The Year of the Horse

This was my first year as a member of the I Ho Chuan, but it was also the end of my five years in China strictly dedicated to kung fu and my own personal development. I didn't realize what I was undertaking when I agreed to be part of the I Ho Chuan team, but really it couldn't have come at a better time for me. It took me a while to really get into the swing of things, but I achieved I'd say about 60% of my goals and I'm happy with the progress that I made.

The biggest thing I learned this year wasn't actually related to my goals directly, but was a result of having the goals and keeping track of my progress. This year was a difficult year for me. There was a lot of disappointment with the way the program ended, and some pretty bad feelings left between our Master and some of my fellow students.

This year he had basically left us on our own, and I had to figure out ways to keep myself motivated to practice, without any external discipline or motivation. I've always been pretty self disciplined. I go to practice on time of my own accord. I don't need someone to wake me up, even if I'm getting up a 440am. And when I get free time to practice, I try to take advantage of it as much as possible. But when you've learned all the curriculum that you're master is willing to teach, and there's no one there driving you, it's time to pull up your big girl pants and get down to it.

This was one of my biggest personal successes. I was one of the class members who still consistently went to training. I still worked on my basics daily. And I still meditated. I spent a lot of time practicing my Tai Ji and I kept up with my pushups and situps, and all of my other physical goals. Outside of class, I took on extra lessons from my calligraphy teacher and had some free one on one lessons with a guitar teacher. Having these goals kept me engaged even when most  of the rest of my classmates were left floundering. It helped me find my own internal inspiration and motivation for practice.

Coming home was a really tough transition, trying to figure out where my Kung Fu fit into my life in Canada. But heading back to the kwoon, and having the opportunity to read people's blogs, and talk with people who have read mine too. It was like just fitting back into the family. I'm not fully there yet, but I'm close, and I can't imagine how my training would be progressing (or not) if I didn't have such a positive, like minded group to come back to. I can't wait for the Year of the Sheep.