Dear cyberspace,
Today shall be another admission of guilt. I haven't practiced kung fu since our last class. I also haven't done a single pushup. Or situp, not counting the times i get up off the couch to go grab a dirty snack. peanut butter m&m's seem to be rather popular right now.
So in order to rectify this, as I am about to wipe my computer and update to Win8, I'll be in a horse stance and do Kempo/Da mu hsing while I wait for it to wipe/load. I will be the most sweaty geek in all the land.
i'll blog more when I'm done. maybe then I'll finish my theory, or print it, since I'm pretty sure I have it done. And probably finish my IHC requirements draft. And figure some other stuff out.
^^that makes me sound like I'm procrastinating... which I probably am.
Anyway, happy holidays and Happy New Year to my wonderful kung fu family.
Also, I was thinking of getting a real tree for the next while so my home smells nice and cozy for the next while. I know it's after christmas, but that's ok right? What do you think?
Friday, December 28, 2012
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Captain's Blog, Stardate 2012.12.19, U.S.S. Enterprise - Technology, paradigms, and excuses to be less than stellar
To all those in cyberspace, following my blog, taking the time to hear my rants and ravings I owe you all an apology. I have not posted in a little over a month,and that should not happen.
Which is what brings us to the topic at hand. I haven't posted because I have been caught up with moving into a new place, a major career direction change, and have not had internet at home for the duration of my absence. This is not justification, but merely the thoughts that lead to my absence.
We finally got back into the cyberworld today, which is nice. But I am not blogging from there. I am currently blogging from the changerooms bench on my smartphone. Which I recently acquired a much larger device to better facilitate my imperfect eyesight, and the larger keys on the screen for my large finger stubs.
So why was I absent for over a month? I believe it is because I was distracted, and had the wrong mindset. It never crossed my mind to blog from my phone during the 45 minute break between classes. Simply, I failed to use the resources at my disposal productively, instead I watched youtube videos of animals fighting, or other people doing kung fu. By doing so, I allowed myself to become a spectator instead of a participant in my life.
By the last count I heard, the average north american watches 6-8 hours of tv a day. That's a third of a day. Why would we let ourselves become spectators in other people's lives instead of being a participant in our own? I for one allowed myself to be less than stellar by not changing how I viewed my phone and allowing that to stop me from effectively utilizing my time. Now I know that my smartphone is smarter than I am I should use it to be more efficient, and productive, instead of using it as a mobile tv or facebook connection.
Though I have internet now, I had to make a point to myself by blogging on my phone on this wooden bench. But my thumbs are thoroughly exhausted now.
Which is what brings us to the topic at hand. I haven't posted because I have been caught up with moving into a new place, a major career direction change, and have not had internet at home for the duration of my absence. This is not justification, but merely the thoughts that lead to my absence.
We finally got back into the cyberworld today, which is nice. But I am not blogging from there. I am currently blogging from the changerooms bench on my smartphone. Which I recently acquired a much larger device to better facilitate my imperfect eyesight, and the larger keys on the screen for my large finger stubs.
So why was I absent for over a month? I believe it is because I was distracted, and had the wrong mindset. It never crossed my mind to blog from my phone during the 45 minute break between classes. Simply, I failed to use the resources at my disposal productively, instead I watched youtube videos of animals fighting, or other people doing kung fu. By doing so, I allowed myself to become a spectator instead of a participant in my life.
By the last count I heard, the average north american watches 6-8 hours of tv a day. That's a third of a day. Why would we let ourselves become spectators in other people's lives instead of being a participant in our own? I for one allowed myself to be less than stellar by not changing how I viewed my phone and allowing that to stop me from effectively utilizing my time. Now I know that my smartphone is smarter than I am I should use it to be more efficient, and productive, instead of using it as a mobile tv or facebook connection.
Though I have internet now, I had to make a point to myself by blogging on my phone on this wooden bench. But my thumbs are thoroughly exhausted now.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Captain's Blog, Stardate 2012.11.15, Starship U.S.S. Enterprise - The Kung fu effect
So I didn't attend monday or tuesday class this past week, as I was in a knee splint to let my knee tendon recover. I also did not attend open training this past saturday. Which meant I went a full week without going to kung fu, or working out.
Most of the time, it is not so obvious, the growth and results of your investment in yourself through your kung fu. This past week, after taking a whole week away from kung fu, I found myself getting edgy, stressed, and the things on my mind were going nowhere. I didn't realize how much I needed the recharge every time I train, until I went yesterday night, and when I left, the world took on a whole new shade of colours. Weird description, but most apt.
During my forced "rest week" I still thought about my kung fu, visualized my forms, thought about all the things I needed to work on, which is good at first, but after that, without doing it and letting that motion generate new thoughts, it stagnates quite quickly. So I guess what I am trying to say is two-fold:
1) It's not always easy to be aware of the benefits and the mental recovery that your kung fu provides, but it is there, and even after just one week of forced rest, I left the kwoon a very rejuvenated person.
2)Consistency is key. Consistent training, but also consistent reflection, and when you are training, to be engaged, to be present, to be focused, not to just phone it in, going through the motions. And upon reflection, to do the things you have thought about and apply them, to find what it feels like and to improve from there. One is insufficient without the other.
This probably seems pretty obvious and straight forward, but sometimes seeing how it applies in your specific scenario might be a bit difficult. I am a little stressed recently, and was considering taking yet more time from my kung fu to push at these other things that were bothering me. But I realized after, that it is because everything else is closing in on me that makes it all the more important that I do go to kung fu, injuries aside.
Most of the time, it is not so obvious, the growth and results of your investment in yourself through your kung fu. This past week, after taking a whole week away from kung fu, I found myself getting edgy, stressed, and the things on my mind were going nowhere. I didn't realize how much I needed the recharge every time I train, until I went yesterday night, and when I left, the world took on a whole new shade of colours. Weird description, but most apt.
During my forced "rest week" I still thought about my kung fu, visualized my forms, thought about all the things I needed to work on, which is good at first, but after that, without doing it and letting that motion generate new thoughts, it stagnates quite quickly. So I guess what I am trying to say is two-fold:
1) It's not always easy to be aware of the benefits and the mental recovery that your kung fu provides, but it is there, and even after just one week of forced rest, I left the kwoon a very rejuvenated person.
2)Consistency is key. Consistent training, but also consistent reflection, and when you are training, to be engaged, to be present, to be focused, not to just phone it in, going through the motions. And upon reflection, to do the things you have thought about and apply them, to find what it feels like and to improve from there. One is insufficient without the other.
This probably seems pretty obvious and straight forward, but sometimes seeing how it applies in your specific scenario might be a bit difficult. I am a little stressed recently, and was considering taking yet more time from my kung fu to push at these other things that were bothering me. But I realized after, that it is because everything else is closing in on me that makes it all the more important that I do go to kung fu, injuries aside.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Captain's Blog, Stardate 2012.11.07, Starship U.S.S. Enterprise - YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME AND KNEES ARE THE WORST WHY DO WE EVEN HAVE THEM!?!?!
SO TODAY I HURT MY RIGHT KNEE AND I'M TYPING IN CAPS LOCK BECAUSE I'M YELLING. THIS CANNOT BE REAL LIFE. IF THIS DOESN'T STOP HURTING TOMORROW MORNING I'M GOING TO BEAT MY KNEE TILL AN INCH OF IT'S LIFE. GRRR.
