And We Have Lift-off

Even though the Year of the Rabbit started a little over a week ago, that week-long overlap between the teams as we lead up to the banquet can feel a lot like the few moments when an airplane is gaining speed to be able to take to the air (Yes, I have been in four airplanes during the last week. Yes, that probably led to me thinking of this analogy). Although we have already started and we are already moving, it may feel like we aren't quite airborne yet. 

With that being said, the wheels are now off the ground! And what else do you do when taking off, if not look out the window at everything behind and below you getting farther away? As I look out the window at this weekend, I have nothing but happy and warm memories of the banquet. As I have been living and working remotely for the last several years, this was my first major in-person event since the last in-person banquet three years ago. Even though circumstances led to only my sister and I being able to partake, we both thoroughly enjoyed the entire day and were happy to be a part of such a wondrous occasion. 

Something that was very new to me was being one of the people who were almost never on the stage, and always behind the scenes. Aside from this years banquet, I have been a part of the last five in-person banquet IHC demos and lion/dragon dances. It was an interesting change of pace to be able to watch the demos and dances from the back of the room this time around, however, I am definitely looking forward to being back up there in the coming year. 

A once more congratulations to the new Sihings, and everyone who received awards and promotions!  

Conflict of Routines

 Heyo everyone. The theme of this weeks blog will be routines, prioritization, and motivation.

Over the last couple weeks, I have slowly been getting back into my IHC daily routine of doing push-ups, sit-ups, forms, etc. and making sure I record them properly. I had assumed I would simply be able to blend my new routine with my current one and everything would work out flawlessly with no troubles what-so-ever. Obviously that's not how things work (my brain still has four years before it fully develops, so I'm going to blame that for my delusion). Although some aspects have merged together quite nicely, others mix as well as water and oil. I currently have a few spots throughout the week where I am hanging out around the college for about an hour or so waiting for my next class, and it turns out this is an excellent time to write a blog. However, my presence at the gym has decreased significantly. The mindset I have subconsciously adopted says that, I pulled off a hefty number of push-ups and sit-ups today. Instead of spending an hour or two at the gym, I can do something else (like having a nap). 

I do not like that. I want to go to the gym and I want to do more than just push-ups and sit-ups. Unfortunately, in this instance, fighting the temptation of mediocrity is something I have been very much struggling with. I have tried doing my numbers at the gym, but with my energy going towards those and not other exercises, I am just fighting the same fire in a different forest. I mean, I can do my numbers at home. Why would I go to the gym when 85% of what I have been doing are my numbers? This has been the biggest conflict of my schedules and routines that I have been working on as of late.

Figuring out the solution to this conflict is something that I have been using trial and error to try and solve, as it is a method that often works very well for me. Clearly, my priority has been my numbers. And I believe they should be. However, something I need to work out is how I can convince myself that, just because I believe my numbers are the higher priority, the gym is still a priority as well. I wish I had the willpower to say "Hey. I am done my 200 for the day. Lets go work out more", but I do not. Not yet, at least. The route of this problem can be sourced to the fact that I do not enthusiastically enjoy the gym. Do not get me wrong, I don't dislike it either. I am simply indifferent. I go simply because I wish to be better today than I was yesterday. And as I achieve this through my numbers, it has robbed me of the motivation I have been using for the last several months. To summarize, numbers are lovely, but there is still so much I can gain from the gym, I just need the motivation. 

My new plan I am putting into motion this week is only doing a partial amount of numbers at the gym. My logic is, that by convincing myself I have to do 50 push-ups and sit-ups at the gym, I'll be motivated to go and complete my numbers without using all my time and strength on them. Hey, start with 25 each, do my work out, then end with 25 each. I think it seems very doable. But, uh, I also thought everything else seemed doable, so we'll see. That's the glory of trial and error.

Blog Zero: Test Run

Heyo everyone. This blog does not have a major theme; I figured I would use the opportunity to introduce myself and relearn how to use blogger again before the year kicked off.  And a good thing I did, because it may have or may have not taken me almost an hour to figure out how to log back in. 

I am sure many of you know me or have met me at some point throughout your Kung Fu journey, but for those of you who may have not, here is a little about me. As you may have pieced together, my name is Simon Kohut, and I am indeed a part of the Kohut family (or so I am told). Both of my parents as well as my younger brother are also students in the school, and before the pandemic began you could almost always find one of us on the mats at any given time. We are nearly an entirely an online presence now, although I assure you I would much rather be in-person if I could. Alas, ce la vie. 

