On the List

        Its on the list...surfing, that is.

Family vacation right now, we are in Maui and its the perfect place for beginners of all ages.
I made a deal with Raymond and he promises to try it as well. He is reluctant to try as he thinks a shark will get him! (I suppose there are no guarantees but surfing guy told him all the sharks around here sleep during the day)

So off we go, I should look like the dude in the picture in about five days...no problem!

San Shou

I am going to follow on with Sifu Lindstrom’s blog a little bit here.

Last night during San Shou we had a pretty good turn out…of Blackbelts that is!

Only 3 students but a great class regardless.

It was Sifu Princes class last night and he did a great job putting together some progressive drills and skills.

Here's the thing…

To be a martial artists encompasses more than the fighting skill. We know that …it is at the core of Silent River Kung fu philosophy, in our code of ethics and how we conduct ourselves.

However, the fighting skills are the tools we use to help develop the character traits that make a great martial artist.

We speak of putting ourselves out of our comfort zone. If something causes you great anxiety, of course the best way to deal with it is to confront it, and confront it wisely.

When it comes to sparring, a lot of people feel great anxiety towards the thoughts of physical contact of this nature. If this is you, then , logically, conquering your fear is what you need to do . There is nothing more liberating, and growth inducing then conquering a fear.

I had the same fear as a green belt and over time and with good instruction and a safe environment, the fear has disappeared….that doesn’t mean I ‘m any good at sparring!! (insert smiley face)  it means I enjoy sparring as a fun challenge instead of  something I dread.

I would love to see more students involved in the San Shou, especially some female company!

So think about it,.. trust in your instructors that you wont be left out to the wolves.. come on out and work on  improving your physical skills as a martial artist.

checking your spelling is part of being professional...:)

Can you call yourself a Professional?

Holding ourselves to a level of professionalism.
Tough thing to do sometimes.
This becomes more of a challenge for me in my career than at the Kwoon. There is an atmosphere at the Kwoon that supports respect for your peers and leaders. This atmosphere is not always apparent in a work environment where people come from different mindsets and the potential for conflict is more frequent.
I find myself  resourcing from my martial arts background and "up bringing" to resolve issues in a professional, logical  and reasonable manner.
Its a challenge to take emotion out of discussions and try to empathize, compromise without jeopardizing the best outcome.
Level of Professionalism...another quality and tool towards Leadership.

In the eyes of a young girl

This weekend some history was made, a precedent was set and in my mind, another step towards positive role models for young women.
You see, this weekend was the first ever women's match in the UFC and it was the main event.
As well, in the NASCAR circuit, was the first time a woman took the pole position in the Daytona 500.
It was refreshing to see crowds on their feet cheering in support and excitement for the first time events.


Now whether you are a fan of the particular sport or of the individual ladies, or not, that discussion is irrelevant. It is overshadowed by the fact that these ladies in the sports spot light have taken an important position and responsibility as inspiration for women to follow.

My hope , is that they will continue to hold themselves to a higher standard and realize the positive impact they can have.

The responsibility is to hold yourself to your professionalism, skill and quality in what you do.
Too often, a sexual spin is the overtone for women role models, whether is self-initiated or promoted  for marketing reasons, this always takes away from the hard work they have put into their chosen craft. Our  society seems to allow, encourage and expect this too often.
It bothers me and worries me for the upcoming generation of young ladies whose majority of role models seem to continuously be pop/film stars of both scandalous, demeaning and ever lowering standards of conduct, dress and image.

We speak of 3rd world countries or the middle east where young girls struggle for an education but here we are, the "civilized" world setting up young women to aspire to nothing more than shallow, plastic  throw away dolls.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for looking good and having all the feminine qualities but we have lost the important part for any human being. Self esteem and character that goes beyond our youth. Building strong, moral, confident leaders for the future and that can be said for both genders.

If we lack leaders in the future who posses quality character its because we continue to idolize the wrong role models for our children, girl or boy.
Its time to become more aware of the true accomplishments in our society and hold that in the forefront of our children to aspire to.

Kudos, to these women that have made history this weekend. I  applaud their accomplishments.
I encourage us all to look for those people , men and women, who have made positive accomplishments in our society (sports, medicine, politics, whatever) and bring that to the attention of the youth around us.

Silent Reflection

where did the year go?
I am sitting in a hotel room in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan wondering what just happened?
I'm supposed to be focusing on tomorrows work plan and how I am going to deal with an aviation company in the morning but my heads just not in it.
Instead, I find myself reflecting on the past years worth of work in the I Ho Chuan.
It seems surreal, it seems lonely now... but its just the silent reflection.

I now have to shift my focus, I have a plan to accomplish and learn some specific skills this year or at least esatablish a solid base.
I plan to stay near the I Ho Chuan group in hopes that their positive energy keeps me on track, inspired and motivated.

I wish the team great success for the year of the Snake and look forward to supporting them anyway I can.

Foot Work and Flow

We have heard this many times before from Sifu Brinker, the importance of foot work. Basically, putting you in the right place at the right time.

  Footwork…we practice this in our forms and our applications relentlessly but sometimes we overlook how critical our base is and the location of our base. I am guilty of getting caught up with the flashy hand application of the form or technique and forget where my feet are. Is my base assisting me or resisting me?

If our base is off (our stances) then we find ourselves disconnected from the hand application, this can translate into not being in the right place to attack our opponent or a balance issue in our forms.

If we are off balance , out of range or unable to execute the first technique efficiently our flow becomes non-existent.

Enter Tai Chi – the perfect tool to slow it down, observe your body alignment, work on 6 harmonies and allow yourself to move as one continuous body of water.

Now that’s Flow…and as Sifu Dennis says “Relaxed Flow”.

This is in the forefront of my focus now, as I have realized with the help of my Instructors how badly my body alignment (speaking from a skeletal perspective) is interfering with flow and harmonization in forms and application.

The good news is..once you discover a fault, an oversight, a problem  you have now  identified the problem and can challenge yourself to resolve the issue.

On the path to improvement and mastery…(words that grow more meaningful to me as time passes)