From My Journal: Oct 11-18, 2008

Home Training, Thursday October 16, 2008: Today I got home at 9:30pm, knowing that I had my regular nightly training to do, and that I was behind in my round house kicks for the 100 day Kwoon talk challenge. I needed to do 150 push ups, 20 sit ups, 20 squat thrusts, 80 cross stepping back kicks, 200 round house kicks, and 20 drop kicks. I also needed to throw a load of laundry in, see about the girls' homework, start the dishwasher, pack the girls off to bed, and chit chat with the husband. But I also wanted to be in bed and reading by a decent time, because I get up to go to work at 5:30am. There were so many reasons not to train, and I was tired, but I said to myself, "I will do this", and I got started as soon as I got in. Two things surprised me. "First, that I was confident that I could get my training done within the hour, when only a year ago, it would have been a struggle to get 150 push ups done within the waking hours of my day. The second thing that surprised me was the level of intensity that I achieved during my training. I pushed myself to get everything done in good time, so when I was catching my breath from the kicks, I was doing my push ups. My kicks had power, and I did them at a good pace. I got to wondering, "Does intensity take care of itself: is it a natural result of prolonged, focused, disciplined training with a purpose?". Furthermore, "If I am able to apply some of my energy to thinking about this question, whilst doing the round house kicks and the squat thrusts, is this really intensity?".
I think I got everything done within a half hour and this got me worrying - it's an achievement worth posting, but I run the risk of sounding full of myself, and so those I would hope to encourage by posting my observations may not even appreciate the message - it may even alienate the readers. I remember when Mr. Prince posted his 1000 push ups challenge - he stated that he got them done in 15 minutes. I thought, "Whatever". Unfortunately, his message was the exact opposite of inspiring or encouraging for me. One is tempted to think that he was exaggerating, he was only doing ladies push ups, he was born with special talents, or that his youth or maleness made it easier to do the push ups than for the rest of us. I'm sure that Mr. Prince was just trying to raise the bar, and push his fellow students but his message did not do that for me. Now I find myself in the difficult position of falling into the same category as I put Mr. Prince into.
My parents taught me, that people who achieve amazing things in life such as in sports, music, academics, career, or leadership, are talented. The rest of us can only hope to achieve mediocre results. I started to rebel against their message in high school by expecting to place high in academics and sports and by setting goals like going to university. As a parent now, I teach my girls that the difference between average, and amazing is merely the work, discipline, and dedication you put into your achievements. I taught this through their piano, homework, badminton, and volleyball. As the girls get older (14 & 16 yrs), and their goals become more long term and complex, I find that I often have to point to my current actions and achievements to make the message believable to them. The girls are both at an age where immediate gratification is the driving force. How to keep them focused, disciplined, and continuing to work towards their long term goals? I'm finding a measure of success in the fact the Jill and Janet see me in the basement, doing my kicks and push ups, they watch the progress that I am making, they join me when I run and train at Servus place, they ask for pointers and tips on training, nutrition, staying motivated, self discipline, and they apply what they see to achieving their own goals, in sports, school, and life.
This is why the 100 day challenge is so important. Different students at different stages and with different goals and hurdles share the details of their current struggles as they unfold. By witnessing each others' methods, pitfalls, progress and achievements, and by asking each other for pointers, support and motivation, we will all get a lot further than if we remained ignorant of the details of each others' endeavors.

Friday night Kung fu Class: led by sifu frietag. It was about lowering our centre. Slide stepping, horse stance slide stepping, pushed in horse stance, and low back stance with an exaggerated wide stance. This worked the flexibility a lot, and sifu frietag talked about having flexibility with strength. Moving from one low stance to the next should not require a rock or lean to get there; instead it should be smooth and a low centre should be maintained. This can be achieved by working on flexibility with strength, and the exercises we did in class will help us achieve just that. She also mentioned that flexibility with strength is required in Lung I and II. So next week I will practice all this at home.

Saturday morning Shaolin Fitness: led by Sifu Laurie. As promised to the 100 day challenge Kwoon talkers, we worked on exercises that will help prevent and heal knee injuries. Unfortunately, the Kwoon talkers were not at the class, so I will post my summary on Kwoon talk.

Saturday Open Training: Thank goodness Sihing Lilienskold made it this week. She helps me alot, as does Sihing Maitland. And I hope they think the same of me. We worked on Say Shen, in particular, the drop kick back shoulder roll, as my drop kick is abysmal. A lively debate was had over which shoulder we roll over, but Sihing Lilienskold ended the matter by dragging out Master Brinker. It turns out that most of us had it all wrong, and so there is a lot of work to be done here - because my back shoulder roll over the left shoulder is worse than abysmal. So next week I will continue to practice this at home. Sihing Kichko mentioned that she read my kwoon talk post about 'being on track' for the 100 day challenge. She said that she thought to herself, "Whatever".

Home reading: My boss at work is 82 years old and has a pacemaker. He exercises every morning on his stationary bike for 50 minutes, eats grits and a banana for breakfast, and swims once a week. He is an engineer, with a double PHD in economics and political science also. He reads alot (exclusively non-fiction), and so do I, so we are always exchanging our reading lists. He got me onto his favorite prime minister - Mackenzie King. Now he's talking about Fidel Castro. So I will have to get a book out about him - I've only read about Che. I'm in between book lists now. It happens regularly. I'll find a subject and go great guns - can't stop reading and exploring the subject. And then I'm done with subject for a while and there's this gap where I cast about looking at various subjects until something gets me going. Mackenzie King was OK. Fidel might be more interesting, but soon enough I'll chance upon a subject that generates a whole new list of 'must reads'.