Trying something new

Well, it's been quite a while since I've blogged. I know that is not acceptable and I haven't been getting the full benefit of doing it weekly or more so from now on I will be on top of that. 

First off I want to voice a few frustrations I'm having with my training. I really didn't take care of my body in my younger years of Kung fu and other sports, and I know it sounds bad coming from a 16 year old but I am already feeling the affects. I am learning the hard way that everything physical I do or don't do has significant affects on my body. After a long day of Kung fu or other physical activity, it worries my that I lose sleep at night from aches and pains in my joints. 

All this being said I feel excited because I will be trying new things and approaching my training differently. Talking to many people (Sihing Donohue being one of them) I have decided to go gluten free. This won't be easy for me as I am in love with my breads and carbs, but my Mom has also decided to do it with me which should help make it easier. I am making other changes like setting a stretching routine, adding daily workouts, etc. But changing my diet so drastically will be the most significant and probably the most difficult. I look forward to blogging about my experiences with it in the future.

Start with why

During my time in India my Grandfather was reading a book called "Start With Why". Throughout the time we were there he kept telling me things he learned from the book. At first it was kind of annoying, hearing things I didn't understand over and over such as: "start with why" and "your why is your decision maker". At first none of this made sense to me until I really thought about it... My grandpa is a business man and although the book is geared toward business and being a business leader, I believe the message is universal. I still haven't read the entire book (because my Grandpa likes to keep it with him at all times) but I did read the first part and get a summary of it from him. The book starts by giving you examples of people who "started with why" in history. The first example is the Wright brothers, who we all know are the world's first to achieve powered flight. But it contrasts their story with that of another man who had the same ambition as them: to achieve flight. This man had extensive education, a qualified team behind him, and plenty of funding from the government. While none of the Wright brother's team had any post-secondary education, or funding besides their small bicycle shop. Yet the educated, qualified man failed and the Wright brothers succeeded. Why? Because they had their 'why'. The other man only wanted to successfully build a flying craft so he could have WHAT he wanted: money, fame, etc. The Wright brothers didn't want to fly because of WHAT they would get if they did it, but they did it because they had a WHY. They saw birds in the sky and dreamed of man one day being able to do the same thing. They wanted it deep inside them. That's why they succeeded, while the other man, though greater qualified, failed. In fact, once he found out the Wright brothers had "beat him to it" he quit. Because he only wanted it for the results. The what.
The book goes on to list many more examples: Apple computers, Martin Luther King Jr., etc. but how does this relate to us? Our lives? Even our Kung fu? I remember several times Sifu Brinker saying in I Ho Chuan meetings to people who are struggling: ask yourself why you are struggling, why you aren't doing your requirements, why you are doing your requirements, etc. Our brains have two different ways of thinking: rationally and irrationally. Or, "how and what" (rational thoughts) and "why" (irrational thoughts). Here are some analogies my Grandpa used to help this makes sense to me: think of a person trying to lose weight, when suddenly they see a cookie. Their rational brain tells them the cookie is bad for them and won't help them lose weight, but the irrational part of the brain REALLY wants that cookie. So the person ends up eating the cookie because their irrational brain is more influential. Here's the other analogy (this one was fitting for India): imagine a person riding on an elephant. The person knows exactly where he wants to go, and how to get there. But the elephant doesn't want to do what the rider says, it sees something that interests it and wonders off path. These analogies helped me to make sense of all this. Think of your kung fu: we go to class to sweat our butts off, beat on each other and learn technique after technique after technique... If someone asks you what you do it for you may say: "To stay in shape" or "Learn self defense" or you might even come up with a better answer. But do those reasons really keep us coming night after night, all year round, year after year? I personally don't think so. I think it's the feeling we get being around our classmates, the valuable lessons we learn about ourselves, others and our lives, the atmosphere and environment we get to train in, the incredible people we meet with the same passions and dreams as us, the feeling of home and family when we walk into the Kwoon. Those are the reasons why we keep coming back.
So to anyone (such as myself) who is struggling in their family lives, school, work, Kung fu, or whatever else it may be. Ask yourself why, because when we lose sight of our why, we lose motivation and perseverance.
I hope this made at least a bit of sense and got you thinking as much as it did for me!

