way too many commas

One of my personal requirements this year was to do 12 Kung fu related art projects, and the only progress I have managed to make this year so far is carving the dragon into the new grout at the front door of the kwoon. Eleven months into the year and I have a single thing to show for it. Setting up this requirement at the start of the year filled me with excitement and inspiration, I hadn’t been drawing as often as I used to or as often as I would like and the intent of this requirement was to generate artistic momentum, if I was drawing at least once a month I could make it more of a habit and get back into the swing of drawing in my free time. I also wanted to explore some difficult to explain concepts through a visual medium rather than a written, I wanted to test if pictures were worth a thousand words. But I soon realized that the pressure of a deadline and the shift from being able to draw anything, to knowing I had to draw something was doing the exact opposite of my intent, s...

I suck.  I have been sucking for at least the last two months.  I haven’t been blogging for the past two months. I haven’t been engaging with the team online. I haven’t been working on my personal requirements (even though I promised my besties). I didn’t do Todai Bauer’s kindness project. I didn’t sign up for the kinsmen project. I haven’t been doing my forms. And the final (much needed) slap in the face from tonight, I have forgotten Mastery. Not just the written requirement, but in letting these things all slip through my fingers these past two months I have forgotten Mastery . Forty-two days ago I had reached a milestone in my training. For the first time since joining the I Ho Chuan I was 10 000 pushups behind. An achievement I earned through mediocrity and missed opportunities.  Last year I fell pretty far behind too when my schedule was turned on its head as I started my new job, but by doing one big push to catch up at the end of the year I was able to make it t...

 In this weeks Blackbelt class we got to do a choke escape application and I felt WAY out of my depth. Part of it is definitely because I have let a fair bit of dust collect on my choke defence skills as I haven’t practiced them in quite a while. When we work on sections of forms I have been able to apply the insights and skill from when I am practicing forms outside of class so that when we work on new things in class I can do them at the same level. However since the opportunity to do applications in class is fewer and further between, and my practice time outside of class in these areas is pretty non-existent, I can’t do them in a way that matches the level of my Kung fu in other areas. The rest of the blog is going to sound negative, but I am not writing it with the intent to point out how far behind I’ve fallen, but instead to highlight how much further I could go! In blackbelt class I want to apply my intent and do things at a level 10, but tonight feel closer to a level 4,...