An Apology

I'd like to post a public apology to everyone, not only tho apart of the I Ho Chaun, but the entire school for my absence in my blog posts this past month.  I find that every year I struggle with the month of school leading up to Christmas because of the intense workload our teachers put on us; and my grades have been suffering.  I am in no way making up excuses, or trying to point out why it's okay that I haven't been slogging, because it's not.  This isn't the first time I've done this, but it will certainly be the last.

I apologize for leaving everyone hanging, and I will be posting a proper blog post tonight after all of my homework is done :)

Sifu Wonsiak 

Campaign For Peace

At my school, in preparation for remembrance day, we decided to initiate a week long 'campaign for peace.'  We started off with one of our teachers going around the school at lunch time, and snapping pictures of students making a peace sign, and then uploading them on our website.  (My friend and I made it... that's where I got the picture from.) 

Then, on Friday, everyone in the school was encouraged to wear a white shirt, or white pants; emphasizing our commitment to peace.

Our remembrance day ceremony was quite emotional, and we were confronted a lot with the question, "what does peace mean to you?"

So, I encourage everyone this rememberance day to think about what peace means to you.  I'm going to be blogging about what I've come up with next week sometime.  

The following poem is one that one of our drama classes performed at the ceremony, and I find it to be a very moving poem that I thought I'd share.  The performance done by the class was breath taking, and moved a lot of us to tears; including me. 

The Final Inspection
The soldier stood and faced God,
Which must always come to pass.
He hoped his shoes were shining,
Just as brightly as his brass.

"Step forward now, you soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To my Church have you been true?"

The soldier squared his soldiers and said,
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't.
Because those of us who carry guns,
Can't always be a saint.

I've had to work most Sundays,
And at times my talk was tough.
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.

But, I never took a penny,
That wasn't mine to keep...
Though I worked a lot of overtime,
When the bills just got too steep.

And I never passed a cry for help,
Though at times I shook with fear.
And sometimes, God, forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.

I know I don't deserve a place,
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around,
Except to calm their fears.

If you've a place for me here, Lord,
It needn't be so grand.
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."

There was a silence all around the throne,
Where the saints had often trod.
As the soldier waited quietly,
For the judgement of his God.

"Step forward now, you soldier,
You've borne your burdens well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."

Hello...

Alright, I know this blog post is late.

Last week was a pretty stressful week; my mom had eye surgery and was in recovery mode.  She had to keep her head down, parallel to the floor, 24hrs a day for 7 days with a 10 minute break every hour.  Needless to say, it was pretty hard on her.  But all is well now, and we're just waiting to see if the hole is gone in her vision.  I'm crossing my fingers.

I had the privilege of teaching at the forms seminar this weekend, and it was amazing!  The main reason I love helping someone else with their forms, is that I'm able to find and fix a lot of flaws that I have in my forms.  My favourite aspect of Kung Fu is our forms, and I love any opportunity that comes along to help someone else develop the same love for them that I have.   

I'd like to write more, but my next class starts in 5 minutes and I should probably be on time for that. =)

Until next time...

It's Still Dragging On...

(The picture is me as of yesterday night... still slightly chipmunk-ish.  But so much better than all the other days.  A picture is worth a thousand words right? )

Well, its day 4 after getting my wisdom teeth out and I'm still blown up like a balloon, but on the bright side . . . the swelling has finally started to go down.  Turns out I'm a huge wimp when it comes to stuff like this, so I'm not going into classes tonight at Kung Fu; I figured that I'd give myself another night of solid rest so that I can be back up on my feet for school tomorrow, and Kung Fu the rest of the week.

I'm getting quite anxious to go back to the studio.  I'm bummed out that I missed the demo on Saturday, but everyone looked fantastic!  I'm proud of my teammates.  You guys really came together and pulled off a spectacular demo.  Congratulations guys =)

Not Much To Say

Midterms in school are coming up in around three weeks and that's taking up a lot of my time.

I'm missing the demo this weekend because of my wisdom teeth... I feel like I'm letting down the team by not being there, I'm sorry guys! =(

Went to the doctor about my back today, sent me for an x-ray and got told to stop doing crunches and sit-ups... looks like i'll be substituting other exercises in the next few days.

What A Week.

