New Things

I had another great time at our annual tournament last weekend. Everything ran very smoothly, judging was fun and so was competing. The dragon and lion dance was flawless yahoo! I'm happy with the way my sword form has come along and with my results in the competition. Winning the black belt grand champion felt pretty good. Thank you to all the people who helped the tournament happen and Mrs. Csillag for organizing the pizza party afterward.

Unfortunately I think all the dragon dancing has been rough on my legs. I've been having mild ankle problems the past couple weeks and after the tournament its really been bugging me. Its clicking and hurts to run on so I'm going to try and give it some time to heal. I was testing it on Fridays class and I definitely think I should take it easy for a bit.

I tried something new on Wednesday. I went to a fencing lesson for the first time. I've been interested in trying it for awhile now, I think it looks fun. I started looking into and lo and behold Edmonton has a fantastic fencing club coached by an Olympic gold medalist. The coach's name is Jujie Luan and shes a legend. My first class was certainly interesting. I was pretty much just thrown right into it. Jujie was very busy and trying to fix one of the electric scoring lanes so I didn't get much instruction. Her son taught me four basic parries, the lunge and then I was fully geared up and in a lane with an opponent. My partner explained the basic rules to me and gave me some pointers. We stabbed each other for awhile and I started to get the hang of it.

I felt a little out of place and awkward since I didn't know anything about anything. Kind of like my first day of class as a white belt. The hardest part of trying something new is stepping through the door for the fist time. I'm glad that the hard part is over with. I had a good time though and learned a lot. I am going to take more lessons until I have a better idea if its something I'd like to continue with.

Tournament

I'm excited and a bit nervous for the tournament this weekend. It snuck up fast this year. Its always a fun time, I always have a great time judging and helping out. Its a fantastic event for everyone to come together and show their Kwoon spirit. Always a big motivator to see everyone pitch in to make everything happen. The only thing that could make it better is having more students competing.

Every year I have that hesitation, that doubt, the question, do I really want to compete? And every year I do and am glad for it. It's a great opportunity to show your hard work and to boost your confidence. Even if you don't win a medal you've overcome the biggest hurdle by just putting yourself up in that ring. When I'm in a tournament, especially doing forms, I don't really think of it as competing against others. I tend to feel its more a personal challenge, like I'm testing myself in front of a crowd.

Tournaments are probably one of the biggest influences I've had that helped relieve my fears of public demonstrations. It really does help getting comfortable performing. For those of you struggling with demo's or even speaking in public, you should be signing up for tournaments. Orange belt to blue belt I used to go to the Ging Wu open tournament, and occasionally Cheney's. They were always positive experiences and it was really cool getting to compete against people of all different styles. For those of you who have never been to an open tournament I highly recommend it.

Aches, Pains and Story Tales

Again I find myself guilty of not blogging for far too long. I've had plenty to talk about lately but always seem to get sidetracked when it comes to putting electrons on the screen. Today I set a mini goal of GET STUFF DONE, which includes this post. Groceries have been purchased, bills have been paid, mild cleaning accomplished and laundry is spinning, time to journal.  As a bonus I get to write while listening to a brand new record which just arrived in the mail!

A couple of weeks ago I hiked the Skyline Trail in Jasper with Sifu Robinson and a couple of his friends. It was a great time had by all. It felt great to be back in the mountains breathing fesh air and sweating on rocks. It was also my first and probably last multi day backpacking trip of the year, which makes me kind of sad. I definitely didn't get out as much as I usually do. It was a pleasant trip down memory lane as I had hiked this same trail before in my teenage years. The only bad of the trip: I positively destroyed my right knee. It was the first time I've ever experienced knee problems to that degree and it has me worried. I hope it was an anomaly caused by a combination of overdoing it and extra weight. The first day might of killed it since we hiked about 22km with 600m of elevation gain.
 In all the trip was around 46km long which pads the numbers nicely.

My knee and calves were out of commission for the first half of the following week. I felt decent enough for some dragon dance practices by Thursday. I was only mildly wounded before the dragon dance demo which by the way went very well. Kudos to everyone for coming together for the practices and the awesome performance. I am quite proud of having been the head for three performances now without completely screwing up and ruining everything. After the dragon dance demo I was surprised to find my left leg was really hurting. This time it was the outside of the leg below the knee all the way to my ankle. My lower legs have been touchy since then so I've been trying to take it easy and let them heal. Thank you Sihing Donohue for the vet wrap, I'll have some on for the next practice.

Oh and I pulled a muscle in my bicep throwing elbows at Fridays class. All in all I feel awfully broken these days and its annoying. I decided today to try and book a physio appointment to have the legs and my finger looked at. I've never been to a physiotherapist but work covers it and now is a good a time as any.

Lots to do

So far Tai Chi seems to be going alright. I'm slowly starting to see a bit of progress. I've come to realize that learning by the end of the I Ho Chuan year is unrealistic. There is a ton to learn but I'm going to try my best. It will take some serious practice time to even just remember it all much less have good technique.

We've left demo practices by the wayside for a while but we can't forget what we went through last time. I hope everyone has been practicing to be ready for the next one. We will be trying to organize some more demo opportunities for anyone who still needs the public performances.

The Week that was

Hmmmm what to write about... I'm at a bit of a loss. I got a throat infection and had a sore throat most of the week. I also lost most of my voice which made the incessant phone calls at work a bit of a chore. The antibiotics seem to have done the job and I'm feeling better. I went for my first round of golf of the year. I usually only get out golfing 3-5 times a year. I bought my first set of clubs last summer and have been trying to get into it a bit more. The round went pretty well, I sank a couple huge putts and it felt awesome. I walked the course which was good for about 4km.

Hurray! Landmark event at Fridays class! I finally ended my sword form. I've reached the point where I don't want to add anything else to it. Now I just need to perfect it. I also reserve the right to completely change things if I can come up with something better. On the downside I also managed to pull or strain a muscle in my leg. I've been hobbling around all weekend and super sore.

I'm excited to be teaching a seminar at bootcamp this year. It's been awhile, I think the last thing I taught was my pole form. One day I would like to see a field full of Kwan Dao's but some might call that unrealistic.

Sifu Jesse Wetter

Tai Chi

I attended my first ever Tai Chi class on Saturday. I had fun, it was an interesting change of pace. The first half of the class I felt a bit awkward but I was comfortable by the end. Taking an hour to cover two moves really drove home how much I need to learn. I'm way behind the eight ball, I should have started Tai Chi ages ago. It will be a huge challenge to try and learn the entire form by the end of the I Ho Chuan year.

Pessure Release

With the Canada Day demo done and gone, the hectic practice schedule has come to a screeching halt. While I certainly enjoyed the craziness and excitement of preparing I'd be lying if I said I'm not a bit relieved. Between work, which has been nuts, and the dragon dance/demo I was starting to get a bit stressed. Much of the weight was released as soon as Master Brinker said, "Good job". I was extremely happy with our performances. It went great and I'm proud to be a part of it.

Now that we all have some more free time it is important to make the most of it. With the extra freedom I see opportunity. I have many things that I need to start focusing on. I'm hoping to finish version two of my sword form soon. I want to finalize it so I can start perfecting it. I am very close to being finished. Another big one for me is I need to learn Tai Chi. I should have started ages ago but the Tai Chi class schedule does not work well for me. I've put it off far too long, partly because I'm afraid I'll be awful at it. At least what I've been doing with the sword should help a bit.

I am happy to have a check mark next to the three public performances.So much to do so little time left in the I Ho Chuan year.