So if those in the blogocyberspace wants to know what happened, well I don't exactly know. But I will tell you what I did on this day.
Workout (pre kung fu) found I couldn't do pull ups because the tendons in my elbow/forearms were on fire. I'm not kidding. It felt like I had burning thermite in my arms when I tried to do a pull up.
So 3x5 Squats, 185#
and 3x5 Bench press
and 1x5 Deadlift 255#
Then I went to the beginner class at kung fu. Which went well, until we did jumping jacks in the warm up, when my right knee started pinging me in the pain centre of my brain. not really pain full, but just a ping. Horse stances hurt. power of the instep hurt more. and I ignored it all thinking it was just whatever. I don't know what I thought it was, but I didn't think about it.
Then I practiced a lot of left lead projection stepping jab - reverse.
Somehow I got an idea to try jab-projection step-reverse times two, followed by, jab-slidestep into horse stance- vertical punch.
Did that a few times. and then I caught my foot on the mat and stopped and leaned on my knee really hard. and it seemed fine. Then I ran around and couldn't. I hobbled.
Went to get tensor bandage and icy hot patches to put on my knee. Fraser happened to have advil in his bag, so he gave me some.
And convinced me that I was in no shape to be in the intermediate class given that my knee has already started swelling. I listened. And a half hour later started considering that I could push through it. Until 2 senior students again reinforced that I shouldn't.
So I sat on the side ( this is progress, as I did not do this last time.) As I sat my knee got steadily more painful, and so I left while I could still drive home.
That didn't work. I had to take a break every 10 minutes of driving. and braking with my left foot. lucky it's an automatic.
Anyway, now I'm home, and my knee is the size of 2 normal knees. And I plan on getting it looked at in the next week. Not a month.
Took more pain killers. Icing and elevating knee. Can't compress, hurts like your first heartbreak if I try.
I guess this is progress.
GAH.
EDIT:
So the doc said most likely I strained the tendon from my knee cap to my shin bone. He used bigger words though. Now I have a splint for a week. and he said if that doesn't fix it, then I should book an MRI. well, let's hope in a week I'll be back to kicking and screaming.
So if those in the blogocyberspace wants to know what happened, well I don't exactly know. But I will tell you what I did on this day.
Workout (pre kung fu) found I couldn't do pull ups because the tendons in my elbow/forearms were on fire. I'm not kidding. It felt like I had burning thermite in my arms when I tried to do a pull up.
So 3x5 Squats, 185#
and 3x5 Bench press
and 1x5 Deadlift 255#
Then I went to the beginner class at kung fu. Which went well, until we did jumping jacks in the warm up, when my right knee started pinging me in the pain centre of my brain. not really pain full, but just a ping. Horse stances hurt. power of the instep hurt more. and I ignored it all thinking it was just whatever. I don't know what I thought it was, but I didn't think about it.
Then I practiced a lot of left lead projection stepping jab - reverse.
Somehow I got an idea to try jab-projection step-reverse times two, followed by, jab-slidestep into horse stance- vertical punch.
Did that a few times. and then I caught my foot on the mat and stopped and leaned on my knee really hard. and it seemed fine. Then I ran around and couldn't. I hobbled.
Went to get tensor bandage and icy hot patches to put on my knee. Fraser happened to have advil in his bag, so he gave me some.
And convinced me that I was in no shape to be in the intermediate class given that my knee has already started swelling. I listened. And a half hour later started considering that I could push through it. Until 2 senior students again reinforced that I shouldn't.
So I sat on the side ( this is progress, as I did not do this last time.) As I sat my knee got steadily more painful, and so I left while I could still drive home.
That didn't work. I had to take a break every 10 minutes of driving. and braking with my left foot. lucky it's an automatic.
Anyway, now I'm home, and my knee is the size of 2 normal knees. And I plan on getting it looked at in the next week. Not a month.
Took more pain killers. Icing and elevating knee. Can't compress, hurts like your first heartbreak if I try.
I guess this is progress.
GAH.
EDIT:
So the doc said most likely I strained the tendon from my knee cap to my shin bone. He used bigger words though. Now I have a splint for a week. and he said if that doesn't fix it, then I should book an MRI. well, let's hope in a week I'll be back to kicking and screaming.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Captain's Blog, Stardate 2012.11.04, Starship U.S.S. Enterprise - Forms Seminar 2012
WOW!
So I experienced my first Silent River Kung Fu Forms seminar yesterday. I have the sore legs to prove this. I chose to work on my Kempo and my goodness it was the best thing ever. Also, Kempo II has very few bow stances. Very few. hehehe
Before I go any further, I would like to thank all the powers that be and sifus that put this seminar together, and took the time to make it happen. It was incredible, and very much appreciated.
Just like with boot camp, and kung fu overall, an opportunity like this will give you what you put into it. I could imagine that if you as a participant do not give it 100%, then you will gain less than 100%.
I went into this thinking it would be an opportunity to learn another form, or even kempo III. But I didn't. AND I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER. I spent the last 1.5 weeks (the time I've been an orange belt) leading up to the seminar pestering every Sihing and Sifu in sight to help me memorize the parts of Kempo II, and as they patiently showed me and guided me, I achieved this. I can't stress enough the patience part, as Sihing Robinson could tell you, I'm not that easy to be patient with :P
My original thought was that if I memorized all of it, then I could learn the parts of Kempo III at the forms seminar and play with it. Like a child reading the new toy r us catalogue (which just came out and yes, I did go through it with uncontained excitement. Some things don't and shouldn't change!).
However, working with Sifu Wonsiak, kempo III was not mentioned at all, and it was the best thing ever. What actually transpired at the seminar was way better than I could have imagined. I left with a much much better understanding of kempo I&II and it was really awesome. I don't just know the the pieces now, I am starting to see the form itself instead of just a series of moves. I don't know how to explain that. But it's different, and it's something I can apply to my other forms.
So I guess without getting too wordy and writing an illiad length blog about this, I learned:
-Forms seminar is a "must attend" for anyone.
-Like boot camp, if you put 100% into it, it will give you more than you can dream of in return.
-Sifus are geniuses. Seriously. They know everything. Like gods.
-Breath. When you're really nervous, breath. and don't ask yourself "what's the worst that can happen?" because if you're like me, your mind will find the worst possible time to be snarky and reply "well, you could pee yourself in front of all these nice people, that'd be pretty bad" and then you'd be even more nervous.
So I'd like to finish off by thanking all those that made this seminar and experience possible for us, and to thank the sifus for taking the time to do this for us, and to Sifu Wonsiak for her patience with me.
I'd draw a card with crayon and write in bad writing, and colour outside the lines with bad stick figures and all, but I figure as an adult, writing is better suited :p
So I experienced my first Silent River Kung Fu Forms seminar yesterday. I have the sore legs to prove this. I chose to work on my Kempo and my goodness it was the best thing ever. Also, Kempo II has very few bow stances. Very few. hehehe
Before I go any further, I would like to thank all the powers that be and sifus that put this seminar together, and took the time to make it happen. It was incredible, and very much appreciated.
Just like with boot camp, and kung fu overall, an opportunity like this will give you what you put into it. I could imagine that if you as a participant do not give it 100%, then you will gain less than 100%.
