It's really been way too long since I've blogged. I doubt anyone's bothering to check it anymore. I'm a sort of lost cause when it comes to journaling. I love the feeling of picking up a pen and writing down my thoughts, but for some reason typing just doesn't do it for me. It's part of my new years resolution this year so I'm really gonna work at it...
I came back to Wudang and my training feeling completely renewed. I know that I will continue to struggle a lot over this next year, but being back here really reminds me of the purpose of being here and of the commitment that I've made. I've been approaching my training with a different attitude. And I'm not saying that the training isn't as difficult but I've been enjoying it more. Admittedly we haven't started running again yet, but I'm going to try to keep a positive attitude about that as well. I've only been here for a couple weeks but already I've sprained my ankle. It's healing faster than I expected.
Meditation is going really well. I was able to sit through a one hour meditation 2 days in a row. I've never been able to do this before so it was big progress for me.
Today it snowed and so we had class indoors. I don't generally enjoy training inside because it seems to get repetitive, but today we did some weight training and I've never felt so strong in my life. I did about 15 shoulder presses with about 24kg. I recall the last time we did it, I couldn't even hardly do 5 (with assistance from some of my kung fu brothers). This was really exciting for me. I'm already incredibly sore even though it was only about 7 hours ago, but the feeling of success is worth all the pain.
This week we also started a new form Tai Yi Wu Xing Quan. It was quite a surprise to be learning this form already. On the program plan it's a third year form. I'm really excited though. Brandi and I learned this form on our first visit to the school but I'm learning a lot relearning some of the moves. We've also been practicing dragon claw every day. Today after doing all those shoulder presses it was like torture but my hands are noticeably stronger already. Can't wait until I can hold myself up on my CLAWS! Grrrrr............
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Wednesday, 11 November 2009
Brrrrrr!!... Winter Arrives to Wudangshan
This week’s training has been the most rewarding for me so far.
Since the program started our Shifu has been training students for a tournament in Beijing. So although we did get a lot of personal attention, he was only available most days for one class per day. This week though, the tournament is over and done with and we’ve been getting his undivided attention. Which is awesome, but is definitely the most intense training we’ve had. It’s almost like the first week of the program all over again. Friday and Saturday’s classes were brutal, but I loved every one of them. We worked a lot on kicks and sanda (combat) training. Shifu taught us a new punch, kind of like a hook punch, for close range sparring. It’s pretty funny watching someone his size demonstrate close range combat with the biggest guy in the program. You can hardly see him pressed up against Evan’s midsection, but the instruction he gives is incredibly in depth and you can really see the transfer of power when he’s explaining it. I mean he’s about 5’7” and maybe 55kilos so it’s hard to believe someone his size can generate that much power in a single movement. But I’ve felt it, and it gives me hope.
The focus shields that we usually use here are not like the ones at home. It’s like punching a bag of sand. The first time we practiced thrust punches on them, I was really disappointed because I noticed that my wrists were not strong enough. It didn’t seem to matter how good my technique was, or how hard I punched, my wrists continuously folded. This time we were practicing and I really felt like I was transferring power. My wrists held up through at least 100 punches and I felt like I was getting real penetration of the shield. We’ve been practicing using our whole core section for punching and I noticed a huge difference. Because we’re spending so much time training, it’s not like you see daily improvement. It happens slowly, and so I really get excited when I do see a difference. Its small things like this that help me through the plateaus.
This Saturday we also had our first class on Taoist culture and theory. It was totally awesome! I’ve never really been a religious person, but I am a spiritual one. And Shifu talked about the Tao and how difficult it is to understand. He often makes the point that you can learn the Tao, and you can understand it, and you can know everything about it inside and out, but if you can’t apply it in your life then it’s useless. It’s important to understand it, but it’s also important to utilize it. He’s said it’s like practicing martial arts; at first you learn the forms, and you know the moves and the more you practice it the more skill you have. But if you don’t understand the movements, and the reasons behind them, then what’s the point?
