Hello everyone today. Can you still feel the energy from last night, like I can? Holy cow that was a great evening. I must say way to go horse team! Everyone on horse team have left some huge shoes for us sheep's to fill. Thankfully, there are few of horse members continuing on in this next year. To the two new black belts, congratulations! What you guys just accomplished is amazing. You guys have thrown more fuel onto this fire that is already burning hot. Thank you for the inspiration.
These first few days of the challenge, have been holy chaotic. I have managed to do quite well with everything in the road thus far. Seems every time I wanted to train something came up. Family friends, someone wanting or needing some time from me. It is nice to be wanted, but there were times I wanted to express my discontent with the situation. Then no one would bother me again. But that would be very counter-productive. That's okay too. Balance will come.
Finally, it was brought to my attention that my words have been not very good. Some of the things I say I should not!! So I do apologize for my language used. I have reviewed and edited my blogs to the best of my abilities. And I will try to keep a closer eye on what comes outta my mouth, or screen. I am so used to speaking in a language, I guess you could call no holds barred, that a swear or a curse word or a phrase is nothing to me. I don't get offended easily and I think almost anything is funny. But what I think is nothing or really small to me, it can very well, be a huge issue for someone else. A heightened sense of awareness is needed here. Can do folks.
I really don't have a lot to say today so I bid you adieu!
Bye for now
Mr.Duncan
Sunday, 22 February 2015
Purpose
Happy Sunday everybody. I have a dream. A dream that I have had since a child. A dream that my body, mind and spirit can work together in complete unison towards a singular purpose. When I was younger I lost that purpose in a un-realistic psychotic way of life. Kung Fu and other programs have shown me that I don't need anymore stuff and things cluttering up my life. Or my mind for that matter. Honestly, I believe, I have everything a guy needs. Two beautiful, strong smart boys. A wife that un-conditionally loves me, no matter what stunt I pull. I do understand that, as time goes on, there will be stuff that comes up that I will "essentially need". The what ifs pop up and people, places and things change. Thus altering our outlook for a period of time.
It is easy to get lost in the what ifs. What if this happens or what if that happens? Well, what if it does not happen? A question for you. Will you be happy with your life, when you look back to see your progression, and realise that you have always lived with fear of failure or the fear of the unknown over your head and therefore stunted your own growth? Forget that! Living life buried under a pillow will only create resentments and regrets. and those will kill us. First the spirit then the mind and finally our bodies. Then what? More fear and hatred for not giving it a good honest effort? I say no more!
I was lying face down on the carpet doing push-ups the other day, and thought to myself "This is it? This is all you have got to give?" That's when an Ali quote popped into my mind. It only matters after it starts to burn. That's not the exact quote, but its good enough. I managed to blast off some more reps. Then I remembered sifu's words on incriminate progression. Okay! Push myself a little bit more every day, but, let's not destroy myself before I Ho Chaun even starts. Still looking for balance, but that's okay. I believe it shows growth in myself.
If the next generation takes our legacies and samples it, don't you want to fill them with love, dreams and ambitions? Is that not our purpose? To show the path to a better way of life? To teach just how awesome life can be? Well, that's just my thought on that.
With I Ho Chaun less then one month away, I have read on other blogs and asked myself, am I ready? You bet your arse I am, and here I come.
It is easy to get lost in the what ifs. What if this happens or what if that happens? Well, what if it does not happen? A question for you. Will you be happy with your life, when you look back to see your progression, and realise that you have always lived with fear of failure or the fear of the unknown over your head and therefore stunted your own growth? Forget that! Living life buried under a pillow will only create resentments and regrets. and those will kill us. First the spirit then the mind and finally our bodies. Then what? More fear and hatred for not giving it a good honest effort? I say no more!
I was lying face down on the carpet doing push-ups the other day, and thought to myself "This is it? This is all you have got to give?" That's when an Ali quote popped into my mind. It only matters after it starts to burn. That's not the exact quote, but its good enough. I managed to blast off some more reps. Then I remembered sifu's words on incriminate progression. Okay! Push myself a little bit more every day, but, let's not destroy myself before I Ho Chaun even starts. Still looking for balance, but that's okay. I believe it shows growth in myself.
If the next generation takes our legacies and samples it, don't you want to fill them with love, dreams and ambitions? Is that not our purpose? To show the path to a better way of life? To teach just how awesome life can be? Well, that's just my thought on that.
With I Ho Chaun less then one month away, I have read on other blogs and asked myself, am I ready? You bet your arse I am, and here I come.