I went into this thinking it would be an opportunity to learn another form, or even kempo III. But I didn't. AND I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER. I spent the last 1.5 weeks (the time I've been an orange belt) leading up to the seminar pestering every Sihing and Sifu in sight to help me memorize the parts of Kempo II, and as they patiently showed me and guided me, I achieved this. I can't stress enough the patience part, as Sihing Robinson could tell you, I'm not that easy to be patient with :P
My original thought was that if I memorized all of it, then I could learn the parts of Kempo III at the forms seminar and play with it. Like a child reading the new toy r us catalogue (which just came out and yes, I did go through it with uncontained excitement. Some things don't and shouldn't change!).
However, working with Sifu Wonsiak, kempo III was not mentioned at all, and it was the best thing ever. What actually transpired at the seminar was way better than I could have imagined. I left with a much much better understanding of kempo I&II and it was really awesome. I don't just know the the pieces now, I am starting to see the form itself instead of just a series of moves. I don't know how to explain that. But it's different, and it's something I can apply to my other forms.
So I guess without getting too wordy and writing an illiad length blog about this, I learned:
-Forms seminar is a "must attend" for anyone.
-Like boot camp, if you put 100% into it, it will give you more than you can dream of in return.
-Sifus are geniuses. Seriously. They know everything. Like gods.
-Breath. When you're really nervous, breath. and don't ask yourself "what's the worst that can happen?" because if you're like me, your mind will find the worst possible time to be snarky and reply "well, you could pee yourself in front of all these nice people, that'd be pretty bad" and then you'd be even more nervous.
So I'd like to finish off by thanking all those that made this seminar and experience possible for us, and to thank the sifus for taking the time to do this for us, and to Sifu Wonsiak for her patience with me.
I'd draw a card with crayon and write in bad writing, and colour outside the lines with bad stick figures and all, but I figure as an adult, writing is better suited :p
Friday, November 2, 2012
Captain's Blog, Stardate 2012.11.02, Starship U.S.S. Enterprise - Lugnuts and fluffy things and glittery goop
Lugnuts.
It started one day when my car started vibrating at speed. This could be due to many things, and as my many years spent under and around my various vehicles with wrenches, I had pegged a few things that could be possible, including bearings, tire issues, wheel balancing, rim damage, warped disc, and on and on went the list.
I determined, even, that the vibration came from the rear of the car, and so I jacked up the car, and rocked each hub individually, to check for play, checked the bushings under the car, really went through it with a fine tooth comb, but none of these things really fit with what I felt and what I saw under the car.
I discussed it with a friend of mine, and the conversation went thus:
Me: " I checked everything, yada yada yada (long list of things)"
Friend: " Did you check to make sure the lugnuts were tight?'
Me: "I have not once taken the wheels off the car. And there is no way the dealership let that car off the lot with mis torqued lugnuts. And therefore, since the torque specifications work, judging by the lack of wheels flying off this model of car around the world, I would not possibly believe it is even remotely possible that it is something that simple."
Which after this perplexing me for a while, I met my friend again, a few days later, and we had the exact same conversation.
So In order to allay his suspicions, I agreed to check the lugnuts, thinking it was 30 seconds I could have been twiddling my thumbs anyway.
AND I FOUND THAT 5 OF THE 10 NUTS ON THE 2 REAR WHEELS WERE LOOSE. Not loose enough that you could wiggle them by hand perceptibly, but loose enough, and way under torque specifications.
I found that I can also apply this lesson to kung fu!
Check the lugnuts. Maybe that little technique or combination that hasn't been thought about since white belt should be looked at, as it has gotten loose, even though it could be a really simple technique that gets scoffed at and say "Nay, not me. I know that little thing"
I oughta Consistently review the things already know.
Though it may be too much to go through everything constantly, make sure the most important things are taken care of. An analogy - Check the brakes first if there's only time to check one thing. My personal example would be that after I learned Kempo I, I told myself that I had to practice Da Mu Hsing at least once every two times I went through Kempo. I chose forms as my "brakes". Kinda because I have heard a rumour that forms are sorta really important in kung fu. y'know.
Right now as I write this I remember something that happened recently in one of the previous open training sessions that I found really inspiring. I didn't think much at the time, as I was rather confused, but I found the situation really made an impression on me.
Even though this is all super positive and everything, I'll keep the details to a minimum anyway, respecting those who may wish to remain anonymous :)
I was sparring with a group, all senior to myself, and as usual, learning and incredible amount during these sparring sessions when I'm lucky that everyone continues to be patient with me and teach me things. During one of these breaks between matches, one of the group asked another Sifu, who was by the mirrors, if he would like to join the sparring rounds; to which his response was " No thank you, I am working on slide stepping today." (not verbatim.)
This is now weeks after the situation, but it is still on my mind everytime I go to practice. I found this situation incredibly inspiring. If Sifu is practicing and going through one of the very first things everyone is taught, then that example is proof enough for me to also get into the habit of going back and checking the lugnuts on my kung fu. Which means maybe putting aside some of the new toys and techniques and shiny stuff for a bit to keep the things I learned previously nice and sharp and polished.
Months ago, I over-enthusiastically exclaimed to Sihing Robinson that I thought it was so cool that as I keep up practicing da mu hsing even as I go through learning kempo I, I keep trying new (to me) things in da mu hsing, that I could only get to by continued practice and repetitions of focused practice where my mind is on only what I am doing at the moment. And all these tiny little improvements I've made to my da mu hsing ever since I learned it, I can then also apply to kempo I. So then my kempo I gets the benefits of my having been practicing da mu hsing for 6 months longer than I have kempo I. Building off the shoulders of the practice time and effort before it. And then I can find things in kempo that I can bring back to da mu hsing.
But alas, looking at this has made me realize that this great discovery has lead to another. As it seems to me that my practicing of forms are a very macro level of checking my lug nuts. Such that those with much experience and kung fu knowledge also go back and polish the basics regularly but at a very detailed level. Which really shows ya that it's really all in the details.
I hope I get what I'm trying to say across. It's hard.
Anyway, I suppose that it is really as simple as keeping our eyes open, watching, and learn from the actions of those around us, and if we are open to it, every moment is a gold mine of things to learn from.
It started one day when my car started vibrating at speed. This could be due to many things, and as my many years spent under and around my various vehicles with wrenches, I had pegged a few things that could be possible, including bearings, tire issues, wheel balancing, rim damage, warped disc, and on and on went the list.
I determined, even, that the vibration came from the rear of the car, and so I jacked up the car, and rocked each hub individually, to check for play, checked the bushings under the car, really went through it with a fine tooth comb, but none of these things really fit with what I felt and what I saw under the car.
I discussed it with a friend of mine, and the conversation went thus:
Me: " I checked everything, yada yada yada (long list of things)"
Friend: " Did you check to make sure the lugnuts were tight?'
Me: "I have not once taken the wheels off the car. And there is no way the dealership let that car off the lot with mis torqued lugnuts. And therefore, since the torque specifications work, judging by the lack of wheels flying off this model of car around the world, I would not possibly believe it is even remotely possible that it is something that simple."
Which after this perplexing me for a while, I met my friend again, a few days later, and we had the exact same conversation.
So In order to allay his suspicions, I agreed to check the lugnuts, thinking it was 30 seconds I could have been twiddling my thumbs anyway.
AND I FOUND THAT 5 OF THE 10 NUTS ON THE 2 REAR WHEELS WERE LOOSE. Not loose enough that you could wiggle them by hand perceptibly, but loose enough, and way under torque specifications.
I found that I can also apply this lesson to kung fu!
