All in the Wrists

I’ve always had a bit of a weird time with application vs form. Like, the whole concept of it never seemed to fully resonate? I think this is probably because I aim to keep my intent consistent with techniques. It’s a whole rabbit whole I’ll save for another blog though, I don’t really wanna get into it yet. 

Swordbreaker, however, very much draws a definitive line. Like my other techniques, my intent remains consistent between form and application, yet the lack of a physical barrier to stop the momentum of the weapon very much changes the style of how it manifests. Right now, in the form, I’m doing all these turns and flicks and spins and whacks because I’m a slave to the momentum of the weapon. None of this is extremely applicable though, I think. The swordbreaker, in application, would be very much “swoop, smack, next”, I think (application has yet to be field tested, if anyone has a sword they’re no longer attached to, feel free to reach out (just kidding (sorta…))). 

I’ve reached the same conclusion I have with my other swordbreaker-related ponderings; it comes down to how effectively you control the weapons momentum. I think this is true for both a form and an application, although it manifests just a little differently. 

I’ve noticed with my form that repeated consistent use of the weapon puts strain on my wrist. Which is saying something, because I have pretty flexible wrists. Over the last week or so, I have started using a wrist brace with my weapon. It’s a pretty simple solution, I’ll admit, but it appears to be effective. That little bit of extra support has made managing the momentum significantly less taxing on my wrist and easier in general. 

Another approach I am considering is wearing a gauntlet or something similar on my offhand. I intent to trial this out slowly with some old sparring gear first to see if it is feasible, but my train of logic is that I am not committing to my techniques because of the need to control the momentum via natural dissipation/the lack of a physical stopping barrier. If I provide myself with a surface that I can use as a hands-on approach to directly stopping the momentum (pun intended), my possibilities open up. And for those more concerned with my physical wellbeing more than I am, my intent is not to wear armour as the soles means of stopping my armour-breaking weapon. It’s more so, like an extra tool yknow? Cuz right now I’m stopping it with my bare hand occasionally and I can’t keep doing that.

Alas, sourcing a gauntlet might not be the easiest thing I’ve done, so if anyone knows a decent way to do so, please reach out (for reals this time). I’m not looking for anything fancy or elegant, just effective. 

Skriva i Svenska

As per one of my personal goals to blog in Swedish, here is part one. For anyone who tries to translate, I apologize if it doesn’t come through well; I wrote without my dictionary and had to use some basic / similar words to fill in a few gaps. I’ll be aiming on annotating and correcting at a later date as a learning exercise. 

Jag heter Simon, och jag bor i Kanada. Och ser du mig, jag skriver i Svenska! Jag önska gå till Sverige i kanske juni eller juli pä semester. Jag önska till besök Stockholm, Göteborg, och mer, jag tänka. Jag eftersökt gå till sedan jag var ett barn. 

Mitt mål är att skriva en blogg i Svenska i mars 2025 och januari 2026, ser till innan och efter av ett år av öva. Denna blogg är lilla, jag är ledsen. Men jag skriva det!

Sword-Breaker Progress

Below are the notes I’ve made for swordbreaker so far. I apologize for formatting glitches, this is copy and pasted from my notes and i don’t really know how to adjust it. “Researching” the weapon has felt necessary this go around. 

