last year. With my spear, it was how to get out of a rather disadvantageous position whilst spinning an 8ish lb weapon. And I think I finally got through it! Maybe!

The moves still need polish, so we will see if they work. But continuing to pursue different avenues of thoughts and different approaches is something that has allowed me to really understand different weapons in the past, and I believe the opportunities provided here are doing the same. 

Numbers

Situps: 1890 / 50000

Pushups: 2450 / 50000

AoK: 91 / 1000

Katana: 35 / 1000

Sword Spear: 44 / 1000

Sparring: 32 / 1000

Distance (km): 46.5 / 1609

Blogs: 3 / 52

Personal

Tai Chi (reps): 16 / 250

Tai Chi (unexcused absences): 0 / 0

Stretching (hrs): 6.5 / 150

MMCs: 0 / 10

Ski Trips: 0 / 4

Volunteering: 0 / 3

Wrapping up the Rabbit, Dragging in the Dragon

The dragon year is underway, and week one is done!! I’ve been using this week to reflect on a few of the things I want to continue to improve, and some general reflections I have moving forwards. 

I am going to be very mindful of my numbers this year. At the very least, more mindful than I have been in the past. Something that is going to provide a bump in the road is the fact that I will be in Ottawa for training from April 08 - May 17. That’s about 6 weeks online, which I don’t mind, but also 6 very busy weeks where I’m worried my numbers might suffer. In particular, I won’t be able to bring my weapons with me. Lots of modified weapon reps, I suppose. I am also not looking forward to the temporary absence from teaching. I am thankful for the fact that I return right before the Tiger Challenge and not after, but I am a little anxious about going into it with limited preparation time. Oh well, no point worrying about something that is months away, right?

As I mentioned previously, my theme for the Rabbit Year was “intent”. I focused a lot on how I was channeling my intent, how my intent was manifesting itself, what I was visualizing to create my intent, and so on and so forth. This is something that I think takes form in many different ways for many different people; from how an individual views their intent to how it is reflected in their actual Kung Fu. Of course, this means there is no right answer and no one answer. Finding my intent throughout the year was a very gratifying experience that I believe furthered how I can present my forms. 

My theme began to change shape as I reached the latter half of the year. While it remained on the stovetop, intent had been moved to a backburner and my primary theme had become “strength”. I believe this is still my theme moving into the dragon year, although it is hard to say at this point. Over the last six months, I have developed an obsession with becoming stronger and better; not just physically, but in all aspects of my life. I think some could say this is akin to the pursuit of mastery, but I feel like there is a large number of inherent differences between the two. 

I do not know if my obsessive and voracious pursuit of strength is healthy or not. I think it needs to remain in check, at the very least, so that I do not wear myself out. I fear that it may blind me from the actual, healthy approach that may be needed in certain scenarios. Regardless, I am prepared to give it my all and more. 

Numbers

Situps: 1370 / 50000

Pushups: 1630 / 50000

AoK: 44 / 1000

Katana: 14 / 1000

Sword Spear: 16 / 1000

Sparring: 11 / 1000

Distance (km): 22 / 1609

Blogs: 2 / 52

Personal

Tai Chi (reps): 9 / 250

Tai Chi (unexcused absences): 0 / 0

Stretching (hrs): 3.5 / 150

MMCs: 0 / 10

Ski Trips: 0 / 4

Volunteering: 0 / 3

Memories of a Rabbit

It is a little late, but I figured I would until the Rabbit Year had totally wrapped up before posting my 25 moments. Here goes! (I know it was said to list them in order they were thought of, but my brain didn’t like that so I ended up doing them mostly chronologically. Sorry :p)

1. Rejoining the team after two years, and the thrill of getting back into action.

2. Coming up with ideas for the first Monthly Mini Challenge, and how I was going to keep them going.

3. Nearly passing out in the IHC class where we each added a move to a form, because that was the same day I had lost a good chunk of blood in a plasma donation incident and that form had LOTS of extravagant techniques.

4. Creating my sword form in my Lethbridge apartment and nearly voiding my damage deposit. 

5. The time I had a crisis over Acts of Kindness, when I contributed to putting a drunk driver back on the road and getting advice in that blog's comment section.

6. Alongside Kobe, filming our tiger challenge events to uphold our commitment (alongside filming a fight choreo and obstacle course).

7. The Rotary Park Cleanup

8. The sense of sadness I experienced when I was going back to Lethbridge after spring break, after doing a full week's worth of classes for the first time in years.

