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SCRIBBLES
& STICKS
"More grows in the garden than the gardener sows"
~ Spanish Proverb
Welcome to Scribbles & Sticks, my personal journey along the Kung Fu path. Explore with me in learning the life lessons that come with attempting to achieve mastery. Perhaps Scribbles & Sticks will inspire you on your own personal improvement journey.
For those who don't know, the school I go to is Silent River Kung Fu (SRKF), and the team I'm on that has got me blogging is called I Ho Chuan (IHC). The website for SRKF is https://www.silentriverkungfu.ca/
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Tired and Spaces
Last week I said I wanted to pay more attention to what’s preventing me from training, and where the spaces are, in my life, for training. While I still didn’t get much training done (I really do feel quite tired lately), the two things that seem to adversely and dramatically affect whether or not I train are journalling and when certain family members are home. Balancing farm duties is another factor. When I journal, things like training stay top of mind much more consiste
Elizabeth
3 days ago3 min read
Oops!
Learning another creature. This time it’s the moose. Forgot to take into account the fact that beekeeping season is upon us, when I was planning my week. Oops! To be fair to myself, I’ve been waiting for the weather to change so that I can get started on the beekeeping things (among other responsibilities). It’s always been problematic for me to plan what to do once the beekeeping and growing season(s) starts, and through until autumn. I’m not sure how to remedy this becau
Elizabeth
Apr 203 min read
Setbacks
What’s happening May have overdone the exercises lately. Had leg day right before a class with a lot of leg stuff the following day and arm day the day before a lot of arm use (especially rotations) in class the next day. Also moved from 5 pound dumbbell to 10 dumbbell for the overhead pull over and I think that set my shoulders back (pain ever since). So back to the 5 pound ones once the pain has subsided, because those felt really good. Thinking that resting the day before
Elizabeth
Apr 134 min read
Little Pains and Little Gains
This past week my theme has been flexibility. I’m glad I did this! Rather than worrying so much about numbers I was working on specific parts of my body, and not just flexibility but strength as well. In other words, strengthening and lengthening. Also, since my back and shoulders have been such issues, I worked on them. Thus, I’ve been alternating core and back one day, then arms and shoulders another day, then hips and legs the next day, and repeat. This makes more sense
Elizabeth
Apr 52 min read
Course Adjustments
Progress isn’t always pretty but without messy pages like this in my sketchbook I wouldn’t be learning as much as I have been. Wix is still doing weird stuff with the photos. Feeling the need for some course adjustments. I’ve been really good about art like it’s my job lately, but fell down on most other things. So I wonder if I would do better if I did sprints (themes?) each week. It’s much easier for me to keep track and stay focused on one thing than on many. Maybe if I, f
Elizabeth
Mar 302 min read
Set Backs vs. Progress
Finally decorated the front of my sketchbook. Figured a Bull snake in a tree suited it since I started the book during the year of the wood snake. Circumstances were such that I wasn’t able to practice Kung Fu as much, but it looks like most of it’s been resolved. Should be able to get back on track now. Contact Staff is coming along slowly. The neck wraps are becoming pretty reliable, and I was finally able to do stalls from one side to the other with no hands, but not rel
Elizabeth
Mar 231 min read
Odd Little Issues
After helping with the Level 1 class and then doing my Level 2 class, one right after the other, my hand was shaking so much that it was hard to write notes down after class (things I wanted to remember from class). I figured I was just hugely tired, and it would go away after I rested. The next day the shaking continued and made drawing very difficult. At least I could do a little practice and (shaky) study sketches, but no detailed work was possible. The hand just kept shak
Elizabeth
Mar 162 min read
2026 03 09 – Progress So Far
Fountain pen ink sketch of a Cassowary. For some reason Wix insists on not formatting images properly. It wants everything to be squares that cut off the tops of the images. Reading One of my goals this year is to finish at least twelve books. I just finished Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud. Thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ll probably be going back to it for reference when trying to find ways to convey story through visual media. Working Through Pain and Injury Shoulder pain h
Elizabeth
Mar 93 min read
Goals for the Year of the Fire Horse
Study sketch done traditionally (pencil on paper) Here we are, the Year of the Fire Horse, with a bit of a befuddled start on my part, but a start nonetheless. The I Ho Chuan (IHC) team has been discontinued and a new format laid out for the black belt candidates instead. Since I’m not a black belt candidate, just a blue belt, I decided to continue the goal setting and tracking on my own. My goals aren’t fully planned out for the year but here’s what I have so far. Pushups :
Elizabeth
Mar 33 min read
Happy New Year!