This has been a pretty stressful week to say the least.  On Tuesday, my mom had to have emergency laser eye surgery on her left eye; they found two holes and a tear on her retina, so that had to be fixed.  She lost some vision at the bottom of her eye, but thankfully she's okay now.  I'm quickly blogging before we leave to head out for Saskatoon for thanksgiving, and my grandmas 90th birthday! 

At the beginning of the week, I had posted a challenge for everyone to blog about two of their requirements from the I Ho Chuan; one personal, and one "pre-set" requirement.  For my 'pre-set' requirement, I chose 'participate and organize all SRKF events.'  This has been my favorite requirement so far.  I remember a couple weeks ago when, in his video blog, Sihing Robinson had said that he wanted to start to get to know the members of the I Ho Chuan outside of formal training in Kung Fu.  To me, this requirement helps me to become more acquainted with other members of the team on more of a personal level.  It also makes me feel more apart of a 'second family' then a team.  The teamwork that this requirement entails has really helped me to enjoy my experience as a Silent River Kung Fu student, and an I Ho Chuan team member.

For my personal requirement, I chose 1000 repetitions of my Tai Chi form.  This year for all of my forms, I decided to focus on my slower, more tai-chi like forms; including my 18 Temple Motions.  I feel that these are the forms that I struggle the most with.  My mom had to force me into going to my first Tai Chi class... I did not want to do it.  But after a few sessions, it grew on me, and I noticed the benefits that it had for all of my forms.  The biggest thing was that I always had my chin down while I did my forms.  Tai Chi helped me fix that, and now I find that I have way better flow in all of my other forms.  I recommend that anyone struggling with their 'harder' hand forms take Tai Chi.  It's going to be frustrating at first, trust me, but there are so many benefits that will only serve you in the long run.  I wish that I hadn't waited to long to start taking it =)

I'm being called to run out the door now, so unfortunately, this is all I had time to write.  I encourage those of you who haven't done the challenge yet to do it, you'll be surprised what you discover about the personal benefits that you discover about each of your requirements. 

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone =)

Apology

I'd like to apologize to everyone reading my blog.
There is a requirement in the I Ho Chuan that you must blog every week.  I have not failed that requirement, but I've had pointed out to me that for around 3 months, I did not copy my weekly blog posts to this blog, I was only posting them on the I Ho Chuan team blog. 

I will be back dating these missed posts throughout the week.

My Experience

I've been wanting to blog about my whole experience in the I Ho Chuan for quite awhile now, but I've never really been able to put it into words, until around 10 minutes ago when the light bulb went off in my head somewhere in between question 5 and 6 of my math homework ;)

Every two weeks, I like to sit down in a quiet place with my kung fu binder, and go through all of my requirements that I have to complete by the end of the UBBT.  I like to see where I'm at with my numbers, but I also like to remind myself why each requirement is there, and what it does to help me not only successfully complete my year in the I Ho Chuan, but also how it helps me to become a better martial artist.  I find that this has been my key to keeping me engaged despite all of the distractions that I have around me. 

The last time that I had sat down and looked at my requirements and numbers was the evening after we had our September meeting.  I found myself to be caught up, if not ahead on all of my requirements; I had exceeded the goal that I had set for myself at the beginning of the year for where I needed to be in September.  I should've been thrilled about this right? But I wasn't; I was actually disappointment at the lack-of excitement and accomplishment that I was feeling at that particular time. 

This concerned me, and it took a little but of thinking time, and a meeting with Sifu Brinker to understand why I was feeling this way. 

I'm a very goal orientated person; I've been setting goals for myself for as long as I can remember.  So, setting goals, to achieve my requirements isn't that much of a challenge for me.  Yes, sometimes it is difficult to find time to do my Kung Fu, and I have missed days before, but catching up is not something that I find so difficult to do.

I don't exactly know where I'm going with this, but I know that to successfully complete a year in the I Ho Chuan is extraordinary.  But right now, I don't feel like I've accomplished anything fantastic.  Sifu Brinker helped me to realize that I need to do something extraordinary.  Something that will not only leave an impact on me, but on the rest of the school as well.  I want to make my experience in the I Ho Chuan a defining moment in my entire Kung Fu 'career'.  I don't quite know what that is yet though.  I've been putting a lot of thought into it, and hopefully the idea will come to me soon. 

That's just where my head is right now =)

What A Week!!

It has definitely been quite the week. 