Check the lugnuts. Maybe that little technique or combination that hasn't been thought about since white belt should be looked at, as it has gotten loose, even though it could be a really simple technique that gets scoffed at and say "Nay, not me. I know that little thing"
I oughta Consistently review the things already know.
Though it may be too much to go through everything constantly, make sure the most important things are taken care of. An analogy - Check the brakes first if there's only time to check one thing. My personal example would be that after I learned Kempo I, I told myself that I had to practice Da Mu Hsing at least once every two times I went through Kempo. I chose forms as my "brakes". Kinda because I have heard a rumour that forms are sorta really important in kung fu. y'know.
Right now as I write this I remember something that happened recently in one of the previous open training sessions that I found really inspiring. I didn't think much at the time, as I was rather confused, but I found the situation really made an impression on me.
Even though this is all super positive and everything, I'll keep the details to a minimum anyway, respecting those who may wish to remain anonymous :)
I was sparring with a group, all senior to myself, and as usual, learning and incredible amount during these sparring sessions when I'm lucky that everyone continues to be patient with me and teach me things. During one of these breaks between matches, one of the group asked another Sifu, who was by the mirrors, if he would like to join the sparring rounds; to which his response was " No thank you, I am working on slide stepping today." (not verbatim.)
This is now weeks after the situation, but it is still on my mind everytime I go to practice. I found this situation incredibly inspiring. If Sifu is practicing and going through one of the very first things everyone is taught, then that example is proof enough for me to also get into the habit of going back and checking the lugnuts on my kung fu. Which means maybe putting aside some of the new toys and techniques and shiny stuff for a bit to keep the things I learned previously nice and sharp and polished.
Months ago, I over-enthusiastically exclaimed to Sihing Robinson that I thought it was so cool that as I keep up practicing da mu hsing even as I go through learning kempo I, I keep trying new (to me) things in da mu hsing, that I could only get to by continued practice and repetitions of focused practice where my mind is on only what I am doing at the moment. And all these tiny little improvements I've made to my da mu hsing ever since I learned it, I can then also apply to kempo I. So then my kempo I gets the benefits of my having been practicing da mu hsing for 6 months longer than I have kempo I. Building off the shoulders of the practice time and effort before it. And then I can find things in kempo that I can bring back to da mu hsing.
But alas, looking at this has made me realize that this great discovery has lead to another. As it seems to me that my practicing of forms are a very macro level of checking my lug nuts. Such that those with much experience and kung fu knowledge also go back and polish the basics regularly but at a very detailed level. Which really shows ya that it's really all in the details.
I hope I get what I'm trying to say across. It's hard.
Anyway, I suppose that it is really as simple as keeping our eyes open, watching, and learn from the actions of those around us, and if we are open to it, every moment is a gold mine of things to learn from.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Captain's Blog, Stardate 2012.10.27, Starship U.S.S. Enterprise - I don't even have a clever witty title for this one
This is going to be just a rant. There is no overall idea to tackle or anything. I was going to blog about something else entirely tomorrow, but I figure now is the best time.
So about 45 minutes ago the first I Ho Chuan meeting for me ever ended. I felt... lots of things. Logically, it was great. I got a lot of information, which further defined the scope of the year to come. All very good things. But then I realized I was buzzing. not in a good way. I realized that I'm definitely nervous. Scared even. Maybe a little bit terrified. A lot of emotions running around. Crazy.
Logic
-This is going to be awesome
-It's a challenge, as it is supposed to be, and it's exciting
-It's going to be hard, but things worth doing are always hard
-If I don't quit, I haven't failed - This also happens to be one of my personal beliefs about life in general by the way. I really like this one.
Emotions
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So I guess stuff just got really real. And that's scary. And Crazy. And exciting like when you're just going over the cusp of the beginning of the rollercoaster. So scary, crazy, exciting, anxious all in that " oh dear lord what have you done but this is going to be pretty awesome and I feel empowered and invincible because I have faith in myself that I'm going to do some amazing things because I refuse to do any less and because I decided that at this point the only thing left is to follow through and not look back" kind of way.
Now I just hope I don't feel so awkward next time.
So about 45 minutes ago the first I Ho Chuan meeting for me ever ended. I felt... lots of things. Logically, it was great. I got a lot of information, which further defined the scope of the year to come. All very good things. But then I realized I was buzzing. not in a good way. I realized that I'm definitely nervous. Scared even. Maybe a little bit terrified. A lot of emotions running around. Crazy.
Logic
-This is going to be awesome
-It's a challenge, as it is supposed to be, and it's exciting
-It's going to be hard, but things worth doing are always hard
-If I don't quit, I haven't failed - This also happens to be one of my personal beliefs about life in general by the way. I really like this one.
Emotions
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So I guess stuff just got really real. And that's scary. And Crazy. And exciting like when you're just going over the cusp of the beginning of the rollercoaster. So scary, crazy, exciting, anxious all in that " oh dear lord what have you done but this is going to be pretty awesome and I feel empowered and invincible because I have faith in myself that I'm going to do some amazing things because I refuse to do any less and because I decided that at this point the only thing left is to follow through and not look back" kind of way.
Now I just hope I don't feel so awkward next time.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Captain's Blog, Stardate 2012.10.21, Starship U.S.S. Enterprise - Rest, and the trickiness of this little four letter word
First off, let me apologize for the lack of updates since the last one, but I couldn't decide on which one of my many ideas I wanted to write about first. So, I chose to discuss the topic of rest first. The irony of which is not lost on me. Without further ado, let's just dive in.
Rest (noun)
definition: inactivity
Rest (noun)
definition: base, foundation
I think perhaps the uber* clever among us have already figured out where this post is going. For the others like myself, I shall continue writing.
The first thing I should say about this topic is that I am incredibly, unbelievably, and disastrously poor at this particular technique. I call this a technique because that's exactly what it is. Some are better at it than others. The following are a few examples where I fail at this task:
1) Always.
But seriously, a recent example would be the knee. I know that logically, growth and thereby recovery, happens during rest. If you constantly stress your muscles, without rest, there is no time to grow. Which means that for every ounce of strain you put your muscles through, you should give it at least a unit of rest, in order to allow it to repair itself stronger than before. Note that these are not actual units.
1 unit of strain + 1 unit of rest = growth = improvement = happiness = renewable energy = solution to everything
I know that if I keep training on a bum knee, I'm adding to the strain units, and running a serious deficit on the rest units that it needs to heal. Logically. The problem being that sometimes, what we want to do, doesn't necessarily agree with the right thing to do. At all. Not even a little. So I put a bundle of cloth, tape, and metal around said knee and trained on it. And if you read the previous posts, immediately post injury, you will remember that the genius kept running on the injury anyway. And the doctor, verbalized a few choice words upon the level of intelligence of said genius.
At this point, until the MRI and whatever that will say, I have to "carefully" train on my knee, and "slowly" strengthen it, and to stop doing whatever I am doing if it "hurts".
The truth is, I feel like if I just rest (inactivity) then I feel terrible, guilty even. I know this is not really smart and logically I know that. But feelings and emotions are just that, illogical. So this post is really me saying I know what the right thing to do is, and I will try to view the advised rest as building a foundation for future growth by letting it heal properly, and using the second definition over the first.
The fact of the matter is, we all need to decide for ourselves, when our resting falls under the first definition or the second. Sometimes, it is not easy to differentiate, and even less so to follow through.