The weather here this week has reminded me a lot of home. Friday and Saturday it was really hot. We were all out in tank tops, sweating our asses off. But since then it’s been cold and windy and rainy and this morning we woke up to a light layer of snow. It brings back some nostalgia and makes me more than a little home sick, but in perfect foreshadowing, this week Shifu also told us an old Chinese story that I really liked.
‘A student decides he wants to train and he goes looking for a master and everywhere he goes he carries a huge sack around on his back. He finds a master and when his master asks him what it is the sack, he tells him, “These are things I really love. My parents are in this sack, so they follow me wherever I go. I have food, and games, and my guitar. These things really make me happy so I keep them with me.” The master tells him to come with him and they go to the river. They take a boat and go across to the other shore. The master says to him “okay, now carry the boat with us.” And his student says “I cannot it’s too heavy.” Then his master says to him, “but it’s useful, we might need it, we should take it with us”. And his student says “yes but I cannot carry it around with me it’s impossible.” His master says “yes sometimes in life you have to leave things behind. Maybe even the things that you love.”
Since the program started our Shifu has been training students for a tournament in Beijing. So although we did get a lot of personal attention, he was only available most days for one class per day. This week though, the tournament is over and done with and we’ve been getting his undivided attention. Which is awesome, but is definitely the most intense training we’ve had. It’s almost like the first week of the program all over again. Friday and Saturday’s classes were brutal, but I loved every one of them. We worked a lot on kicks and sanda (combat) training. Shifu taught us a new punch, kind of like a hook punch, for close range sparring. It’s pretty funny watching someone his size demonstrate close range combat with the biggest guy in the program. You can hardly see him pressed up against Evan’s midsection, but the instruction he gives is incredibly in depth and you can really see the transfer of power when he’s explaining it. I mean he’s about 5’7” and maybe 55kilos so it’s hard to believe someone his size can generate that much power in a single movement. But I’ve felt it, and it gives me hope.
The focus shields that we usually use here are not like the ones at home. It’s like punching a bag of sand. The first time we practiced thrust punches on them, I was really disappointed because I noticed that my wrists were not strong enough. It didn’t seem to matter how good my technique was, or how hard I punched, my wrists continuously folded. This time we were practicing and I really felt like I was transferring power. My wrists held up through at least 100 punches and I felt like I was getting real penetration of the shield. We’ve been practicing using our whole core section for punching and I noticed a huge difference. Because we’re spending so much time training, it’s not like you see daily improvement. It happens slowly, and so I really get excited when I do see a difference. Its small things like this that help me through the plateaus.
This Saturday we also had our first class on Taoist culture and theory. It was totally awesome! I’ve never really been a religious person, but I am a spiritual one. And Shifu talked about the Tao and how difficult it is to understand. He often makes the point that you can learn the Tao, and you can understand it, and you can know everything about it inside and out, but if you can’t apply it in your life then it’s useless. It’s important to understand it, but it’s also important to utilize it. He’s said it’s like practicing martial arts; at first you learn the forms, and you know the moves and the more you practice it the more skill you have. But if you don’t understand the movements, and the reasons behind them, then what’s the point?
The weather here this week has reminded me a lot of home. Friday and Saturday it was really hot. We were all out in tank tops, sweating our asses off. But since then it’s been cold and windy and rainy and this morning we woke up to a light layer of snow. It brings back some nostalgia and makes me more than a little home sick, but in perfect foreshadowing, this week Shifu also told us an old Chinese story that I really liked.
‘A student decides he wants to train and he goes looking for a master and everywhere he goes he carries a huge sack around on his back. He finds a master and when his master asks him what it is the sack, he tells him, “These are things I really love. My parents are in this sack, so they follow me wherever I go. I have food, and games, and my guitar. These things really make me happy so I keep them with me.” The master tells him to come with him and they go to the river. They take a boat and go across to the other shore. The master says to him “okay, now carry the boat with us.” And his student says “I cannot it’s too heavy.” Then his master says to him, “but it’s useful, we might need it, we should take it with us”. And his student says “yes but I cannot carry it around with me it’s impossible.” His master says “yes sometimes in life you have to leave things behind. Maybe even the things that you love.”