"I've wrestled with alligators;
I've tussled with a whale;
I have done hand-cuffed lighting
and thrown thunder in jail" -Ali
Can you dig that Suckas...
Thanks for your time
Humbly yours
Mr.Duncan
Goals for the sheep year
Well hello there, Sifu Brinker asked us yesterday to post our goals and hopefuls for this up-coming year. Sure why not? The general requirements are fairly obvious. I am really looking forward to the opportunity to lion dance. That is awesome. The public performances should be interesting. I used to shrink away when I came to being in the lime-light or even the thought of it. Now its time to step-up and embrace the idea of being watched and therefore judged by some mook who doesn't know his head from a hole in the ground. Better make sure I'm training hard.
The more personal goals are to do 2000 hand combos on a punching bag, 2000 deadlifts, chin-up, squats, and upright rows in the next year. Why the extra weights, you ask. Because I feel I cannot just build muscle and stamina from push-ups and sit-ups. I would have an incredibly strong stomach and shoulders, but a weak lower back and chest. That is just me, but complete body strength and stamina I feel is extremely important. Maintain a log of what I am consuming everyday and stop buying coffee. And the real last demon that I have left to face. Quit smoking. Ahhh. Just the thought of quitting smoking makes me wanna go smoke. I hate it though. Every time I light up, I hate myself for it, but I love lighting up. Psychotic...,.oh I know!
I was pondering my goals and ambitions for this up and coming year. Reviewing the meeting and what sifu talked about. And things started to click. He spoke on how easy this year can be, but how hard I can be to get back on track when you fall off. Not if, or you might, but when. That's a powerful statement. I like it. Doesn't scare me off. A statement like that means to me. You need to bust your sorry rear-end for this, but don't fall apart about not being perfect in this next year. Just do a bunch better than your best and we should be okay.
I have a game plan full well knowing that its gonna have to change on the fly. That's fine. I have stepped up my training at home in preparation for I Ho Chaun. I think I am ready. If things turn about and I am not ready, well to bad for me I guess. I am making a contingency plan for when I do fall off the Kung Fu wagon. I have a number or two of people I can talk with. So bring this on. I don't know how many times I have said that now. I could just show patience....that's not my style though.
Humbly yours;
Mr.Duncan
The more personal goals are to do 2000 hand combos on a punching bag, 2000 deadlifts, chin-up, squats, and upright rows in the next year. Why the extra weights, you ask. Because I feel I cannot just build muscle and stamina from push-ups and sit-ups. I would have an incredibly strong stomach and shoulders, but a weak lower back and chest. That is just me, but complete body strength and stamina I feel is extremely important. Maintain a log of what I am consuming everyday and stop buying coffee. And the real last demon that I have left to face. Quit smoking. Ahhh. Just the thought of quitting smoking makes me wanna go smoke. I hate it though. Every time I light up, I hate myself for it, but I love lighting up. Psychotic...,.oh I know!
I was pondering my goals and ambitions for this up and coming year. Reviewing the meeting and what sifu talked about. And things started to click. He spoke on how easy this year can be, but how hard I can be to get back on track when you fall off. Not if, or you might, but when. That's a powerful statement. I like it. Doesn't scare me off. A statement like that means to me. You need to bust your sorry rear-end for this, but don't fall apart about not being perfect in this next year. Just do a bunch better than your best and we should be okay.
I have a game plan full well knowing that its gonna have to change on the fly. That's fine. I have stepped up my training at home in preparation for I Ho Chaun. I think I am ready. If things turn about and I am not ready, well to bad for me I guess. I am making a contingency plan for when I do fall off the Kung Fu wagon. I have a number or two of people I can talk with. So bring this on. I don't know how many times I have said that now. I could just show patience....that's not my style though.
Humbly yours;
Mr.Duncan
Monday, 16 February 2015
good day all. Today is a good day. I need to remind myself of these things some days. Some days it doesn't feel very good. My mind gets racing, thoughts get clustered. Frustration ties into my anger at an astronomical speed. It is a vicious circle that I have been working on for a few years now. With so much going on in my life, it seems there is no time to just relax. See I am very used to just leaving when I get to over-whelmed. I have been known to walk away in the middle of conversations that take me to a place I don't want to be. There is no nice way to put this. If we are talking and I can not control how I react to what you are saying, I walk away. It is the safest mechanism that I have to deal with not loosing my cool all over the place. So much energy is wasted in getting angry that I just do not care too anymore. But, I still do. I get worked up over nothing and then by good gracious me, I am a wrecking ball again. Trying to start my day over and over, with no immediate results. Usually I will go a rant and really express myself, but I am trying to not do that. It can be very unproductive. I would love to be able to express myself without a huge influx of emotion. But, with that being said that is who I am. I am an emotional guy. I get so involved with outside circumstances that I forget what's going on inside. Loosing the moment. Until it is all gone and just left with that fire in my belly. Then I gotta pep talk myself like, get up and put your ass into it, go ahead and hit the roof because I can not sit thru it anymore. And the passion you feel is too much and you get up and start dancing to it. and as you do, your movements become fast and fluent. Like an unstoppable force.