• Do not treat as straight sword; motions are more akin to a whip- (“hard whip” name makes more sense now). Note; movement sounds of strikes appear to be about 80% more similar to whip movement sounds over sword movement sounds. 
• Whipping motions appear to be weapons key asset. These motions build large amounts of momentum. 
• Using left hand as wedge against right hand and hilt when weapon is coming across body from right to left is an effective momentum killer. 
• Using a length of rope w a weighted end (short end section of rope dart, ex.) provides good tool for ensuring vectors are proper. Also provides inspiration if stuck. 
• VKR appears to be shaky in current style; visualizations do not seem convertible. 
• Tree branch visualization appears effective; similar properties? Centre visualizations on this. (Note; initial steps were effectively created under ankylosaurus visualization- can this be further adapted?) 
• Weapon should be kept very “one and done”, and is not optimal for a drawn out fight; speed is not your ally. 
• Weapon may be functionally similar to Kwan Do; observe more Kwan Do and see what sticks.
• Weapon is designed to be devastating against attempted parries; draw out parries.
• Use stabs**. Can effectively draw out parries and also provides an opportunity to control distance without sacrificing speed or needing to control momentum. 
• Against faster, more skilled opponents; deceit is a tool. Attempt to sell off swordbreaker as a regular sword (positioning, hiding blade, etc). 
• Weapon may be more suitable in a “battlefield” situation over a “dual” situation. Treat form accordingly. 
• Weapon movement sounds currently appear almost entirely offensive; as though all swings and strikes are intended to damage. Manage intent; focus on blocking moves and see if sound changes. Look for more dull sounds over lashing sounds. 
• Current effective approaches; starting off with a sword sound before letting the momentum transition into a whip sound. 
• Strikes to head or chest should be prioritized; focus on areas susceptible to blunt force trauma. 
• Weapon was intended to be used against armored opponents; approach form as such. Treat opponents as lightly armoured (quick but not fast). 
• Translation from baton does not appear practical; weapons contain too many variances- primarily weight. Sounds are too far apart. 
• Observe grip; hand slips gradually down hilt during a chained momentum combo. Pommel provides support, but shouldn’t be relied on. 
• Physics in the weapon? Increase in force/momentum by holding near bottom of hilt as opposed to top of hilt (~2”) appears more significant than w other weapons. Due to placement of weight / balance?
• Despite natural instinct that occurs due to the high weight, weapon appears to lose most functionality if operated with two hands (severely reduces whipping motion, weapons key asset)
• Weapons movement sounds appears to decrease following a contact intention, despite momentum still being carried for the next several second. Is it intent? But why? Listen to movement sound of right arm / weapon approximately 1 - 1.5 seconds before a momentum killer technique. (Note; if unable to find answer, look for similar techniques w other weapons that require momentum killers. What happens to the movement sound?)
• Stop hitting yourself in the shin; it hurts
• Identify purposes for serrations in bar; presumed purpose includes preventing opponent from grabbing bar. Can a technique be generated where serrations are used to rake? Visualize tree saw?
• Application of body techniques; weapon appears to keep body somewhat closed off. Can it be opened and are there moves that flow into unarmed strikes? Look for gaps in sound that may allow this. 

Numbers (last 7 days combined)

• Push-ups - 220
• Sit-ups - 160
• Weapon - 11
• Hand - 14
• AoK - 35
• KM - 8
• Sparring - 18

update

Not a lot of structure to this one, but I’m a few days late already  and have been really struggling with burnout / parlysis. Figured I’d get a post out anyways instead of waiting till I felt better. Since I posted just my numbers last time, I didn’t really want to do that twice in a row, so this is more of a ramble of what’s going on. Currently been working on a Swedish blog which will be posted in the next week or two, as per my personal requirements. Was a pretty rough week physically as well (illness), so numbers are a lot low. I’ve made some progress in swordbreaker, but Snake has felt pretty static otherwise; I’ve been focusing a little bit on the few moves I’ve got and doubting whether they work or not. This week, I’ve started writing a poem first thing after I get to work. I did it the first day as a jokey thing, but as I just wrote and rhymed what came to my head and what I was feeling, I realized it was pretty macabre. I figured I would try writing a few more based on what was floating around in my head, and force them to be a bit more positive. Positive vibes by proxy. Not sure how it’s working, only three days in. 

Numbers (Last Seven Days Combined)

Push-ups: 160

Sit-ups: 80

KM: 9

AoK: 35

Sparring: 10

Snake: 3

Swordbreaker: 4

Numbers (Last 7 Days)

Push-ups: 220

Sit-ups: 160

KM: 11

Sword breaker: 4

Snake: 4

AoK: 35

Straying Paths

From Kindergarten to Grade 9, I attended the same elementary school and was in the same class as ~40 others. Not a small class, not a big one. But when you spend 10 years with the same 40 people, I think everyone has gains ties to each other, in one way or another. 

Earlier today, I found out that one of those people I grew up with was arrested earlier in the week for some pretty serious stuff. I haven’t talked to this person since high school, but they were still my friend for 10 years. I recall, once in grade 7, I got rather upset over some little thing. My mom checked in on me later that night; I thought “how did she find out about this?”. Turns out, that friend, who was sitting next to me at the time, told their mom, asking her to check in with mine. 

I wasn’t ever really close with them; at this point, I can only really call them “someone I grew up with”. But it makes me wonder if there was something I could have done to help, at any point. Realistically, I don’t think so. I don’t think, all things considered, I could have done anything to change the way things turned out. But it does remind me about some of the things I am grateful for. 

I am grateful for my family and for Kung Fu, for the atmosphere and opportunities I was given. I am thankful for the way I grew up, and the person I have become because of how I was brought up. It also reminds me to take the opportunity to provide as much support as I can for those around me. There’s no way of knowing how everything will end up, but there’s no harm in help (most times). 