Friday, 9 October 2009
My Creative Side
So my friend Cam went on a short holiday for moon festival and while he was gone, I watched his room and fed his fish and turtles. As a gift for this incredibly difficult task, he brought me back watercolour paints, brushes and paper. As I looked at all these art supplies I thought to myself "Wow, Cam's gone totally crazy".
Outside of my martial arts, I don't spend a lot of time expressing my creativity. Actually outside of Kung Fu I don't really have a lot of creativity. I was almost dreading our date to paint this Thursday. I had no inspiration, I was so scared I would just end up staring at a blank piece of paper for an hour. So during lunch, I was telling some of my friends about the dreaded painting, and a friend, Jon, suggested I paint his portrait. I laughed really hard and sort of shrugged off the idea but by the time lunch was over I had decided to do it.
Cam and I spent hours sitting on the floor of his room, just playing around with the watercolours and by the time we were finished I had painted four pictures. Now, I don't claim that any of them are masterpieces but I was really shocked and amazed at how much fun I had. I did paint a portrait of Jon and today I gave it to him. And although obviously not done by a professional, he really enjoyed it. I actually had some other people ask me to paint portraits of them. I've found a side of myself that I never knew was there and a way to share it with other people... Very exciting!
Outside of my martial arts, I don't spend a lot of time expressing my creativity. Actually outside of Kung Fu I don't really have a lot of creativity. I was almost dreading our date to paint this Thursday. I had no inspiration, I was so scared I would just end up staring at a blank piece of paper for an hour. So during lunch, I was telling some of my friends about the dreaded painting, and a friend, Jon, suggested I paint his portrait. I laughed really hard and sort of shrugged off the idea but by the time lunch was over I had decided to do it.
Cam and I spent hours sitting on the floor of his room, just playing around with the watercolours and by the time we were finished I had painted four pictures. Now, I don't claim that any of them are masterpieces but I was really shocked and amazed at how much fun I had. I did paint a portrait of Jon and today I gave it to him. And although obviously not done by a professional, he really enjoyed it. I actually had some other people ask me to paint portraits of them. I've found a side of myself that I never knew was there and a way to share it with other people... Very exciting!
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
A Day Off!!
This week so far has been totally awesome. We've been working our butts off but it's really paid off as far as I'm concerned. It seems that the days that we're fresh, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday they really push us hard, and then Monday and Tuesday we do a lot more Tai Qi and meditation. Wednesday(today), is normally our demonstration day but Master Yuan is filming a movie with Jackie Chan today so we get the day off. Well.. not exactly. We still got up and ran at 5am this morning and had our morning Qi Gong class. But it seems so much easier when in your mind you know that once it's over you get to rest.
Last night we had to demonstrate our basic form in front of the class, one at a time. Although I was pretty nervous, and I made some mistakes, it was a really positive experience. Training with the same group of people every day is sometimes frustrating. But last night we were all cheering each other on and encouraging one another. It felt like a sports team or something, not that I've ever been on a sports team. But it was a nice 'bonding' experience.
We've also been working a lot on flexibility training, We usually work in pairs and I find this very encouraging as well. There's so many people with different levels of flexibility but everyone's pushing one another and helping each other stretch past that comfort point. Sometimes it's painful but the results speak for themselves. Yesterday morning, after we had all finished our stretching exercises, Master Yuan gave us a flexibility demonstration. He wasn't warmed up at all, but can fold himself up into a pretzel. Pretty impressive. He did chin to toe with both feet. He says, "oh one side very easy, two sides very difficult." Crazy... Sometimes I don't even believe what I see. His muscles are so relaxed they are soft to the touch. Unless of course, he's using them to kick your ass. Bwahaha.
I'm really enjoying the training so far. Just trying to take it one day at a time. I'm just glad to have an extra day of rest to recover a bit. I am sore everywhere!
