Man in a box

Well after three demo practices things are going well for us as a group. Have to remind ourselves things will slowly evolve and come together over time and we are way ahead of last year’s demo team. As for myself after doing my form dozens of times over these days I found myself having trouble with its overall feel. I couldn’t get things to work quite right, it felt off. I realized I am trying to stay within this small space which we will have to do for this demo and am shortening my stances which are killing my form. I was shortening my stances and my centre was too high leading everything to be disconnected. I was having trouble with my transitions, speed and timing you name it. Will definitely have to make a few adjustments for this demo but the biggest thing is my stances have to be properly grounded and will have to work within this small space. One drawback I guess with having long legs, it doesn’t take more than two steps to be from one side to the other. It’s been a good thing to slow down my form, when I was going fast and shortening each move I knew it was off you just feel it. Again not too flashy but well-grounded execution. Sifu Rybak is already is calling me “flashy”, maybe it’s just my hair….

Sifu Bryant
Silent River Kung Fu

Helping out a friend

Well it’s almost the end of April and it was still snowing yesterday – surprise! I’ve been recording my acts of kindness daily and yesterday’s felt the best thus far. In the late afternoon we noticed a small dog had snuck through our front gate and was looking for shelter on our back deck. He was cold and wet looking for a place to get out of the wind by the looks of it. I managed to bring him in and get him into our garage which was warm and dry. After spending a few minutes with him and realizing he didn’t have any I.D. tags on we tried to contact any vet still open. Nope all closed by this time. He was obviously a little on edge being in a different home but still happy to be looked after. When I went into the house to make some phone calls to places around town we could hear him scratching our door to want in. When Judi my wife went to check on him he wanted nothing to do with her he would only come to me, guess he knew I was looking out for him and only trusted me at the time (that or I smelled like bacon or something). We ended up contacting the city animal shelter which was great and will take care of him until he is claimed. He was just a little lost soul looking for some help which we would have done regardless, I hope he finds his home again soon. My two cats are behaving better today maybe they think if they misbehave they will go to the shelter too.

Sifu Bryant
Silent River Kung Fu

Mornings, so early.....

I always seem to stop, reflect and take stock of what has happened lately and what may lie ahead in my life. It’s just what I do. It gives me perspective of not just what I have accomplished this past week, month and so on but years past. This is what gives me a lift to say I am improving and learning and moving forward in a meaningful way. Everyone that is struggling always needs to reflect and see how much they have grown over such a short time – you’re doing more so acknowledge those successes no matter how small they may seem. Having the meeting yesterday always gives me a lift to see not how everyone is doing but just be with all of these amazing individuals that are pursuing greatness, keep it up, it becomes infectious. As for those struggling with time and a daily consistent routine I for one am not a morning person (my wife will chuckle confirming that one) but I get up each morning before work and get an hour in doing my routine. It’s great to have so much done to start the day before even starting work, then in the evening I have more time for my family and can still get some extra Kung Fu training in. It also helps that I teach the morning Tuesday/Thursday classes so after class I have the kwoon to myself which is a gift to say the least.

Sifu Bryant
Silent River Kung Fu

So much in fifteen

Another week in the books was nice to discuss the upcoming Pandamonium next month but again I can’t say enough that although we are organizing and running this event we can’t lose sight of its purpose. This is about awareness in what we do in and out of the kwoon, what we are to the core of our school. Yes we are trying to raise money for our charities both local and abroad but again if we all did a little lifting the weight of this would be very small. If each one of us in the school can articulate what this event is about and what we are looking to accomplish the public will readily get behind us in our efforts. On a different note it was nice as the meeting ended to have everyone see we still had a few minutes left to get some training in and everyone made the most of it. Nice to see everyone focused on our training, besides we all know you can get a lot done in just fifteen minutes here and there.

Sifu Bryant
Silent River Kung Fu

Checking, adjusting, moving along....

This past week I’ve been looking at my numbers and seeing how things are going as a whole. Most are going very well, but a few could use more of a push. I have been looking back at last year to reflect on what I did well and what I struggled with throughout the year. It seems I am back into that same routine of sorts. Again I’m not falling far behind on anything in particular but some things I need to push harder at to make them more comfortable in doing daily. I guess some things I enjoy more than others which is to be expected but again these will help bring balance as a whole. Anyways, it’s always nice to take stock in where you’re at after each month and make small adjustments as necessary. Glad Easter is done; now have to eat my way out of my house with all the chocolate lying around – tough job but somebody has to do it and the boy’s, well they’re just too young for chocolate you know.

Sifu Bryant
Silent River Kung Fu