    School is here in two days... TWO DAYS!? Where has all of the time gone?  I cannot believe that we are in September already; it seems to me like I just wrote my final exams of grade 10, and now I'm going into grade 11.   I'm full of mixed emotions; I'm happy to be going back and seeing everyone that I haven't over the summer, but I know that I really have to step up my game as far as academics goes this year.  I'll be able to apply for university next year in November, which means that they won't just use my midterm marks from grade 12, but they will also use my grade 11 marks.

    I only got the chance to make it to Reno's two days this week, but I loved every minute of it.  To me, the annual renovations are my way to make a connection with everyone that comes into the studio at the same time as me to help.  But, I also feel a whole connection with the entire school.  It's one thing walking into the studio after a 'week off' and saying, "Oh wow! The studio looks awesome! Everyone did a really good job." But to actually go in, and put the time and the effort to make your studio look good; there's not a more satisfying feeling. 

Countdown

I wan't to blog about the renovations, and how much they influence my Kung Fu, but I can't put it into words quite yet.  It just sounds like a pile of rubbish.

Keep your eye out for that post soon.

Countdown to school: 6 days

Intensity

Sifu Kichko has been spending a lot of time with me, helping me finish learning the fourth part of the tai chi form. I just wanted to start off with that. Thanks Sifu :) 

Lately, Sifu Brinker has been talking to us a lot about intensity. This is a portion of my kung fu that I really struggle to keep constant, if that makes any sense at all. My ability to "channel my intensity" depends on what I'm doing. Which is something that I'd like to even out. I'd eventually like to know that I'm able to have the same amount of intensity in everything that I'm doing.

I love my forms. Out of everything that I do in Kung fu, they're my favorite. Of course, there are many things that I need to work on in them, but I'd like to think that whenever I go through one of my forms, that my intensity is peaking. Lately, I've been trying to focus on channelling that intensity Into other aspects of my Kung fu, like doing techniques with a partner and sparring. These are two areas that I defiantly lack confidence in, therefore, my ability to remain intense goes out the window. 

This is something that I've been working on over that past couple of months, and I really feel that I've made a lot of progress. I've found that I've started to doubt myself less, and I've noticed that the quality of my techniques has improved. 

I'm a long way from achieving my desired goal as far as intensity goes, but I'm getting there. I really need to stop questioning myself and "go with the flow." I'm going to make mistakes, but that's the best way to learn. I know that once I start to increase my self-confidence, my intensity will increase. It's just a matter of putting in the time and effort. 

Intensity

Sifu Kichko has been spending a lot of time with me, helping me finish learning the fourth part of the tai chi form. I just wanted to start off with that. Thanks Sifu :)

Lately, Sifu Brinker has been talking to us a lot about intensity. This is a portion of my kung fu that I really struggle to keep constant, if that makes any sense at all. My ability to "channel my intensity" depends on what I'm doing. Which is something that I'd like to even out. I'd eventually like to know that I'm able to have the same amount of intensity in everything that I'm doing.

I love my forms. Out of everything that I do in Kung fu, they're my favorite. Of course, there are many things that I need to work on in them, but I'd like to think that whenever I go through one of my forms, that my intensity is peaking. Lately, I've been trying to focus on channelling that intensity Into other aspects of my Kung fu, like doing techniques with a partner and sparring. These are two areas that I defiantly lack confidence in, therefore, my ability to remain intense goes out the window.

This is something that I've been working on over that past couple of months, and I really feel that I've made a lot of progress. I've found that I've started to doubt myself less, and I've noticed that the quality of my techniques has improved.

I'm a long way from achieving my desired goal as far as intensity goes, but I'm getting there. I really need to stop questioning myself and "go with the flow." I'm going to make mistakes, but that's the best way to learn. I know that once I start to increase my self-confidence, my intensity will increase. It's just a matter of putting in the time and effort.

www.kwonsiak.blogspot.com

wonsiak

It's been a really exciting week for me.  My birthday is tomorrow, which means I get to take my drivers test =) Hopefully I pass, which means I will have successfully completed one of my personal requirements! (yayyy)

On a bit of a darker note, some of my friends were involved in a drunk driving accident.  One went in for surgery last night, I'm not sure what for.  Another is at the University Hospital with four cracked vertibrae.  And the others are in the hospital for other injuries.  No one was killed, thank goodness.  I've been thinking of them every day, and I can only hope for the best for all of them.  