Last night we had to demonstrate our basic form in front of the class, one at a time. Although I was pretty nervous, and I made some mistakes, it was a really positive experience. Training with the same group of people every day is sometimes frustrating. But last night we were all cheering each other on and encouraging one another. It felt like a sports team or something, not that I've ever been on a sports team. But it was a nice 'bonding' experience.
We've also been working a lot on flexibility training, We usually work in pairs and I find this very encouraging as well. There's so many people with different levels of flexibility but everyone's pushing one another and helping each other stretch past that comfort point. Sometimes it's painful but the results speak for themselves. Yesterday morning, after we had all finished our stretching exercises, Master Yuan gave us a flexibility demonstration. He wasn't warmed up at all, but can fold himself up into a pretzel. Pretty impressive. He did chin to toe with both feet. He says, "oh one side very easy, two sides very difficult." Crazy... Sometimes I don't even believe what I see. His muscles are so relaxed they are soft to the touch. Unless of course, he's using them to kick your ass. Bwahaha.
I'm really enjoying the training so far. Just trying to take it one day at a time. I'm just glad to have an extra day of rest to recover a bit. I am sore everywhere!
Thursday, 10 September 2009
I never know how to start...
The first week of the program is over. I've been trying to keep it simple and take it one day at a time. It's pretty overwhelming thinking that I'm planning to spend the next 5 years of my life training like I've trained this week. We get up at 5am and run 6 days a week. I've never run so much in my life. On saturday we actually ended up running for something like 50minutes. If someone had asked me if I could run a half hour I would've said no. But I have no watch and once you reach a certain point of exhaustion, you just can't waste the energy trying to figure out. You just push yourself as hard as you can and hope for the best.
The first week of the program is over. I've been trying to keep it simple and take it one day at a time. It's pretty overwhelming thinking that I'm planning to spend the next 5 years of my life training like I've trained this week. We get up at 5am and run 6 days a week. I've never run so much in my life. On saturday we actually ended up running for something like 50minutes. If someone had asked me if I could run a half hour I would've said no. But I have no watch and once you reach a certain point of exhaustion, you just can't waste the energy trying to figure out. You just push yourself as hard as you can and hope for the best.
Friday, 28 August 2009
Well again it's been quite some time since I blogged.
Back in Wudang again. And it`s very exciting. It`s been great to reconnect with some of our friends here. And it`s been especially great to spend some time with our master again. He`s just got a lot of charisma and is really full of inspiration.
Brandi and I just got internet in our room.. So my plan is to start blogging once a week. A friend here, David Wei (the one who wrote the article about the women of wudang) suggested that it would be a really cool idea if Brandi and I journalled weekly for our five years here. So people could follow our transformation. Although I`ve heard this before, I need to be reminded regularly. Playing on the computer is not my favourite pastime. Just add it to the routine.
So on to the training. It`s been way more intense so far than last time even. Arg. We get up at 530am for Qi Gong and Tai Qi. And even though I`m not really a morning person, this is my favourite part of the day. Probably because the rest of it feels like torture Our fist class is from 830 to around 11. We do our hour of basics and then just practice forms. The program hasn`t actually started yet so we`re just working on the stuff we learned before. Once the program starts the setup of our classes will be much more structured. We don`t have class again until 7 pm (because it`s ridiculously hot during the day). This class is usually the most brutal. Generally for basics we do kicks and then practice forms again. But the end of class for the last few nights we`ve been doing extra strength training on top of everything. We do like 50 burpees, or we do over 100 squats, low back stances, jumping training... etc. I can easily say I`ve never sweated so much in my life. Or been this sore.
I`ve been going through a lot of mental stress at ths point too. It`s very frustrating when it seems like you get less and less flexible, and more and more sore, and don`t really see an improvement. I`m sure after I get more conditioned this will be better, but at this point it`s very discouraging.
