4.13 (May 1)

I’ve noticed a big difference in quality between the forms I’ve done for I Ho Chuan and the forms that I haven’t. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise but it is surprising how long it’s taken me notice this. The forms that I have done (18 Temple Motions, Lao Gar, and Hung) are of much higher quality than the others. There’s an exception to this however, with that being Da Mu Hsing. Da Mu Hsing makes sense to be an exception because it is one of the most practiced forms in class and is one of the forms that I’ve known for the longest. I now know first hand that even though focusing on my I Ho Chuan form is important, I can’t forget to do all my other forms to keep them at an almost comparable level. This gives me some insight on how I need to change my practicing habits to improve on my quality of Kung Fu. I will explore this for the rest of the year, and most likely put it into my requirements for next year.

4.12 (April 24)

 This will be a blog about blogging. 

As some may have noticed, my blogging hasn’t been consistent this year. I’ve had troubles with weekly blogs every year, but this year has been the worst so far. Every week that I don’t post a blog, I put a draft up as a reminder. As of writing this, I have 10 drafts. That is 10 weeks worth of blogging that I haven’t done. This is something that I want to change. Every single day for the next week, I will be putting out a blog. I will do this until I start Summer School on July 4th. This will be 8 blogs (including this one), getting me a lot closer to being on track with the I Ho Chuan requirements. I will still be 2 blogs behind, but 2 is a lot easier to manage than 10 is. If I don’t put out a blog during the day, then I want to be held accountable when at Kung Fu. If you see me and I haven’t put out a blog yet that day, please approach me and ask about it. If I can’t tell you about my general outline of that day’s blog, then we will both know that I failed for that day. 

4.11 (April 17)

 I Am Meditative

I find my self in a form of a meditative state that's a fair bit different than the ones we are taught at bootcamp in September. For me, that state comes when I am mowing the lawn, but only the lawn at the Kwoon. The main reason is the size of the lawn. It's a lot bigger and has a lot less interruptions (trees, sidewalks, plants, etc.) than the lawn at home, so I have less to mow around and think about. I've mowed that lawn enough times where I know where to turn, when to disengage the blade, and all the small little inconveniences that happen throughout without thinking about it at all. This gives me time to do something similar to the walking meditation from bootcamp. The vibrations from the lawn mower handle while I'm pushing the mower and the music from my headphones helps with the relaxation part, by giving constant feedback for my senses of touch and hearing. While doing it I do my best to stay in the moment, and to concentrate on what I'm thinking. Afterwards, I feel more centered and ready for the upcoming week. During the week, I find that Tai Chi classes have the same affect sometimes, especially before we learn a new move.

4.10 (April 10)

 Writing is something I struggle with. Doesn't matter if it's a blog, and essay, or even an important text. If it involves my brain telling my hands to write/type something, there is going to be some struggling. Turning my thoughts into proper sentences is difficult, and is usually what takes up most of the writing time. Other times it's not knowing what to write, or how to write about it. Sometimes I know what I want to write, what words I want to use, but I don't know what order would make sense, and I can spent hours writing and deleting the same thing with slight changes every time. It makes writing annoying at times. Thankfully, there are some occasions (although fairly rare) where writing comes super easy and I could write until my hands fall off. 

I want my ability to write easily to improve greatly, and I've been working on that basically since I joined the I Ho Chuan. It'll take time and effort, and I'm doing my best to put as much of both of those in as I can.

4.9 (April 3)

When the May 19th demo was first announced, I was torn on whether I wanted to participate in the demo or if I wanted to teach the kids classes. I was undecided until I got back from quarantining. While I still wanted to go and participate in the demo, I felt it was more important that I get back into the teaching groove with the kids. Observing the classes online doesn't give the same feedback as being in person, since you can only see the front 5 students. In a smaller class like the Lil' Leopards that wouldn't be as big of a deal but in the Level 1 Young Dragons with over 30 students, it doesn't give a good picture. When I got back, I had to stay off to the sidelines a little bit just to see what I missed in the back rows. That's when I made my decision about the demo. 

On Thursday, I decided to theme the classes a little bit after the demo, so we practiced Lion Dancing, with Sifu Rybak and myself on the drum. I feel like it is exactly what I needed to get my connection back with the kids, a nice fun class right before the long weekend.

4.8 (March 27)

 I Am In Training

I have always been training, and probably always will be. From the moment I was born I was training to do basic human things, right before I turned three I started training in Kung Fu, and when I was five I started training in an academic sense. Throughout my whole life I have been training and working towards some sort of goal or achievement. For the longest time my main focus in all forms of training was achieving a black belt. When I officially became a black belt in February, I spent about a week thinking about what to focus training on next. I realized that graduating high school is the next big thing in my life, so I started to transition more focus and time to school. Something that didn't go so well at first, but is now starting to become more natural and successful at it. While I shifted a lot of focus on to school, I still have plenty of attention on Kung Fu, something that won't change for the foreseeable future. Even though I achieved my initial goal of earning my black belt, I still have a long way to go in Kung Fu. Because of that, my goal for Kung Fu is no longer to achieve something specific, but rather to keep improving on my skill level to the best of my abilities.

4.7 (March 20)

 This past week we moved away from the competitive parts of the Tiger Challenge (Pool Noodle fights, obstacle courses), and we worked on forms instead. this really helped me see where some of the kids are at, with some of them being a lot farther along than I thought they would be. I wasn't too sure before where some of the kids are, but now I know that most of the level two young dragons are doing very well with their forms. I think I might do a few more forms classes before moving on to other fundamentals, but what I see in the next few classes will truly determine that.