The Gift of Focus

Over the years of training in kung fu, one skill I have worked on and continue to work on is the skill and ability to focus on whatever it is I wish to perfect.

This is the time of year I feel excited for those who have put so much work into their goals. It all amounts to concentrated minutes in front of their peers, Sifus,  friends and family.
The hours and hours spent practicing come shining through as they focus on the pinnacle moment.

I admire that and I applaud that.

No matter the outcome, whether its absolute perfection or creative improvising, the Focus in the moment is what I admire most.


Good Luck to the I Ho Chuan team but most of all have Fun!

Get a Grip! or 2

Running on a treadmill is different than running on a track.
Running on a track is different than running outdoors.
Running in the summer is different than running in the winter!


took up running lately, or a least I try and imitate those running people. I thought winter was the down time until I found these little guys.. they just strap on the bottom and away I trudge...

When you run on slushy snow , its like running on a sandy beach..well ...with alot of imagination!

How do I train smarter?

This time of year is buzzing...
In the Kwoon everyone is busy reaching goals and polishing their end product. While others are busy setting goals for the up and coming.
I, as well, have some beastly size goals this year and admittedly, probably more than I can handle but, I have committed myself to them so time to train smart.

We all write down on paper what we want to achieve  but I'm a firm believer in measuring progress if you can.
Record  where you are at with your present skills and write down what you would like to achieve by the years end.
Now the tricky part is the path to get me there. Too often I fly out of the gate, tackle everything in three months then find myself exhausted , bored from the repetition, sore every morning from aching muscles and really not quite sure if I have made any progress.


During class yesterday, I had a quick but valuable conversation with some of the Sihings. They reminded me of a couple of key aspects to goal setting. One is frequency and the other was recovery.
If I want to progress I need to practice something with quality and frequently but also allow the body to recover and rebuild so the next time I train the body has adapted and improved its reaction to the physical stress.


Something like this.....

If the body is put into a situation of overload(physical work stress) its capacity to deal with it decreases. During the recovery period(rest time) the body's work capacity increases to a level greater than the original.
The strategy is not to let the recovery time lapse too much, so as to find yourself starting from scratch again. That being said, not to get back at it again too soon where a person is over-training and defeating themselves.

So here I go...
practice what I preach ,right!

Thanks for the quick but valuable chat, Sihings, Chervenka, Csillag and Tymchuk!!