As for myself, this will be my seventh year in the IHC team, having done six consecutives years before a two year gap during the years of the Ox and Tiger. I have always excelled at kinetic learning, and tend to struggle in having to put pieces of a puzzle together in my mind before I could pull it off kinetically. With that said, if you ever see me pause during a weapon or hand form and start staring blankly at nothing, I can guarantee the wheels are turning, but I cannot guarantee that they are getting anywhere fast. And I'll throw another guarantee in. You WILL see it happen. 

Unfortunately, most of my presence this year will be through the Zoom screen. I currently live and attend school in Lethbridge, and while I would love to make the 10-hour round trip for class every week as much as the next guy, I do not want to even think about what that would cost in gas money. That aside, I will be flying back for the upcoming banquet, so I look forward to seeing you all there. 

Cheers,

Simon K

Retrace

“Retrace your steps” is often the first thing that comes to mind for most people when they lose something, forget something, or anything of the like. Often, retracing your steps is used as a method to try and find something, but it can also be used to get you on the right path. 

Sometimes in classes, I find I can’t quite perform a technique the way I want to. I may have been doing it perfect the day before, but for some reason it isn’t working out for me that day. A remedy I’ve been using to fix this is retracing my steps.  First, I identify what my problem is, and if it’s a simple tweak in my stance or my balance I have to fix. If it isn’t as simple as that, I start to recall each and every repetition I did between where I last had my technique where I wanted it to be, and where I am now. Then I try to mentally trace the decline in the techniques; maybe I noticed my leg getting lower with each kick, or my back foot coming in narrower and narrower with each bow stance. If I think I found something, I apply it to my technique and see if it feels better. It might take a couple tries, but I find this helps break bad habits, and is also good for improving my eye for detail. 

Different things work better for different people. It’s important to find what works best for you.

Knowledge

The other day in the level two class, Sifu Brinker said something along the lines of “There will always be more that you don’t know, than stuff that you do know”. When you think of knowledge, it’s a very fickle and complicated thing. The ability to drive a car, program a super computer, or shoot a basketball all require a certain degree of knowledge, yet all three are extremely different things. It’s important to remember that knowledge is not something that is set in stone, or follows one singular set of rules. 

In a student/teacher setting, I find that there are two main “types” of knowledge at play, among many others. The first is the one everyone thinks of. What is the teacher teaching the student. But what most people forget is what the teacher is learning from the student. A mediocre teacher will focus only on outputting information and hoping the student can pick it up on their own. A good teacher learns from what the student is excelling and lacking in and attempts to modify how they’re outputting that information so that the student can better pick it up.

I personally enjoy working with and helping as many people as I can, because there’s so much I can learn in return. Sometimes, it’s not until you have to break down a technique or form to try and show it to someone else that you really understand and comprehend the mechanics behind it. Sometimes, you have to explain something with a little more detail than normal to actually understand what you’re explaining; to actually connect with it

There is an unlimited amount of knowledge in this universe. It’s important to remember all the dynamics to knowledge; don’t focus on merely putting words in someone else’s head. Make sure they can read and understand them. And if the don’t understand them the first time, learn from it, adjust, and try again.

Unorganized Improvement

When it comes to progress and learning, I’m one of those people who needs to be constantly reminded to stay on the right track. I have a tendency to stray with my train of thought (aka my attention span isn’t very impressive). However, I understand this and do my best to try and stay focused, but hey, it is pretty hard. Even my blogs go awry. I start with one theme and I end with another, and I get stuck thinking “huh. Now what can I put in the middle to link these together.” 

Changing topic for a second here (I promise it’s relevant, I’m not going off track), I was reading some of my blogs from my grading year and there was a few that stuck out to me. In one of which, I talked about how I personally believe we shouldn’t be defined by our strengths and weaknesses, or how we shouldn’t hold stigma to either of them. When it boils down, they’re both attributes, both building blocks which define you as a person. With that mindset now fresh in everyone’s heads, I’m going to switch back to the previous topic

Even though I can be scatterbrained and rather mentally unorganized (that is a thing, I swear) I don’t view that as a weakness or a downfall or anything in the ballpark of negative. It’s an attribute to me, and as such is one of my biggest tools for improvement. See, being as unorganized as I can be, I often need a landmark to guide myself, something I can look at to make sure I am going in the right direction. And so I look at who I was yesterday. When I do so, I can see the improvement I achieved today, and even if it the smallest of improvements, it’s still progress. 

Refreshing

One of my favourite classes of the year is the first IHC class, whether it be formal or not. I enjoy working on my new beginning, and watching other people work on theirs. 

A lot of things change when the teams do, and sometimes you don’t even realize it’s happening till you go to that first class and see all the new faces and forms and weapons. Sometimes I wonder where I would be had it not been for the IHC. Being in Kung Fu did worlds of wonders for me in itself, but joining the team at a younger increased that 100 fold. And watching it do the same for other people, it just puts a smile on my face.