What Defines Me

This week CBC Radio ran a story about the The Ground Floor Choir. This is a choir that will take anyone, whether you can sing or not. Many of the people in the choir are disabled. An aha moment for me occurred when one of the participants, a senior with cerebral palsy, stated that she won’t let her disability define her. What a perfect attitude.

This got me thinking about myself and what it is that defines me. I think anyone who grew up with me or who currently trains with me would vouch for my bad knees as big defining factors. Yes my kung fu also defines me but my kung fu itself is defined by my bad knees. Do I really want to be the guy known for his bad knees? How did I let this happen? Five surgeries, custom braces, chronic limp - yeah that definition is pretty legit, but I used to be known as a fierce fighter, a decent forms competitor, and a guy who could really handle a spear. Now I am the guy with the bad knees.

My mastery journey has to address this. I have and always will have bad knees, but I do not have to let them define me.

“You come up against challenges in life, and it’s how you deal with them that defines you. - Harry Kane (b. 1993)

Thich Nhat Hanh - Living Hero

My first introduction to Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh was almost twenty five years ago through his book, Peace is Every Step. The simplicity of Zen had always appealed to me but Thich Nhat Hanh’s approach seemed to take it to another level. His teachings take people beyond themselves by encouraging his followers to embrace ‘engaged Buddhism’. Like kung fu, Thich Nhat Hanh teaches one to take his practice out of the meditation hall and into the world. The insights fostered through Zen practice are to be applied to social, political, environmental, and economic injustices.

In 2009 I spent a week in Colorado, immersed in a five day Zen retreat centered on the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh. When I returned, I talked slower and I walked slower. Maintaining the vegetarian lifestyle I had adopted years earlier was no longer a struggle. I was a changed man.

It is said that a Zen Master such as Thich Nhat Hanh comes around maybe once every six hundred years. At almost 92, his calm, gentle leadership is not long for this world. I feel blessed to have been able to share some of my time with the likes of him.

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” - Thich Nhat Hanh (b. 1926)

Core Requirement = Core Value

My participation in the UBBT this year is timely. I have been a disciple of the process for ten years and it has worked well for me. The problem is, when you focus on mastery consistently, mediocrity can creep into the process. This year I am going through major change in my life. It is a perfect opportunity to retool, refocus, and clear the path of all the mediocrity that has slithered in.

I have been completing in excess of 50000 pushups and sit-ups every year since 2008. To date, I have completed and logged 538,850 pushups. I feel this core requirement is the foundation upon which all my accomplishments are built. No matter how busy I get in a day, no matter how many things conspire to keep me from working on my kung fu, I end every day with this accomplishment logged. This has ensured that every day results in one step forward toward my goals. I go to bed every night with that positive acknowledgement to end my day and begin the next.

My pushups and sit-ups have not been without setbacks and problems. I have developed some significant shoulder issues due to the way I have been doing the pushups - quantity over quality. I have been completing my pushups in sets of 100 and that has had me neglecting the micro muscles that support the shoulder joint and has only served to reinforce the big muscles. This has caused me to drastically restrict my pushups over the past 6 months while I rehabilitate my shoulders. My goal this year is to complete 180 quality pushups every day with no more than 30-40 in a set. I want to focus on technique so that my shoulders continue to improve while they are strengthened. The challenge this will pose for me is related to my daily structure that has served me so well these past 10 years. I no longer can get my pushup requirement completed before 7am everyday and I will not be able to pad my numbers with the same quantity of extras to allow me to recover during injuries or illness. My intent is that the more mindful approach will limit the number of injuries I suffer from improper technique.

“Don’t waste your life. No one chooses mediocrity but many settle for it. Never settle.” - Anonymous

Beginning Again

This month promises to be one to remember. It is a pivotal month where major change will mark a new chapter in my life. I have worked full time my entire adult life but as of January 31st, I will be unemployed. I am leaving the security of my career to pursue my passion and make my way in the world by teaching kung fu. It has been a long time coming but it is a little terrifying at the same time. As one of my mentors has dubbed it, I am pursuing my passion instead of my pension.

To make this change even more awesome, I am also participating in this year’s Ultimate Black Belt Test. It is a test I have completed a few times in the past but always while I was focused on my career as well as my school. I am excited about taking up the challenge with my career in the rear view mirror.

Only twenty-four more sleeps . . .

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” - Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

New Year

It is the last day of the year. I tend to be more lunar calendar orientated than solar calendar but it is impossible to not feel the opportunity that a new calendar year presents.

At this point in my life I am more focused on what I can, or should, leave behind. I am a minimalist by nature yet there are always things that I drag around that hold me back and weigh me down. Some of these things are material in nature but most are not tangible. My thoughts, my perspective, my limiting beliefs — are barriers to my personal growth and happiness. Time to let them go.

“Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go.” - Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)

Season of Gratitude

As Christmas descends upon me, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for all the goodness I have in my life. The love of my friends and family, the freedom of my country, and the wonderment of awareness. I am in want of nothing.

 “Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.” - Buddha (563 - 483 BC)

The Abstration of the Environment

As part of our intelligent curriculum, Silent River Kung Fu students engage to raise awareness and funding for several initiatives and charities. It is a challenge to keep the purpose of our intelligent curriculum about that engagement and not allow it to be reduced to just a matter of writing a cheque.

Poverty, addiction, depression, extinction, pollution, starvation — these tend to be abstract concepts for many of us. There is a significant difference between knowledge and experience, but not even first hand experience will guarantee a society the clarity and resolve required to address a problem, even a catastrophic one, right in front of them. Over half of the world’s insects have disappeared in the past few years. Where are the bees? Pine beetles are destroying our forests. Fish are disappearing from the ocean. The coral reefs are dying off. Polar bears are starving. Forest fires and wild fires are the new norm, as are catastrophic hurricanes and storms. These are facts. Unfortunately, they are abstract facts. The consequence of these facts is not being directly felt by most of us. Yeah, the food supply is disappearing but I can still get my Big Mac and fries as easily as ever. Less insects? Maybe I can finally enjoy a summer without being eaten alive by mosquitoes.

It does not seem likely that we are going to be proactive about reducing our society’s impact on our planet. Yes, I know, for many global warming is not being caused by man. Why would deniers slow down their consumption and exploitation if it is not going to make any difference to future generations anyway? The polarization of our society on that front alone is disconcerting. If we are going to make a difference as a species, the environment cannot remain an abstraction. So what now?

I spent some of my weekend frolicking with wolves at the Northern Lights Wolf Centre in Golden, BC. It is unlikely the environment will remain an abstraction for anyone after spending time with Shelley and Casey Black. Passion cuts through barriers and these two are passionate about wolves and their role as a keystone species. The facts are there for anyone who wishes to see them. Yellowstone Park’s ecological revitalization after the reintroduction of wolves into the park cannot be refuted. Even armed with those facts, our society continues to ignore the keystone roll that wolves play in securing our future.

Take a trip to the Northern Lights Wolf Centre. I guarantee the plight of wolves will no longer be an abstraction after you have had a full grown grey wolf stand on your head. Environmental awareness is self defence. Arm yourself by educating yourself.

“Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he who understands it alright would rather preserve its life than destroy it.” - Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862)