Pandamonium 2018

In my opinion, we just completed the best Pandamonium Silent River Kung fu has ever held. $15,000 going to five charities, an eight lion Chinese Lion Dance performed by sixteen rookie lion dancers, and  spectacular engagement by an unbelievable team.

Tonight I am grateful for the community we have built and the dedication by so many to realize a vision shared by us all.

“The way to change the world is through individual responsibility and taking local action in your own community.” - Jeff Bridges (b. 1949)

Surround Yourself

May has been a month of interruptions and consequential reactions. My best laid plans have gone awry yet somehow I have been able to stay on track and measure significant progress.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to not move forward when you are surrounded by positive influences. Stress and crisis are easier to manage if you have support and guidance. I have been mindful to rid myself of drama and negativity and my life has entered a phase where it has become easier to stay in the moment and react appropriately to whatever surprises life has in store.

Things are getting easier.

 “Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy.” - Saadi (1184 - 1283)

Mother’s Day

It is cliche and obvious to state that I owe everything to my mom. She brought me into the world, she raised me, she endured the stress I inflicted upon her life, and she loves me unconditionally.

In most ways my mom and I are polar opposites, yet somehow we have always been close and she has always supported me. When I first began studying kung fu, mom was not pleased. She worried what influence the eastern philosophies would have on me. The influence was profound but mom kept her mind open and recognized how the art was helping me.

The one thing mom never easily accepted in my life was any form of roughness or violence. Like my hockey, mom did not ever see me practice my kung fu. For the first twenty or so years of my training, mom would tell her friends that I was studying taekwondo. Today mom celebrates my students’ successes. She still bristles and questions my sanity every time I have another knee surgery, but she understands that kung fu is who I am.

I love you mom!

 “My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it.” - Mark Twain (1835 -1910)

Kind-Act-A-Thon

My school launched it’s annual Kind-Act-A-Thon fundraiser this week. Acts of kindness are not the first thing the general public typically associates with kung fu, but I can’t think of anything more important when it comes to developing a complete martial artist. With that I must stress that there is a difference between being a martial artist and just being someone who practices the martial arts.

Over the past ten or fifteen years I have witnessed a shift in why people are looking to get themselves or their children in the martial arts. It seems people are more focused on weaponizing themselves and their family than they are on building character, compassion, and confidence. I remember a time when every martial arts instructor believed that if everyone studied the martial arts, we would have no crime or wars. Today’s more popular claim is: “If you don’t have a good ground game, your martial art is a joke.”

Let’s reclaim what it means to be a martial artist. Lead by example, reflect before reacting, help others, and stay humble.

“When people ask me about what I learned from martial arts, I don't talk about favorite punches or kicks, or about fights won or lost. I talk about learning self-discipline, about ethics and manners and benevolence and fairness.”- Jonathan Maberry (b. 1958)

Yesterday

Yesterday was a good day. My day started out with a signup of a past student’s daughter for my Lil Leopard program. It sure brought home how long I have been doing this. I am teaching the daughter of one of my students who was a child when I taught her. Not only is life short, it is fast as heck.

The next part of my day was spent teaching Chinese Lion Dance to a great group of people. It is always encouraging when I see my students improve so much week by week. I am really looking forward to next week’s session.

Midday saw a big turnout for our school’s Pitch In Project. Rotary Park has been good to Silent River Kung Fu over the years so it is always good to be able to give back. As long as Sifu Regier has been organizing this project, this is the first year in a very long time that I have been able to actively participate in the clean up. Nothing can compare to boots on the ground, first hand experience to complete that feeling of satisfaction.

By evening we were able to get some significant landscaping accomplished in our own yard. Lots of digging, hauling, and planting - I have the aches today that attest to the effort.

Our plans to finish our day curled up in front of the hockey game were going great until we got an unexpected visit by a squirrel. I had not realized that our 3rd story screen was not on the window I had opened the day before. One minute left in the third period and suddenly we notice a squirrel watching the game with us. Five of us spent the rest of the third period and two overtime periods trying to get the squirrel safely outside. I don’t know how he evaded all four cats until we noticed him but he is lucky to be alive.

I did learn two things from the experience. One - squirrels are a lot smarter than I thought. This guy had strategies and moves that were adapting to every plan we tried to employ. He was learning as the rampage evolved. And two - squirrels will stop to have a snack, even in the middle of a rampage.

“Fill what’s empty, empty what’s full, and scratch where it itches.” - The Squirrel of Winsor

UBBT Update

Well this past week is not one I am sorry to see in my rear view mirror. Between commitments to my parents and getting my cats to the vet, there was not a lot of Jeff time this week. I have been nursing an upper back injury the past month so I would think a down week like this might not necessarily be a bad thing. I have my doubts though. My back seems more tender than ever and I think I may be babying it a little too much. This week I test this theory and see how hard and far I can push it without a setback.

I was pretty pumped to have a chance to meet with my UBBT teammates on Friday. With my own I Ho Chuan team, I see the value of monthly meetings to fuel engagement. I have been in multiple UBBTs but this was the first team meeting I can recall. Furthermore, my new daytime schedule was actually going to allow me to participate in an event that, in the past, would have been impossible for me because of career commitments. Imagine my disappointment when I was unable to log into the meeting. Being the only international member of the team can have its drawbacks. Hopefully we can get the bugs ironed out by the next meeting so the system will accept international calls.

Now that the snow is pretty much gone, I will be hitting the bike and roller blades as part of my daily routine. That is once I get my school database firing on all cylinders. I am quite a bit ahead on that goal but I am at a stage where it is a full time job during the transition. I am hoping to get enough accomplished today on that front to allow me to introduce some new activities into my daily routine.

“Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy.” - Lao Tzu 

If I Knew Then . . .

I think I have written about this sometime in my past recently. The longer I teach, the more I realize how much I know.

My understanding of the some of the more advanced concepts of kung fu seems to be more on the tip of my tongue than it has ever been. The knowledge has been there for a while but my ability, or maybe my willingness, to transmit the knowledge to my students has not been present.

I don’t know why it takes so long to reach the point of chap sau but I do know it has everything to do with experience. Direct transmission is not easy to achieve but it may be a lot easier than I give credit for. Some of the lessons of my instructors were directly transmitted to me but it took thirty years of practice and application before I realized the knowledge was even mine.

If I had only known what I actually knew then.

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forward.” - Soren Kierkegaard (1813 - 1855)