2016 Year of the Monkey

I have been struggling with what the I Ho Chuan has done for me blog.   I have been in this program a long time but I am slow to change ... I never jumped into all aspects of the program and so its been me adding a few things every year.  Have I met all my goals? The kung fu ones have improved a lot ... my commitment to completing them is getting better every year.  My personal goals not so good.   It seems that if I make a promise to others I really work at meeting it, but personal goals are a promise to me and for some reason I feel okay letting those ones slide.  And yet are the kung fu goals not for me?  Am I doing them for other people?  All my informal journaling has made me think ... 

I do better at the kung fu goals because I am part of the team and we support and motivate one another, my personal goals ... well its all on me and it appears that I am not very self motivated or self disciplined.   I look at people like Sifu Brandi Beckett and her husband Simon or Sifu Melanie Beckett, and I see people who are very self motivated both in their kung fu and personal goals.  Is it a personality trait, can it be learned because if it can where did they learn it?   I raised two of them and they didn't learn it from me! I have not been able to carry the I Ho Chuan - kung fu successes into my personal life that well.  Did I learn Spanish?  No!   Did I take the art classes?  No!  Did I loose weight?  No!  Do I meditate?  No!  I am still working at eliminating plastic from my life and eating healthy and these are goals from a couple of years ago.  I have seen success in my ballroom dancing however again there is someone else involved (my hubby) and I share the success with him.   It appears that I need that external something that a partner/team provides to motivate me to DO SOMETHING!  I won't do it for myself alone.  I am not sure if this a good or a bad thing, a weakness or a strength, or perhaps it is just my personality that finds more richness in shared experiences.

see Sifu Langer we can all get ourselves going around in circles.

Tiger Challenge

Finally my sister is out of the hospital ... I went out to help, then my brother went out for a week and now the in-laws are taking a turn.  The poor girl has been sick for a month ... not fun.  Then my mom had a whole bunch of tests at the U fo A.  By the time the tiger challenge came around I had a full blown cold and was really tired (emotionally).   I am so glad I went and didn't wimp out with the excuse of a cold or stress.  It was awesome and to be totally selfish ... just what I needed.  There is nothing better for the blues than hanging out with a roomful of excited kids who are having a blast. 

Watching the adults do the obstacle course and pool noodle fighting was hysterical, it was fiercely competitive and somewhat dangerous (black belt injuries consisted of a sprained wrist and a broken finger) but still everyone was laughing and excited.   I really don't understand why people question the sanity of martial artists.

I was totally surprised by my silver medal.  I kept hearing the scores and thinking, wow I have the highest score, right up until the last blackbelt Sifu Lindstrom who performed his epic bench form and got the gold.

Thanks to everyone at the kwoon for sharing in such an awesome day.

To all participants ... congratulations!