Knight of Pentacles

This last week has not been great for my I Ho Chuan numbers.  I didn't realize how much leeway I had with my time being on night shift, and now that's gone I've been having trouble getting into a new routine.  But I haven't given up!  Things are settling in at work, and I'm figuring out little moments I can get my push ups and sit ups in.  And I figure if I can get 30 minutes of Kung Fu in every evening then I can start getting my form reps up. Cleaning up on Saturday was brilliant!  It was really nice getting to see everyone outside of the Kwoon, and I thought we did a pretty awesome job in the park and at the Kwoon.  I really liked how the kids got right into the spirit of it.   I actually started working on some crafts yesterday, too.  In order to raise funds for our Star Trek social club, the crew of my ship makes crafts to sell at markets, and at the upcoming Fort Fan Fest in Fort Saskatchewan.  My contribution is the painting of te...

 Last week was...disgusting...for me.  I'll spare the details. I didn't get much done towards ANY of my goals, except I did a bit of reading. The only good moment I did have was during I Ho Chuan class on Thursday.  I decided to get up off my chair and at least do a form, since everyone else was doing theirs so beautifully.  Because I was so weak I went reeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaalllllly slow.  And I noticed a few things I had never considered before, like what stances I was going into (or NOT going into) with each move, how things should probably flow together, what my fingers were doing, etc. Things are back to normal today, and I have a renewed motivation to get on with it. I will also say, that although I appreciate the sentiment of not letting yourself slip into mediocrity by being on top of your game all the time, it occurred to me that I have not even reached that level yet.  I need to work on making my efforts sustainable because so far they have not proven...

 Dear Sifu Ryback, I needed to hear all the things you said in the meeting last night.  And I wanted you to know that you were very eloquent. So, confession time!  This week I got dressed down at work.  There was a medium sized SNAFU and although it was half not-my-fault, the other half was definitely MY fault.  It was a big hit to my confidence, to the point where I was wondering if I was really cut out to do my job or if I should just go crawl into a hole and flip burgers for the rest of my life.  I was feeling pretty raw when we started the meeting, but at least I was there. And even though you were talking about Kung Fu, all the points you made are applicable to every situation that comes up in life (which you also said, I think).   And I had been giving myself a lot of negative self-talk.  And I had been missing all the positives and opportunities that the situation offered.   After all, my superiors still believe in my ability...

 I have an old, dear friend, who is a great HEMA enthusiast, and very passionate about his opinions.  I don't always agree with what he says but I admire the vigor with which he argues his point.  Anyway, he posted something really interesting this morning: " Thought: Much like my former attitude on Katas/forms/reglas, I used to feel negatively towards demonstration wushu/sword dances/sword tricks/demonstration flourishes. A lot of that was edgelord 'go straight at them, and don't waste time learning shit you'll never use in a real fight' bullshit, and I retract it wholesale. Play with your toys (responsibly). Learn to juggle your knives and hatchets if that's a thing you want to learn. Contact juggle your polearm. Memorize Madmartigan's longsword flip-catch. Do interpretive dance with your Montante. Take up the flaming version of your sabre or flail and show it off at Burning Man. Fucking get weird with it. Just play with the damned things a...

  I love spreadsheets. So, I'm pretty happy with my numbers.  Putting in the monthly tally's shows me that I have been letting some things slide, but the things I have been working on are now habits, so I should be able to bring more things into focus. Looking forward to being back on the mats this week. Song of the day: Press Enter to Exit by The Horrors https://open.spotify.com/track/79TbiUxFgg5HBkeXbVrwQl?si=ec9934983d8f4abf