Meatless

I challenged my I Ho Chuan team to live thirty days as a vegetarian. Discipline is something that is never wasted and the things you learn about yourself when you apply discipline are lessons that you can apply to all aspects of your life. Of course a challenge like this is never as simple as it should be. Thirty days is not a long time but lifestyle changes, even temporary ones, have a way of polarizing people.

I’ve been a vegetarian for most of my adult life. My reasons for becoming a vegetarian are not the same as my reasons for remaining a vegetarian. While my lifestyle choices are personal, many people feel the need to defend their own choices when they learn of mine. Vegetarianism is never an easy topic to navigate. Most who query me about my dietary choices do not do so out of curiosity but rather to challenge me.

I am not an advocate for the vegetarian lifestyle. I am an advocate for mindful living. Being in the moment, and keenly aware of the impact of my decisions, empowers me. A simple thirty day challenge can change a life because of the mindfulness it promotes. The worst that can happen by accepting a challenge like the one I put before my team is that the status quo remains unchanged. The best that can happen? Infinite possibility.

“A thought, even a possibility, can shatter and transform us.” - Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)

I Am David

Being an advocate for mental health awareness, I used to follow David Helfgott’s career with great interest. David  was a prodigy pianist who never realized his complete potential when he succumbed to mental illness before his career really took off. His struggles were documented in the movie ’Shine’. David Helfgott’s story is inspirational and a testament to the power of the human spirit.

David Helfgott is now 69 years old and plays concerts all over the world. He is an easy target for criticism. His technique is not perfect and his continuous commentary while he performs can be very distracting.  I was excited to hear the German conductor, Matthias Formeny, make the following observation about David Helfgott  in the documentary ‘Hello I am David’

“Enjoy it, enjoy the moment. It’s really great. We all know that, but he practices it and always reminds us all that we should do that with him too. We’re really fortunate when playing with the ensemble of the orchestra. He sometimes gets distracted with his enthusiasm, because he’s so happy the flute’s playing with him, or the horn or cello, and at times it makes you wonder what will happen next. As the conductor, you need to keep an overview, but that’s what gives the special, improvisational character to the performance. It’s underpinned by great piano playing. It doesn’t have the hallmarks of perfection, but of primeval musicality, of drive, of reverie, and of great extremes. That’s how music should be. Not one tempo from start to finish, but playfulness with the various characteristics of the music. And it’s so full of that, you have to concentrate when listening. It’s not just “okay, here we go, as one might think with Rachmaninoff’s music. It’s very intoxicating music, very sonorous, rousing music. At the same time this music has, in the good sense, a show effect. It really does. It was the age of George Gershwin, Rachmaninoff, Leopold Stokowski, Philadelphia Sound. To an extent they were dandies, who played and composed it, and they knew how to live life. And David exudes all that in his own way, with his joy and his jazz-man mode in which he plays this music. That’s incredibly moving for me.”

Wow, what a perfect statement about life. David Helfgott may not be able to function like the majority of us, but his ability to live life to the fullest is beyond what most of us will ever achieve in our lifetime.

The Best Day

The build up to today was not very positive. The day itself did not start off so great. After spending a few hours with a group of my favourite people performing lion dances and demonstrations for seniors, this turned out to be one of my best days ever.

I have never had anything less than stellar experiences when performing for senior citizens. Their positive engagement and unbridled appreciation always affects me in the most awesome of ways. I got to finish the day by spending the afternoon and evening with my mom and dad. I wish I made more opportunity to spend my days like I did today.

“These wrinkles are the hands of time,
The journeys I’ve been on
They’ve seen me through a thousand days,
And ev’ry victory won

These fragile hands, With exposed bones,
Are not a fearful sight
But rather, they, my faithful partners,
Rocked babies through the night

These eyes are weak, They see much less,
Than yours they’ve seen much more
They’ve guided me through birth, through death,
Through grief, through hurt, through war

These ears can hear so very little,
Yet they’ve learned to listen much
They perk up not for gossip now,
But for a heart to touch

Those younger often look my way,
With pity looks to give
Yet this old body doesn’t mean I am dying,
But rather, that I have lived” - Emily Nelson

Vasyl Lomachenko

The past two weeks have kept me busy and tied to home with household renovations and school renovations. It has been tough this past year to get in all the training I want but the last couple of weeks have seen my training time become even more challenged. My house is in disarray and my school has been shut, making it impossible to stick to my usual training schedule and structure.

To maintain my engagement during downtime, I have been watching Vasyl Lomachenko’s fights. There are not many, only seven professional fights, but he took the world title in only his third professional fight.

I have never seen a fighter move as smoothly as Vasyl Lomachenko. When we talk about the six harmonies in kung fu, we are talking about moving the way Lomachenko moves. He is never off balance, he never over-commits. His feet are alway firmly planted, maximizing his power while making him difficult to hit.

Vasyl Lomachenko may be only twenty-eight years old but when I grow up, I want to move just like him.

“I want to bring something new to boxing. I want to be known to fans and appreciated as a ‘boxer-painter’ in regards to speed, footwork, punching power — an art form inside the ring.” - Vasyl Lomachenko (b. 1988)