Truthfulness

I have reflected a great deal on the last couple of posts.  I am really enjoying the honesty in both Mr. Chervenka and Sifu Regier’s journal entry.  These posts have got me thinking about truthfulness. 

What makes a person an excellent human being?   When we talk Mastery are we talking about mastery in just Kung Fu, or mastery in other aspects reverent to our lives.  I think it is easy to get caught up in chasing a particular goal, to get so focused that we forget it is the process that makes things great. I think a trap I have fallen into at times is one in which my efforts may be focused on the goal of black belt such that neglect creeps into other aspects of my life. 

I think the blinders have to be removed every now and then, and you have to give an honest review of where you are at in life.  You may be achieving your requirements in Kung Fu, but where are you at with other aspects of your life.  Are relationships falling off the rails, are you missing important events, are you neglecting certain aspects of your job.  If this is the case, then I don’t think Kung Fu is serving you in a positive way or the way I think it is intended.

Are you meticulous in your training, yet hand in a half effort report at work, or miss out on your child’s baseball game.  I think it is important to look hard to see if there is a great disconnect between what you learn or teach in Kung Fu, and what you do outside of Kung Fu.  Naturally, focus and hard training in Kung Fu will spill over in positive aspects of your life, but I feel that leaving a bomb crater around every place except the Kwoon can be dangerous as it will eventually lead to resentment.  This is what I am feeling with my job right now.  I enjoy my work, but I can’t help but resent the fact I am missing church, family, Kung Fu, friends and events that make me who I am.

I have decided to assess my spirituality, family life and relationships, achievements, work ethic and quality and be completely true to myself.  My job as of late has led to neglect on more than one front.  If I am being completely truthful, Kung Fu at times has also. What I feel is important however, is constant self reflection.  This is what I believe Mr. Chervenka has just undergone by reading his post.

Some things I have noticed with myself since joining the I Ho Chuan.  Initially, I looked at it as a high bar or benchmark to see if you have the heart, the moxy.  Am I made of black belt fibre?  To a point I still believe this.  But now being away from the Kwoon for a couple months, I stand further from the action, and see it more as a process to force self reflection (or self destruction).

I don’t know why, but the requirements of work have never forced me to ask the tough questions like the UBBT and I Ho Chuan has.  With work, I have always blundered on, head down, butt in the air.  As of late, I have never had this many conversations with my wife regarding what seems to be working out, what isn’t, and what may need to change.  Self reflection and evaluation has been at an all time high for me.

It reminds me of a piece of advice a person gave to me before heading off to Forestry school.  He said, you are not going to college to learn about trees, you are going to college to learn how to learn.  There was a great deal of truth to that.  I am thinking more that the I Ho Chuan and UBBT is more the development of process rather than a means to an end.

Vince.

Worse than the Caramilk secret

As my time in Drumheller is nearing a close, and I am destined to head back north to Lloydminster, I took time to reflect on my experience in southern Alberta.  The diversity of this province is mind blowing.  And like my great, great grandfather that settled here in I believe 1887, I have found no other place I would rather be.

Over the past couple weeks I have seen and studied more plants, animals, weeds, landforms and soils than I have in a long time. Yesterday a huge snake skittled across the road, today a moose (on the prairies of all things!!) came to visit me and pose for a photo on site.  How many people can say they’ve completed Awakening the Dragon on the top of a hoodoo in the  wake of a setting sun?  Or explored a series of mud arches in the hoodoos that formed down a really cool and dangerous looking creek bed.  

But there is one thing I have to understand before leaving this part of the province.  More baffling than Jimmy Hoffa, crop circles, or the sock thief in the washing machine.

I have come across a couple farmer fields that have these weird plywood enclosures disbursed throughout.  Even more curiously there is an open side that is always facing the same direction.  They are spaced very evenly with about 40 meters apart in a grid configuration.  Inside the enclosure, there is nothing.  On the outside they are painted very colorful, some with very distinct patterns to them.  The shelters are about 3 feet wide, by maybe 6 feet long, by 5 feet high.

Even Google was stumped.  The only thing I can think of is perhaps bee hive enclosures, but then why are they empty?

The truth is out there.

Where is the time going?

Today was a tough day for me.  Mostly because I knew another I Ho Chuan meeting has slipped by and I am here in Drumheller.  I am feeling very disconnected and definitely feel like I am falling behind in a ginormous way.  There are so many limitations being away from home.  So many things you take for granted.  Time is mega precious out here, and I am juggling trying to spread my time into fulfilling my requirements.  What I have realized, is that as much as I wish to multitask the problem away, I am going to have to focus on less elements.  100% of things 50% complete is a failure.  50% of things 100% complete is a partial success.  I guess I know which direction I have to go.

What is important to me right now is maintaining my health, and that means, decent food to the best of my ability and sleep.  I have run 1/10th of what I did last year in preparation for the Death Race.....that could be a problem.

Enough ranting for today.

Vince.

Still on the road

The Alberta Prairies are beginning to rub off on me.  I rolled over the top of the hill and looked over the gorge of layered rock known as Drumheller.  Yup, still here in the land of the Dinosaurs and am really liking the region.  I am really feeling the distance from the Kwoon however.  Kind of like getting unplugged, or cut off from the Kung Fu mothership.