Thats all for right now :)

well...

I'm not quite sure what to post about. My mind is in quite a few different places right now. My blog posts recently have been late because of lack of access to the Internet. 

This summer has been really busy for me. With the move, family functions, etc. it's been challenging to find a way to place time aside for myself. I've been trying to squeeze it in wherever I can. During our trip to bc, at every rest stop we stopped at I was outside training. It was beautiful and I felt really at peace with myself. 

I'm hoping that I can keep this up until the end. I want to finish my journey strong.

I'm Still Here!

It feels like I've vanished off the face of the earth... speaking from a blogging standpoint anyways.  We successfully moved out of our house at the beginnning of last week, and I havent had any access to internet until now. 

I don't have anything super exciting to blog about.  I've spent a lot of time with my family these past few weeks, we've had a wedding, and a graduation all within 4 days of eachother; plus getting settled into the new house, we've been pretty busy.

I've started to get back on track with my training, trying to squeeze it in every second that I get (in between dinner and the speeches at the wedding, in the back of the auditorium when grads were getting their diplomas are a few examples) and I'm starting to realize how close we are to the end of this year's I Ho Chaun.  There's a lot of stuff that I still need to get done, so it's turning into 'crunch time.'  And I'm loving every minute of it.

Let's Be Honest

I'm going to be 100% honest, I'm about 1 - 2 weeks behind on all my requirements right now. I'd like to have some awesome reason about why that is, but I'm going to be honest and say that I've been completely lacking the motivation to do anything. I've been so overwhelmed with final exams, moving, and trying to focus on improving how I approach my role in the kids classes at the studio that I've had no motivation to get up and focus on myself. I started to doubt myself and I even caught myself thinking that I wanted to quit. 

Today was the last day of school and I have almost a week to prepare for my finals. I was in the middle of packing up my room when I got up, laced up my running shoes and went for a run. It completely cleared my head, and I was able to remind myself what I was doing, and why I was doing it. I felt all of the feelings that I felt on the first day that The UBBT started, and I felt all of the negative thoughts flow out of me. I think that it was the exact reset that I've been searching for for awhile. 

wow.

Last week was absolutely insane. My dad was in meetings in Calgary all week, so it was just me, my brother, and my mom. And of course... Something was bound to go wrong. 

On Monday night, my mom called me downstairs in hysterics because my brother had called her from the skate park saying that he had fallen. When we got there, we realized he had fallen flat on his face, and even worse, he hadn't been wearing a helmet. 

He ended up with cut up lips, a Hirt leg, and Two of his teeth got pushed up into his jaw bone. But I keep counting my blessings that that's all that happened to him. 

It's amazing how fast one stupid decision can impact you and everyone else around you. You don't even think twice about jumping into the car without a seatbelt, or not throwing on your helmet because you're going for a ride to the mailbox; but there are a reason that we do these things. They're all here to just keep us safe. 

On the other hand, schools getting really busy and we're getting ready to move in three weeks. 

Woah.

Random Acts Of Kindness

I've really started to notice what an impact the little random acts of kindness that I'm doing daily are making on the people around me.  Before I began the process of writing down every act of kindness that I perform on a daily basis, I didn't understand the value of it; I mean, I hold the door open for someone every day... Why do I have to write it down.

I've just began to realize the change that writing down all of my acts of kindness has brought to my attitude towards these acts.  I notice the brightening of someones face when I smile at them, or say hi as their walking by me.  Or the thank yous that I get as I'm holding open the door for someone. 

It's funny that, when someone performs a random act of kindness for me when I'm having a bad day, it can brighten my mood in just a few seconds.  This project has helped me to realize what an impact we're making on others when we perform one of these acts.  It's a small act of peace that can instantly change someones mood, even when you don't expect it.

"Peace isn’t a permanent state. It exists in moments. Fleeting. Gone before we knew it was there. We can experience it at any time, in a stranger’s act of kindness, a task that requires complete focus or simply the comfort of an old routine.

Everyday we all experience these moments of peace. The trick is to know when they’re happening so that we can embrace them, live in them"  ~ Greys Anatomy

Update

Nothing big to blog about this week. I've had a pretty good week as far as numbers go. 

I'm really getting excited about my tai chi. My flow is coming along really nicely. Ive come to really love doing my tai chi as often as I can. It really calms me down and relaxes me.

