A healthy weight

We had our UBBT8 meeting yesterday at the school (student members), and we have decided that as of March 1st we are going to log our diets for one month. I followed the one they did last year, and it looks like it would be a great tool to see what you are putting into your body. Whether it’s balanced, or if you are getting enough of the things you need to maintain our athlete’s physique.

We also talked about taking care of ourselves - recovering from injuries etc. It is important and is something that I need to constantly remind myself of.

Because of the requirement to take care of oneself, I am not participating in the diet blog. About a thousand years ago, I journaled my diet. But this moved me into a state of mind, where I began to obsess over food, and my intake was severely limited. This lasted for too long, and it was a long haul to get to a point where I no longer obsess about food, it’s fat content or how many calories are in it. I am at a good weight now, and because it was journaling that started that dangerous journey, I will not participate. However, I will share some recipes though, and encourage those around me.

At this point, while I am aware of what I eat, I no longer worry about how much. I am aware of the choices I make, rarely eat meat, and I opt for the most natural choice available. It is not healthy, to obsess over what you eat. Nor is it healthy to eat whatever you want when you want it. The key is awareness - being in the moment and thinking about what you are eating, where it came from, and the fuel it is giving you.

Thich Nhat Hanh/ Dr. Lillian Cheung’s book “Savor” is a book worth reading, with regards to awareness. I highly recommend it.

Sleepover

This Friday night, we held our annual Children’s Kung Fu Sleepover. The kids get to come sleep in the kwoon, play games, eat pizza and watch a movie. It’s a great way for them to socialize, and it adds an element of fun to their training.

For me as in instructor, this was my first to run. I had attended one in the past as simply a parent who trained, so this one was exciting for me. A little stressful, but exciting at the same time. And I have to admit when,Thursday night, Sifu Brinker told me that there would be around 30 kids, I was a little bit worried. But that dissolved completely when Friday night we realized that there would only be about 20. That made everything feel like a piece of cake from that point on.

It worked out better than I thought. And I am glad that I have learned to go with the flow, rather than try to strictly impose a schedule. I had a list of things we could do, but you have to read the kids, and their moods and simply work with that. I work well with the other children’s instructors, so it went just swimmingly.

All the kids were great - they ranged from 4 years to 12 years of age, and the one 4 year old, was in with the older kids like a dirty sock. It was a great experience. I did learn one thing though (although I had a sneaking suspicion of it beforehand). I learned that I am too old to be sleeping on the mats without a mattress of some sort. So next year, maybe I will actually get some sleep. Ha ha.

Teaching kids has really impacted my training in a positive way. It helps keep me young at heart, and keeps the fun in Kung Fu. It inspires me to be a better role model, and to be more creative with drills.

National Sweater Day - February 17, 2011

This Thursday February 17th is National Sweater Day. The idea is to turn down the thermostat by 3 degrees, put on a sweater and make a difference.

According to the World Wildlife Foundation, if all Canadians turned down their thermostat by 3 degrees over the winter, we could save 2.2 megatonnes of carbon dioxide a year. In other words, reducing 2.2 megatonnes of carbon dioxide is equivalent to taking 350 000 cars off the road. I think that’s pretty remarkable, and it’s such a simple solution.

There are many things we can do to reduce our carbon emissions. We can choose to drive less, and find alternative ways of transportation. We can lower our heat, and/ or air conditioning. We can stop idling our vehicles. Draft proof your house, hang dry your clothes, wash them is cold water, purchase a more fuel efficient car, or ride your bike instead. By eating less meat we are helping our environment, by buying local foods, we save on our carbon output. We can use a man powered lawn mower to save on emissions, and we should be using reusable bags for our shopping needs. These are just a few things we can do to slow down the climate change. They are just simple things, that go a long way.

Climate change is the biggest environmental threat in the world. Now is the time to raise awareness - every day. So, this Thursday, I am going to don an extra sweater and turn down the heat - at work and at home. (On a side note, this winter I did not turn up the heat as much as I have in the past. I usually like to be able to walk around in shorts in the winter, but this year, I chose to just dress a little warmer, and put an extra blanket on my bed.)

Performing

This past Saturday marked our annual Chinese New Year banquet and it was fantastic. As usual, because I was running around a lot I missed a bit, but from what I saw, and from what I heard, it was a big success.

There were a couple of black belt promotions, numerous awards were handed out, our Benevolent Foundation presented donations to our chosen charites, and we saw numerous demos.

I have been lion dancing for about 5 years now, and this was the second year that I was the buddha for our new lion at the banquet. It’s nice in the sense, that I can put on my “helmet” and disappear. I can really exaggerate my stances, and be a total goofball. There is a lot of freedom while I am hiding in there, and I love playing the part.

But I was also given a gift this year. Two years ago, a few weeks before I was to be presented with my black belt at our banquet, I broke my ankle. Ironically enough it was during lion dance practice that I fell and broke it. Anyway, I wasn’t able to perform as is the tradition, and my training mates ended up creating an amazing video of us doing our demonstration to play for everyone. This year’s gift, was the opportunity to perform live at the banquet. It was hard work, and nerve wracking, but it felt so good to be able to do it. I am not always broken, and it was a wonderful opportunity to show how passionate I am about what I do.

This year’s banquet also gave the opportunity to train and work with an amazing bunch of people. We truly have an amazing Kung Fu family.

Happy Year of the Rabbit!