What is stronger the "will' or the body?
Hopefully the Will.
The body can fail, get injured and sick but the Will is always there.
Nourish the Heart and Mind and the body will follow...or at least you can drag it along:)

Who isn't hurt?

So who isn't hurt right now??
I look around and we have alot of bumps, bruises, sore backs, knees , wrists, shoulders.....
Is it the season of injury?

We are going hard, trying to keep track of and keep on top of practices , training , gradings , tournaments and performances.
Its exciting and exhausting but everyone is digging deep for the final weeks of preparation.

But take care. As we pile on the preparation we tire and sometimes get sloppy with our techniques. Leaving ourselves vunarable to injury. We go home and forget to stretch, ice, heat and rest as required.

I am finally able to do break falls again and I want to keep that ability. I have had to make time for extra stretching and physio drills to get me there. I know I am tempted to bypass that sort of stuff when I don't feel so bad and there is so much on the plate to get after and practice instead.

So take care my friends, make sure after our sessions we are tending to ourselves properly.
Eat well, stretch well, rest well.
Almost there, lets not lose anyone!

The Best Answers dont come from Questions

We are a social animal, interactive, knowledge seeking, inquisitive and curious.

All good of course, but we have lost patience. We want instant answers.

We ask before thinking. We ask before trying. We don’t want to wait for the insight found thru the experience…it just takes too darn long. Tell me what I need to know, answer my questions so I  can shorten my path to the goal I seek.

Sometimes the best answers don’t come from questions.

When the apprentice is shown by the journeyman how to assemble the machine sometimes listening then doing are the best methods of learning. Try before asking, do before questioning. Learn the qualities of trust, patience and focus. The questions that come after the attempts are far more valuable and meaningful. (this comes from my earlier days on the shop floor working under the guidance of an older Japanese mechanic, he spoke very little english, he would only show you once, I had to make sure I paid attention and my questions had to be very pointed- he turned out to be one of the more influential people in my life, still have a friendship with to this day )

Challenge yourself to come up with the answers to your difficulties by doing and trying  then doing again. Absorb yourself in the moment and look for resolve independently.

Once you have taken action the questions that follow have more value to you.

I Hate the Sound of my Whiny Voice...

 

Sihing Langner was telling me about his knee pain and I began to dish out the advice and lecture him about making the time to have these pains and aches attended to before they interfere with your training. Good advice, I thought. I should listen to myself …

 

Its been over a week since one of my ribs slipped.

One doctors appointment, two Chiropractor appointments, 1 physio appointment, a bucket of Advil, endless stretching  and more of the same for next week.

Physio guy figures its been building up from overly tight shoulders and traps. Anyways, I have no one to blame but myself. I did not practice what I preach.  My shoulders  and upper back have been bothering me for months but I have powered through everything ..just didn’t make time to focus on the cause properly.  So now I have to, if I want to function properly, never mind train. 

Even if you are younger, take heed, for some things left may come back to haunt you later in life.

My sister said it best, we are fortunate to have the resources like physio, chiropractors, acupuncture, massage and other wellness tools at our hands in this county. It is unfortunate that it is not always covered financially but like she said to me , your health is not a luxury it’s a necessity.

 

We often as a society in general, don’t want to take the time for something like preventative measures. We feel we are being selfish or self-indulgent. Booking time for a massage, therapy or simply slowing down to stretch, who has time for that?. We are always in a hurry. On to the next task. Today is not a good day but I will make the time on the weekend or next weekend or , or ,or…

The sacrifice  may be time and money but I can firmly say after this past week, my health, my mobility, my ability to function are a priority and priceless.

Old Man Style

An Instructor I trust and look up to has told me several times don’t train hard and fast train “Old Man Style’.

This week I find myself contemplating this concept with much seriousness.

An injury has given me a reality check.

I am aging. I am not as flexible and pliable as I once was. I have to admit I am not as fast nor as strong as I used to be in my 20s and the longer I deny this it can only lead to consequences.

I need to approach my training now  with more logic and less muscle.

Analyze technique, focus on timing, think about my attack and defense from a smaller weaker perspective.

Train “Old Man Style”

I want to be actively training well into my seasoned ages.

My basic body health will be the foundation and my mind should over rule my muscle.

I get it now, when he says, train old man style.

Journal

Sifu Brinker asked us all to focus on our jounaling . Why we journal and maybe why we don't sometimes.

Years ago, when I started journaling I disliked it,  too personal and uncomfortable. Later I realized  journaling should not be an exercise in exposing yourself as it is sorting issues and thoughts.

I try to take stock on something that has happened or is on my mind. Journling forces you to think about your experiences and formulate your opinion and check your emotions. I always hope that logic is the end result from reflecting on something , even if its after I leave the computer.

For me, it gives me the opportunity to reflect on my thoughts or what has taken priority for me the past week.
It seems, when you take the time to compose your thoughts from what is circling around in your head and put it in front of you, you can find more order in your thoughts.
I think there are lots of benefits but probably the best one for me is to give myself a better understanding of what I am about to say. Journaling can take away the knee-jerk reaction because you have to express yourself in a slower time frame. A lot of realizations can be pushed to the surface when you take some time to analyze your topic, issues or feelings.
Clarity has been the best benefit for me so far. If things are a little more clear then solutions become more apparent, chaos seems less of a factor.

I haven't always seen the benefits of journaling, its taken a long while, and admittedly I started only because we had to.
That has changed for me but only through habit.
I'd have say this one is a good habit.

Dont get ambushed by the Tiger

Tiger Challenge is coming...

Its our somewhat annual school tournament.  It’s a great opportunity for every student in the school to come out on a Saturday and have some fun.

Each one has been different and each one has been full of surprises and laughs!

There is no better way to challenge yourself then having a little friendly competition with your peers. Whether you choose to be creative with a form, music or fighting partners or maybe you just want to focus on that curriculum form to prefect it, the best you can for your belt level, the benefits are countless.

Practicing something for the purpose of putting it forward gives the mind the challenge of picking something apart then building it back up to your own perfection.

When it comes to sparring, tournaments are the closest thing you can get to putting yourself in a realistic situation of having to defend yourself and defeat your attacker, but yet, stay safe. No life threatening situation but it can get your adrenalin up just the same! You get to challenge your ability to stay calm in an anxious situation but in a safe and friendly environment.

Of course the kids have the most fun, they seem to be the ones that can focus the most on a goal and make it look like a lot of fun!

 So here we are, Christmas is right around the corner. We have just about 6 weeks before the Tiger Challenge is upon us. Lets see what we can do with that 6weeks, sign up, practice, eat your turkey, then get back at it!

Don’t let the Tiger ambush you!