With all the above being said, one common theme keeps racing thru my mind. Patience. Something that's never really been on my side. Notorious for wanting things now. and when I don't get things my way, then I don't want it or I get frustrated. When I look back thru my life, I see where my impatience has cost me dearly and that is okay. can not do anything about the past, I can not do anything about the future either. All I can do is try and embrace this moment that I have right now. It has taken a lot of work to be able to say that. Even more work to understand, and then more work to embrace that thought.
Pushing thru these feelings and emotions, in my training and in life, has taught me one thing. Just keep plugging away. It will work out just fine. I can read and be told that thousands of times, but I will not start to understand, until I can feel it in my heart. Even just training at home, when I just do not want to anymore, I still push thru. This is the early growing stages of kung fu and training. The more I push back against myself and my rotten mind, the easier it all becomes. The more reps I can bang out. The more forms I do it just gets easier. And it is starting to turn into an enjoyment more than a chore. Like it very much seemed, just a few weeks ago. Lets be honest looking at all these numbers, and hearing things like, you are probably going to fail, wears hard on myself. I do appreciate the honesty. The honesty gives me a place to fight back against, if you might. "Oh yeah, I am going to fail. Pfft! Watch this!" Gives me motivation to do even better than I thought I ever could. I have been told I would not succeed at things and purely outta spite, I have succeeded. Not saying I am going to succeed at everything in the I Ho Chaun challenge, but now I have been Motivated to almost a point of angered. My stubbornness will tell me, that nay-sayer. I will show him. Enter motivation. Enter Willy. I wont let this moment go, you better move yourself, because tomorrow can wait.
Last blog before this stuff gets real. I am a host of emotions like I pointed out. I am really looking forward to training with some seemingly like minded people. I don't really know anyone on the team and just getting to learn your names is going to be a bit of a challenge for me. People have been a challenge for me. But another goal I have is to create conversation with people new to me. Step way outta my box and stand and hear what people say to me. Who knows I will probably learn something. Well that's it for now I guess.
Talk at you soon
Mr.Duncan
With all the above being said, one common theme keeps racing thru my mind. Patience. Something that's never really been on my side. Notorious for wanting things now. and when I don't get things my way, then I don't want it or I get frustrated. When I look back thru my life, I see where my impatience has cost me dearly and that is okay. can not do anything about the past, I can not do anything about the future either. All I can do is try and embrace this moment that I have right now. It has taken a lot of work to be able to say that. Even more work to understand, and then more work to embrace that thought.
Pushing thru these feelings and emotions, in my training and in life, has taught me one thing. Just keep plugging away. It will work out just fine. I can read and be told that thousands of times, but I will not start to understand, until I can feel it in my heart. Even just training at home, when I just do not want to anymore, I still push thru. This is the early growing stages of kung fu and training. The more I push back against myself and my rotten mind, the easier it all becomes. The more reps I can bang out. The more forms I do it just gets easier. And it is starting to turn into an enjoyment more than a chore. Like it very much seemed, just a few weeks ago. Lets be honest looking at all these numbers, and hearing things like, you are probably going to fail, wears hard on myself. I do appreciate the honesty. The honesty gives me a place to fight back against, if you might. "Oh yeah, I am going to fail. Pfft! Watch this!" Gives me motivation to do even better than I thought I ever could. I have been told I would not succeed at things and purely outta spite, I have succeeded. Not saying I am going to succeed at everything in the I Ho Chaun challenge, but now I have been Motivated to almost a point of angered. My stubbornness will tell me, that nay-sayer. I will show him. Enter motivation. Enter Willy. I wont let this moment go, you better move yourself, because tomorrow can wait.
Last blog before this stuff gets real. I am a host of emotions like I pointed out. I am really looking forward to training with some seemingly like minded people. I don't really know anyone on the team and just getting to learn your names is going to be a bit of a challenge for me. People have been a challenge for me. But another goal I have is to create conversation with people new to me. Step way outta my box and stand and hear what people say to me. Who knows I will probably learn something. Well that's it for now I guess.
Talk at you soon
Mr.Duncan
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