Sifu Stoddart: Some Things Work, Some Don't

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Some Things Work, Some Don't

I mentioned in a blog a little while back that I was going to try working out on my lunch break to maximize my time during the day. I also said that I wanted to put time into doing yoga after my workouts. Well, the workouts at lunch just are not working for me. I have a pretty physically demanding job that requires a lot of heavy lifting and moving large items. I also wear steel toe boots and work on cement all day. I have found, that come my lunch break at 10:00, I need to sit for a bit and put my feet up. I prefer not to give that time up to do my workout. Plus an hour really isn't enough time to do a proper workout when you include traveling time and having to change my clothes. I am not going to fret about it. It was a nice idea, but it just isn't working for me. Instead, I have been doing my workouts about 3:00, or 4:00 in the afternoon. This gives me enough time after, to get home, make supper, and relax for a bit before going off to bed about 8:30. (I am up at 4:00 am for work).

The power yoga is going great! I have had success in doing it for my stretching after my workouts. Feels so good to get back at it again. I forgot what a workout it is in itself. It amazes me how each activity or excersize can target, and finetune muscle tone in so many different areas. Yoga for example, brings back to life muscles in my butt, back, and shoulders, that even cycling, running, and pushups don't seem to hit. The internal heat I feel while doing my yoga is amazing too, and helps to cleanse my systems. I love the connection with the breath, and the total sense of entire body awareness that is connected with yoga. While holding a pose, I am focused on all areas of my body, joints and muscles, how they feel and how they play a part in that particular pose. Yoga is a great companion to my kung fu, and by training hard in both areas, the results and benefits are endless.

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My 20 Wishes. . .I want to do:
1. Vacation in a cabin in the mountains.
2. Fall in love.
3. Travel somewhere exotic.
4. Buy a motorcycle.
5. Write my life story.
6. Take my kids and grandkids to Disneyland.
7. See my dad again and have him meet my kids, and grandkids,
8. Hike the West Coast Trail. (done)
9. Buy my own home.
10. Climb a Via Ferrata. (done)
11. Have corrective eye surgery.
12. Find a reason to trust. (Done)
13. Perform with chi.
14. Go caving.(done)
15. Learn to play piano again.
16. Go Skinny Dipping. (done)
17. Take swimming lessons.
18. Take a wood working class.
19. Take Ballroom dance lessons.
20. Straighten my front teeth.

My 20 Wishes. . .I want to be:
1. Conscious
2. Loyal
3. Faithful
4. Good parent
5. Respectful
6. Talented martial artist
7. Healthy
8. Physically fit
9. Reliable
10. Trustworthy
11. A good grandparent
12. Awakened
13. Honest
14. Independent
15. Strong of character
16. Confident
17. A leader
18. Uplifting to others
19. Full of a positive countenance
20. Free from suffering

I love adventures, and experiencing new things for the first time. Never has this been more true than in the experiences I get from kung fu. Earning a black belt seemed to be all about me. I sacrificed, worked real hard, disciplined myself, and grew to new heights I never thought possible. I watched my life change before my very eyes. Not just small changes, but big ones that even I noticed.

Being a black belt seems to be more about others. I help others to meet their potential through their own sacrifice, and determination. As I do this, I find great fulfillment watching others change the shape of their lives, and find their own sense of peace. Black belts are just ordinary people, but doing extraordinary things, at an extraordinary level. Through this realization, we start to evolve from black belts to true martial artists, with a passion for the art that we strive to pass on to others. We continue on our path of progression, but it is through our sacrifice towards others that changes occur.

I have a huge testimony of what we do at Silent River Kung Fu. I rejoice every time I teach a class, especially the beginners, and my heart swells when I see the future of kung fu in the excited eyes of the students. By helping these students find a new way to look at life, we help them become better individuals, through their own realization of self worth. This in turn builds stronger communities, and a much more positive world to live in. When we fully understand that, we start to look outside of the kung fu box, and begin to see that vision of what we are really doing as we teach kung fu. Instead of just seeing the techniques and the forms, the mistakes people do and the improvements people need to make, we start to finally see...the people.

Students come to Silent River Kung Fu because they have this idea that learning martial arts is fun. They keep coming back because it is fun. What most students don't even realise, is that they also keep coming back because here they feel respected, cared about, and they receive a sense of belonging. What is the first thing we do when we taste something really good? We try to get someone else to taste it by saying, "wow! You've got to try this." It is important to give all students, whether they are new or not, that experience that will make them say, "you've got to try this." Every student that walks through the front door should feel like they are a part of our kung fu family. We can do that by seeing...the people. Watching with an eye for detail, to see their needs, their emotions, their strengths, and their apprehensions. Only by doing that can we really begin to teach, and help shape the lives of others. From my own experience, I believe this to be the only way to progress to that next level as a martial artist. I believe it, I have experienced it, I trust it.