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.

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.

The Consequences of Anger

I had a blog post about humility all ready to go but I've decided instead to write about something that I witnessed today. 

While driving to the gym I was stopped at a light and I was second in line behind a car in the right lane. To that car's right was an SUV and he was in the far right lane that was ending shortly past the intersection. The SUV gunned it on green but the car in front of me was giving him no quarter. As the SUV sped up, so did the car. As the far lane ended, the SUV slammed on the brakes and swerved in behind the car. You could tell by the SUV's "body language" that the driver was very angry. As we progressed into the traffic circle, all in the outside lane, the SUV hit the gas hard, and passed the car illegally in the traffic circle and whipped out through the exit. As the SUV exited, he skidded a few times and eventually spun out of control, hitting the median hard and crossing into oncoming traffic. 

It was only luck that prevented a head on collision, as the oncoming vehicles has enough time to slow down and avoid the SUV. I could see that the SUV suffered a good amount of damage but he ended up driving away and I have no idea what happened after that. Thankfully, it didn't appear that the driver was injured. 

When I arrived at the gym, I sat and thought about what I had just seen. As I change my driving habits, I'm becoming more and more aware of when I see angry and aggressive drivers on the road. While I can't say I've done anything exactly like the driver of the SUV, I've done stupid things behind the wheel because of my anger. I'm lucky that I have never been involved in any kind of incident, but it's likely only because of good fortune that I can say that.  

The thought that stuck with me most was the realization that I've made real progress overcoming my anger. While I would have preferred if today's incident had never happened, it did feel good to be an observer instead of a participant. It reinforced why we train to remain calm in all situations. Anger is a natural emotion that everyone experiences but dealing with it in a healthy way is the key.

Mindfulness

When I look at what has gone awry fro me over the last several months, I feel like I can trace things back to one concept - mindfulness, or in my case, the lack thereof. I find it terribly difficult to live in the moment. This has far reaching consequences for me, not just in my abandonment of my training, but in personal relationships also. 

I am lucky to have an amazing and supportive girlfriend but there have been times when I think I have tested our relationship a bit; not wittingly, but as a result of my tendency to always be thinking about what might be or what could be. Anxiety and worrying about the future has sometimes come at the expense of being in the moment with the person I'm with. 

The same anxiety and worry about the future has allowed my lack of training to spiral out of control. You think about your I Ho Chuan commitments and you stop viewing them as a tool, but instead as a mountain to climb. You think about the many years of training ahead of you and instead of taking your journey one step at a time, you wonder if you have what it takes. Living in the moment takes practice but it's clear to me that this is one of the keys to mastery. Being mindful of where I am and what I'm doing will pay dividends in all aspects of my life.

Cory Smid
http://kungfucory.blogspot.ca/

A Spark...

I had a bit of an epiphany the other day. My girlfriend's nine year old daughter, Shae, is enrolled in MMA in Sherwood Park and so I wanted to watch one of her classes. She's only been at it for a couple of weeks but I was really impressed with her. Even when it was obvious she was tired, she kept going. Even when she was having trouble with some of the moves, she didn't quit, and she got better right away. 

After watching her class I realized a couple of things. First, kung fu is important to me. I haven't been to a class in months but I've thought about kung fu almost every day. Secondly, I'm setting a terrible example for her by sitting on the sidelines and letting innumerable opportunities pass me by. 

I've spoken before about being an "all or nothing" type person. If I don't do everything, I do nothing. It's easy to let things get out of control when you live life like that. Once you miss a few days, that turns into weeks, and those weeks turn into months. It gets to the point where you're embarrassed to return to class. Your fitness and skill erode. Your enthusiasm erodes along with it. But all it takes is one small spark to get the fire going again. Shae's enthusiasm provided that spark for me. 

Cory Smid
http://kungfucory.blogspot.ca/

Sunday Reflection

There are times when life seems so complicated and difficult and you wonder how you’re going to be able to juggle everything and do all the things that need doing. Then there are other times when life seems to just slow down and everything seems so simple. 

During the tough times, it’s hard to keep things in perspective. Everything is to the extreme. I don’t know how many times in the past few months I’ve done nothing because I couldn’t do everything. Doing nothing starts a pattern of inaction and it gets easier to continue doing nothing. And there are always reasons to stay on this path. Health problems, working out of town, time management problems; these are all reasons that may be perfectly valid, but, I think it’s important to recognize that no matter what happens, you always have a choice. I know there are times where I’ve felt sorry for myself when I had health issues and I ended up moping around and generally being unproductive. This was a choice. 

I feel like I’m in a much better place, mentally and physically, than I have been in a while. This is partially due to external factors, such as summer finally arriving, my health returning, etc. But the most important factor was just me deciding that I needed to get back to doing the things I was doing before. I may not be able to do everything, but something is always better than nothing. 

When I wrote this journal entry I specifically didn’t make any mention of Kung Fu. The reason is that I think this shows that engagement and attitude apply to all facets of life. I could have just as easily been writing about work or life in general but everything that I have written would still apply. I feel like the catalyst for my change was our Sheep Team meeting on the 9^th. There’s a lesson that Sifu Brinker is always trying to impart, and that’s to just show up and good things will happen. I believe this to be true, even if I forget sometimes.  

I'm Still Alive

I haven’t written a journal entry in quite a while. In fact, I haven’t done much of anything kung fu related in a while. I haven’t been to class and I’ve missed I Ho Chuan meetings. Over the past week I’ve resumed doing some training but I’m not doing it with a lot of enthusiasm. I’m hoping that by just going through the motions I can create some momentum.

Right now I regret joining the Sheep Team. My work schedule was made even more restrictive recently and if I can get to one class every two weeks I’ll be doing really well. And when I am home every other weekend, I don’t want to come to a Friday class; I want to spend that time with my friends or family or girlfriend. That’s the honest truth.  I feel like there isn’t a place in my life for kung fu right now. It’s not that I don’t see the benefits but there are other things that are more important to me and I can’t do both, at least not right now. I don’t anticipate things being like this forever, but for the near future, this is how it is.

I know that the I Ho Chuan program has a no quitting requirement. I don’t know what to say about that. I’ll be honest – I don’t know how to balance my work, personal life, and kung fu. I only have a few days per month to spend time with the people that are most important to me and I don’t know how to fulfill my commitment to the team at the same time.  

I’m not sure what I’m going to do but I thought I should at least write a journal entry and let everyone know that I’m still alive.