Waiting For Never

Illness and injury are something I've had to deal with for quite awhile now. I've been waiting to feel consistently better before going back to class, but realized recently, that'll never happen. There will be weeks I'll feel great, then weeks, not so much. The best I'll ever be able to do is manage symptoms by treating anxiety and monitoring my diet. It sucks having anxiety, it triggers my stomach issues much like my diet does. It tells my brain things are a much bigger deal than they are and it makes me want to quit things because I'm not good enough and get unneccessarily frustrated. It's a constant battle. I often think I have way too many issues to stay in kung fu, and maybe I do, but showing up to an I Ho Chaun class and feeling how positive the atmosphere is, reminds me how much I really like having that in my life. It's easier to hide under a blanket and not allow people to see you struggle. It's safe, but is that really living? My aunt recently passed away and I remember how she was when we were younger. She'd run around and play with us when we were kids. Then one day she lost control of her foot and drove into her garage door. It didn't take long before she was in a wheel chair losing control of her body and almost blind. MS did that to her very quickly, yet, no one remembers her ever complaining. She did the best she could with what she had. I will too. RIP Aunty Jeri.

See you at the kwoon.

High Hopes

I seem to be feeling much better and for the last couple weeks my knee has been cooperating. I don't want to get my hopes too high but I should be able to be back in classes full time. I'm going to have to take it easy though and know my boundaries so I don't overdo it. I'm pretty nervous. I'm so used to being at the back of the class but now, going back to my class I'm in the front so I seem to put pressure on myself to do more than I should be. I'm going to have to not put pressure on myself and just do what I can and be ok with it. It's better I take my time. I start at a gym with a pool in May and will be doing a lot of exercises in water to build back strength without putting stress on my joints. Sifu J. Lagner gave me the idea and my doctor thinks it's a great idea. So slow and steady I should be back in a regular routine.

Teaching

One of my theory questions is "teaching". I'm not sure what exactly how to answer this question but one of my recent experiences made me think about it. I spent some time this past few weeks teaching my 85 year old grandma how to use an iPad. For most of us it's a quick transition from one device to another and once someone shows us how to do something, after about 5 minutes we've got it. For her, this is brand new. I spent about an hour showing her what icons to touch, what icons were, what each thing meant, how to swipe, etc. etc. I spent an hour and 45 minutes teaching her how to enter an event into her calendar. For her, this was quite frustrating, the buttons were small and she couldn't remember what each thing did. I could empathize with this frustration. So I'd show her a few things, have her do it a few times while I was there for her to ask questions, then I'd walk away for a few minutes and let her do things on her own, then come back knowing she'd forget some of the things I showed her, go over them again, and repeat the above. At the end of the hour and forty five minutes she was entering our birthdays on her iPad. She hugged me, thanked me for being so patient and told me I should be a teacher.

I believe this is the same with kung fu. Some people already have a good fitness background when they start, so pushups, situps and running is easy for them. Some people have a different form of a martial arts background, some people have injuries, some people are more coordinated than others, etc, etc... when teaching, knowing a students abilities and knowing how far to push is important. Knowing when a student should be left alone to muddle through and knowing when to help is important too. We're all different, and learn in different ways and being able to adapt and empathize makes a good teacher. Not sure if this is the type of answer the question is looking for, but this is my answer, based on my experience.

Thanks!

Woke up this morning and saw that my car was more than buried in snow. I knew I had to get out and run a couple errands but was definitely not looking forward to shovelling. After breakfast I got ready and looked again outside to see what laid before me. My neighbour that I had helped just over a week ago was just finishing up shovelling me out and brushing off my car. Thanks Karma!

Still learning lots about foods and trying new things. Watermelon radishes are my new favourite vegetable. They're so good, they are a bit milder than regular radishes and about the size of an apple. I can just eat a whole one by itself. I also learned, I do NOT like spaghetti squash. EW! Next week I'm trying something called a white sunchoke. Never even heard of it before so we'll see how that goes.

I'm not on track with my training as I should be for various reasons but I know I'll catch up. I should hopefully be back able to participate in my classes again later this week.

See you at the kwoon!

Friday the 13th

13 has always been my lucky number. Not so much for one of my neighbours. I went to leave for I Ho Chaun class Friday night and noticed a whole bunch of smoke coming out of the hood of one of the cars in my lot. I knew who owned the car but didn't know where he lived. Long story short, I ran around my neighbourhood to see if I could find him, called the fire department, got blocked in by a fire truck. Turned out it ended up being some sort of hose that got a hole in it which was causing the smoke and my poor neighbour came out to 5 firemen surrounding his car. He was really stressed out because he was on his way to the west end to pick up his daughter so I told him I'd drive him to get her and to try to find the part he needed for his car. I wasn't going to make it to class now anyway. It ended up making for an interesting evening and I ended up meeting a few of the people who live by me.

I'm behind on my core requirements but have been making progress on my personal ones. Still waiting patiently for my doctor's appointment. MARCH 24TH!!!! Had my knee lock on me during last weeks class, saw a physio therapist and found out it was swollen and I twisted my meniscus probably when I fell down my front steps the day before the banquet that I ended up not being able to go to. I swear I don't like hurting myself I've just always been accident prone.

Definitely hard to stay engaged when you haven't been able to go to classes. I'm still staying positive though. Things don't last forever, bad or good. Plus, overall I'm still able to get more done in a day than I used to, so that's improvement.

In Like a Lamb and Out Like a Lion

It's pretty different learning broadsword. I kept holding it wrong and stabbing myself in the neck. Good thing it's not a live weapon or I'd be hooped. It felt like the first I Ho Chaun class went way faster than previous years. It's a lot different to have a person you've decided to train with, I like it. I just have to not put pressure on myself to learn everything all at once. I've never used a sword before and I'm a new green belt so there's going to be lots to learn and lots to practice. Plus I have to stay mindful of overusing my joints until I get my muscles more built up and stable to support them evenly. I'm looking forward to this year, I think it will be fun. I've learned my boundaries, my strengths and my weaknesses the past couple years and I just need to work with them to do what's right for me while following the program requirements.

I've managed to stay vegetarian. I feel like I have more of a grasp on it now. I'm finding my blood sugar is more stabilized for the most part and I don't have spikes and drops like I used to. I also seem to require a lot less food and I'm not craving carbs as much as I did at first. The only negative thing I'm finding is that my muscles get tired, sore and shaky a lot faster. I'm getting enough protein from plant sources, so I'm going to go to the doctor and ask them to check to make sure I'm getting enough other vitamins. My fridge is always filled with so many fruits and veggies now, it's weird. Never would've thought I'd know what brocollini was or that there was even such a thing.

Anyway, have a good week. Toodles.

Happy Thursday!

I have a very eclectic music collection but Xavier Rudd is my all time favourite musician so this won't be the last time I share his music with you.  Have a great day!