Week In Review

I’ve been trying to build some momentum and resume training on a regular basis. Numbers for last week:

Pushups (Modified)

Last week – 410

Overall – 3160

Situps

Last Week – 230

Overall – 1350

Kicks

Last Week – 330

Overall – 2500 

Acts of Kindness

Last Week – 8

Overall – 23

 

I’m getting tired of writing about negative things, even though I’m just trying to be honest. Going forward, I’m going to try to focus more on what I DID do, instead of what I didn’t do. I feel like constantly dwelling on missed training or classes only feeds the negativity and I don’t like that.

 

One other thing - I'd just like to say that I really enjoy reading everyone's journal entries and I really appreciate everyone that leaves comments for me. As a beginner it very helpful to me to see that everyone struggles from time to time, regardless of your experience and skill level. It also reinforces that it doesn't neccesarily get any easier as you advance.

The Right Frame of Mind

The last two months have been a learning experience for me. I have struggled to attend classes and my training has suffered. My motivation has been low for a great deal of the time. I have been out of town more than I have been in town, and as many other team members know, it is difficult to live a normal life from a hotel or camp room.

This past week I’ve made an effort to stay engaged by doing more little things for myself. I’ve made a concerted effort to eat as healthy as I can. I’ve made an appointment to go to physiotherapy for my shoulder. When I started being unable to perform regular pushups I know that this sapped my motivation quite a bit because pushups were the one area that I knew I could do well in. I have tried modified pushups but they don’t make me feel like I’m accomplishing anything. I know that’s the wrong attitude but it’s the truth.

I’ve also made a list of things from around the house that I want to get done so I can start working on them. I like lists and I especially like checking things off after I accomplish them. I’ve been finding that doing these little things helps me by keeping my mindset in “doing things” mode.

My Week In Review

Last week was very eventful. Monday I went to class for the first time in a while and it was great. I started to get sick on Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon I called an ambulance to take me to the hospital because of some horrible chest pain I was having. I felt a little silly calling 911 but the pain was getting worse and worse and I was having a hard time breathing and couldn’t drive. I tried calling someone to take me to the hospital but nobody was around. I got out of the hospital Wednesday night after doing a bunch of tests, but mostly just waiting. Nobody knows what happened but it doesn’t look like it was anything serious, although it sure seemed serious at the time. And apparently I have really good blood pressure. I was told that three times by three separate people.

I spent some time with friends and family over the weekend and I also logged some numbers for the first time in a while. I expect this week to be a good one as I try to build on some good things that I did last week.

Numbers:

Pushups

Last week – 150

Overall – 2750

Situps

Last week – 90

Overall – 1120

Kicks

Last week – 190

Overall – 2170 

Acts of Kindness

Last week – 2

Overall – 17 

My numbers are pretty low but that’s my own fault. My natural inclination is to quit when I start having a hard time so I’m trying to work on that.

Tuesday Morning Thoughts

We had a good class last night. I’m pretty sure Sifu Freitag was mad at us for something because it was a pretty intense workout (at least for someone at my level). I hadn’t been to class in a while and so, even though I felt slow, weak, and out of shape (not that I was ever really fast, strong, or in shape), it was a great class to return to. There were also quite a few new faces and a couple of people were promoted since I was last in class.

What really hit home was that there were new people in class that have already achieved more stripes in a month than I did in six. I know we’re not supposed to compare ourselves to others but how can you not? I guess the important thing is that I recognized the wasted opportunities that all the missed classes represent. I also had a good talk with Mr. Repay about the ebb and flow of motivation. Perspective is always a good thing.

Being In The Moment

I have heard and read many people talk about being in the moment. I can't honestly say that I completely understand the concept but if I had to guess, I would say that it refers to putting in 100% concentration and effort to what you are doing in the present and not letting your mind wander. I have realized that I have a big problem doing this and it is starting to affect my life significantly. 

I refer to myself as "being in my head" a lot. I can't stop thinking and I constantly have things running through my mind, often at the expense of what I'm doing. This affects my Kung Fu and also my relationships, as I have a hard time enjoying and appreciating the journey and I often have some pre-determined destination in my mind that I get stuck on. I'm hoping that this is something that will improve with time and effort. 

Putting In The Work

I've missed a heck of a lot of classes lately. I've also put in basically zero practice. That is until yesterday. I couldn't figure out what happened to my motivation until tonight when I was working on my nunchuk form. I committed to putting in at least 30 min and by the time I was done I had put in about two hours. I worked on forms, kicks, and stretching. I realized two things:

One - all the times I felt like I wasn't making any progress - I was wrong. I know this because I know how my body felt tonight during my training. My hips weren't as strong and flexible as they were. My kicks weren't as good as they were. And I was short of breath when I was doing simple things, which I wasn't before. I had clearly come a long way (relatively speaking) and I didn't give myself enough credit.

Two - the reason that I lost my motivation was because I stopped putting in the work. When I look back at when I was the most engaged, right before I went on holidays, it was when I was putting in the most work. I think that when I got back form holidays, I had a hard time getting back into my routine and then everything snowballed.

Over the last week or so, a lot of people have helped me get back on track. There were some great Sifu blogs that really hit home. I also received a lot of helpful comments on my own journal entries, as well as some in-person coaching. To be honest, there was a period there where I was starting to question the whole team concept and I wondered how anyone else on the team could truly help me. But it's clear to me now that there are many ways we can all help each other stay on track.

The biggest takeaway from the blogs written by Sifu Rybak and Sifu Prince was for me to remember why I joined Kung Fu in the first place and also for me to focus how good I feel when I'm engaged. Hopefully I won't get off track like this again but I know that if I do, there is a team of awesome people there to help me. Thank you.