Fried

I’ve struggled with overstimulation for a really long time, but it seems to have gotten worse lately. I don’t think the sensitivity is getting worse per se, but it feels like my body is reacting worse. 18 months ago, overstimulation could cause my brain to “fry out” and crash, but that was typically as extreme as it got. Since the start of 2025, there’s been almost a half dozen incidents where I’ve reached a point of getting physically sick. 

Something I’ve been working on is understanding my limits and taking measures to preemptively reduce stress on my senses. This includes always carrying earplugs on me to reduce noise, having sunglasses readily accessible to reduce light, carrying a supply of mild flavoured gum to keep gustation consistent (does air ever taste funny to anyone else? I hate that), and wearing athletic long sleeves under whatever else I’m wearing to keep tactility consistent. 

I have only been deploying these measures AFTER overstimulation occurs. I am working on trying to keep a few of them in place at all times, especially in stimulating circumstances, to prevent myself from even getting there in the first place. 

Numbers (last seven days)

Pushups

822

Sit-ups

1102

KM

 22.4

AoK

35

Snake

7

Sword breaker 

5

From The Top, Once Again

As always, I quite enjoyed the banquet. As far as annual events go, I think there are few that can match the atmosphere of the banquet. It’s the accumulation of all of our efforts over the last year, as well as an event that generates a sense of camaraderie throughout the day which ultimately leaves a lot of people (myself included) a little empty afterwards. 

Overall, I’m thankful for everything the night brought. I’m relieved that the preschool demos went as well as they could have (thank you to the instructors who made that possible, it wouldnt have even worked without you all).

And the lion dance! This was probably the most physically demanding dance I’ve done so far, I think. I can’t count how many times I put my legs higher than my head was during our “skipping”, but I’m extremely grateful I got a chance to go all out the way I did. I was also stoked we were able to pull off the headstack pretty perfectly. And with the partner switch only occurring a couple weeks ago, it really feels surreal. 

The Year of the Dragon met me with a lot of lessons, pain, joy, and everything in between. I’ll be honest; I still feel scared and anxious to the point of nausea. I feel like I’ve lost sight of a lot of important stuff but at the same time, have been forced to see important things I glossed over before. I’m still scared of what I can lose (and what I can fail to gain), but I’m pushing a lot harder to move forward. 

Cheers to Snake progress :)

Sword-Breaker, Snake-Bearer

With less than a week away until the start of the Snake Team, I am excited for some of the new challenges that will come. This will be my 9th year of the IHC and I think it is going to be my most ambitious, as far as forms go. 

For my weapon form, I will be using a type of jian sword known as a “Chinese Swordbreaker”. For those who haven’t seen me work with it yet, it’s essentially a square steel rod designed to look like a sword. It’s like a mace and a baton got mixed into one? Anywhos, I’m excited for the potential that it has. It is intended to be used in a way that mimics fluid swordplay, but adds more “oomph”. 

A baseline of fluidity while implementing higher levels of intent and intensity has been the core of my developing style. I believe the swordbreaker will compliment this nicely and I think I’ll be able to produce a lot of my own inspiration; this is going to be important because it’s the most “unprecedented” weapon I’ve chosen to study thus far. By that, I mean I haven’t seen it used before in the IHC and online videos of its usage are scarce. I plan on utilizing instinctual feel as well as a combination of sword and baton techniques that I’ve learnt over my martial and professional careers. 

My other undertaking will be my hand form; in the spirit of the Year of the Snake, I’ll be working with the Snake style again. In my previous years of studying Snake, the biggest challenge has been trying to stay true to the style and not doing the form in my own way. To embrace this, I will be creating my own Snake style form based on what I know is right (the traditional) and what I think feels right (the “Simon”). I am intending that this blend of traditional and Simon will produce a form that highlights the traits of the Snake style I’ve grown to love as well as my own personal traits. 

In nine IHC years, this will be the first time I am creating both of my designated forms from scratch. I believe I excel with these types of challenges, and I am aiming for positive results. 

Also - Sihing Regier, I completed your 50 pushups challenge when I first read it today. Thanks a bunches :)

Assuming The Worst

If I had a nickel for every time Sifu Rybak has told me lately to stop assuming the worst of a situation, I’d probably have the total sum of maybe a quarter? Possibly even a quarter and a dime. It doesn’t seem like a lot but, relatively speaking, she’s said it enough times that I can’t keep pretending like she hasn’t said it at all. It’s a pretty inconvenient truth for me, I think. 

