Canada Day

Tomorrow Canada will be 152 years old. 152 years is relatively young for a country, especially when you consider our young neighbor to the south celebrated their bicentennial forty three years ago. After 152 years we have definitely got better at some things but, unfortunately, we have also dropped the ball a few times.

I met someone from Germany last night who has been living in Canada for the past thirteen years. He was definitely of the opinion that we could learn a lot about administering healthcare from Germany. The wait times we live with everyday are illegal in Germany. Being a guy who worked in the front lines of healthcare in Alberta for over thirty years, I have an opinion or two on why our system is in need of a major overhaul.

Patient outcome is not a consideration in Canadian healthcare. Everything is about budgets and business models. This should not be a big revelation for anyone in Alberta. We have had 40 years of governments who subsidize the oil industry while cutting back on healthcare and other essential services to pay for these subsidies.

Remember the days when your MP and MLA actually represented you first and their party second? Remember when the government was there to serve us - the people, rather than just govern to get re-elected? The answer is probably not. Most of us don’t even understand how a parliamentary democracy is supposed to work. Hence why we have a Premier who can get away with cheating to gain leadership of his party and then hand out ear plugs to his caucus so they do not have to hear what the opposition party has to say.

Lots has happened in the past few years of our country’s 152 years of existence. Let’s hope that the future of our country sees us return to the democracy our confederation fathers had in mind when they created Canada.

 “Many, many times I would shake my head in dismay at the goings-on in the House of Commons, but that never caused me to lose my fundamental faith in the values of our parliamentary institutions.” - Jason Kenney (b. 1968)

Eighteen

Eighteen is an auspicious number that is often used in kung fu. 18 Hands of Lohan, 18 Temple Motions, etc. A number is easy to quantify but sometimes what the number represents is less of an absolute, residing in the abstract.

Training in the martial arts can bring thousands of techniques into one’s arsenal. Training as a martial artist, in a single style, reduces those thousands of techniques to around eighteen concepts, all supported by those same techniques.

Mastery in kung fu is about recognizing the concepts and immersing yourself into the style. Physically, no style can be perfect so it is important to embrace the esoteric nature of the art to allow patterns to emerge, simplifying strategies and calming the mind.

Minimize, simplify, and proceed boldly.

“As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.” - Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862)

My Paragon

Who do you want to be? Usually based upon a paragon of our admiration, we all have a vision of who we want to be. When it comes to becoming a black belt, everyone has an ideal, based upon the best attributes of black belts they admire, that they envision attaining.

Vision and ideals are paramount components of a complete plan but they are not the only requirements for a successful plan. The black belt success cycle teaches us to:
1) Set a goal
2) Have a plan (and success coach)
3) Take consistent action
4) Review your progress
5) Review your goal
Where most people fail is on number three. Taking consistent action is the only way progress is ever made. It is easy fall into a cycle of mediocrity where activity or the passage of time is confused with progress.

Keeping a clear perspective of where you are and where you want to be makes it less likely that perspective will be lost, allowing mediocrity to get a foothold. Clear perspective with consistent action promotes constant incremental growth.

“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.” - Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973)

Sifu Kobe Csillag

Kobe Csillag began his kung fu career in my Lil Leopard class when he was about three years old. He has grown to become a formidable black belt and is well on his way to earning his second degree as a sixteen year old.

Sifu Csillag has been an integral part of the instrucor team at Silent River Kung Fu for many years now but his contributions this past year have gone above and beyond. When he leads a class, no student is ever left behind. He has solid instincts and deep insights that inspire and motivate his students and fellow instructors alike.

I do not know how many more years Kobe will be able to devote to teaching kung fu as I suspect his ambitions may take him elsewhere. Until then, I am going to savour every moment I am privileged to share the mats with him.

“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” - Henry Adams (1838 - 1918)

My Great Weekend

I have made it a point this year to try and keep my weekends work-free and I could not be happier. I am spending more time with family and with friends. In fact, since quitting my job a year and a half ago, I am keenly aware of how much less stress I have in my life. Trading income for lifestyle has been the best, most empowering decision I have ever made.

When we first start out on our own, it is almost always about income. Income to feed our family, pay our bills, and service our debts. Somewhere down the line things get mixed up and our perspective distorts. Instead of working toward our dreams, it just becomes about money. We tend to never have enough and the things we are willing to sacrifice in order to make more money is almost obscene.

As long as we’re always working to get what we want, we will never fully understand what it is that we need. Time is the only commodity I care about these days and I could not be happier.

“Those who are afraid of never having enough, ultimately never have enough. And those who are grateful for what they already have, always live in abundance.” - Timber Hawkeye (b. 1977)

Self-Awareness

Tattoos, arrogance, and intimidation - oh have expectations changed. There used to be a time when the martial arts was primarily associated with mental discipline and emotional intelligence. Two thousand years in, society’s expectations of the arts have devolved so far that discipline has been replaced with aggression, and if you mention emotional intelligence in the same sentence as the martial arts, people look at you as if you are suffering from a stroke.

Politician, teacher, martial artist - no matter who you are or what you do, if you are too narcissistic to employ self-awareness, you are problem never a solution.

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” ― C.G. Jung (1875 - 1961)

Deeper

I spent the weekend removing dead trees from my yard. As the years get hotter and dryer, more pests and disease are the norm. I can’t remember when I last had a tree die but I suspect it is going to be the norm from this point on. Last summer was spent in a constant smoke haze from all the forest fires and the wildfire running rampant west of me this weekend is a harbinger of what we should expect this year as well.

My generation has definitely failed as leaders and protectors of our children. We’re busy lining our pockets while staying hell-bent on maintaining an unsustainable orgy of consumption and waste. Someone is going to have accept less. Why or how a parent can ignore the price that is going to be paid by our children boggles my mind.

 “It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment.” - Ansel Adams (1902 - 1984)