Rhythm disruption

Lately I feel like I am achieving something with my training.

Its not a great leap into some new level but more like emerging from a plateau I have been at for a long time. I think I have to attribute some of this to helping with Sifu Bryant’s morning class. The students have great questions and observations that in turn teach me something as well. I have also been enjoying the benefits of morning training as I have had some company. If its not Sifu Stoddard then I have the company of Sihing Choy and Robinson to help with motivation in the early morning.

Watching students apply themselves in preparation for their next level (black belt)has always inspired me and motivated me. I forget the energy it brings to an individual when they are preparing to put it all on the line, that first grading seems to carry such intensity with its training unlike anything else.

So now that I am up on the step; riding the wave and feeling a sense of accomplishment with training along comes work to dash it!

I have to go back to Whitehorse for a week. Its an overloaded week of work so I have my doubts of getting in any real training. A week does not seem like a big deal, considering others like Sifu Regier and Sihing Krebs have been able to train whilst out of town for extended periods, but I am probably just annoyed because I had a good routine going , a good rhythm if you will… and there is always the fear of dropping off a routine when something upsets it.

Anyways, back to Whitehorse, get the job done and I booked a flight back that should get me to class on time this Friday.

To the horse..

New Strategy

I have to admit, I was getting frustrated sparring last night.
Oooh those bigger guys!
of course it was fun, but I was finding myself  resting my ribs on their thrust kicks too many times.

Now I know you need to stay out of range of the long legs, but they are on to that too!
One of the Black Belts is superb in staying frontal the whole time and maintaining his frontal stance with slight movements. Sadly,I could only admire it and hardly did I get inside.
After finally getting inside and out of range of the kicks I found myself still getting several body shots. But why, hmmm.
Why...I was trying to reach for their head and for a bigger opponent this leaves me reaching. Which leaves me exposed to body shots. Next time, I need to focus on body shots so I can defend their counters quickly and not over extend my arms.

Maybe , sounds good in theory, it will be my new strategy, but don't tell those bigger guys!


JC Masterson, Silent River Kung Fu, Alberta ,Canada

I Ho Chuan

We were asked today"what does the I Ho Chuan mean to you".
I didn't speak up this time, I chose to listen instead...I need to do that  more often.
Anyways, some good insightful responses from those who spoke.

If I had to put it into one word, it would be Commitment.
Commitment in whatever you choose to pick up. The I Ho Chuan starts with the basic tools of physical fitness... push ups, sit ups, putting on the mileage, things that require no thinking, just commitment.
It builds from there to mastery of your martial arts practice, choose what you wish to master in order to get you to the next level and commit, not just practice. You can practice anything but it takes committing to practice for a long duration to hope for mastery in somethings if done mindfully.  Again ...commit.
Next the I Ho Chuan looks at developing the individuals integrity, empathy and compassion through community and acts of kindness. We don't reap those benefits,nor ,does the community unless we commit.
I Ho Chuan develops leadership and mentor ship through committing to projects no matter the size.
If its your vision, make it happen until it is complete... this again requires commitment.(Sifu Brinker spoke better of this during our meeting than I do here).

For me, it all comes down to commitment in all facets of our lives to become a better person.
Transforming our physical, mental,social and even spiritual self's through  commitment.
As a team we keep each other accountable, on track and supported. We build strong character through working as a team.

This year was the first for combining the UBBT and I Ho Chuan, I would call this the prototype, we are setting up the blueprints for bigger and better things to follow. Through our successes and failures both individual and as a group we, the I Ho Chuan team and the school can benefit from lessons learnt this year.

We are by no means finished, still lots of time left and this is where the strength of commitment will serve us well. No matter your mental state, good bad or indifferent keep in mind the commitment to the school, the team but most important to yourself.
When you break a promise to yourself all else means little.

This is how I see the I Ho Chuan, I am excited to see how it grows and evolves, I am quite positive it will develop into a system no one would want to miss out in participating at some point.

That is illogical Captain..

Emotion and logic sometimes seem to be opposing forces.

It’s easy when the Logic follows the Emotions but when it doesn’t, this is the time to stop and take stock.

When stuff happens and we need to make choices and decisions in our lives, our emotions can get the best of us and we may take a knee-jerk reaction. In the worst case scenario we deeply regret our actions and find ourselves with more problems then what we started with.

On the other end of the scale we find the path of logic.

Putting our problems into a mathematical equation to formulate the desired outcome.

Sound like the way to go, however we then eliminate empathy, compassion, love and various other positive human traits.

