From my journal entries Saturday September 6 - Friday September 12, 2008 (51 weeks until applying to grade for black belt).

Saturday Shaolin class with Sifu Laurie. Worked on upper body for chin-ups - lots of work with all the arm muscles and upper back using weights. Also worked on the 20 meter agility drill. This is alot harder than it looks. Land speed and will power alone are not the key to this test. Lots of practice required to get the pacing right to hit the targets and change directions without losing too much time. I averaged 6.3 seconds; that's a 4 rating. Mr. Timchuck was able to shave off 2 seconds from his time by correcting some things we observed. We all need to shave off at least 9 seconds to get to a passing rating of 7. So many students and so few take Shaolin Fitness class. There is so much work to be done to pass the fitness portion of the black belt test. Mr. Timchuck is bluebelt or something and he's taking it. Mr. Panasiuk was taking it. Several of us Sihings have taken the class for a number of years. The amount of progress that has occurred for all of us in this class can be measured in how we progress as we monitor our fitness ratings and the number of comments we recieve from other students who notice our improvements in our regular kung fu classes. I don't understand why this class is not jam-packed with students.
Saturday Open Training: I worked with Sihing Maitland. We really pushed eachother. I had planned to spend time on low hooking back kick, high rising back kick, stiff swing back kick and straight pushing back kick. Sihing Maitland had planned on working on Kempo. If we had worked alone, we each would have put in between 30 and 40 minutes of training. We decided to combine our two training plans. I pushed her to do more kicks than she wanted to. And she pushed me to practice kempo more times that I wanted to. We critiqued eachother's techniques so that we could focus on these things at home during the week. An awesome training session which lasted one and one half hours!
On Kwoon talk on Aug. 8, Sifu Tiffany Playter had responded to Mr. Panasiuk's request for training tips and advice. She told him that one the things that help keep her on track was to work with a a training partner. In her case, her training partner is her husband and she said that they push eachother to get their goals accomplished. I think Sihing Maitland and I did just that and we look forward to more sihings and other belts joining in on Saturday Open Training. Sihing Lilienskold agreed - the more training partners the better, and if one person is absent one week, we have others to keep things going - pushing eachother to get our goals accomplished.
On Fri. Aug 15 at sihing class, Master Brinker urged those of us who plan to challenge black belt one year from now to commit to two and a half hours of training per week.
Home Training:
Saturday: 150 pushups
Sunday: 150 pushups; Janet and I went for a 4km walk and then practiced volleyball
Monday: Went to Servus Place with Janet. Idid 2k run and some of Janets agility exercises for volleyball. I did 20 kicks each of low hooking back kick, High rising back kick, straight pushing back kick and stiff swinging back kick. I also did my 150 pushups.
Tuesday: 150 pushups
Wednesday: 150 pushups
Thursday: 150 pushups, 20 kicks each of low hooking back kick, high rising back kick, straight pushing back kick and stiff swinging back kick.
Friday: 150 pushups
Note: I need to find out what counts for the 2 and 1/2 hours of weekly training. Just techniques? or fitness training as well. If I only include techniques and forms practice then my total training time for the week was 1 hr. 45 mins. So I missed off the target of 2 and 1/2 hours for this week. Next week there are 50 weeks left before applying to grade. Good habits take time to form and it will be harder to get the time in next week because open training is cancelled.
Friday Sihing Class: led by Master Brinker; practiced kempo and he urged us to have a sense of purpose. Wanted bigger circles with arms to release chi and have a tail to our punches and blocks. Wanted more flow and to achieve that we should practice kempo with open hands. Question period was detailed: a few things of note; kick before hhelmet crusher is side heel; should practice kicks and punches with bag and strengthen wrists with fis pushups. Sihing Kichko asked about 2 green/blue combinations that involve double hammer fist vs. double punch. I need to follow up on this and find out the difference between the two combinations.
Training plan and questions for next week:
1. Have a black belt demo green/blue combination of tiger's hip-spinning back kick-low hooking back kick-double hammer fist(high/low) turning through. Then practice this combination.
2. Have a black belt demo green/blue belt combination of double punch-pivot outside hammer fist to groin-spin with outside hammer fist to leg. Then practice this combination.
3. Find out what training is to be counted in the 2 and 1/2 hour weekly commitment.
4. Continue practicing the 4 cross step kicks from last week because I'm starting to feel some improvements and I want to keep that going.
5. Practice kempo with open hands.
6. Practice agility run when possible or if not, do a timed horse stance.
Nightly reading: 'The Perfumed Scorpion" by Idries Shah (1978)
". . . the ability to acto or not to act, in accordance with what one knows by experience to be a required mode of action. This is the stage of action stemming from unconcern for superficialities. It is the condistion of doing something, or nothing, not because it is expected of you, but because it is the real thing to do or to avoid. . . . To be at the stage of unconcern for appearances is not the same as the deliberate adoption of untoward behaviour. But the 'contrary to expectation' conduct and words . . indicates the absence of hampering assumption. Inwardly, this condition is that of the sovereign individual, whose perceptions and understanding, not rules or dogma, motivate him or her. . . the student is always encouraged to act in accordance with social norms, but also to practise 'listening' to his intuitive sense in the attempt to perceive whether this or that word or action was indeed correct in a wider context."