Starting Anew - Prairie Phoenix

Albert Prairie Phoenix

Engage with others

We all engage differently with students. Some are more serious while others are more goofy. Some are chatty and others are more silent and interact with their body. 

It is awesome to see the interaction different black belt have with students in open training - like sihing Timchuck working with some of the young dragons. Or Sidai Csillag S who spent 40 minutes with a kid from the Lil Leopard program. 

Slow down?

 When we are trying to go deeper and understand what we are doing, we typically slow down so we can examine what we do. Or we ask someone else to slow down when they show us something. 

It is ok to slow down as long as we understand the pace of which our move should be in eventually. So slowing down to figure it out and the implementing the step in its normal speed incorporating what we learned when we slowed down. 

Especially when told to work on flow, we slow down. But our intention should be to get back to normal speed and continue working on the flow. 

Plans vs. Reality

I love to plan! But I do not like when plans change. 

This weekend I got sick and this derailed my training. I had lot of stuff I wanted to do before the next black belt class. But I accomplished maybe 20% of it. 

Now the plan is changing and focused on getting healthy so I can go back to plan A...

Am I in the best shape of my life?

 Easy answer- no. 

Why? Because I’m not going to be in a good shape as I was when I was 20. 

Ok. So relatively to my age - am I in the base shape? Am I in the best shape I could be?

Again the answer is no. 😅

Because I could have been in a better shape if I trained for 1 more minute today. And I can always get better. 

So am I in the shape I want to be? No again. I will always want to be in a better shape than where I am now. 

Why?

I often ask myself why I practice martial arts? Why Kung Fu? Could it been something else?

Being at the yearly banquet this weekend, reminded me of my speech when I got my black belt. There are 5 pillars of Kung Fu for me. More specifically SRKF Kung Fu.

All of these 5 are better because of Kung Fu. Family, Health, Friends, Happiness and Success. 

This was my speech... from 2013:

Few years ago, one of my Sifus asked us to write down why we first joined Kung Fu and then he asked us to write why we are still in Kung Fu. I want to try to answer these questions tonight.

The first answer is easy - I joined Kung Fu after a few months of running after my 3 year old son in the Lil Leopards class trying to help him to overcome his shyness and to learn the art of Kung Fu. This has not changed in that I’m still helping him in his Kung Fu. However along my journey I have discovered there is so much more to it.

There are 5 main reasons why Kung Fu is important for me – Health, Happiness, Success, Friendship and Family.

HEALTH

Work and life force me to sit in front of a computer or in the car for a long time every day. I love eating, especially sweets. Physical activities that seemed easy at twenty are not so easy anymore.

After doing Kung Fu for a few months I started seeing some changes - I started exercising on a regular basis. I started paying attention to what I was eating.

With Kung Fu, I developed a routine of daily exercises and also a healthier diet. On top of that, trying to memorize a form is a great brain exercise.

Happiness

Like anyone else I can feel down, overworked, stressed. The Kwoon has become the happy haven. The Kwoon is the place where I can get into and forget about work and other daily stress.

SUCCESS

I’ve always tried to be successful in what I do. The Kung Fu journey is filled with success moments - receiving a stripe, getting a new belt, performing in a demo, competing in the Tiger Challenge, breaking boards, getting a black belt. Kung Fu is a continuous path with challenges and milestones - milestones of success.

But my success is not just a personal success. Being an instructor in the kids’ classes I realized that their success is as important to me as my own. The magnitude of accomplishment is ten folds when I know I had part in their success.

FRIENDSHIP

The Kwoon turned out to be a great place to find good friends. I’m not a very outgoing person and when you are attending the early morning class, you do not see many people. But I have made some friends in the Kwoon. Some are training friends and some are now friends outside of Kung Fu.

The Kwoon is the only place where I could take-down the mayor of Stony Plain without being arrested.

FAMILY

Family is the most important thing for me. This is why I started Kung Fu. The ability to train with my son and now also with my daughters and my wife, allowed me to better connect with my family, to spend more time with my family and to share a passion we all take part of.

Seeing my kids advance in the kids’ classes is making me very proud and though it is becoming dangerous to spar with all of them I know that Kung Fu is a foundation for a lifelong family bond.

This is why Kung Fu is important for me. This is why my Kung Fu journey is not over. This journey is not mine alone. Some of you took part in my journey – inspiring, helping, teaching and being good friends.

New Year's Resolutions

 I always think that if you need to set goals, you should not wait for New Years. But there is something with major events that can trigger a change. This is why I think it is OK if I can use it as a motivator. 

I use different major events to propel me towards a better self. Birthday, holidays, etc. it doesn't matter. If I can use that to my advantage, than I shall do that!!!