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.

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!

Reinspired

I sometimes find it difficult to remain inspired. I love the martial arts and I can't wait to go back to China when all I have to worry about is my consistent improvement. But I find sometimes I get wrapped up in the monotony of my life. Get up, go to work, go to class, and go to bed. Then get up, go to work, train and then go to bed. I fit time in for some other things in there too, but mainly this is what my life consists of. I get stuck, and instead of finding new and exciting things, I find myself sometimes drawn into the laziness of routine. A slave to pressure to become a complete robot.
I was feeling a bit like this for the past couple of weeks. I wouldn't use the word bored, but a bit discouraged. I was less excited to practice, mostly because I don't think I've been improving much. We had a class on Friday night and Master Brinker talked to us about how it only takes 15 minutes to drastically improve one technique, if you're practicing mindfully with the right intensity. So I've decided to up the ante for myself a bit. I've set some new goals for myself this month. I'm going to finish, 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' and it's corresponding questions, and I'm going to break boards. It's one of the requirements that I'm most uncomfortable with.
Meeting Master McNeil this weekend really made me realize that as much as the physical aspects of Kung Fu are important, so are the spiritual. It takes a lot of spirit sometimes to keep yourself going. To push through the doubts and setbacks, and to grow as a person, as well as a martial artist. Kung Fu has made me the person I am today, and I continue training not only for self defense, but for my future.
So that I can persevere in my personal battle against apathy.

The Tournament

I felt slightly pressured to blog.
Although it's not a bad thing to blog, I just rarely get the access to a computer. I thought today would be perfect. Long weekend. Plenty of extra time not having to work and all...

I wanted to jabber a bit about the tournament.
Really it was one of my greatest experiences. I'm not much for tournaments, since, I went in one when I was an orange belt. That was a pretty long time ago. I just kind of decided that wasn't where I wanted to go with my Kung Fu. I thought it was all about showing off. But I am a lot more mature now and see the advantages to competing.

It made me specialize practice in my two favourite forms. I loved every second of practicing those forms for the tournament. A couple months ago I wouldn't have said they were my two favourite forms but after spending so much time on them I was really happy with the improvement that I felt in both. Kempo, I've known so long I almost zone out sometimes when I'm doing it. It's like when I'm finished, I can't really remember doing the form, only that I've arrived at the end. I really had to start focusing on all the details and I've become completely fascinated with it. And my horse hair whisk form, was one of the most difficult forms I've had to learn. I have a long way to go but I was happy with the improvement.

I really had a positive experience at the tournament as well. I enjoyed helping out at ringside, watching a lot of the other belt levels compete. It's the first time I've been to a tournament in years and to see such good sportsmanship and positive attitudes really got me excited. Even with the younger competitors who can't seem to help but love a bit of the glory, acted with a lot of respect towards one another. I was really thrilled to see that.

When it was my turn I was definitely more nervous than I expected, I felt a lot more emotional than I expected, but I made it through. Afterwards I was thinking that I should have entered more. That's how things go sometimes. I wasn't brave enough to just get up there and do everything. But I felt brave enough afterwards. Ha ha. Where were you courage??

I discovered that tournaments can certainly be used as a tool for improvement. Once I got up there and did my forms, it didn't matter what medal I got, if any. What mattered was that it was a victory for myself. I feel stronger mentally, I'm inspired again by what Kung Fu does for me, and I have visible improvement in my forms. I mean if that's not success I don't know what is. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Our Way Home

So we left Wudang a whole 3 days ago but it feels like ages...
I'm really sad. There's just something so amazing about waking up every day and knowing you're going to spend the whole day doing something you're passionate about. Of course there's parts of the training that almost feel like torture but when you can see better results all the time it makes those times feel so much more important.