Way back, when I used to watch Star Trek, the first version, I didn’t recognize the brilliant writer’s ability to identify Logic and Emotion thru Mr. Spock and Captain Kirk.

What spectacular dilemmas they had to solve! .cute, cuddly, soothing Tribbles, you can never have too many Tribbles…or can you! (for those too young you will have to Google).

How impressive and exciting as a kid, to watch them combine emotion with logic to solve the problem in less than a half hour, commercials included. If only all problems were scripted this way.

So fast forward  30 years give or take, I find myself solving my own problems with Logic and Emotion. The important addition is Control.

Control as a Black belt, control of myself. How I choose to react.

How I weigh out the emotional reasoning with the logic will depend on my own self control. Ask myself what is the right outcome, what emotions are driving my thoughts, what is the best outcome for everyone not just myself.

The balance between emotion and logic, not an easy achievement, but a work in progress through one‘s own self control.

JC Masterson, Silent River Kung Fu, Alberta, Canada

Slow but methodical training

Something I observed the other night when watching some of the students train together,  I should have caught earlier and made mention of.

Slow and methodical should be the way you start something new. In this instance we  were dealing with a grappling drill but this applies to a form or defence application as well.

As a good training  partner, we need to work with each other to achieve and understand a new skill. The first rule is to walk through the steps slowly and try and catch all the detail that was presented.

Once you have the basic moves then you can ramp up the resistance with your partner. If it’s a form, you can speed it up and concentrate on flow,  if it’s a techniques or defence application you can increase the realism, speed and power you put into the application.

The point is, start slow with full intent. To grasp as much as you can with something new you have to slow it down to allow the mind to walk you through unknown territory. If you are going too hard and too fast it becomes just an exercise or random body movement  that may lead to bad habits.

So, for me, I try and  gauge where I am at, if it is something new, don’t be afraid to ask your partner to slow down or allow you to apply something without them resisting.

 You want a sound foundation that you can build your speed and power on while maintaining pure technique.

Going hard is fun and is also an important part of training but make sure the steps or fundamentals are in place first.

A reminder for myself both in teaching and  to apply to my own training whether its grappling, forms, techniques or even dragon dancing.

This should ensure I am still a sound practioner well into my old age when strength and speed are no longer with me.

I Ho Chuan basic requirements...my year so far..

50 000 Pushups; 22 390
50 000 Abs: 23 450
1000 unassisted chin ups: 474
50 hours conditioning training: 16.2
1609 km: 493.7
1000 reps MuLongkuen form: 302
1000 reps Sai form: 371
1000 rounds of sparring: 57
100 hours grappling: 54
100 hours weight training: 51.5
50 reps of Tai Chi: 26
40 hours yoga: 24.5
1000 acts of kindness: 411
Mend a relationship: wont say its done but its definitely better(more effort on my part).
Journaling: ok , needs improvement.
on-line presence: ok
3 public performances: 0 to date.
learn Lion dance: incomplete
un-excused absences: none
memorize Mastery: working on it , again! I hate memory loss.
Adopt-a- driveway: ok


Need to ramp it up to finish strong, no surprise I guess, I seen it coming but let things slide.



JC Masterson, Silent River Kung Fu, Alberta, Canada

Knowledge vs Understanding

Question:

Is it better to know 1000 applications or understand 10 applications?

Application=Defence vs an attack

Not really a fair question,.. exposing yourself to as many applications as possible opens your mind to other possibilities. Fully understanding 10 applications opens your mind to the body mechanics, the why and the how of the applications.

Both are important.

Right now, I am reviewing all the “Q” belt applications, defences and techniques from our curriculum. When I was grading for my black belt I memorized them all with some understanding but never with enough attention. This time, I am approaching them from the “why” and “how” perspective. I welcome the idea of revisiting the simplest moves for pure technique.

Its interesting to see how I read the application written in the curriculum and how I interpret it. Some of the curriculum I have not visited for awhile, admittedly I have forgotten plenty of detail, I find myself questioning each step. However, this is a good thing.

If something is not efficient or does not flow correctly, chances are, I am not executing the application correctly. This is my exercise in recognition and my exercise to imagine a correct reaction.

Nothing is definitively prescriptive, there can always be some variations in our responses because the attacker may or may not react the way we anticipate but I think the curriculum is built on the most probable response from our opponent.

My goal is not to re-memorize this time but to slow things down, pay attention to detail and fully understand the body mechanics of each move.

Thankfully, I have the I Ho Chuan team to source from when practicing and they can help guide me back to the intention of the application as written in the curriculum.

Knowledge can be an accumulation of information that can get lost over time but Understanding can never be forgotten.