Run For The Cure

I've finally finished my latest project...

My friend and I are taking part in the CIBC Run For The Cure this September.  I've been working for awhile on this logo to put on our t-shirts.  Not to flatter myself, but I think I did a really good job...

This is a very important cause to both of us, as we have both had family that has been affected by Breast Cancer.  Her mom, Nora, just had her last surgery on Wednesday, and she's in good shape.  I've set a goal for myself to raise at least $200.00 by the run date.  

On the other hand, I finished my sai form yesterday during the I Ho Chaun class.  I'm extremely proud of myself, as this is the first time I have essentially finished a form that I've started creating.  I've tried in the past, only to give it up because I'm so frustrated.  I'm so excited to be able to work towards getting it ready for demo purposes.  

It's Good To Be Home.

Our trip to Disneyland was amazing.  I loved being able to spend time with my family in a place that we all enjoy.  The weather was beautiful there, and even when it rained it was still hot outside, so it was perfect.  We got a lot done in the time that we were there and I got a lot of walking in =)  And yes, I cried the last night because I didn't want to leave.

But, now it's back to the grind.  We're coming up to a brand new month with the kids classes and I'm setting a goal for myself to always be in the moment and teaching with my full potential.  I also want to try a bit of a different method for how we are approaching striping the kids this month, Sifu Brinker and I had a discussion about it today, and I'm very hopeful that it's going to turn out better than ever.

Pandamonium is also coming up.  I'm planning on being there all day starting at 9:00 for the kids classes.  I plan on being able to help wherever I can with everything.  I have an extremely good feeling about the way we're doing things this year.  I think that it'll be a lot of fun.

Goodbye For Now.

I leave on Thursday morning for a much anticipated holiday with my family and some friends of ours. I'm extremely excited to go not just because of the holiday itself, but for the challenge that has been placed in front of me for my UBBT training.

I've been really working hard these past few weeks to try and get my numbers up to a level that allows me to stress less about how I complete my requirements while I'm on vacation. I've also spent a great amount of time trying to figure out when I'm going to have time to squeeze in some push ups and sit-ups every day. There's always time to fit them in, It's just the matter of disciplining myself to utilize the time, and actually drop down and do them. I know that if I were to not do any push ups or sit-ups while I'm gone, I would be back at square one when I arrived home. I have to keep myself in the game.

I've also decided that I'm going to be focusing a lot on my writing assignments while I'm gone. There's 8 hours total on a plane, plus time sitting in the airport waiting to board, and the shuttle ride to the hotel. I love to write, I used to be able to do it for 2 - 3 hours without taking a break, but I haven't exercised that ability in quite awhile and I'm really looking foreword to the chance to actually sit down and do it.

I'm also planning on taking a picture of me doing a push up in front of the castle... so stay tuned for that =)

"Around here, we don't look backwards for very long... We keep moving foreword, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're very curious... And curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." ~Walt Disney

Insert Title Here.

Yea. I couldn't think of a blog title. I'm not feeling very creative today.

So with the great blessing of being able to have full use of my knees back, I've found that I've regressed in my forms when it comes to having a connection with my shoulders and my hips. Sifu Brinker brought to my attention that there's a large disconnect between the two when I move from stance to stance in my forms, and I hunch my shoulders really bad when I move.

This is something that I've noticed has always been a problem, and I almost had it fixed before my knees started giving me problems, and now I'm back to square one... It's frustrating... but it's a new challenge that I have to work on.

That's all for now.

Again!?!

Snow... Again... Are you kidding me??

Apparently it was enough for the busses to be cancelled today, so I didn't have to go to school...

Here's to weekends that are longer than weekdays.

I'll be blogging tomorrow... I just felt the need to post this =)

Katelyn.

Wow.

This week has been spectacular.

All of my numbers are looking fantastic, and I feel that I progressed more than I had expected this week. I've had a lot of 'me time,' more than anticipated and I feel great. I haven't felt this way about my training in a long time.

I got to see my grandmother this week. She's 87 and just moved into a seniors home in Saskatoon. I love sitting down and talking with her. She's always so happy and seeing her this week made me think about how lucky I am to have her in my life. I love her with all my heart, and she teaches me how to be the most loving, and nurturing person that I can be.

That's all for now.

Spring Break

It's finally here.