A quote from one of my favourite book series growing up was “always expect the worst. That way, when it happens, it won’t be a surprise. It’ll still suck, but atleast you’ll be ready for it”. I was like, 12 when I read this for the first time? I was a very easily influenced preteen boy and as someone who was already struggling with anxiety, it made a lot of sense to me. I really took it to heart; I actively remember, for years afterwards, I would recite that passage to myself every time I realized it was possible for things to go sideways. It was like a shield that made me feel safer when I got in my head, yknow? 

I think there’s some valuable truth behind this, for sure. I would argue that not having some degree of preparedness for things to wrong is a naive approach. But I’ve also began realizing that this motto I abided so closely by from the ages of ~12-15 has done a right good job of messing me up. It didn’t start this way, but over time I’ve reached a point where a combination of anxiety and blindly following the ideal of preparedness has left me assuming the worst of EVERYTHING. 

The quote from my book, it’s only intended to apply to certain scenarios. For examples from my day to day life, stuff such as a demo in Kung Fu or a compliance inspection at work. To be honest, I think this way of thinking has benefited me at a professional when conducting inspections or field work in my career. I still ask myself “what’s the worst that can happen?” before going out and I prepare myself for that type of scenario. If I’m prepared for a worst-case situation, I can handle everything else that comes my way. And it’s true! I believe a lot of my professional success has come from this approach. 

But I’ve taken it too far; I assume the worst of things like a passing remark, a raised eyebrow, a fleeting facial expression, so on and so forth. I can lose sleep over typos in texts to me when the sender doesn’t even realize that their message didn’t get across properly. I HAVE lost sleep over things as silly as typos. It’s happened within the last week (and not for the first time, either). The “shield” I used a decade ago to help alieve some of my anxieties has been reforged into one of the very swords that I needed that shield to protect me from. It’s ironic, isn’t it?

I think the key to overcoming this is confidence and Kung Fu contributes to that greatly. Of course, I still have many occurrences at the Kwoon where I assume the worst, but I am trying to avoiding letting other people get in my head that way. 

Numbers (per last 7)

Pushups;

62-62-93-31-160-31-62

Sit-ups:

62-93-93-93-100-31-62

Reminders of Kindness

Last week, I had one of those days that started off pretty poorly; oversleeping, forgetting stuff at home, forgetting breakfast, all the stuff that can put someone in a bad mood in the morning. I was dropped to a poor enough state that I had already written the day off and it wasn’t even 9AM. 

At some point, I left my desk for about 30min for a meeting. When I got back, there was a letter on it. “Weird, I don’t get letters often”, I thought. But hey, my name was on it, and there it was. 

It was a birthday card, from one of the people I attended training in Ottawa with nearly 10 months ago (the postage strike can be blamed for getting it a month late). I have rarely spoken to this person since training (despite getting along with them really well), nor do I recall ever telling them when my birthday was. But they sent me a card, along with a postcard from the Yukon (where they are from), and photos we had taken while in Ottawa. 

They could have just sent me a text or an email saying happy birthday and that would have been enough to make me smile. But they went a step (or two) above. The impact of receiving that letter was enough to turn my day around on the spot. 

It was a really good reminder to me how impactful acts of kindness can have on a person. I recount my AoK at the end of my day, before bed. Lately, I have started to lose sight of the purpose of the AoK and it became something I was just moving through the motions of. I am glad this letter came a month late; it came exactly when I needed it.  

Silly Goofs

Something I enjoy about the breaks is the opportunity to focus more on my own things and less on teaching. Don’t get me wrong; I greatly enjoy teaching. However, there are times where it feels like it takes up all of my energy and focus when on the mats, so I appreciate the chance to recenter. 

This last week, I torqued my knee while working on my lion dancing. I’ve been really focusing on the level of emotion I can convey using only my legs and have been experimenting with implementing more aggression and intensity to some of my steps to display a more “stern” side of the lion. I got carried away at one point and, with not a lot of energy left in the tank, stepped a little too hard and rolled into my knee. 

While the injury was minor to begin with, the mistake I made was continuing to aggravate it. Not my usual “I can keep going” sort of aggravation, but more of a “thinking it’s good and taking a bit too much risk” type of aggravation. Once I thought it was good, I went skiing. A little slip on the ice, and it was not so good anymore. Since then, I have been really listening to it and been pacing myself slowly, while trying to not be afraid of it either. 

One of my biggest developments over the last year or so is working on my understanding of my body and making sure I don’t abuse or take advantage of it. The more lessons I learn, the more I am able to grow to this end. 

Numbers (per last 7 days)

PU

62-93-62-31-780-0-20

SU

93-93-62-31-800-0-20

KM (total per last 7)

28.5km

AoK

5 per day