Sifu Stoddart: Kung fu Weekend

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Kung fu Weekend

It was a great kung fu weekend last weekend! I spent a lot of time at the kung fu school, starting with teaching the fitness class at 11:00 on Saturday, and then open training. I am really enjoying the open training! Lots of people are coming out and everyone gets along so well, and has a lot of fun together. We laugh and learn. After open training, I hung around by myself till 4:00

On Sunday, I packed up my kayak, my bike, rope dart, tai chi notes, and personal journal, and drove out to Lake Chickakoo. I was there by 10 in the morning. I started with a kayak ride out on the lake for over an hour. Then I found a grassy spot overlooking the lake, and sat and soaked up the sun. For the next 3 hours I journaled and wrote out my tai chi onto recipe cards, and meditated. It was so peaceful there and quiet. I ended my time there with an hour bike ride through the trails.

It wasn't exactly in the mountains, but it was away from town. I was able to work on a few of my requirements while doing so: my biking, journalling, tai chi, and meditaion I got home just in time to change and meet my friend at the gym. There, I biked for another hour covering 30km. While on the bike, I spread out my recipe cards of 'Mastery', and memorized. I got most of it, and just need to keep it up so it stays fresh in my mind, and complete the memorizing of the last 3 of the 8 recipe cards.

It was awesome! I spent time with friends, which I love to do, I got lots of kung fu work done, AND I got to spend time away from town, on a beautiful peaceful lake. What more could I ask for. hhhhmmmm. . . . . perhaps a longer summer.

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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.