Who Do You Need?

I bristle anytime someone uses the term ‘protocol’ or ‘tradition’ when it comes to something we do in kung fu. Lack of mindfulness when it comes to applying some of what people would describe as ‘strange’ practices in traditional martial arts is why most of the real value of training in the marital arts has been eradicated by modern entries in the martial arts realm.

One of our practices of kung fu has us using titles when we talk to people. Calling someone ‘Sifu’ labels them as a teacher of kung fu. My students call me Sifu Brinker in class and call me whatever they want outside of class. Sometimes a student blurs the line and starts calling me ‘Jeff’ in the office of the school.

As I told all my black belts during their class on Thursday, what you call someone has nothing to do with the ego of the person you are referring to. It is only a clear statement as to who you need in your life. If you need another Jeff in your life, call me Jeff. If you need a Sifu Brinker in your life, call me Sifu Brinker. If you call my teacher (Master Macdonald) by his first name - Brian, you are saying you don’t need a Master Macdonald in your life and if you do not need a Master Macdonald, you certainly do not need a Sifu Brinker.

How you refer to people says a lot about where you are and what you need. I am always retooling in the present moment and adjusting my perspective to reflect the circumstances of my present moment. I am eager to learn and I am a constant student. Brian Macdonald is the best friend I have on this planet and there are times when I need Brian in my life. The second I step on the mats, I am all about kung fu and when it comes to kung fu, I always need Master Macdonald.

“Have the humility to learn from those around you.” - John C. Maxwell (b. 1947)

Sifu Brenda Stoddart

This week saw one of the best instructors ever to teach at Silent River Kung Fu, teach her final class. Brenda Stoddart is leaving Alberta for BC and will be leaving a massive void in her wake.

Brenda was the first person ever to sign up at Silent River Kung Fu when we opened in our permanent location in 1998. I remember the day like it was yesterday, Brenda pulling up with her British Columbia license plate and signing up her children for classes. I was still cleaning the kwoon from our frantic preparations and renovations to prepare for our first official class in the brand new kwoon and there was a four foot pile of garbage in the middle of the training area. Brenda questioned whether or not classes would be possible in the two hours I had before class time. Classes went as scheduled but what wasn’t expected or planned was Brenda herself signing up for my adult morning classes.

Twenty years later, Sifu Stoddart is working on her fourth degree black belt as a much loved instructor in our Tiny Tiger and Black Dragon programs. I have no instructor more engaged or more reliable than her.

Sifu Brenda Stoddart is one of the best black belts I have ever trained and she is one of the most popular instructors Silent River Kung Fu has ever had. She may be leaving but her DNA will forever be part of who we are.

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” – Winnie The Pooh

Quintessence

Kung fu has been around for over two thousand years and the majority of my life has been spent building Silent River Kung Fu into an organization that I am proud of. Every year, as more and more of my students achieve black belt status, I reflect upon whether or not my passion, the quintessence of my kung fu, is being adequately passed on to my students.

There will always be marital artists and those who train in the martial arts. I don’t think any traditional martial arts instructor is happy with the state of the martial arts industry today. People training to black belt only to assume they have reached the ultimate goal and move on to other challenges. The number of people who go on to truly master the martial arts are far and few in between.

My goal this year, before the Year of the Dog runs out, is to restructure my school to better reflect what kung fu is really about.

“A man cannot understand the art he is studying if he only looks for the end result without taking the time to delve deeply into the reasoning of the study.” ― Miyamoto Musashi (1584 - 1645)

Really?

American mid-term elections. I was listening to an interview on the radio this morning and the question was “Why are Canadians so interested in the US midterm election?” Are you kidding me? You have a guy in the most powerful position on earth dismantling democracy and environmental safeguards and you are wondering why Canadians are interested? Do we not all breath the same air?

There is a term out there that I am hearing a lot since the Stephen Harper days and even more now that Trump is following Harper’s lead. That term is ‘Weaponization ofCulture’. It is that approach to politics that allows a racist with the temperament and attention span of a toddler to become the President of the United States.

Non-racists of strong moral fiber are voting for racist, morally corrupt liars and are willing to let democracy slide as long as their one or two highest priorities are being addressed by a candidate. Their personal/social culture has been weaponized by immoral politicians to manipulate the situation to get themselves elected while promoting their own self-interests.

There was a time when government worked for all the people.

“Our form of democracy is bribery, on the highest scale.” - Gore Vidal (1925 - 2012)

Another Door Closes

I said the big goodbye to another friend last week. As I complete another trip around the sun I find myself contemplating what a stupidly short amount of time we all have here.

Death is not something I fear, it is the logical end to the journey that has been my life. It is the yang to the yin of my birth. One cannot exist without the other.

Time. I have wasted so much of that precious resource. Moments have slipped by without me even being aware that I was there. It is not as if I have a list of things to accomplish before the deadline of my death. I just want to be present, truly present, for every moment of every day.

“The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.” - Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)

Self Talk

We all have that voice in our head - telling us we’re not good enough, we don’t have what it takes, we’re just going to make a fool of ourselves.

I know for a fact that thoughts affect action and negative thoughts can cripple any chance of positive action. Controlling negative thoughts is imperative for positive growth and progress.

No one can snap their fingers and eradicate negative thoughts. Once those thoughts have been generated, it is difficult to get rid of them. The best course of action is to not allow them to formulate in the first place. For me this means taking ownership of the words I use. Positive words produce positive thoughts, and positive thoughts produce positive actions.

Several times a day I challenge myself to analyze how my words serve me and my goals. This self awareness goes a long way in nipping negative thoughts.

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced." Vincent Van Gogh (1853 - 1890)

Cognitive Dissonance

Last year there was a news item on the BBC about a litter of piglets rescued from a fire that were later served as sausage to the firefighters who had rescued them. The farmer predicted that vegetarians were not going to be happy with the way he showed his appreciation but in fact it was mainly meat eaters that were appalled with the situation.

Six years ago, an American passenger jet on the tarmac in Washington had to be towed out to the runway for takeoff because it could not dislodge itself from the holes its wheels had sunk into from the extreme heat.

Coal-fired power plants in the US have been temporarily shut down because the waterways that they draw on to cool their machinery were either too hot or too dry.

The cognitive dissonance that is at play to allow us to be appalled by piglets saved from a fire being slaughtered to feed the firemen who saved them is also at play when we use more fossil fuel-burning machinery to get another fossil-burning piece of equipment dislodged from a tarmac that is increasingly overheated due to climate change so that it can go on its fossil fuel-burning way.

Cognitive dissonance or not, the chickens are coming home to roost.

“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to accept what is true.” - Soren Kierkegaard (1813 - 1855)