Why Kung Fu

With the year coming to a close, many will be planning to start 2016 with a list of resolutions. Some of these resolutions will have people seeking out a martial arts school to begin training. Everyone has their own reasons that pull them toward the martial arts lifestyle but, for most, the reasons for sticking with the training tend to be different than the reasons for beginning the training.

I, like most, began my training because of an inspiration. Yes, Bruce Lee has always been a hero of mine but the incentive driving me to my first class was not visions of the Little Dragon but rather a phone call from my best friend telling me he had just enrolled in a kung fu class. Before kung fu I was not a ‘join the club’ sort of guy, I did not have much follow through, and I definitely was not a person who easily ventured outside my comfort zone.

I began my training for purely egotistical reasons. Being athletic I have pretty much excelled in any physical activity I have pursued and kung fu was no different. It did not take long before I noticed the physical benefits of the training but I could also sense something more. Something my young self could not quite put a finger on. Something just a little out of focus and only in my peripheral vision. It was not quite tangible but it was there nevertheless. Thirty-two years later it is now in the direct focus of my older self. Time, and the clarity that comes with experience, have given me appreciation and understanding for the more valuable abstract aspects of kung fu.

I am who I am today because of kung fu. I have met amazing people, witnessed miracles, and I have experienced an awakening. I no longer avoid the unknown, I embrace it. I no longer accept mediocrity, I pursue mastery. I have replaced insecurity and anger with compassion. I reject conspicuous consumption and I live simply. I have eliminated my regrets of the past and I no longer worry about the future. I understand the miracle found in every moment of every day and I know that the only guarantee in life is change. It is in my nature to grow old, it is in my nature to become sick, and it is in my nature to die.

Kung fu is so much more than kicking and punching. It has given me the clarity to understand what it means to be free.

“The challenge isn’t to be a great martial artist, the hardest work is to be a connected, compassionate, engaged, forgiving, participative human being. You learn the martial arts so that you may take what you practice so diligently on the mats –and then apply it to things that genuinely matter in the world.” - Tom Callos (b. 1959)

To My I Ho Chuan Team

2015 has been one of the most tumultuous years I have ever experienced. Personally and professionally, there hasn’t quite been a year like the present one that is coming to an end. While it has been interesting, I am looking forward to having all that drama and stress behind me and turning over a new page.

Despite everything that has happened, my training and personal growth have both experienced a stellar year. Beyond my chronic tailbone issues, I’ve enjoyed a year with minimal injury downtime. In the past I have equated my lack of pain or injury with lack of intensity. If I am not hurt, I haven’t been pushing myself. This year is different. If I did not have the focus and intensity , I would not have accomplished as much as I did this year. I’ve met most of my personal goals, I’ve been way outside my comfort zone, and I am at mental peace. My journey to mastery progresses, and continues.

I owe a lot to my I Ho Chuan team. The Year of the Sheep Team will forever be the team that showed what happens when you have a bunch of like-minded individuals pulling together on a quest for something better. Obstacles and setbacks were aplenty yet everyone pushed forward together and positively. Guys, it has been a privilege to share this year with you. Thank you for the inspiration.

“You cannot have a positive life and a negative mind.” - Joyce Meyer (b. 1943)

My Canada

Watching our Prime Minister welcome Syrian refugees to Canada this week felt like I was returning home after a long trip to a foreign land. It has been so long since I have felt proud to be a Canadian. I hope government xenophobic rhetoric and autocratic leadership are forever behind us, never to return. Governing through fear and intimidation should never be acceptable in a free, democratic country. 

It is time to heal the wounds we have caused.

“later that night i held an atlas in my lap, ran my fingers across the whole world and whispered - where does it hurt?
It answered - everywhere, everywhere, everywhere.”
- Warsaw Shire (b. 1988)

Perspective

The longer I pursue mastery the more I realize how much power perspective wields in determining my successes and failures. In fact, in the final analysis, sometimes the same outcome could be considered a success or a failure depending upon how I look at it. Perspective determines if the glass is half empty or half full.

Perspective can make me an optimist or a pessimist. Perspective is the difference between pointing a finger and accepting responsibility. Perspective can give me control or make me a victim. Perspective can make me grateful or it can make me jealous Perspective has the ability to crush or empower. So many factors affect perspective but my perspective is ultimately my choice.

A small turn of the mental wheel is often all that is required to talk me down from a path best not travelled. Controlling my thoughts and staying in the moment give me the clarity I need to make positive choices that serve me and my goals. My perspective can control me but I can control my perspective. The choice is mine.

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” - Marcus Aurelius (121-180)