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.

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.

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.

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.