Focus with Heart

I spend a lot of time trying to develop focus. Working on focus. Enough focus and I should be successful at my goal.

What I have come to realize ….its not enough to have 100% focus, speaking for myself. I can stare at something and empty my mind and kick out all the distractions but I find myself needing something more.

Purpose.

Why ?

Visualize.

How?

The beginning..as it happens…and how it should end.

You could call all of that focus but I break it down and come up with focus with heart.

Where this is useful for me is applying this to something where I have a mental block, a barrier or a fear of.

 Board breaking and demonstrations both have the same focus issue for me.

I can have a mountain of focus but if my heart is not in it…nothing spectacular happens.

Obviously, last week’s demo has made me turn attention to my focus, or lack of focus that occurs from time to time. Last week’s demo served to be a great purpose as I looked upon the faces of the people in the Seniors home. It warmed my heart, and there it was … heart.

 A special thanks to Sifu Kichko for arranging the demo at the Seniors home and giving me 28 seconds of purpose!

Blog Challenge #2 -Thankful

I am grateful for my health.

Not to be confused with fitness or shape  but simply a fully functional body.

Not to be confused with an ailment free body.

Not to be  confused with aging aches or limitations that can be overcome.

I am not dependent on medications.

I am not dependent on caregivers.

I am not bedridden.

For this I am grateful and  thankful.

I will help those around me who are bedridden, dependent and have daily limitations to deal with.

I will help to restore dignity.

I will help to restore independence.

I will help to fend off loneliness as the rest of the world seems to pass by without you.

For one day, I may not have my health. ..and if that day comes I can only hope the goodwill is returned.

Blog Challenge

Blog Challenge from Sifu Wonsiak

Narrative on one Basic requirement and one Personal  requirement

Sparring requirement – this requirement is way off from reaching the 1000 mark for the year. Its unfortunate because even from the numbers I did accumulate  I noticed a difference in my approach from the beginning of the year. The more often you are on the mat to spar, the more familiar you are with the situation. The more familiar you are, the more comfortable you get. When you are comfortable in your surroundings that’s when the magic begins. You recognize and react better. You find time to try new things. I love sparring even though I am far from proficient at it. This years I Ho Chuan program has shown me the math. Mat time is proportional to your comfort level. Comfortable = Improvement. It s not a difficult concept but sometimes the obvious is overlooked.

 

Personal requirement – one of my goals was to encourage the female students to embrace the grappling skills from a self-defence perspective. My plan was to try and get the message across through classes and the boot camp seminars.  You see, from a female point of view being pinned on the ground is your worst nightmare. I have focused on grappling this past year to build the basics of escaping and fending off an attack from the ground. I am not sure that I was so successful in spreading my passion, my point of view and my opinion of the importance of the grappling techniques but something else interesting is happening instead. I am starting to recognize the commonalities between stand-up techniques, ground techniques and everything in between.  It’s the body mechanics that are essential no matter what name you put on the technique or martial art you are training in. Its made me realize how connected the martial arts community is or at least should be.

 No matter, the discipline, the fundamentals will always be the same. The human body is the human body and all human bodies move and react the same way, more or less…(there are those gifted rubber people).

I guess what started off as trying something new has in actual fact made me revisit lessons taught to me back in 1999 (that’s not a song, its when I was a white belt).  

So both of these requirements will no longer be requirements when my I Ho Chuan time is up but both will be permanent and valuable components to my ongoing training.

My Auntie

A spent last night visiting with my Auntie.

She passed away this morning at 7am.

I have been in denial for months about her condition. I have been angry for months about her condition. Reality was harsh last night when I had to face the end of such a lovely woman’s life.  My Auntie is the most giving person I know, she did not pursue a career, master any hobby but her life was about giving. To children,… always about children, her own, her grandchildren, neighborhood children,.. she  treated them all, including me, like her own. My fondest childhood memories include her and my Uncle. My Aunties life career was Children.

So why, I ask ,take her.

 I sit here now reflecting on her life and her influence she had on me.

Of course, it was her quality of life I need to reflect on. She touched so many people, especially the young with her example of giving and caring and just simply taking care of you.The more she gave the more extraordinary she grew.  She has placed a little piece of that in all her family and friends.

I am sad today, but I am so thankful to have known her and so grateful to be her niece.

The Preaching Sister

My sister moved to New Zealand last month. She is a massage therapist and what I call an Earthy person. I use the term affectionately and I give her a hard time about it but the truth is, she definitely is in tune with her passion and she steers me in the right direction. She, for years has preached yoga to me. So I begrudgingly tried it and dabbled in it.

I don’t remember the names of the poses, I don’t own a special mat, I don’t know why the guy in the video doesn’t get a haircut or why the Instructor at the lunchtime yoga class talks in such a low quiet voice…but what I do know is I need yoga.

Aging is a nasty thing. You deny your body is getting old and try and explode into flying kicks and sprint the track and punch out a set of 50 deep pushups like its no big deal. Brush it off, look at the young ones and give them the twinkle in your eye “that’s right punk… I still got it”.

Once I am home I search for the heating pad, ice pack and my blanket to cower in.

But the yoga deal, as I have come to realize is all about keeping me in the running. I see now, how it is a combination of long stretches combined with breathing, being in the moment to find those deep hidden muscles that get ignored. Working on maintaining their length, pliability and mobility to  prevent injury from overzealous moves and over ambitious training.

I no longer scoff, dabble or belittle the art of yoga. It is clear I need to incorporate it into my day, every day. Something else to add but I think without it, I may find myself on the sidelines more often, from injuries, that could have been prevented merely by taking the time for some preventative measures.

When she left last month, she left me a duffel bag, yes, with a selection of yoga DVDs , a yoga mat and a Zen clock??-not sure about that one yet – anyways, time to dig into the bag, thanks sis!

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