Good Deeds

Doing and recording my acts of kindness has made me realize a few important things. One of which has to do with growing up. Even so often I'll find myself doing, saying, or not doing something that I did normally as a child. I'll stop myself and suddenly think of the impact my action has had on another person, or myself. Things we do without even thinking about can seem small, but have a profound impact on someone else. With each person we see throughout the day, we should ask ourselves: "what kind of impact did I have on that person?" I happened to be thinking about this when my grandparents took me and my brother out for dinner this weekend. Having already ordered my food, I reflected on how I treated our server. Of course I remembered using the common courtesies of "please and thank you" but I noticed I hadn't even looked at the waitress. I decided that when she came back to deliver our meals, I would try to be more mindful of how I treated her. I really tried to be as pleasant as I could, and thought I noticed a difference in how she was acting. I'm not sure if it was just the fact that I was paying more attention to her, or if I did brighten her mood a little. After eating dessert, my grandpa wanted to go for coffee, so we walked down the street while my grandma stayed and waited for the bill. When we got back my grandma had told me that our waitress had payed for mine and my brother's dessert. After looking for her to thank her unsuccessfully, I wondered if just the way I acted really had that much of a ripple effect that she decided to go out of her way to do something really nice, or (since I guessed she was close to my brother and I's age) if she thought I was hitting on her. Either way, my family and I left happier, and I hope I made her day just a little bit better as well.

New weapon, new structure, new country

To start off, I love my new weapons. My twin hooks are totally different from anything I've ever used before. Every time I pick them up I find myself baffled on what to do with them. Surprisingly, this has gotten me really excited. Unlike other weapons I've tried that seem to have a similarity about them when it comes to use, these are almost completely new and different to me. Although they share some similarities with escrima sticks, double broadswords, etc. that I've used in the past, they just have so many hooks, points and striking surfaces. I have numerous scratches on my forearms and wrists already just from playing around with them. I feel excited to be trying a new thing and "start from scratch" (excuse my pun).

As far as structure goes, I've been taking a different approach to it that definitely works better for me. Getting up in the morning and doing pushups isn't new to me, but previously I only did it when I could wake up on time and it was convenient. Now I'm getting up consistently and getting my pushups and situps done in the morning, which, as said many times is the right way to do it as it sets a standard for the day. One thing I am really stuggling with, however, is my afternoons. Particularily getting all my homework done around everything else. With one of my personal requirements being: "keeping my core school subjects at or above an 85% average" this is a problem with me. Advancing through grades in elementary, middle, and high school I've always been quite a bit slower at school work than my classmates. I almost never finish my tests when everyone else does, and have to take time after school or at lunch to do so. Also, homework that takes most average students an hour to finish normally takes me two-three hours. My work is generally good, but it just takes me a lot longer than most people. I am honestly struggling to find a balance with this.

This spring break I'm taking a trip to India with my grandfather. Obviously I'm exstatic about getting the opportunity to experience a completely different culture and environment! I should have wi-fi at the hotel and will use my grandpa's laptop to keep in touch and share my experiences with my team when I am gone. Just wanted to share that because of how pumped I am about it!
  

Happy New Year!

Starting off, I would just like to say how awesome the banquet was this year. I really enjoyed performing with my teammates. The Dragon Dance and demos really showed how we came together as a team.

I have mixed emotions about the coming year. I feel excitement for a new beginning as well as the nervousness associated with undertaking a big challenge. I'm sure many of my teammates share these same feelings.

What I am looking forward to most this year, as last year, is the team getting together for extra practices. It is a lot easier to train with others with similar goals than alone. I hope we can get to this stage right off the bat because it is such a teambuilding activity. A lot of us, last year, found these 'out of class' practices very motivating. I really like the idea of having a scheduled time slot on Fridays for practicing whatever the team sees fit because we didn't have one last year until summer. I am really excited to see where we can go with this already in place because I really saw us come together when we stared getting together regularly.

Lastly, the best piece of advice I heard last year was, "Succeed publicly and fail publicly." This is very important because if you're struggling but nobody knows, it is impossible to get help. This works the other way as well. If you are succeeding but nobody knows about it, are you really succeeding?

I made a blog

I'll post a real blog soon