Life, Legacy, and Kung Fu

My core values and beliefs; my personality blue print if you will; is what drives the decisions I make today.  Those decisions have impact in the world in which I live.  The resulting residue that lingers long after I am gone will be my legacy.  When I speak of Legacy, I am not speaking of a narcissistic need for the remembrance of my existence.    Rather I am thinking of what benefit have my decisions made to the community and earth which I am a part of.

I got to thinking about legacy in my Kung Fu.  On further thought I have begun to realize the impact that training has on core values, and since that seems to be the driving force behind decision making, it makes one think if training is going to provide a legacy in which I can be proud.

Action without contemplation is ignorance.  With that in mind I am pleased to say that the years I have trained in Kung Fu were not mindless, but a continuous evaluation and reflection which always resulted in insurmountable reason to continue.  Many of those reasons are the core values that training honed, include confidence, work ethic, control, and most importantly awareness.

In that awareness, I then recognize that what makes our lives great is the result of the legacy of past generations.  Clean air and water, morality and stewardship for example.  Perhaps it is due to a sense of gratitude to our forefathers, or an obligation to future generations, but I would say that the greatest driving force to wanting to make a positive influence is more self-serving than that. I think it is mostly the gratification of a positive accomplishment that drives those good decisions.   

A person toiling to build the pyramids, may have had little enjoyment out of life, but left a remarkable legacy.  On the other hand, how many lives of great joy and utter fulfilment have come and gone with very little impact to the future world.

When I got to thinking about this, I realized that a very fulfilling life indeed is one that lives in the moment, and enjoys what has been given to us through the legacy of past generations, AND, receives the gratification and accomplishment from a legacy they can be proud of.

While I flew off on a bit of a tangent there I want to get back to Legacy and our Kung Fu.  Recognize that what we do in the I Ho Chuan; from the demonstrations that display hard work, commitment and mastery, to the way we live our lives as stewards to the community and environment are making an impact and leaving a very, very positive legacy.  That legacy, and an awareness of the gifts in this life with which we are given, makes life truly awesome indeed.

August 8, 2015

It boggles my mind to think of the mathematics involved in a lunar landing.  How on earth can you send a fire powered rocket from a moving point and hit another moving point 385,000km away.  It’s all about getting the right trajectory.

Lately, trajectory has been on my mind.  Maintaining that direction for continued success in Kung Fu.  Too steep a trajectory and life is thrown out of balance and the rocket hurls to the ground in a huge fireball.  Too weak a trajectory and goals get missed, motivation slumps and the rocket runs out of fuel and also hurls to the ground in a big fiery crash.

Maintaining a positive, sustainable trajectory is tricky business.  I think it is about a continued guess and test.  Am I missing my goals, then perhaps I am on too weak of a trajectory.  Time to regroup and push toward my goals a little harder.  Am I fatigued and finding it difficult to meet the demand, including work, family, friends, mental health etc, then perhaps I need to downscale.

I am constantly assessing my trajectory.  I evaluate whether I am moving forward, I evaluate whether I am spending enough time with family, I evaluate my mental being.  This past week I am feeling the pain of a trajectory that is not steep enough.  This upcoming week I will be upping my training, then evaluating where I am, how I am doing, where I plan to go. 

Death Race 2015

No Death Race this year.  It has been a couple years that the race has been on my I Ho Chaun goal requirements.  This year however we were honored to be invited to a wedding of friends that was really special for us.  It was really nice to share that occasion with them.

Following the wedding we continued with the trailer west….and we didn’t stop until we ran out gas which just happened to be Grande Cache.  While we were about a day late for the race we were still in time to take in the atmosphere that this little mountain town provides and hook up with the racers with all the after stories.  Right now I am writing this blog on the banks of the Sulphur river on a portion of the course waiting for a family member to complete a portion of Leg 5. 

Here is a real story.  The “Red Hot Chilean Peppers”  Team name for a group of spicy Chilean runners which are also family members and friends who gave a good crack at it this year. 

Unfortunately time was not on their side, but…..everyone is running there leg anyway. Right now we are waiting to cheer on Carlos who is running leg five as we speak.  We are timing him, and we have a grim reaper dressed at the river crossing.  Now while the boat is long gone, the family and team is out in full force to see what he can do!  Prior to that Nibia ran Leg four (all 38km over two mountains) despite the fact the cutoff was missed.  Just awesome. This drive and never give up attitude is exactly the attitude of this race.

I think a lot can be learned from this group.  No failure gets them down, it just drives them forward. Just an awesome attitude and drive for success no matter what the outcome.  I really look forward to seeing their success next year.

I Ho Chaun goal success story

In the words of Bob Seger, “Every ounce of energy, you try to give away.”

That best sums up the approach to this past week, where I spent a week away from any form of technology, near the mountains at a kids camp for boys.  7 days of sleepless nights, kids racing around with reckless abandon, potato cannons, guns and ziplines. Phew, nothing draws energy like 40 boys between the age of 8 and 12.

Completing this week was one of the goals for my I Ho Chuan year, and it was difficult and rewarding all in one.  Kids that come from different walks of life, from difficult family situations, to learning disabilities, to boys with nothing more than atomic like energy.

