Running to stand still....

As many of us know, twenty of Sifu Brinker’s student’s are in the middle of the Ultimate Black Belt Test. Most are close to or half way through the one year commitment. I am not sure if they know how inspirational there blogs are to the rest of us. Like any challenge it sure is nice to get a little encouragement from others. So if you have a chance to jump in and give a little support I am sure it would be appreciated.
An example is almost if not all involved have a commitment of 50,000 pushups to fulfill within the year. This is a daily challenge feel free to approach them and drop and do a set of twenty or thirty. Talk to them about their test you may find they are completing a task you can help them with.
I would like to offer some sparring rounds if anybody is behind on their 1000 round’s requirement.

This was my post on kwoon talk today after a talk with Sifu Brinker. The Ultimate black belt test may not be for everyone, but everyone can help. I think it is a little tough for a student to look up to a teacher and offer help. Everyone can use a little encouragement even if it is a peer or superior.

Brady

A little inspiration can go a long way. Today was encouraging; I received merit towards my next level and objective. With that I was given direction and a challenge. I came home forwent my coffee and the news. Went down stairs and combo kicked my big bag for another ½ hour. Combinations are my last stripe to receive on my orange belt. Not that I don’t like my orange belt it is very comfortable but I have had it now for almost six years. Classes are done for May on to June. June’s goal setting………
It’s tough to really concentrate on any but my family work and Kung Fu right now. I am going on vacation in two weeks and all I can think about is how I can incorporate Kung Fu into our trip. Our timeshare is Las Vegas first thought would be Vegas that is the farthest thing from kung fu and a kung fu lifestyle anybody could choose. After further research it really has much more to offer then the obvious. I can’t wait to have a few hours a day to dedicate to my training.
Back to goal setting for June.

· Refocus on Body for Life even on vacation (full work outs) (use free day)
· Three books and finish Zen and art of motorcycle maintenance.
· Combinations 20 reps one combo daily as warm up for workout
· 100 pushups everyday
· Work towards combination’s stripe and next level
· Complete boot camp June 27th.

Today I also witnessed two students in our class promoted to brown belt. Congrats Ms. Prince and Mr. Gamble, Again very inspirational.

Brady

Over come and adapt.
Question do you allow yourself to fail at a goal or do you reevaluate and adapt?
If you accept failure to soon are you being too soft on yourself?
It looks as though I am going to fail at my goal to move my level to where I wanted to by June 13th. I am sure that I am now looking at August early September. I have achieved other goals that I had not set out to do, and I am happy with those.
I had a bad week pulled muscles in back and fighting of cold were more than my intestinal fortitude could take. I missed my first class since my return to kung fu. I missed my theory test a chance at a stripe I am very prepared for. This then leaves one more requirement for knives defense which I reviewed and tested today. 100% attendance was and is still a major goal. Missing one class is not acceptable and cost me. I need to re focus and focus on some success. Hmmmmm Kempo 2 yeah that will do it. Learn and repeat let’s say 3 weeks 200 reps. Ok done deal.

On another note I am three weeks away from vacation time. Fran and I are going to use our timeshare in Las Vegas for seven days. We plan on going to the Grand Canyon for the first time and hope to see the sun set. I have also researched an ancient Joshua tree sanctuary about 50 miles south of Vegas we would like to go take in. Then it’s a whole lot of relaxation after our body for life workout every morning of course. I have set a goal of two books read by the end of the trip but I am hoping for three.

Computer died, sorry Oliver killed it. Ok I am over it that took me almost two weeks.

April is in the books and on to May. Reached most of my goals. Read two books to complete.

American Shaolin by Matthew Polly was a very entertaining read. Mr. Polly trained at shaolin temple in the early 90’s. As an American he was the only non Chinese training.

Zen wrapped in karma dipped in chocolate very enjoyable with some things that really got me to thinking. I would really like to dig deeper in to meditation. Hmmmmmmm.

I prepared for the tiger challenge. On May 2nd the entire family competed in the tiger challenge. The entire day was incredible. Here are the highlights of a perfect day.
Woke up with no alarm at 7:30 entire household is excited. I am nervous more about the sparring then anything. We arrived at the TLC around 9:00 am. We all watched the opening Lion dance and Oliver caught some lucky lettuce. Oliver was up first with the crane stance competition he lasted 15 seconds but home was up around 40 seconds. I think he was getting the jitters out.
At the same time they were calling for adult sparring so I had to go get ready for that.
Over the next two hours Frances Oliver and I competed in 8 competitions. We all did great. I don’t think it was all about the medals but I am sure proud of Oliver with his four medals and Frances with her two.
The rest of the day was spiritual. We watched forms and sparring until the very end.
Sifu Prince with a reverse knife hand broke a board that Sihing Regeir was holding with two fingers. WOW!
Another incredible moment was turning around to see Oliver doing pushups with Sifu Edge on the main mats. She is an awesome teacher and I am very happy Oliver has been introduced to Kung fu by her.

We came home had a family hot tub some tea and watched Kung fu panda on TV.

PERFECT DAY.

I have reset some goals for May. I still find it tough to write my accomplishments down hence why I did not blog my results of the tiger challenge even know they were very good. I get much more enjoyment seeing Oliver and Frances excel.

Will blog goals for May next.

BY

I am committed and feel like I belong. I am living up to the 100% attendance. Quickly I have added to the base of my training. San Shou on Tuesday nights and running after class Monday and Wednesdays.

Frances and I participated in the 24 hour forms marathon. We were very excited and were the lowest belts that did partake. We arrived almost 45minuites before our scheduled time slot. This was 2:00 am to 4:00 am. After a short warm up and adding 50 push ups each to the count we fell into the rotation.

Starting with only three forms in my repertoire I felt I would try to work on center. Quickly I realized this was an almost surreal environment. Time flew by and by the end I had been taught two new forms. Kempo 1 was first and I completed the form 25 times. I really enjoy this form. Then I learnt Hung 1. This was my first time training under Sifu Davis it was great experience he talked to me about my stances and kung fu in general. Sifu Bryant explained hung 1 to me and I picked up the basics of hung quickly.

The group dynamic was casual yet still very respectful. As a group we completed almost 1000 push ups in our two hour contribution. I completed close to one hundred forms and 300 push ups. I feel honoured to be involved with such a great group of people.

On a totally random thought I came across a quote that really hit home hard for me.


“You only realize how valuable your treasure is when you see someone else holding it”
Zhou Xuan-Yun Daoist monk

I wish I did not have to learn this with such a harsh lesson. But I will cherish my treasure and have been taught a life tutorial.

B