9. Finding the perfect forest space to do my forms in Saskatchewan.

10. Getting my roommates/partners to do the “Group of Three 1000 Push-Ups / Sit-ups” challenge with me, since I was by myself (I still did close to 1000).

11. Returning back to the school full time in September!!

12. Realizing I could adjust my work schedule so that I could continue to attend every class in the week.

13. Landing my first successful stacks with Shira (doubles, singles, and especially the head).

14. Filming the “Week in the IHC” video with Logan, and helping out Kayley and my mom with recording their own.

15. Breaking two boards at once with the double hammerfist.

16. Getting to build up trust and bonds with the kids' classes.

17. How something seems to go drastically wrong every time I lead the Tiny Tigers.

18. Getting to be a part of the lion dance at the library.

19. Cutting my shoulder on my new (dull) sword.

20. Cutting my toe on my new (dull) spear.

21. Reflecting on the last two points and realizing buying a new (live) sword was probably not a good idea.

22. The hours and hours of extra practice and cardio I did outside of class hours to make sure I was capable of being a lion dancer. 

23. Getting told I got to be a part of the duo that brought THE Kwan Kung to life.

24. Seeing the new lions for the first time. 

25. Finishing the lion dance at the banquet and realizing how happy I was, in that moment. 

Stop, Have Fun

It’s been a long few days. I have not been having a good time. Just one of those weeks, I guess. Yesterday was rough. Once the Little Leopards concluded, I went home. I don’t often miss a full evening of classes, so I was feeling a little guilty. Really needed the rest, though. Maybe I am doing too much? Meh, I’ll come back to that. Managed to restore enough energy to make it to the lion practice, thank goodness. Bluffed my way through it. I have a talent for convincing myself I am okay when needed, I think. Definitely felt it wearing off by the time we were leaving practice though. Oh well, I thought. Mental crashes happen.

Que a very, VERY impromptu hot fudge sundae run that collected participants rapidly. I like buying snacks for people, it makes me feel valued. And hot fudge sundaes are cheap, conveniently. Who would have thought that a little five minute $12.00 trip would improve my mental state as significantly as it did. It was fun. I had fun. How did I forget that I am supposed to be having fun? Go have fun, everyone. 

Numbers are Not the Sole Definitive

I have discussed my issues with numbers in the past; falling behind causes me to severely lose motivation. I have always viewed numbers as progress (which I am afraid of) and as a “badge”- the defining proof of my martial arts. So yeah, when my numbers struggle, obviously I want to hide from them.

You would think that after all these years, I would comprehend the true nature of numbers a little better. We hear it often enough and the concept itself seems simple enough; good numbers are not the badge of progress itself, but simply a tool designed to earn us that badge. What really helped me understand this better was these last few weeks.

I have been busy. Between work and everything involved for banquet preparation (the prep itself, lion dance, demos, etc.), I have had a lot on my plate physically and mentally. That’s cool, though. I prefer that over going slow (not sure if that is a good thing or not but hey, what can you do). My numbers, while still existing, have slowed down. My pushups and situps, my blogging, my forms, all of it has slowed down over the last few weeks.

But my Kung Fu hasn’t.

A few Saturdays ago, when we did the lion dance at the library after practicing for most of the morning beforehand, I was exhausted. I did not do much for numbers that day. I did a little, but I was REALLY not having a good time that night. I was frustrated. “Why would I let myself get so tired I cannot progress my Kung Fu”, I thought to myself. “Huh. You’re an actual idiot” was my next thought. Not in the sense that I was mad at myself for not giving myself room in my energy spendage for numbers, but for even thinking like that to begin with.

I mean, I spent about 2 hours lion dancing that day. And when I say two hours, I mean two hours of being attached to the belt and under the cloth, not just hanging around. That’s huge! We speak about lion dancing as a keystone fundamental of Kung Fu, so why would I even think that my lion-dancing-induced fatigue was taking AWAY from my Kung Fu? It’s because I am still trying to figure out what numbers actually mean to me, I suppose. 

While our numbers consist of many aspects of our Kung Fu, they do not account for everything. This experience has shown me the value in appreciating all aspects of my training, and not just the stuff that I have to record. I believe this will also help me with my number dilemma. At the same time.. I definitely intend to get myself to a point where I can do EXTRA numbers after lion dancing for two hours. 

Numbers

Situps: 3520

Pushups: 5070

AoK: 98

Katana: 73

Snake: 59

Sparring: 113

Distance (km): 91