Congratulations to the new black belts! Getting ready for the Year of the Fire Horse and wrapping up from the Year of the Wood Snake. One of the goals I had set for myself during the year of the snake was art, like it was my job. A big part of this was to see if I really wanted to do that much or if it was just my fantasy self. Turns out, the more I did the more I wanted to do! I didn’t do art on as many days of the year as I had planned to but it was still much more than I’
Elizabeth
Feb 232 min read
2026 01 12 – Getting Rolling Again
And for some reason Wix is cropping the images weirdly. This is from the prompt “pierce” for Inktober 2025 Well, definitely need to figure out what to do about my training area whenever guests come to stay at the house. Couldn’t believe that I hadn’t advanced my weapon form numbers when I went to update them for this blog. The only place where there is room to put a bed for guests is in the training room, but then it tends to stay there. I need to fix this! At least my hand f
Elizabeth
Jan 122 min read
Happy New Year!
Work in Progress - Creature design The news about the changes for next year, the year of the horse, for the I Ho Chuan team knocked the wind out of my sails much more than I expected. Being sick over Christmas didn’t help either. Although I was only sick for about four days the lingering exhaustion was another matter. I’ve really only started to really feel like myself in the last few days (energy wise) and I’m wondering if I will still feel that way after the first class of
Elizabeth
Jan 52 min read
2025 12 01
Again, a drawing from Inktober. Not as good as the last two (technically three) I posted here, but this is the one where I learned to really embrace the scribble! “There is no such thing, on a human level, as perfection, but there is excellence.” ~ Terryl Whitlatch, during an interview with Trojan Horse was a Unicorn on YouTube Practice is picking up but not as fast as I would like. The more I declutter physically, the more I practice my Kung Fu. The more I declutter mental
Elizabeth
Dec 1, 20251 min read
2025 11 24
From Inktober 2025 drawings - prompts: Murky and Deer “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing us not enough; we must do.” ~ Bruce Lee I still have so much learning (knowing) to do, to be able to adequately apply, and do. I am a work in progress. Noticed that with the clutter magnates having been working overtime my Kung Fu practice deteriorates drastically. Started putting more work into solving the former and the latter is starting to pick up again. Hmm. Numbers f
Elizabeth
Nov 24, 20251 min read
Long Delayed Update
It’s been a while. For some reason it was hard to get the ball rolling again after being away for a month. It sure was nice to be away for a month in places with little or no cell/internet service! It is so weird to think back to (not that long ago) when we didn’t even have such things, and now everyone seems to be expected to be available 24/7. Can’t seem to use a public bathroom these days without hearing someone taking a phone call in one of the other stalls. I find it har
Elizabeth
Nov 6, 20252 min read
Week 27 – Crashing
My Excel spreadsheet for tracking my IHC progress has been crashing a lot (on my mobile devices) so that every time I enter a number I...
Elizabeth
Aug 11, 20251 min read
Week 24 — One Foot In Front of the Other
Still that time of year where one foot in front of the other feels like the best I can manage. Numbers for the Year: Pushups (modified):...
Elizabeth
Jul 26, 20251 min read
Week 23 – Catching Up
Written on July 14, 2025 It feels like all the things I’ve given Kung Fu priority over have reached the point of saying, “You are going...
Elizabeth
Jul 19, 20251 min read
Week 22 Update
Numbers for the Year: Pushups (modified): 9013 / 50,000 Situps (modified): 8816 / 50,000 Weapon Form: 238 / 1000 Hand Form: 169 /1000...
Elizabeth
Jul 7, 20251 min read
Week 18 – Brief Evaluation of My Progress
In a word, or two, not good. I could have done better. That said, I’m finding it troublesome to pace myself according to my current...
Elizabeth
Jun 11, 20251 min read
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