I love spring break haha. With no kids classes and no school, it gives me a lot of time to focus on myself more so than everything else. I can expect to get a boatful of my numbers caught up by the end of this weekend. I'm staying in Saskatoon this weekend with my cousin while my mom takes me baba an hour from Saskatoon out to Quill Lake to see everyone out there. I'm there until Tuesday, and i'll be home by myself at my grandma and grampas house while she's in school.

It should be a good week.

A Really Slow Week.

I don't have much to blog about this week. We have a shortened week in school so I have no classes tomorrow, but I am for some reason absolutely wiped out. We have a realtor coming in to look at our house on Monday so we've been cleaning... a lot. Haha. It's been quite a bit of work. My physio therapist cracked my back for me today to loosen everything up and it's really sore. I'm going to take it easy tonight so that I can come back swinging tomorrow.

As far as my numbers go,

I've been getting a lot of my kilometers done in physio because he puts me on the bike to warm my knees up, so I'm pretty happy about that. Same with my squats. Those numbers are soaring.

I really need to work on documenting my acts of kindness though, I should probably start carrying my book around with me...

Sifu Wonsiak

Bullying.

People often ask me why I preach about bullying so much when I teach the kids classes. My answer to them is simple,I have been bullied off and on since grade 6. I know what it feels like to by threatened, pushed around, the subject of rumours, publically ridiculed and cyber bullied. I don't believe that I would have the confidence that I still have today if it weren't for my Kung Fu. Kung Fu teaches you two very important things besides self defence... Discipline, and respect.

I cannot tell you enough how hard it is to walk away and ignore someone that is publically humiliating you when you're standing
four feet away from them, and not to mention keep calm. But, Kung Fu taught me the strength and the courage to do exactly that.

Now, I'm not saying that every person that is enrolled in Kung Fu has been bullied. Neither am I telling you that that is the reason that I was enrolled in Kung Fu. There is certainly a good chance that most of us have been bullied at some point, whether it be as a kid, or as an adult. The question, "well sifu, I've never been bullied, or a bully, so why do I have to learn about what to do when you're being bullied?" Comes up once in awhile and my answer to that is simple as well. This is one of the ways that I can teach someone empathy in a very simple way. By learning about bullying, and being educated about the effects about bullying, it's not very hard to put yourself in the shoes of the guy that's being picked on at the bus stop, or excluded from playing a game. It makes it way easier to be his or her friend;
and not be tempted to be peer pressured into becoming a bully yourself.

I believe that this is an essential part of my identity as a black belt, and has drastically changed the way that I approach my teaching in Kung Fu.

For our orange belts in the kids classes, we started the new green stripe requirement of them having to create a multimedia presentation on bullying, which will eventually be displayed on the monitor in the school. The picture I included in this post was one from a project that one of our orange belts handed in. There was my chuckle for the day. =)

Sifu Wonsiak

Making Adjustments...

I had my first physio appointment this morning. I have what's called Patellofemoral Syndrome. My knee cap doesn't track properly because some muscles in my leg are too tight, and some aren't strong enough to create a balance. Also, with much surprise, I have an issue with my lower back putting pressure on a few of my nerves which is apparently a huge contributing factor to this.

So along with some pain, we've got a healing plan worked out, and six sessions booked. He did recommend that because my forms and tai chi cause the most swelling in my knees, that I'll have to take it easy or it might disrupt the healing process.

Although this is going to be very difficult for me (I do A LOT of forms and tai chi) I want my knees to get better quickly. Some adjustments are going to have to be made...

The title of this post pretty much sums it all up.

Last night, I wasn't paying attention and I ended up missing a step going downstairs to the kitchen resulting in me falling down 7 hardwood steps. After lying on the ground for a bit, I realized that I wasn't hurt, and I *thankfully* didn't knock myself out on the way down. I'd like to give a shout-out to my Kung Fu for this. The many minutes of laying flat on my back and holding my head off the ground really payed off for me. I was able to subconsciously tighten my neck muscles and keep my head up while I was falling down the stairs. I truly think that the fact that I didn't even have to think about doing this was awesome. I walked away with only sore neck muscles and what we think to me a minor concussion.