*sorry I don't know how to put in umlauts over the u.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Captain's Blog, Stardate 2012.10.08, Starship U.S.S. Enterprise - Impressions, not of le art kind.
When I first came up with the idea of the central issues addressed in this here blog, I was struggling with how it would be received as being related to kung fu. Most things in my life are related to kung fu, as it is as much a part of me as I am a part of it. Even though sometimes the connections between how things relate to kung fu is a little blurry.
What I wanted to explore today is the impressions you leave with others and their impression of you. Whether you like it or not, I feel that by being a part of this community, we are all representing this community whether we choose to or not. It has nothing to do with whether you wear the badge and uniform outside of school, whether others specifically see you as part of the silent river clan or not. It is more about being accountable to yourself, and without it being said, being accountable to your peers.
This is what leads to my next point, is that this does bleed over into all other parts of your life. Keeping in mind, of course, this is just my opinion and the way I see it. Everyone is ultimately allowed to do as they see fit.
Impressions and how you carry and conduct yourself in your life matters. It is a fairly accurate indication of who you are as a person. This is why I find that it is important to dress and act the way I aspire to, instead of the way I am at this point in time. As much as it would be ideal to not be judged on first impressions and judged by your cover, you are. This is a fact of life. For example, when I used to wear baggy clothing to hide my shape, I was almost invisible to womenkind. Now that I'm thinner, proud of my figure and carrying myself with confidence, I notice more girls eyeing me up. This is not a topic of great importance, but it is a clear and simple example of how first impressions usually dictate how other people treat you.
We may not like it or agree with it, this happens. Books and people are constantly being judged by their cover. So as much as it would be nice for this not to be the case, we must accept the things we cannot change. This is one of the reasons why it is important to be aware of the following:
-sit with good posture
-mind your manners
-be happy with the impression you leave with others. It is a worthy goal, to try and leave a positive mark with each person you meet.
-speak and carry yourself as the person you aspire to be.
-respect others. This is a big one. It is often parroted, but most of us are not perfect, and we do judge people based on their appearance whether we are aware of it or not, given that at that point in time, that is all the information we have. Don't judge others, and try to be a part of the solution. Respect others. Show them the respect they deserve, without which you cannot expect respect in return. I can not stress this enough. If you do not respect others and yourself, you cannot expect, nor deserve, the respect of others.
-hold yourself to a standard. Preferably a standard higher than the one before it. Holding yourself to a standard is also part of self respect.
It is important to see that this is not vanity. Vanity is in appearance only, while the impression I speak of is in action, expressed through your conduct. You are being aware of the mark you leave with other people, and letting them know that through your respect in the way you conduct yourself that you respect them and expect the same in return. For example, I do not dress to impress, but I will ensure that I am presentable before I leave the house. I am accountable to my own standards, not anyone else's. I will constantly strive to be the man I want to be at every turn, by conducting myself in the manner of which I aspire to, instead of the way that I am.
What I wanted to explore today is the impressions you leave with others and their impression of you. Whether you like it or not, I feel that by being a part of this community, we are all representing this community whether we choose to or not. It has nothing to do with whether you wear the badge and uniform outside of school, whether others specifically see you as part of the silent river clan or not. It is more about being accountable to yourself, and without it being said, being accountable to your peers.
This is what leads to my next point, is that this does bleed over into all other parts of your life. Keeping in mind, of course, this is just my opinion and the way I see it. Everyone is ultimately allowed to do as they see fit.
Impressions and how you carry and conduct yourself in your life matters. It is a fairly accurate indication of who you are as a person. This is why I find that it is important to dress and act the way I aspire to, instead of the way I am at this point in time. As much as it would be ideal to not be judged on first impressions and judged by your cover, you are. This is a fact of life. For example, when I used to wear baggy clothing to hide my shape, I was almost invisible to womenkind. Now that I'm thinner, proud of my figure and carrying myself with confidence, I notice more girls eyeing me up. This is not a topic of great importance, but it is a clear and simple example of how first impressions usually dictate how other people treat you.
We may not like it or agree with it, this happens. Books and people are constantly being judged by their cover. So as much as it would be nice for this not to be the case, we must accept the things we cannot change. This is one of the reasons why it is important to be aware of the following:
-sit with good posture
-mind your manners
-be happy with the impression you leave with others. It is a worthy goal, to try and leave a positive mark with each person you meet.
-speak and carry yourself as the person you aspire to be.
-respect others. This is a big one. It is often parroted, but most of us are not perfect, and we do judge people based on their appearance whether we are aware of it or not, given that at that point in time, that is all the information we have. Don't judge others, and try to be a part of the solution. Respect others. Show them the respect they deserve, without which you cannot expect respect in return. I can not stress this enough. If you do not respect others and yourself, you cannot expect, nor deserve, the respect of others.
-hold yourself to a standard. Preferably a standard higher than the one before it. Holding yourself to a standard is also part of self respect.
It is important to see that this is not vanity. Vanity is in appearance only, while the impression I speak of is in action, expressed through your conduct. You are being aware of the mark you leave with other people, and letting them know that through your respect in the way you conduct yourself that you respect them and expect the same in return. For example, I do not dress to impress, but I will ensure that I am presentable before I leave the house. I am accountable to my own standards, not anyone else's. I will constantly strive to be the man I want to be at every turn, by conducting myself in the manner of which I aspire to, instead of the way that I am.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Sihing Robinson's Favourite move in sparring.
This post holds little value. But contains copious amounts of fun. This is literally the exact thing that Sihing Robinson does to me in sparring. Repeatedly. Me being the black cat. Sound effects and all.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Captain's Blog, Stardate 2012.09.29, Starship U.S.S. Enterprise - Persp-Active Part 1.5
I called this part 1.5 because I didn't want to make the other one too long, but I also dislike the idea of a multi-part topic. It feels less complete. So this is named slightly differently and it is part 1.5 of the Pers-patience post.
So if the last post was called pers-patience, and it had to do with perspective and patience, then this post called persp-active must be something clever too right?
nope.
A lot of things are very different depending on where you choose to stand when looking at it. It took me a while to figure out what patience kinda means (as I will probably further change or develop that idea later on, so how I see things now is only at the time of writing. It wasn't until I actively thought about it, did I realize how mistaken I was. Which is what this post is about. The thingy between knowing something and starting to understand it. Knowing something means you can repeat it to someone else; however, understanding it means that you could explain it if needed.
Perspective is also tied to your attitude towards a situation, and as motivational posters around the world say, attitude determines altitude. For example, sparring can be approached in infinitely many ways. Some may see a competition, a situation where there is a winner and loser; whereas others may see it as a learning opportunity, where they can try to do the things they may not be so good at, and practice them in a controlled environment, with people they can trust not to hurt them if something doesn't work. That was the idea I got from Sifu this past tuesday. This made me think about my perspectives, not just about sparring, but about all the other aspects of my training.
This made me think that control as a concept is not really about pulling punches and kicks, but that control is an attitude, an attitude of precision and empathy, in that you do not want to hurt your training partners because you can only imagine how that would feel if the roles were reversed. As a result of not wanting to hurt your training partners, you will pull your punches and kicks, and anything you land is merely a tap, with no power and penetration behind the technique.
And that concept lead to the large pers-patience post previously. Which brought me back to how actively exploring the perspective of how you are seeing something is so important. Each different view on something comes with its own assumptions, and that only by actively analyzing what you see and where you are looking from, can we know what these assumptions are.