One highlight was an opportunity to lead a nature walk and discuss elements of forest ecology, wildlife, bushcraft and survival.  Keeping a kids attention in the classroom is one thing, keeping 10 kids at a time at attention with every passing butterfly, grasshopper, dirt, rocks, pointy sticks and everything else nature could tempt them with was a challenge. 

One other circumstance this past week saw a child that had a very difficult time relating to any of the other kids. He was really concerning the leaders, as he just seemed to have a really difficult time with things. On one particular day a counsellor observed him out in the field alone and hunched over.  He stood up hunched still, took a few steps back.  Curiosity continued. A few seconds later a small balsa wood glider sored into the sky as the result of a long elastic launcher he had crafted.  The glider soared, and the child jumped and skipped in the field as it soared through the sky and eventually down to the ground.  He launched that glider thirty times or more with the same satisfaction and huge smile on his face every time.

I talked with the boy and soon found he loved things that could fly.  I showed him a couple of paper airplane patterns I knew.  My version did not fly very well, but after showing it to this child he took the pattern and made it into one of the best flying paper airplanes I have ever witnessed.  He folded one just for me.  Later in the week he was told by a counsellor that the week was drawing near and soon he would be able to go home.  In disappointment, he cried.

Better empathy training I could not have asked for.

July 18, 2015

Tonight, I closed the laptop.  Sat down on the bed and read a story to my kids. Perhaps, this should have been on the top of my list of things to do.  Up until now, it just wasn’t.  

Let’s back up.  The week started with a trip to Saskatchewan, followed by a job quite local.  That job however, resulted in complications involving EPS and a stolen vehicle, property damage, additional trespassing, and then unrelated; involved the fire department and military.  You would not believe the story if I told you.

Priorities realign to meet the current state of things, and although I know better my body is the first thing often shuffled to a lower state of priority when things get busy. It is generally deprived on sleep, fed poorly, and pushed harder than ever with the justification that it will only be short term, and anything short term it can handle.  I know better than this, as one day leads to two, then three, and before you know it, you are sitting in front of the lap top in a crumpled heap at the end of the week telling the kids you don’t have time to read a story.

Time to step back, look at things from a different perspective, and from that perspective realign your priorities.  This week I got it wrong.  In fact I wasn’t even close. Things that should have taken center stage ended up way on the back burner. Mental and physical health need to be top of the list. Without that, nothing can be kept up for very long. 

On another note, I am going to be gone for the week, but not work related.  It is volunteer time at summer camp, so I am sure to have some experiences that I can’t wait to share with you all next week.  Until then, train hard, stay healthy!

I Ho Chuan Goal in my Sites

One more week before I am off to camp as a volunteer at Camp Teepee Pole.  As one of my I Ho Chuan goals I am really looking forward to this for many reasons, the most being the opportunity that this year is going to afford. 

Last year the camp began an ambitious undertaking of bringing a small building on site with hopes of creating an outdoor learning center.  Also last year, I was given the opportunity to take each of the groups for a portion of the day and teach them about forest ecology, the environment, and planted trees to wrap things up.  It is so enjoyable to teach kids, especially when you are very passionate about the subject. 

This year, I don’t only want to finish the week, I want to blow this out of the water.  So for the next week I am going to be preparing, such that if I am given the opportunity again this year to teach, it is going to be absolutely awesome and educational.

Thinking on this, led me to realize what we have in the Sifu’s at Silent River.  Let’s face it, as students, sometimes we have the attention span of a chicken.  Keeping their students engaged, and interested must sometimes be a real battle.  I think back over the classes I have taken and realize that I really have taken the instruction for granted.  So here is a big old thank you to all you guys who find ways every week to keep us focused and on task.

On a final note, this week saw me west of Rocky Mountain house climbing up and down hills and through river valleys.  It was both fun and an exceptional workout.

Histories Greatest

An ad on the radio came on today that caught my attention. The ad mentioned that in a survey, the majority of people believe that our society is in a current state of decline.  So naturally I began to reflect on the generations that I had any real experience with.  These would include my grandparents, parents, my generation and the newly budding generation of my kids.

My parent’s generation was good.  My grandparent’s generation was exceptional, and based on that current trend I would speculate that my great grandparent’s generation was phenomenal.  Generations that were problem solvers, inventors, hard workers, resilient, thrifty, neighbourly, just to mention a few admirable qualities.  Generations that have seen both oil lamp lit homes, landing on the moon, and worldly connectivity and information over computers and cell phones.  That is true adaptability. 

If we can just sit down and listen for a moment, to those people that have made us who we are, who inspired us to be as good as we can be.  Between my wife and I we have one remaining grandparent.  She is 96.  Too often we don’t take the time to sit down and enjoy people, and truly listen to what made them exceptional.

Society has certainly taken many leaps forward in terms of human rights, racial acceptance, environmental awareness, and in many circumstances has taken giant steps back.  Regardless of that, there are still great people in this day.  People that still have a solid work ethic, care for the community, and a want for change. People that are willing to take on projects, be leaders in the community, and teach the next generation what it means to be great