Progress

It's been a busy Sunday, almost forgot to blog! The past week felt good, I was nice and sore for the majority of it. Feels nice to have that ache in my legs. I feel like I'm slowly but surely making progress with the sword. I still have a long way to go, I'm worried about having an actual form together in time since I'm not even comfortable with the basics yet. Brandi Beckett recommend a couple books to read and I have some videos to work off.

Bought a ton of groceries on Monday and I've been eating a lot of fruits and veggies this week. I'm trying to cook more often. Trying to keep and establish routines. I'm really bad at being consistent with a lot of things. Need to always be mindful so I can stay on track.

Back

I spent most of the past week out of town in Conklin area. It was a great experience for me to get out and work with some guys from a different department. I got to see some neat technical stuff and work with my hands for a change. I think the last time I wired anything was in school, which was a awhile ago. Working long days and having to be social with the people I was working with made for a week without a lot of numbers. Going to have to get my act together!

I Ho Chaun Blogojournal Sphere

One of my goals this year is to try and be more engaged with the journaling of other team members. Last year I was guilty of sporadically reading other peoples journals. I would go through periods of not reading anything at all and then I'd binge read to catch up. Every now and then I would find myself in an awkward situation where I felt ignorant of another members training. It was also pretty rare for me to leave comments.

So far I've been doing much better this year. I've been reading a lot more and trying to make a point of leaving more comments. I'm trying to make a routine of reading the group blog during breaks at work. My internet is so locked down at work its one of the few things I can actually get access to.

I'm going to be out of town in Conklin and Lac La Biche for the next few days. I'm disappointed that I won't be able to make classes this Wednesday. The combination of being sick and out of town for work lately has been interfering with my plan to go to the Monday/Wednesday classes.

Martial Arts Dance Fight

I have this pet peeve.I don't like it when people forget the style of martial arts I practice. I have friends and co-workers who I have repeatedly told, "I practice Kung Fu" and they still ask me how Karate practice is going. While I cannot really blame the average person for their ignorance of martial arts styles, it's still pretty annoying how people consider them interchangeable. I was trying to explain my sentiments to someone, searching for a good analogy when I came up with this.

"It's like telling you I'm a salsa dancer and every Monday you ask how my break dancing is coming along. Sure they are both styles of dance, but they are completely different."

Then I came up with a brilliant idea. I bet it would be fun to come up with a list of martial arts styles and their equivalent dance styles. Bonus fun for pretending I know anything about dance. So here it is. Beware of random and loose interpretation.

1. Karate A.K.A. Popping and Locking: start stop start stop, look Maw I'm jerky.

2. Tae Kwon Do A.K.A. Ballet: lots of jumping around and showing off your legs.

3. Jiu-Jitsu A.K.A. Modern Dance: weird awkward poses. On the floor a lot.

4. Judo A.K.A bad Ballroom Dancing: you are awkward, can't lead your partner and drop them often.

5. Capoeira A.K.A Break-dancing: Obvious. Actually contains break dancing.

6. Tai Chi A.K.A Liquid Dancing: Who needs bones anyway?

7. Ba Gua A.K.A Tango: So many circles, very little throwing up.

8. Sumo Wrestling A.K.A Moshing: Thanks for spilling my drink dude.

9. Wushu A.K.A Swing Dancing: Look at me I'm an acrobat!

10. Aikido A.K.A Bad Square Dancing: Take your partners wrist, now do-si-do and fall to the floor.

That's all I could come up with. Remember people, promote knowledge of your art and try to diminish ignorance.

Sick

I've been sick all weekend and motivation is down. I think I got the same bug that my roommate has. I'm getting a bit behind in numbers so I plan on kicking it up a notch next week. I've been very busy with work lately and on the road a lot. I spent a few days in Whitecourt last week, I was there the day after all the excitement happened. While staying at the hotel with little to do I started working on a customized spreadsheet to keep track of my numbers. I've never kept track of numbers electronically before so it will be a shift. I'm going to try and be more organized this year.

Now that we don't have regular Tuesdays and Thursday practices (well Thursday looks like it might be on again) I find my schedule is up in the air. I can't remember the last time I was at regular Monday/Wednesday classes. I'm going to try and go to those classes more regularly.