From the cook's perspective, he is merely chopping cucumbers for a salad. But if you ask the cucumber, I think it would think very very differently.
I find that sometimes I have to actively imagine how things would seem from someone else's vantage point, and I find that this helps me understand the situation better, see things I didn't previously, or simply make obvious the assumptions I was unknowingly accepting.
I think this video illustrates this point beautifully:
So if the last post was called pers-patience, and it had to do with perspective and patience, then this post called persp-active must be something clever too right?
nope.
A lot of things are very different depending on where you choose to stand when looking at it. It took me a while to figure out what patience kinda means (as I will probably further change or develop that idea later on, so how I see things now is only at the time of writing. It wasn't until I actively thought about it, did I realize how mistaken I was. Which is what this post is about. The thingy between knowing something and starting to understand it. Knowing something means you can repeat it to someone else; however, understanding it means that you could explain it if needed.
Perspective is also tied to your attitude towards a situation, and as motivational posters around the world say, attitude determines altitude. For example, sparring can be approached in infinitely many ways. Some may see a competition, a situation where there is a winner and loser; whereas others may see it as a learning opportunity, where they can try to do the things they may not be so good at, and practice them in a controlled environment, with people they can trust not to hurt them if something doesn't work. That was the idea I got from Sifu this past tuesday. This made me think about my perspectives, not just about sparring, but about all the other aspects of my training.
This made me think that control as a concept is not really about pulling punches and kicks, but that control is an attitude, an attitude of precision and empathy, in that you do not want to hurt your training partners because you can only imagine how that would feel if the roles were reversed. As a result of not wanting to hurt your training partners, you will pull your punches and kicks, and anything you land is merely a tap, with no power and penetration behind the technique.
And that concept lead to the large pers-patience post previously. Which brought me back to how actively exploring the perspective of how you are seeing something is so important. Each different view on something comes with its own assumptions, and that only by actively analyzing what you see and where you are looking from, can we know what these assumptions are.
From the cook's perspective, he is merely chopping cucumbers for a salad. But if you ask the cucumber, I think it would think very very differently.
I find that sometimes I have to actively imagine how things would seem from someone else's vantage point, and I find that this helps me understand the situation better, see things I didn't previously, or simply make obvious the assumptions I was unknowingly accepting.
I think this video illustrates this point beautifully:
Captain's Blog, Stardate 2012.09.29, Starship U.S.S. Enterprise - Persp-atience
Perspective is an interesting concept. It can be simply the difference between knowing and understanding; parroting a concept, or applying it. I am embarrassed to say that up until now, I haven't understood patience like I do now. Previously, patience meant making yourself wait for things to run their course, while you sit and squirm; as if you were a child on Christmas eve and you couldn't wait to open gifts. Which was how I felt. I wanted to learn everything all at once, and open all the gifts at the same time. I believed that things take as long as it takes, only under the condition that I put forth my best possible effort. If I do not put forth my best effort, then it is taking longer than it should. Right. How silly.
I still believe that I must put forth my best possible effort, but my perspective on what I'm doing has changed drastically. No longer do I want to learn everything all at once, because finally I see that I haven't truly given the things I know their due attention and practice. Just because I know, does not mean I understand. I may know the steps to Da Mu Hsing, but I have barely scratched the surface in understanding the secrets, and gifts of knowledge and techniques that this form has to offer. In fact, this shift in perspective means that how I practice has also changed. I no longer want to open all the presents at once; rather, carefully unwrap, admire, and appreciate each gift. I want to take the time to play with the packaging when I open the gift. I want to appreciate the effort and care taken in those who wrapped this gift, and when I finally get to it, I want to take the time to truly enjoy the time I spend playing with each toy.
As I take this new approach to practicing, I find new and exciting things to fix and learn and play with in every moment I spend practicing my forms. I find more things to work on than I seem to have time to work on. For every one thing I fix, I find three more other things to fix. This is an extremely exciting and gratifying way to look at forms and practicing. It may appear to an observer that I do a few moves, stop, and redo it, and do so over and over and over. But in my mind I can't move on if I keep doing that one little thing wrong. The knowledge I have been taught so far have already given me a lifetime of things to practice and improve.
So I guess to kinda wrap up this wall of text, I now see patience as more of a state of mind, a way of thinking, instead of something to be done. If that makes any sense.
I still believe that I must put forth my best possible effort, but my perspective on what I'm doing has changed drastically. No longer do I want to learn everything all at once, because finally I see that I haven't truly given the things I know their due attention and practice. Just because I know, does not mean I understand. I may know the steps to Da Mu Hsing, but I have barely scratched the surface in understanding the secrets, and gifts of knowledge and techniques that this form has to offer. In fact, this shift in perspective means that how I practice has also changed. I no longer want to open all the presents at once; rather, carefully unwrap, admire, and appreciate each gift. I want to take the time to play with the packaging when I open the gift. I want to appreciate the effort and care taken in those who wrapped this gift, and when I finally get to it, I want to take the time to truly enjoy the time I spend playing with each toy.
As I take this new approach to practicing, I find new and exciting things to fix and learn and play with in every moment I spend practicing my forms. I find more things to work on than I seem to have time to work on. For every one thing I fix, I find three more other things to fix. This is an extremely exciting and gratifying way to look at forms and practicing. It may appear to an observer that I do a few moves, stop, and redo it, and do so over and over and over. But in my mind I can't move on if I keep doing that one little thing wrong. The knowledge I have been taught so far have already given me a lifetime of things to practice and improve.
So I guess to kinda wrap up this wall of text, I now see patience as more of a state of mind, a way of thinking, instead of something to be done. If that makes any sense.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Captain's Blog, Stardate 2012.09.25, Starship U.S.S. Enterprise - ERMAHGERD STERNCESS!!!
In case it hasn't been all that clear, this post is gonna be all about stances. I can hear the groaning and moaning already, because like someone has said before "it's not the sexy stuff"; however, I have come to the conclusion that they are the basis of all the other things I want to improve. From what I have gathered, Stances affect the following:
1) You can't do much without a stable stance.
2) You can't have one leg in the air to kick if you have no stability with 2 feet on the ground.
3) Even if you have the perfect block, without a stable base, you'll go flying.
4) Stances are a great way leg workout while also focusing on good form.
5) Dynamic stability in motion seems rather impossible if you don't have static stability
For a while I was thinking about mobility and footwork in sparring, but after watching Sihing Robinson's sparring video on the Silent River webpage, I saw that the way he moves seems to come from starting with a stable base first. In short, unless I have good static stability, to work on dynamic stability is putting the cart before the horse.
Personally, with the new knowledge development from leading with the hips, I have been paying much more attention to my hip alignment in my stances. Such as:
1) Not sticking my bum out in my horse stance, which allows me to relax my spine, instead of arching.
2) Bow stance, I found that I can channel the weight on my shoulders through to the ground a lot better if I can straighten my back by tilting my hips slightly, and thereby not arching my back.
3) Open X stance feels much more relaxed if I tilt my hips so I'm not arching my back.
4) Crane stance. I was doing this unknowingly, but if I just tilt my hips, it naturally puts a slight bend in the bottom leg and makes if easy to bring my knee up higher, which in turn gives me all kinds of stability.
