Over the last several months, I have developed problems breathing. These problems arise at rest and they arise during exertion. I have had pulmonary exams and I am currently seeing a lung specialist. I currently don't have a diagnosis but I'm reasonably confident it won't turn out to be anything serious and I will get it under control.
In the meantime, these issues have plagued my workouts. I went hiking last weekend but I had to stop short. My gym workouts can cause me to get lightheaded if I'm not careful. Even attempting to resume kung fu training has been met with a bit of frustration.
Through this, I am trying to see the lessons, which are two-fold for me:
1) I no longer take breathing for granted. This might sound silly but when you go to take a breath and it's not there, it's a scary feeling. I'm thankful when I can breathe normally and this helps to keep a person humble.
2) I have realized that I hold my breathe when I do forms. I could not make it through Da Mu Hsing and I realized that it's because I don't breathe properly. This is something I have never really thought about before and is something that I need to work on. It just goes to show that there is always progress to be made, especially during a set back.
Monday, April 4, 2016
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
A Journey of a Thousand Miles...
Throughout my entire I Ho Chuan experience, the one thing that I have struggled the most with is the 1609 km of running/walking, etc. I loathe running and I still haven't tried it again recently.
I did, however, pick up a Fitbit so that I can keep track of all my walking each day, which, admittedly, isn't a lot, but 3km on a light walking day will add up to big things when I log it every day.
Part of the process, for me, in getting where I need to be, is celebrating the little things that I am doing right again. This is one of those things. Finding a way to make progress in an area that I have struggled with in the past is important to me because it means that I am working through my past failures. As long as I log my progress every day, I will have succeeded where previously I failed, and, to me, that's what the I Ho Chuan is all about.
I did, however, pick up a Fitbit so that I can keep track of all my walking each day, which, admittedly, isn't a lot, but 3km on a light walking day will add up to big things when I log it every day.
Part of the process, for me, in getting where I need to be, is celebrating the little things that I am doing right again. This is one of those things. Finding a way to make progress in an area that I have struggled with in the past is important to me because it means that I am working through my past failures. As long as I log my progress every day, I will have succeeded where previously I failed, and, to me, that's what the I Ho Chuan is all about.
Monday, January 18, 2016
Lessons Learned and Relearned
When you spend as much time away from class and from training as I have, you realize that you end up repeating lessons that you learned previously but forgot over time.
Case in point: I submitted my personal requirements to Sifu Brinker and his feedback made me smile. A few of my goals were set up in a way that made me focus on a weekly requirement instead of an overall goal. Focusing on achieving a weekly effort sets you up for failure as soon as life hits and you miss a week. If you you focus on incremental effort to achieve a large number, you can let life do it's worst to you and you can still maintain your pace.
This is something that I had learned already from my first I Ho Chuan year; however, I had forgotten it. They say, "If you don't use it, you lose it". I know this to be true. I know that I am going to repeat a lot of lessons over the next while but I am embracing it and hopefully I will drill it into myself that much further this time around.
Here are my revised personal requirements:
1) 25,000 Kicks - this is to build my basics back up and beyond where I have been in he past.
2) 260 hours of music production - this was similar to a requirement that I had last year. This year I have broken it down a bit so that I'm not focused on the end goal so much as just putting in the time consistently. I love music and it's important for me to take the time to do this for myself.
3) Vegetarian for a month - I'm going to go vegetarian for a month, continuously. I've seen the example of others in the area and I'm curious to see if it will benefit me at all.
4) 52 date nights - for Mel, my fiancee, and I, it's important to have time together when we can unplug and spend quality time together. This requirement will build some structure in the relationship so that we always make time for ourselves.
All of the above will be logged and I will report the progress along with my other requirements.
Case in point: I submitted my personal requirements to Sifu Brinker and his feedback made me smile. A few of my goals were set up in a way that made me focus on a weekly requirement instead of an overall goal. Focusing on achieving a weekly effort sets you up for failure as soon as life hits and you miss a week. If you you focus on incremental effort to achieve a large number, you can let life do it's worst to you and you can still maintain your pace.
This is something that I had learned already from my first I Ho Chuan year; however, I had forgotten it. They say, "If you don't use it, you lose it". I know this to be true. I know that I am going to repeat a lot of lessons over the next while but I am embracing it and hopefully I will drill it into myself that much further this time around.
Here are my revised personal requirements:
1) 25,000 Kicks - this is to build my basics back up and beyond where I have been in he past.
2) 260 hours of music production - this was similar to a requirement that I had last year. This year I have broken it down a bit so that I'm not focused on the end goal so much as just putting in the time consistently. I love music and it's important for me to take the time to do this for myself.
3) Vegetarian for a month - I'm going to go vegetarian for a month, continuously. I've seen the example of others in the area and I'm curious to see if it will benefit me at all.
4) 52 date nights - for Mel, my fiancee, and I, it's important to have time together when we can unplug and spend quality time together. This requirement will build some structure in the relationship so that we always make time for ourselves.
All of the above will be logged and I will report the progress along with my other requirements.
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Reflect and Move On
This past year has had it's share of personal ups and downs. As far as the I Ho Chuan year is concerned, it's been all downs. I've missed all of my classes and my participation has been non-existent. But I'm not dwelling on that because the year isn't over yet, and I can still do my part to chip in. It will be important for me to build some momentum to transition into the Year of the Monkey.
If I take stock of where I am currently, I can say that I am out of shape, my flexibility has deteriorated significantly, and my engagement still isn't where it needs to be. The benefit to taking stock is now I can put a plan in place to get back on track. And wouldn't you know it, if I stick to our I Ho Chuan requirements, I will get there.
These are my requirements for the Monkey Team:
1) 25,000 Kicks - this is to build my basics back up and beyond where I have been in he past.
2) 5 hours of music production every week - this was similar to a requirement that I had last year. This year I have broken it down a bit so that I'm not focused on the end goal so much as just putting in the time consistently. I love music and it's important for me to take the time to do this for myself.
3) Meatless Mondays - I'm going to go vegetarian for the first Monday of every month. I've seen the example of others in this area and I'm curious to see if it will benefit me at all.
4) One date night every week - for Mel, my fiancee, and I, it's important to have time together when we can unplug and spend quality time. This requirement will build some structure in the relationship so that we always make time for ourselves.
I intend to start incorporating these requirements now so that I can transition into the Monkey Year as seamlessly as possible.
If I take stock of where I am currently, I can say that I am out of shape, my flexibility has deteriorated significantly, and my engagement still isn't where it needs to be. The benefit to taking stock is now I can put a plan in place to get back on track. And wouldn't you know it, if I stick to our I Ho Chuan requirements, I will get there.
These are my requirements for the Monkey Team:
1) 25,000 Kicks - this is to build my basics back up and beyond where I have been in he past.
2) 5 hours of music production every week - this was similar to a requirement that I had last year. This year I have broken it down a bit so that I'm not focused on the end goal so much as just putting in the time consistently. I love music and it's important for me to take the time to do this for myself.
3) Meatless Mondays - I'm going to go vegetarian for the first Monday of every month. I've seen the example of others in this area and I'm curious to see if it will benefit me at all.
4) One date night every week - for Mel, my fiancee, and I, it's important to have time together when we can unplug and spend quality time. This requirement will build some structure in the relationship so that we always make time for ourselves.
I intend to start incorporating these requirements now so that I can transition into the Monkey Year as seamlessly as possible.
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