One More

The One More concept is an important mindset I’ve learnt from sifu Prince many years ago. 

The idea behind this was that you always do one more than what you are told during warmup. 20 push-ups become 21. 50 jumping jacks become 51. 

Always push yourself a little more. Don’t stay in your comfort zone. 

Vocabulary of Motion

I’ve been working lots in the last few months to better define what vocabulary of motion means. Sifu Brinker often uses the analogy to speaking. The way I see it, at first we learn words. Then we learn how to combine them in a sentence that makes sense. Then you are mastering your speech by changing the speed of your speech, the tone, the rhythm, the fluctuations, etc. 

There is so much to learn in martial art on how to master your techniques, put them into a sentence, find the right rhythm. It is a journey that will keep me evolving.

Well-Oiled Machine

An event like the Chinese New Year banquet can only be successful with good planning, proper execution and the ability to make adjustments as the program progress. We had a group of people preparing and planning days and weeks before the evening started. And even a bigger group of people helping and making sure the banquet goes as planned. 

With a new venue, there were many unknowns and it was great to see the adjustments done to ensure a successful night. There will always be issues that in retrospect we could have handled differently. Growth is built on learning from success and failure. 

What’s important is to make sure we are learning from the past and not experiencing the same year after year. Growth from success or failures will only happen if we actually do something to fix it next time!

Simple but yet powerful

In the last week Sifu Brinker was teaching us one simple drill - jab, hook, reverse. So simple but it amazes me how much is in one simple drill.

Foot work, speed, distancing, pace. power, the 6 harmonies, targeting, working with a partner, position play, attention to all detail - and more.

This drill can be used to teach so much. It is these type of lessons that make me love Kung Fu. Simple but yet powerful.

Change of plans

I started running practice after Mike told me we were signed up for the sunrun 10km race in Vancouver. I had good progress with my training but the on Thursday I hurt my bac and could hardly walk. I wasn’t sure how I’m going to do in the run. Sitting down was pretty painful and the flight was not great for my back. After walking around Vancouver on Saturday I figured I could at least walk the 10km. The first 2km of the race were hard. I was stiff from waiting for my start time. But after 2km, I felt better and decided to run. This was better and my back did not hurt. I was running / walking with Mike’s pace and we completed the race in a good time for my state.
Not as planned but pretty good.

what is the point?

While being part of the IHC I had to blog once a week. I try to keep this up as I believe that all I do during IHC year should be sustainable and done even when I am not part of the IHC.

But sometimes I wonder... The last few posts, are getting almost zero traction. Almost no one is reading them. So what is the point?

I guess that these blogs are mostly for me to benefit from and not necessarily for others. So it doesn't really matter who and how many people are reading my blog.

Leading

When I'm leading a team I want them to grow and get better. For that I need to be honest and provide constructive feedback on how they need to improve. But it is really important how it is done.

I should not be telling them they are doing it wrong in a negative way or without a way to get better. I should not just say in a team meeting "you all suck" but let the specific people who are doing it wrong how they can improve.

If I truly want to become a leader and not just the manager - I need to make sure I lead.