On a lighter note, I've been given an opportunity to develop one of my personal requirements tomorrow afternoon. I was asked to help photograph the dress rehearsal of our school production of Seussical The Musical. This is extremely exciting because I will be able to use one of our schools hi-tec cameras and all of our editing equipment. Since one of my personal requirements for the UBBT was to create my own photography portfolio, I will be able to use some of these pictures to kick start this little project. I am extremely excited as I've never gotten the chance to photograph theatre before, and I believe that there's a lot to be learned tomorrow and I'm excited for every chance that I get.

Cheers! :)

Just An Update

I do have a certain blog post that I want to put up, but I have to think about it for a bit longer. So stay tuned.

But, I felt that It was time to put up another little update on how my training has been going.

First off,

I'm really excited about the get together between all of the I Ho Chaun members tonight after the kids classes. I've missed the last two, being sick and such; but today I feel the best that I've felt in awhile. I think I've finally beat this cold thing I've had for quite awhile. Needless to say I'm back into action.

One of the weapons that I've decided to focus on are the Sais. I've decided to try to create a 'rough draft' of an original form. I really struggled with this at first, but now the creative juices are starting to flow, and It's finally starting to look like something. Yay!

We have yet another short week at school, and we can all tell that the teachers are starting to stress a little bit. We've been getting tones of homework, but I haven't started falling behind, and I don't plan on that ever happening. So far I've been able to maintain all of my averages at around the 90% mark. Which is really good, considering my personal requirement was at least 80%.

My training has been going really well, and I haven't quite started to badly fall behind on my numbers yet. I've been booked to start physio on the 2nd of March for my knees, so we will see how that goes.

Cheers:)

It's A Juggling Act.

This week is a very short week.

With winter games and teacher convention, tomorrow will be my last day of school until Monday next week. Teachers are giving a lot of homework and such, but I'm finally starting to get settled into a new routine in school. I have taken on a grade eleven honors biology class this semester, and I defiantly have my work cut out for me.

Because I've been spending so much time getting used to my new routine at school, my schedule at home, after school, has really done a bit of a flip-flop. Between homework, my daily training, helping out with the house to get it ready for sale, etc. I haven't been going to bed at the same time that I usually do. So that's been really tough.

My strategy skills have really been put to the test these past few days. I have different alarms set on my phone to remind me when to drop and do push ups, sit-ups and squats; and when to bang out a repetition of a form or two. I've never really planned like this before and I'm struggling with it. My mind doesn't process this way, but I've been slowly training it to start. I'm getting there... but it's defiantly a process.

Everything else has stayed content though.

I get to make T-shirts in my Com-Tec class next week =)

Book 1 out of 5 : To Kill A Mocking Bird

One of my personal requirements for the UBBT was to read 5 books that have an impact on me and to tell a little something about each book on my blog. Reading books for me is easy; I read a lot of books. Each book impacts me in a way, but when I made this requirement, I wanted to make it clear that I would be picking books that I know will make an impact on me before I read them.

My mom ordered this book for me through the Scholastic book order when I was in grade 7. I think her exact words were "I want you to read this. It's a good book." Needless to say, the book sat on my shelf for 3 years untouched, just another dust collector. I didn't pick it up until we did it for a novel study in my English Honours class a couple months ago. But, the novel study was really rushed and still, I didn't get a lot out of it. It wasn't until I recently picked it up and read it cover to cover in about 4 days that I realized the huge impact it had on me.

First of all,
I loved the way this book was written through the eyes of a child. Out of the many books that I have read that shared this perspective, Harper Lee did an extremely good job of bringing out the innocence of a child towards the events in this book, but she also balanced in the more pressing issues that were talked about in a more adult tone.

Second,
Harper Lee teaches her audience about the issues that were faced towards racial intolerance and prejudice in the "Old South." But she also throws in many small, rich lessons in the mix. My favorite part of the book was the Tom Robinson trial. Although it was extremely dark, it definitely brought out the ugliness of racism. This is one of the few books that I have read that have not "turned a blind eye" towards how extreme racism used to be, and unfortunately in some cases, still is.

Lee also shows us the quick and judgemental nature of humans by using the character Boo Radley. We see how easy it is to misjudge and label people because they are different then us. I know that I have done it even though I know that it is wrong, and I'm sure that a lot of others have done it as well. In the book, we see how the impact and the actions of adults rub off on their children. All of the kids are afraid of him because he is different from them. Is it fair that we still do this everyday as a society? No, of course it isn't, and sometimes it isn't something that we can help. We've been doing it ever since we've been in preschool. We just don't see the impact that it has on others.