On a cooler note: the last couple days it`s been raining here. So we`ve been training inside. Last night we practiced tumbling and doing kipups(which was unsuccessful for me) and then today we practiced push hands. It`s been really fun. My backs pretty sore today but maybe this will give my legs a bit of time to recover. All in all, I`m really excited to start the program, and I`ve never been so scared.
Back in Wudang again. And it`s very exciting. It`s been great to reconnect with some of our friends here. And it`s been especially great to spend some time with our master again. He`s just got a lot of charisma and is really full of inspiration.
Brandi and I just got internet in our room.. So my plan is to start blogging once a week. A friend here, David Wei (the one who wrote the article about the women of wudang) suggested that it would be a really cool idea if Brandi and I journalled weekly for our five years here. So people could follow our transformation. Although I`ve heard this before, I need to be reminded regularly. Playing on the computer is not my favourite pastime. Just add it to the routine.
So on to the training. It`s been way more intense so far than last time even. Arg. We get up at 530am for Qi Gong and Tai Qi. And even though I`m not really a morning person, this is my favourite part of the day. Probably because the rest of it feels like torture Our fist class is from 830 to around 11. We do our hour of basics and then just practice forms. The program hasn`t actually started yet so we`re just working on the stuff we learned before. Once the program starts the setup of our classes will be much more structured. We don`t have class again until 7 pm (because it`s ridiculously hot during the day). This class is usually the most brutal. Generally for basics we do kicks and then practice forms again. But the end of class for the last few nights we`ve been doing extra strength training on top of everything. We do like 50 burpees, or we do over 100 squats, low back stances, jumping training... etc. I can easily say I`ve never sweated so much in my life. Or been this sore.
I`ve been going through a lot of mental stress at ths point too. It`s very frustrating when it seems like you get less and less flexible, and more and more sore, and don`t really see an improvement. I`m sure after I get more conditioned this will be better, but at this point it`s very discouraging.
On a cooler note: the last couple days it`s been raining here. So we`ve been training inside. Last night we practiced tumbling and doing kipups(which was unsuccessful for me) and then today we practiced push hands. It`s been really fun. My backs pretty sore today but maybe this will give my legs a bit of time to recover. All in all, I`m really excited to start the program, and I`ve never been so scared.
Saturday, 20 June 2009
One Chin Up
So I don't have anything too exciting to blog about.
I've had a problem surface in my journey towards black belt.
It happens to be this leadership project. It's weird because I've always considered myself a leader in many ways but I can't seem to come up with something simple enough to accomplish. I was working with someone from the wagner society out by stony to do a naturalization project (tree planting and whatnot) but they were short on trees and I couldn't come up with them so the project fell through. Failure.. Boo..
But I'm taking it in stride because I did have a small breakthrough this week. I've been working on trying to do an unnassisted chin up for I don't know how long but I have been making no progress on the issue..
This week however I did one. And it felt great. That's the breakthrough.. now that I've done one.. I know I can do more. It's not an impossible dream because I've accomplished it. Yay!! That's about all I have to say about that.
Also.. I would like to add that I've been thoroughly enjoying the monday wednesday evening classes.. so thanks to all the sifus, sihings, and students that make the classes what they are!
I've had a problem surface in my journey towards black belt.
It happens to be this leadership project. It's weird because I've always considered myself a leader in many ways but I can't seem to come up with something simple enough to accomplish. I was working with someone from the wagner society out by stony to do a naturalization project (tree planting and whatnot) but they were short on trees and I couldn't come up with them so the project fell through. Failure.. Boo..
But I'm taking it in stride because I did have a small breakthrough this week. I've been working on trying to do an unnassisted chin up for I don't know how long but I have been making no progress on the issue..
This week however I did one. And it felt great. That's the breakthrough.. now that I've done one.. I know I can do more. It's not an impossible dream because I've accomplished it. Yay!! That's about all I have to say about that.
Also.. I would like to add that I've been thoroughly enjoying the monday wednesday evening classes.. so thanks to all the sifus, sihings, and students that make the classes what they are!
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