Now, with all this focus and thinking about stances, obviously I came to another conclusion. Really. This new thing is weight shifting. Which was something that happened when I started using my hips. It happened naturally. It was great. For example, when I go from the first crane stance to the sweep and bow stance clockwise rotation at the beginning of Kempo I, I place my foot and as I lock in my stance with my hips, I naturally move into the 60/40 weight distribution. Which I found provides a solid punch without much strenuous effort. But more importantly, this weight shifting happens on it's own when I lead with my hips. No longer to I have to shift my weight after the motion to get that weight distribution, provided I place my foot correctly.
Not sure if I'm headed in the right direction, but that's the way I see it ATM.
As always, comments are always appreciated!
1) You can't do much without a stable stance.
2) You can't have one leg in the air to kick if you have no stability with 2 feet on the ground.
3) Even if you have the perfect block, without a stable base, you'll go flying.
4) Stances are a great way leg workout while also focusing on good form.
5) Dynamic stability in motion seems rather impossible if you don't have static stability
For a while I was thinking about mobility and footwork in sparring, but after watching Sihing Robinson's sparring video on the Silent River webpage, I saw that the way he moves seems to come from starting with a stable base first. In short, unless I have good static stability, to work on dynamic stability is putting the cart before the horse.
Personally, with the new knowledge development from leading with the hips, I have been paying much more attention to my hip alignment in my stances. Such as:
1) Not sticking my bum out in my horse stance, which allows me to relax my spine, instead of arching.
2) Bow stance, I found that I can channel the weight on my shoulders through to the ground a lot better if I can straighten my back by tilting my hips slightly, and thereby not arching my back.
3) Open X stance feels much more relaxed if I tilt my hips so I'm not arching my back.
4) Crane stance. I was doing this unknowingly, but if I just tilt my hips, it naturally puts a slight bend in the bottom leg and makes if easy to bring my knee up higher, which in turn gives me all kinds of stability.
Now, with all this focus and thinking about stances, obviously I came to another conclusion. Really. This new thing is weight shifting. Which was something that happened when I started using my hips. It happened naturally. It was great. For example, when I go from the first crane stance to the sweep and bow stance clockwise rotation at the beginning of Kempo I, I place my foot and as I lock in my stance with my hips, I naturally move into the 60/40 weight distribution. Which I found provides a solid punch without much strenuous effort. But more importantly, this weight shifting happens on it's own when I lead with my hips. No longer to I have to shift my weight after the motion to get that weight distribution, provided I place my foot correctly.
Not sure if I'm headed in the right direction, but that's the way I see it ATM.
As always, comments are always appreciated!
Monday, September 24, 2012
Captain's Blog, Stardate 2012.09.24, Starship U.S.S. Enterprise - ERMAHGERD HERNDS!!!!
Now that we have determined how my knee was put into it's current state, I can now see how this is possibly the best thing to happen to my kung fu since my kung fu. Allow me to explain.
1) This forced me to stop using my legs as a primary attacking tool.
2) Forced me to focus on my secondary attack tools. Hands.
3) By forcing instability on my legs to make me pay attention to my stances even more so out of necessity.
4) Realizing how underdeveloped and useless my upper pair of limbs really were.
5) Being frustrated by this, and began looking for ways to improve this situation
At first, I began thinking about my hands specifically and individually, just like I used to view my legs; merely as cannon tubes for launching balls of flying fists. This approach leads to development of powerful kicks, but little else; technique, speed, accuracy, and smoothness (logical progression of combinations) all suffer as a result. So in reality, while this thought process may lead to breaking lots of boards, it useful in very little else. About as useful as a comb to a monk. Recently, I had begun looking at my kicks as a full body motion, with my arms, shoulder, torso, and head all playing a part in the kick, and each being put in that position during a kick for a purpose, either defensive or for balance.
I then applied this thought to my hands.treating each jab, each punch, each block as a full body motion, recruiting every muscle and gram of mass to achieve the intended goal; giving purpose to every cell in my body in each maneuver. In short, making every cell in my body earn it's rent in every motion I undertake. This lead to a little experiment I did on saturday in open training.
Repeating the simple combo of Jab Jab Reverse.
1) I punched the bag as hard as I could. Noting the sound and motion of the bag.
2) I then punched the bag as fast as I could, disregarding power. Noted the sound and motion of the bag again.
3) Lastly, I punched the bag again, but this time, I disregarded everything except to focus on leading every move with my hip, and allowing my shoulders to follow, and my arms to follow my shoulders, and hands to follow my arms; while consciously focusing on not adding power nor speed. Noting again the sound and motion of the bag.
Without ever considering it, I had always assumed that I would get the most power out of 1/2. This proved to be the most wrong I could have been. Turns out the results, from best to worst, ended up being 3, 2, 1. By a huge margin. Also, if I were to be honest with myself, #3 I could do for a very very long time, 2 and 1 I would tire extremely quickly as well.
Which brings me to the next thing I "discovered". I have been practicing Da Mu Hsing and Kempo I repeatedly, focusing on all the things like ending my hands at the same time as my feet, twisting of the hands at the last second, good stable stances, placing and thrusting each limb with intent, and just practicing with focus and mental intensity as much as possible. What I had found was that in each move of each form, I found I had a checklist of 10+ things to remember for each motion. This got inefficient very quickly; however, not knowing anything else I continued to do so this way.
We had recently had a class focused on 2 handedness in our forms. which was followed by a class focusing on slide stepping, and stable stances. Which I then also focused on in my own practice of my forms. Somehow, I came to a different thought. What if, hypothetically speaking, I forgo thinking about the timing of each limb and step independently, and focused on one thing? This thing being, LEADING EACH MOVE WITH YOUR HIPS. When I tried this, instead of leading each move with the forward stepping foot, or the hand that was about to block, or the fist about to punch, I found something peculiar. Without thinking about my previous checklists, I had automatically done most of them. This, this was incredible, and efficient! Also, a nice by product of this is that I have my body weight behind each block, instead of just my shoulders, and I can have solid, intentional blocks and motions, without being exhausted by the end of only 2 repetitions of each form. This is a huge breakthrough!
With this, knowing that a decently solid punch can be thrown with such efficient use of effort, it seems that it takes 3x the amount of energy to kick than it takes to punch, being that my legs are much heavier. So it seems silly to be kicking constantly. Perhaps legs should be for standing. Unless there are those rare openings that just ask for a kick.
So I'm going to use my stubby upper limbs more. Now the question becomes what shall I make them do?
1) This forced me to stop using my legs as a primary attacking tool.
2) Forced me to focus on my secondary attack tools. Hands.
3) By forcing instability on my legs to make me pay attention to my stances even more so out of necessity.
4) Realizing how underdeveloped and useless my upper pair of limbs really were.
5) Being frustrated by this, and began looking for ways to improve this situation
At first, I began thinking about my hands specifically and individually, just like I used to view my legs; merely as cannon tubes for launching balls of flying fists. This approach leads to development of powerful kicks, but little else; technique, speed, accuracy, and smoothness (logical progression of combinations) all suffer as a result. So in reality, while this thought process may lead to breaking lots of boards, it useful in very little else. About as useful as a comb to a monk. Recently, I had begun looking at my kicks as a full body motion, with my arms, shoulder, torso, and head all playing a part in the kick, and each being put in that position during a kick for a purpose, either defensive or for balance.
I then applied this thought to my hands.treating each jab, each punch, each block as a full body motion, recruiting every muscle and gram of mass to achieve the intended goal; giving purpose to every cell in my body in each maneuver. In short, making every cell in my body earn it's rent in every motion I undertake. This lead to a little experiment I did on saturday in open training.