I have been trying to keep up with what I can control, including my pushups and situps and repetitions.  I am glad I have chosen the nunchuks to learn as it is doable in the hotel room, although a little cramped.  Swinging a spear or sword around the place would just get costly.  I have cut back on training somewhat, as it comes down to what is more important, food and sleep for health, or running and Kung Fu practice.  Keeping up with work, the associated paperwork, equipment cleaning and maintenance and training, and eating properly without a means to prepare your own food, is always challenging.

I did get home for a day or two and got a class in.  I also took the chance to take my son fishing.  Two things  that did me well.  In any case, I hope to get back to the Kwoon sometime.  Until then....

Vince.

Father's Day Top Gun style

If you are looking for some thought provoking blog this week, better move to the next one.  Today I write with no real reason but to enjoy the act of writing.

Two - Four - Foxtrot - Tango - Niner, requesting clearance for takeoff - over.

 

This is flight control, you are cleared for takeoff - over.

 

I Roll on to the collective and feel the ground affect.  The rotor wash is blowing papers all over the place. 

THIS IS NOT A TOY –pppppfffft! How can something this much fun not be a toy?

The skids get light and she begins to hover.  Now I am getting a bird’s eye view of the house.  It seems so tiny at this altitude as I am now easily THOUSANDS of millimeters off the ground.

I was seventeen when I flew the first time in an A-Star helicopter to a remote location in the mountains.  I have never forgotten the experience, and have flown in many helicopters since as a requirement of my job. 

I pilot this baby into a fairly uneasy hover, kinda wobbly at best as the winds are high today, mostly as the result of the open window...or maybe the air conditioning.  My flight suit is a little warm for a day like today, but it looks cool with my shades.  I get strange looks, but they are just jealous because they have never felt G-Force in the range of 0.2.

The best flight was west of Nordegg where we hovered over Klein Glacier and dropped the nose into a dive off the mountain cliff, my guts flew to my throat and I was hooked.

Alright, it is time to see what this baby can do.  I have at least three minutes of fuel with Veteran status of nearly 30 minutes of flying experience.  I roll onto the collective and pitch the aircraft to gain some airspeed and lift.  My Kung Fu reflexes are poised; I pull back on the stick and get ready to throw this aircraft into a hammerhead.

Every time I fly it makes me giddy.  There is nothing like it. Should a person chase a passion at all costs?

Something is dreadfully wrong.  The helicopter is rolling, and I panic, overcompensate on the yaw, the aircraft is out of control.  Mayday! Mayday! Flight control we are headed for a collision.....with the lamp.....or maybe the TV......Nope straight into the pilot.  I throw up my arm in a Kung Fu palm sweeping block just the moment before impact.  The rotor slices my finger tip in two and the spinning blades make a scene as gory as a Friday the Thirteenth horror film. My life flashes before my eyes and one thing is event; the box was right THIS IS NOT A TOY.

I need band aids.  Lots of them.  And maybe some gauze.  And maybe a stitch or two.

After showing her my fourteen band aid index finger, I wonder if she regrets buying me a remote control helicopter for father’s day?  What a strange, but extremely thoughtful gift.  I get a real kick out of this thing, probably because I am such a kid at heart, but also because of the brain power and dexterity it requires to fly.  This takes some Kung Fu like focus. Just goes to show you challenges can come in the smallest and deadliest of packages.

Two - Four - Foxtrot - Tango – Niner over and out.

Captain Vince “Splitfinger” Krebs.

Looking for T-Rex

Drumheller.  Home of the dinosaurs.  There is much to see here so I started on a run with my goal being the suspension bridge at a park on the far side of town.  The run was flat, paved, and boring.  Like a magpie to a chrome bumper my attention wandered to the hills. 

Stacked layers of sediment carved into coulees and gorges and home of snakes, cacti and lava rock.  The running is hard and requires great focus to avoid injuries.  Slips, cuts, and hills would be broken in short interlude by small sections that were nothing short of shear running bliss.

 It turned into an addiction.  I continued through the coulees unfamiliar to me to find that perfect ridge that seemed to be crafted just for humans to run.  Before I knew it, the trap had been sprung.  I was drawn into the hills and ambushed by a rainstorm of epic proportions.  Slopes of good traction, turned into a stew of grease, marbles, ice, Bill Clinton, banana peels or whatever else you can think of that is slippery.  

What was sharp or prickly....Stayed sharp and prickly.

Now I know why the dinosaurs went extinct.

Scratch One Personal Goal

Being away from home the past while has been a tough problem on the Kung Fu front.  There has been some relief however.  I knocked off one of my personal goals (well almost).  The death race is approaching and a website promoting the team run is up and running (www.deathraceforcp.com) there is my shameless plug.

 

This year, my running regime is dismal at best, but I am strangely comfortable with it. What I’ve learned is that the Death Race is oddly a great deal of fun. This year is going to be more epic than any other because I get to run with friends and family.  I can't wait to share their experiences, see how they adapt to situations, and hopefully share in their accomplishments.  This year my focus more than anything will be to run in the moment.  To understand why I am there and what I am doing, and hopefully tally more than take a few random acts of kindness along the trail.

Vince Krebs