Home Training: this week has been excellent. My own efforts to dig deep, combined by pushup and sit up challenges issued by sifus robertson and shipalesky have resulted in some huge improvements in my daily training, and the cummulative totals. To keep the momentum going, Master Brinker's talk at sihing class really instilled a sense of urgency in me. Every night of home training counts, and open training is a must for the next 26 weeks. The focus is practice and repeat, with a sense of purpose. To that end, I have decided that next week, home training will focus on the following things
1. Continue with 150 pushups, 100 situps, 20 squat thrusts, 40 cross step kicks, 100 round house kicks, and 6 lao gars daily. ( A note on Lao Gar: due to including this in open training on Saturday, sihing lilienskold and I got some very good pointers from the sifus Robertson and Beckett, which will be focused on this week at home training)
2. In response to what was learned at Sihing class on Friday, I will add in 50 spinning back kicks daily, and up this total next week. This will also help me bring my cummulative totals up (I am way behind on round house kicks, and have decided to add in other kicks to close the gap).
3. In response to discussion period at sihing class, I have decided to add 50 inside cyclone, spinning flying outside cyclone kicks, which is something that, after I ho chuan class a month ago, I had made a mental note to perfect, but never got round to doing.
4. In response to current challenges on kwoon talk, I will continue with the stretching, which I had hoped to do daily, but found that unless I do a run first to REALLY warm up my legs, the static stretch doesn't work (ie, I think I just injure, and I don't get a good stretch). So the stretch challenge last week was done 2 times, after the 3.5km run I managed to get in twice at Servus Place this week.

Personal Black Belt Requirements:

Last week, I mentioned how terrible I was doing with Acts of Kindness. Though I've turned it around this week, and have started logging, the numbers are still low, and more worrisome, I'm having trouble keeping my daughters involved. There are a few thoughts floating around in my mind that may evolve into solutions, but nothing worth journalling just yet.

The seventh personal black belt requirement is to re-enter sparring. I don't know whether anyone noticed, but I stopped sparring some time ago when sifu davies broke a tooth, and everyone was forced to wear mouth guards. It's amazing how little personal hang ups, when allowed to sit and fester and develop into big hang ups, and create limitations, can really impede personal growth. I never did really enjoyed sparring anyway, particularly with some males, who, unbenownst to them, emit some sort of aura that cause me to get highly irrational. I believe I had this problem fairly well under control, but the introduction of the mouth guard was too much to handle. I've used every excuse in the book since purchasing my 3rd mouth peice, which I decided not to 'lose', to not spar. Yesterday, I purchased the gloves which are necessary now. So now, I'm ready to spar - I think. What I REALLY should be doing is going to San Shou, but that is an actual, bona fide, impossibility due to other committments. This may change after May 2.

I put this requirement in because its part of my decision, that in order to earn a black belt, I should not allow myself to stay in my 'safe zone'. Joining the lion dance team, and the next two personal black belt requirements are all part of that general theme which I had consciously decided to tackle.

The eighth personal black belt requirement is participate in a public testing performance. I've done this before, but I felt I needed to commit to doing in again. Initially, I had hoped to put something together to music and compete in the tiger challenge. But the tiger challenge is on may 2, and I will not be in town, and cannot and will not change that important date. So the public performance will have to occur elsewhere. Currently, I am working on Lao Gar, and I hope to get to the point where I can convince Master Brinker to let me perform it somewhere this summer.

The last black belt requirement is daily meditation. The motivation behind this one is all tangled up with my mouth guard, lion head hang up, and a bunch of other somewhat related physical and psychological idiosyncacies I have which make nose breathing a challenge at the very least. I really thought I should bust through this web of limitations, and decided back in December that the best way to do this was to start with mastering the dragon breathing (taming the dragon) exercise. I haven't gotten around to doing anything about this yet, but that sense of urgency is clicking in, and after last fridays discussion about sound focus, and my dismal failure at this exercise, it is time to get started.

THE PATH

The Path has its own requirements, and the things which people want to do are likely to be those which will help them to continue in the way in which they are already set, rather than in the direction which will break through their limitations. Idries Shah