Sunday

Sundays are my down days. It’s the one day a week, where I can quietly reflect on the past week, unwind, and start to prepare for the coming week.

I relish these days, as I can just lounge around, and focus on my Kung Fu in a different way. I spend 6 days a week, working, training and teaching. Don’t get me wrong, I love my life and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. But it would be very awesome to train and teach every day and not have to worry about my day job. One day maybe!

Days like today, I can review my classes of the last week, look at what I could have done better, and can make a plan for next week. For example, some days, the Lil Leopards class is like herding cats. It can be really difficult to re-engage them after stopping an activity, and find their focus again. And of course, all their parents are watching, and as an instructor, I need to make sure they see the value in the classes. So it’s a good day, right now, to find a different way of approaching the kids, and renew the passion I have for teaching them.

As for my UBBT requirements, I use my Sundays to reflect on my progress, and make any adjustments that are needed. For example, this week, my wrists felt great, so I decided to push myself on Wednesday and Thursday. Oops. The pain returned on Thursday night, so while the accomplishment of doing 100 pushups felt really great, I had to mentally kick myself for not training smarter. One day, my brain will kick in. :-)

Today is my “free” day, and it’s off to a great start.

It's coming!

Chinese New Year is on Thursday February 3rd, and our Annual Chinese New Year Banquet is on the 5th. Our preparations have been underway for a while now, and it’s great to see it all coming together.

It will be a little different this year, but that makes it all the more memorable. We will be giving life to our newest Chinese Lion, Zhang Fei, along with a new team of dancers. They have proven that anything is possible, and I am really excited to be a buddha in this dance with them.

Our demos are coming together as well - I don’t feel as prepared with my Advanced kids class as I did last year, but I know they will shine regardless. And of course the Lil Leopards/ Tiny Tigers will be as cute as ever.

It’s a lot of work to prepare for the demo, and it is cutting into my UBBT training a little bit. Mostly my goal of 100 hours of bag work. But it’s only 2 more weeks, and then I can tackle that one with fervor. And I can once again pick up my double broadswords to prepare for the tournament in late April/ early May.

This time of year is a busy one, but also a fulfilling one. I am excited, and will post some pictures after February 5th!

Inventory

Lately (the last week or so), I have been forced to take inventory of my injuries. The tendonitis in my wrists has been acting up, preventing me from doing much in the way of pushups, my ankle has been sore, the ball of my other foot has been sore, and my hip is still an issue. It might sound like I am complaining, but I am just more aware of my limitations this week, and have to keep them in front of me.

I have also been taking some inventory of my household stuff. One of my goals for this year, is to reduce the stuff in our house by a minimum of 50%. To do this, I have to do two things. One, is to go through everything, room by room, and get rid of all the things we do not use anymore. I plan to fill at least one box per month, although more is better. The second thing is to buy less. That will be the easier task. I have a habit of holding on to all of the kids’ things. Pictures they make, the art projects that come home, and all of their other things.

I am looking forward to minimizing. I used to move a lot, and always took that opportunity to downsize. However, it is so easy to just collect more. And now that I plan on staying where we are for a long while, I need to simplify. It will help with the anxiety my daughter and I suffer from, and it will be a step towards lessening our global consumption. A little goes a long way, and if I set this example for my kids, I know it can spread.

Pressure

I have been blogging publicly now for a couple of years, but now that I am a part of the UBBT 8, I am feeling a lot more pressure to write something meaningful. I guess maybe I am just over thinking things (yet again), because somehow Kung Fu always ties in to what I write. It is a part of my life, and I cannot see that ever changing.

I am a week in to my UBBT, and I already feel more challenged than I have in the last 2 years. My journey since 2009 has been more of a mental one, rather than physical, and so far I am enjoying pushing my body. I am more aware of how much I can do, and I hope I can stay smart with my training. I have this habit of pushing through pain, or not healing enough before I get back on the mats with a no holds barred attitude.

Anyway, I have a long journey ahead of me, and with a bunch of like minded people on it with me, I know that no matter what happens, this will be one to remember. I am both nervous and excited, and while there will be doubts and insecurities, I will grow as a martial artist, and a person.

1000

Yesterday, the school brought in the new year with a 1000 pushups and 1000 situps. Unfortunately due to old injuries, and not wanting to make things worse, I only did 500 pushups. It was really motivating to have everyone posting their progress, and it felt good to be a part of a team like that.

I am looking forward to this next year, and being a part of the UBBT8. Even my kids seem excited for me - however my youngest was a little concerned about my health this morning. She said “Mom, I don’t want you to get hurt again. You always seem to break something.” What a sweetie. But it got me thinking about my grading process for my black belt. They were supportive of me, and while sometimes they complained that I was always busy with Kung Fu, the night I told them I had passed, they both hugged me and told me they were proud of me. And yesterday, they both encouraged me, and offered to help me get my numbers up.

Of the two girls, only one is really enjoying Kung Fu. I hope this changes, but even if it doesn’t, I do know that they are both learning a lot from it. I see it in the empathy they exhibit towards others, and I see it in the way they view the world around them.

UBBT8 is going to be great for me, and great for us as a family. It will be a year of growth for all of us and so far, we are off to a great start.