Repeating the simple combo of Jab Jab Reverse.
1) I punched the bag as hard as I could. Noting the sound and motion of the bag.
2) I then punched the bag as fast as I could, disregarding power. Noted the sound and motion of the bag again.
3) Lastly, I punched the bag again, but this time, I disregarded everything except to focus on leading every move with my hip, and allowing my shoulders to follow, and my arms to follow my shoulders, and hands to follow my arms; while consciously focusing on not adding power nor speed. Noting again the sound and motion of the bag.
Without ever considering it, I had always assumed that I would get the most power out of 1/2. This proved to be the most wrong I could have been. Turns out the results, from best to worst, ended up being 3, 2, 1. By a huge margin. Also, if I were to be honest with myself, #3 I could do for a very very long time, 2 and 1 I would tire extremely quickly as well.
Which brings me to the next thing I "discovered". I have been practicing Da Mu Hsing and Kempo I repeatedly, focusing on all the things like ending my hands at the same time as my feet, twisting of the hands at the last second, good stable stances, placing and thrusting each limb with intent, and just practicing with focus and mental intensity as much as possible. What I had found was that in each move of each form, I found I had a checklist of 10+ things to remember for each motion. This got inefficient very quickly; however, not knowing anything else I continued to do so this way.
We had recently had a class focused on 2 handedness in our forms. which was followed by a class focusing on slide stepping, and stable stances. Which I then also focused on in my own practice of my forms. Somehow, I came to a different thought. What if, hypothetically speaking, I forgo thinking about the timing of each limb and step independently, and focused on one thing? This thing being, LEADING EACH MOVE WITH YOUR HIPS. When I tried this, instead of leading each move with the forward stepping foot, or the hand that was about to block, or the fist about to punch, I found something peculiar. Without thinking about my previous checklists, I had automatically done most of them. This, this was incredible, and efficient! Also, a nice by product of this is that I have my body weight behind each block, instead of just my shoulders, and I can have solid, intentional blocks and motions, without being exhausted by the end of only 2 repetitions of each form. This is a huge breakthrough!
With this, knowing that a decently solid punch can be thrown with such efficient use of effort, it seems that it takes 3x the amount of energy to kick than it takes to punch, being that my legs are much heavier. So it seems silly to be kicking constantly. Perhaps legs should be for standing. Unless there are those rare openings that just ask for a kick.
So I'm going to use my stubby upper limbs more. Now the question becomes what shall I make them do?
Captain's Blog, Stardate 2012.09.24, Starship U.S.S. Enterprise - temporary loss of my foot launching leg cannons
Due to the timing of the start of this blog, it is unlikely that the posts will be in any consecutive sort of order in relation to the dimension of time. I will probably post about something today, and then go back, and go forward and go back, and so on and so forth.
A bit of background before I begin this post; I ran an obstacle course race in mid August. yippee doo da. But the excitement began shortly after the starting gun.
Suspending all disbelief, imagine a young vibrant little man, taking the first steps in this race, which he knew at the time consisted of 5km of running and around 15 obstacles designed to stop him from finishing this race. Jogging and pacing himself in the middle of the pack, the crowd surged toward the first corner. the second corner came up shortly after, at approximately the 300m mark, and the participants quickly laid eyes on the first sign of trouble; a mudpit the width of the track and perhaps 10' long. Most participants waded through this chest height pit; this young man in the middle, in his eagerness, leapt in before looking, and due to the evil curse surrounding this obstacle, felt his knee bend in 3 directions, none of which were the directions knees normally bend.
At this point, a shocked expression crossed this young man's face, as he realized what had happened, and the pain that had begun to set in. In an act of pure stupidity, this young man refused the reality of this situation, and kept trying to run. Taking a step, falling. another step, falling. again and again as if the evil curse never happened, and refusing to acknowledge the lack of a functioning knee. After eating dirt for 100m, a vision visited this young man, of 2 people whom he respected greatly; advising him prior to the race not to push through an injury.
The young man then stopped, and realized his mistake, and decided he needed to seek medical attention. And with a heavy heart, he hobbled to the first aid station. At the finish line. Because the thought that the exit from the track 400m behind him did not penetrate his thick skull, he went the rest of the 4.6km to go to the same and only first aid station. What a moron.
A bit of background before I begin this post; I ran an obstacle course race in mid August. yippee doo da. But the excitement began shortly after the starting gun.
Suspending all disbelief, imagine a young vibrant little man, taking the first steps in this race, which he knew at the time consisted of 5km of running and around 15 obstacles designed to stop him from finishing this race. Jogging and pacing himself in the middle of the pack, the crowd surged toward the first corner. the second corner came up shortly after, at approximately the 300m mark, and the participants quickly laid eyes on the first sign of trouble; a mudpit the width of the track and perhaps 10' long. Most participants waded through this chest height pit; this young man in the middle, in his eagerness, leapt in before looking, and due to the evil curse surrounding this obstacle, felt his knee bend in 3 directions, none of which were the directions knees normally bend.
At this point, a shocked expression crossed this young man's face, as he realized what had happened, and the pain that had begun to set in. In an act of pure stupidity, this young man refused the reality of this situation, and kept trying to run. Taking a step, falling. another step, falling. again and again as if the evil curse never happened, and refusing to acknowledge the lack of a functioning knee. After eating dirt for 100m, a vision visited this young man, of 2 people whom he respected greatly; advising him prior to the race not to push through an injury.
The young man then stopped, and realized his mistake, and decided he needed to seek medical attention. And with a heavy heart, he hobbled to the first aid station. At the finish line. Because the thought that the exit from the track 400m behind him did not penetrate his thick skull, he went the rest of the 4.6km to go to the same and only first aid station. What a moron.
Captain's Blog, Stardate 2012.09.24, Starship U.S.S. Enterprise - ERMAHGERDDDD! BLERGGERRRNG!
I shall introduce this blog. On this day, I said a blog shall be made. I moved my hands, and it was so.
This blog started at Sihing Robinson's behest. Jon's repeated, unyielding, excessive, continued, aggressive, loud, command. Perhaps he grew weary of my repeated excited revealing of new discoveries that to him seem so trivial. I no know why.
This blog will explore the journey of my kung fu training, but also my mental and spritual pregression through this journey. It would be mucho difficultienda to separate just the physical, mental or spiritual progression of my efforts on their own. They seem as much intertwined as any other intertwined objects. So I say, this blog shall explore my journey in kung fu training, but is not limited to, my growth as a human being, mental growth, self awareness, and some such.
Having said that, feel free to look around and only partake in the articles that you find interesting and comments are always appreciated, encouraged, and gladly received by this little feller.
This blog started at Sihing Robinson's behest. Jon's repeated, unyielding, excessive, continued, aggressive, loud, command. Perhaps he grew weary of my repeated excited revealing of new discoveries that to him seem so trivial. I no know why.
This blog will explore the journey of my kung fu training, but also my mental and spritual pregression through this journey. It would be mucho difficultienda to separate just the physical, mental or spiritual progression of my efforts on their own. They seem as much intertwined as any other intertwined objects. So I say, this blog shall explore my journey in kung fu training, but is not limited to, my growth as a human being, mental growth, self awareness, and some such.
Having said that, feel free to look around and only partake in the articles that you find interesting and comments are always appreciated, encouraged, and gladly received by this little feller.
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