I loved this book, and it is one that I will for sure be reading again and again because I know that each time that I read it, I will get something new out of it.
One last thing that this book taught me was that you should keep reading a book, even though you don't understand the first chapter... You might miss out on something amazing if you don't =)

(The quote below is important to me because it was the part of the book that made my cry... Yes... I'm a sap for these things...

"When I pointed to him his palms slipped slightly, leaving greasy sweat
streaks on the wall, and he hooked his thumbs in his belt. A strange small
spasm shook him, as if he heard fingernails scrape slate, but as I gazed at
him in wonder the tension slowly drained from his face. His lips parted into
a timid smile, and our neighbor’s image blurred with my sudden tears.
“Hey, Boo,” I said."

A Change In Me.

Chinese New Year is tomorrow, which means the official start of this year's new I Ho Chaun program, and I would like to publicly post all of my requirements for everyone to see.

Set Requirements

- No Quitting

- 50, 000 Pushups and Situps

- Master Two Forms With A Minimum of 1000 Repetitions

- Log 1000 Rounds Of Sparring

- 1609 Kilometers of Running/Walking/Biking/Rollerblading or Equivalent

- Record 1000 Acts Of Kindness

- Mend A Relationship

- Journal Once A Week

- Qualify and Perform In At Least Three Public Performances.

- Learn To Lion Dance

- Compete In The Tiger Challenge

- Excel In Your Core Class Curriculum

- Memorize Mastery By Stuart Emery

Personal Requirements

- 1000 Repetitions Of Tai Chi

- 12,000 Squats

- Minimum Of 10 Minutes Of Stretching When I Wake Up, And Before I Go To Bed Every Day.

- Start A Photography Portfolio. Either Online, Or In A Folder With The Following Categories:

- Portrait

- Animals

- Landscape

- People

- Nature

- Miscellaneous

- Sports and Motion

- Receive An Overall Average Of Over 80% In My Core Subjects (the ones I need to graduate)

- Math

- Science

- Social

- English

- Religion

- C.A.L.M

- Read 5 Books That Have A Personal Impact On Me. Document And Journal About How, And Why.

- Create A Career Profile.

- Play THe Piano For At Least 1 Hour A Week

- Obtain My Drivers License

- Keep A Private Prayer Journal. To Be Written In Once A Week

My overall goal throughout all of this is that I see a change in myself spiritually, mentally, and physically.I'm really excited for this year, and I'm hoping for a year of success for everyone that is in the I Ho Chaun this year.

Time.

Happy New Years everyone! :-)

I'm extremely excited for this year, as there are so many exciting things going on for me.

I'm proud to be a part of this years UBBT team, I have been preparing for this for awhile and I am hoping for a very successful year for all of the participants.

My family is going to be preparing our house to put it up for sale; for we will be moving into our new house around the beginning of June!

In March, we are going on a trip to Disneyland with some friends that have never been before. I was pretty little the last time we went, and I can't remember bits and pieces of the trip, so I am really excited to be going again soon!

I am sending off my application to volunteer at the Stony Plain hospital. It is my dream to attend medical school, and even though it is still really early, I want to start exploring some of the medical fields, and begin to see what I would be interested in.

I have two wedding this summer, one of which is in BC. So I am also very excited to be going to those :)

I've got a busy year ahead of me, and with this in mind, I would like to share an entry out of my creative writing journal with everyone. I think that it really fits with this year, and it reminds me to always stay focused and in the moment while the small things fly on by...

Time

Take your time. Cherish the moment.

When we're young, we look forewords to so many milestones. Graduation, experiencing the real world, university, a job, and for some of us: marriage, kids, and grandchildren. We want them to come as quickly as possible so that we may move onto the next.

Sometimes, we have trouble staying in the moment; taking time to en grain this very second into our heads, so that we may remember it for a lifetime. We know that we'll always remember those big moments, because they're all we've ever looked forewords to. We become unfocused on the small things, which are just as important as the big things.

We need to become aware of our surroundings. We need to remain in the now and not in the past, or the future. The past is over, and we have no way of knowing the future, but we have control over what is happening right now.

Because when all these big milestones have passed us by, we're going to wish that we could remember the small things. Because when there's nothing left for us to look forewords to, we're going to with that we had more to look back on.