Our last couple days of travel have been pretty bad. Spent seven hours in hard seats on the train from Wudang to Wuhan. Then our taxi driver couldn't find our hostel so he chose to drop us off on the side of a dark road in the pouring rain to fend for ouselves... people amaze me sometimes. Anyways, we got another taxi who also couldn't find our hostel but at least dropped us off at a pretty decent hotel. We visited a Daoist temple the next day which was certainly the highlight of our time in Wuhan. The monks there were really friendly and nice. I don't think it was a very touristy temple. We got more stares than normal. Hahaha.

Sleeping on the train was really great. I mean we had beds, but you can't sit up in them so we spent 17 hours laying down. Can't complain too much.. better than 17 hours sitting.

Shanghai has been really good. We've been surprisingly busy... going here and there, looking for this and that. We went looking for a silk market yesterday which we didn't find, but found alot of other things instead. Including some silk. Haha. That's just the way things work sometimes.

Pretty much since we left I've really just been looking forward to getting home. Big cities are really not my thing so I'm glad we're leaving tomorrow. Not looking forward to getting up at 530am though.

Since I haven't packed yet.... that's the end of this post.

Coming to a close

Hey so it seems like forever since I've blogged so it's gonna be a long one. Around Christmas time I started to have some major problems with my lower back. Major problems to the point where sometimes I was bed ridden because I couldn't sit and could only stand for short periods of time. Also one of the reasons I haven't blogged in ages.

So it's been about 10 to 14 days now since I stopped going for acupuncture. I feel alot better. I've really recovered well. The training's going really well. I finished my horse whisk form (which I swear is definitely the most difficult form I've ever learned) and just a few days ago finished Tai Chi 28. The next form I'm planning on learning is the most basic one (which I should have started with). Live and learn.

I've made a kind of crazy decision. There's a program being run by the headmaster of our school here (Master Yuan), which is either 3 or 5 years long depending on how far you want to take it and so I've decided to at least do the 3 year program. It's basically all of the forms of the school and includes some hard chi gong and alot of internal training. I'm really looking forward to it. It starts in September. It's become almost like a second home here. Me and Brandi have really become close to quite a few of the students.

I've also started training Iron palm which I surprisingly really love.. I'm not sure yet what it is that I love about it but the benefit is definitely obvious.. it's a 3 year process so it's a pretty big commitment in itself. I also plan to do other iron body training which I'm also really looking forward to.

So we're leaving in less than 2 weeks which I'm excited about and sad about. I really don't want to return to the working force for any amount of time but I'm sure it will reap it's benefits in the end. I can't wait to see everyone when I come home....!!!!!

My First 3 Weeks

So Brandi and I have been training now for almost 3 weeks. I love it here. It's really different not having to worry about work and what's happening on the weekend with my friends. Considering I don't really have a weekend.

We train outside in a old temple that is currently being renovated. Which is wonderful. I can't remember the last time I got so much fresh air. We train usually starting in the morning at 630am with the 5 animals qi gong. Our first class is from 830 to about 11 and the second class is from 3 to 5. I've done more kicks in the past 3 weeks than I probably have in a year but it's nice because the only thing on my mind usually is how sore I'm going to be tomorrow. I don't have to cook because all the meals are provided. Although I love cooking and I miss it, I'm usually so exhausted that I'm just happy there's always food to eat.

Master Yuan is an amazing instructor. I don't know many people who understand their bodies as well as he does. I think you could probably see every ropy muscle in his body. I aspire to understand myself this well sometime. I have a long way to go. We've been practicing a really cool Tai Yi form. I've never seen or heard of it before. It's strengthened my body in a way that I didn't even know that it was weak. My posture is improved and when I practice my forms, I can already see an increase in speed and timing.

The past 3 days I've been pretty sick with the flu and it's hard to recover when my body is under so much stress but I've still gone to every class. I'm starting to finally feel better. I thought I knew what I wanted to do when I come back. But I've realized that I haven't actually made any decisions except one. I'm going to continue my study in the martial arts... I'm going to enjoy my time here, it seems like it's going to fast already. I'll make those decisions when the time comes.. live in the moment....