"Leaders"

Leaders are ones that should be followed because they are respected and trusted not because they were given an authoritarian power. "Leaders" that lead by intimidation, mocking others are not true leaders.

Leaders are not immuned from mistakes.  On the contrary - leaders are vulnerable and not be afraid to admit their mistakes. A leader is not necessary the best in everything on their team and they can and should continue to learn from other.

Someone who thinks that they are better just because of the rank given to them is not realizing that others might have strength that they are lacking at and therefore will not be able to lead as they are actually crippling others and themselves.

Up in Flames

I should be happy we are still alive. I should be happy we still have a house to live in. So how come I am saddened because I need to spend few hundred dollars?

Our dryer caught on fire today. The fire alarm was going off. Kobe and I were pretty close and saw the flames coming out of the dryer. Kobe ran to get the fire extinguisher and after few sprays the fire was off. Lucky for us the house did not catch on fire.

But now I need to buy a new dryer... :-( 

Martial Arts Community

For me, there are many benefits being part of the I Ho Chuan team. One of them is being part of a martial arts community. We practice together as we develop our forms, preparing for demos and working on projects together. There are many opportunities to work together - the Adopt a Driveway, painting the bridge, preparing for the Pandamonium, practicing for the banquet. It is really rewarding to be part of a team!

Teaching Rewards

I love teaching Kung Fu. If you would have asked me when I started practicing Kung Fu if I would ever do it, the answer would have been a definite NO. But as my kids started practicing Kung Fu, I enjoyed helping out in their classes and one thing led to another.

I think teaching is one of the best things that happened to me in Kung Fu. As I am teaching others, I get so much back. Leadership skills, organization skills, everything in Kung Fu makes more sense once you need to teach it as you really need to understand what you are doing. There is no doubt that my progress in Kung Fu is enhanced by my teaching.

I teach the advance kids class and while it is sad for me to see the kids in my class moving into the adults class, I know that this is part of their progress. It is nice to see how they evolve as young adults. This year is special for me as other than my son, it is the first time that kids that I was teaching are going for their black belt. It was a pleasure teaching all 3 of them as kids and it was a pleasure to see them growing up in age and in their Kung Fu training.