April 13th, 2016 Couldn`t come up with a title

Finally I think I have the sequence and basic moves for the first half of the horse whisk form with some flow but its pretty slow in comparison to the other Sifu Beckett`s performing it.  There is one really awkward kick that looks pretty rough but on the whole it kinda looks like the form should.   Ready to continue and move on to the rest of the form ... finally.

Back to work full time and it sucks,  I enjoyed being able to work shorter days - even take days off  - but the safety person we hired & trained quit.  And its getting crazy busy which means more safety paperwork, more inspections ... yada yada.  This will be a challenge as I had plenty of time to devote to my requirements and now I will have to be more disciplined and plan my days better.    I think the biggest thing is that our business is very dynamic with lots of urgent situations that come up constantly during the day and its hard to plan for kungfu stuff at work. So its got to be before or after work for the majority of personal stuff.  The stuff I don`t enjoy so much ... like pushups probably best in the morning because when I get home my commitment to my requirements is much more likely to be weak.  Mentally I`m tired and would really prefer to sit and read.  However I enjoy doing my forms so the evening has and will continue to be a great time to get my reps in.   I love practicing outside, its quiet with nature noises, no phones, no TV noises from downstairs, the sun is setting, what more could a person ask for ....

Sifu Masterson suggested Saturday Fitness Training outside if the weather permits ... my vote is yes!!!

one step forward & 2 back

I have had a very frustrating couple of weeks.  The horse whisk form has a whole different feel from the sword of last year. Transitioning to different stances, really big arm movements, multiple directions changes for feet and arms.  Well lets just say it is not smooth,  klunky might be a better description and I am always second guessing the sequence.  So of course my reaction to all of this is totally mature and I continue to work on it and not throw my hands up in the air and give up for five days (which is how long it took to get over myself and my bad attitude).  Sometimes its hard to believe I am 57.

space allocated

Its been a tough week,  seems like my brain is full of my kung fu form and I have maxed out on space allocated or something like that.  The more I try and cram more moves in there the more mixed up it all gets.  Frustrating ... going to stop adding for a bit and work on improving what I do have written to the hard drive of my brain.   Need some time to process and defrag the space allocated.  Brandi (Sifu Beckett #1) is home for about 6 weeks pretty excited!

Stretching

I have been going to some of the martial arts fitness classes on Saturday and I got a low impact Pilates/Yoga workout DVD set for working out during the week.  Both of these have a stretching component and I can't believe what a difference it makes in how I feel after / between workouts.  I stand up straighter, walk differently and I feel GOOD (there is a song with this line).  I experience less sore muscles after a workout and seem to bounce back with more energy.  Its amazing the difference it makes to incorporate stretching into your life 3 times a week.  I am hooked on a feeling (there is a song with this line) and will keep stretching as an important part of my conditioning.

Yes I am weird!

While on the subject of songs ... for our demo how about 'Inner Ninga' by David Myles a little bit of rap but no bad words.

Version 1.0

My Horse Whisk form is at about 1/3 done ... this is a long form and I am constantly trying to remember the sequence.  Sifu M Beckett probably gets frustrated going over this again and again with me.  My process from the sword form is to name different sections.  For example the sword form had the intro, a basic, the kick/block/pose, the twizzler, the block/strike, a basic, the corkscrew and the finish.   So far the whisk form has the intro, the figure eight circle, bagua walk, unnamed section ... the bird, windmill left, strike right, double flick, twist behind back, I think its ...  the double swish with knee to the bird, lateral strike front and back and then the triple crouch but I could be wrong!  Some of these may be renamed as I learn more of the form and understand the application behind the form but its confusing already and I am only a third done.  I am seriously concerned I am not going to have the whole sequence by the end of March, and for sure I will be talking to myself while performing what I do have.

A rare and special sunday

This week I have a free sunday to blog, which for me is really unusual.  Normally I have my Mom and Aunt for dinner, possibly others as well, but my Mom really looks forward to busting out of the seniors apartment where she lives in Leduc. So normally I would have picked up my Mom after lunch, she would spend the day out here and then we would do a big family dinner.  At about this time I would be driving my Mom and / or aunt home to Leduc and /or Edmonton.  This week my brother and I took Mom out for dinner and visiting last night (saturday),  I was so tired from Martial Arts Fitness and open training that I really didn't want to go out anywhere ... however as my brother is rarely in town it wasn't something I could duck out of.   However today I am really glad as today I have a day to myself.   Its a bit of a treat,  Mel is good about letting me do my thing and letting me listen to my favorite music all day.   Dean had a project going with his motorcycle and essentially once I growled once or twice everyone left me alone.   Sometimes a person just needs some space to rest and recharge.   My hubby he is always okay with people around, drives me crazy sometimes, I am looking forward to putzing around in my garden and he is planning a barbeque with a minimum of  four people coming.  Its caused an argument or two in our 30 years together.   Today was wonderful, really I am not good at sitting around unless I have book in my hand, so putzing around the house today, cooking, cleaning my kitchen, doing some laundry, listening to my favorite music ... nothing urgent, it was awesome.  I had nothing to accomplish, did stuff just because I wanted to!

We were dropping off a table at my aunts place in Edmonton and on the way we were listening to the Nitty Gritty Dirt band CD and my and the girls favorite songs 'The house on Pooh Corner' came on.   Melanie and I know all the words so as normal we start singing along.     When the girls were little they would sing all the disney movie sound tracks to Dean and I in the car, it  was always such a treat ... I mean really they knew all the words for the Lion King. Today I got really choked up and could hardly keep from crying ... this past June I was terrified that my daughter might have some horrible disease / condition that would kill or permanently handicap her.  Would I ever hear her sing again ... it just hit me today and its impossible to explain how special it was at that moment that Melanie was in the truck and singing along to one of our favorite songs ... thank you God!

Mirrors

Started learning the horse whisk form, very exciting!  Working in front of the mirrors at the kwoon can be a bit grim,  what felt smooth and graceful while practising does not look like that in front of the mirrors ... yikes!!!   I look slow and lumbering, when I actually want to look cool and dangerous.  In my logical side I think ... okay you have only been at this form for a week, give yourself a break.   But my emotional side comes up with some very negative back talk and not just about my form but body image as well.

I want to use the mirrors as a tool to help me perfect my form but its hard not to be distracted by seeing EVERYTHING that I perceive as less than perfect.   Does everyone go through this mental exercise in front of a mirror.  I actually have to mentally drown out the negative body image rhetoric by focusing specifically and looking and asking myself are my feet or hands in the right positions, do I have my hips aligned correctly, are my shoulders in the right position in relation to my hips and so on.    Really what does my messy hair or body size have to do with my kung fu.   I need a new paradigm ...  one where I see a martial artist and focus on the skeletal alignment, stances and the flow of what I am doing and can turn off Terry on her personal channel listing all her imperfections.