That has changed since I started. Originally, I signed up for Kung Fu mostly because I wanted to get back in shape. However, especially since joining the I Ho Chuan (IHC) team, I’m finding that I want to be involved because it’s making me do the work on being a better person than I was yesterday. I’ve always done that but now I’m even more deliberate about it.
Thanks to doing IHC I’ve been learning how to journal more effectively, to organize myself more effectively, to remove the things in my environment “that encourage you to remain “average”” (very actively working on that one this year!). I’m learning how to stop being “busy” and instead be “productive”. With the decluttering goal I’m learning to build my letting-go “muscles”.
Musing on this reminds me of the little bit of the children’s class I observed before our I Ho Chuan meeting last night. The instructor talked about teaching Kung Fu so that they wouldn’t have to use it. But, with what I’ve written above in mind, I feel that’s not quite accurate (perhaps it was simplified for the the sake of the children’s level of understanding?). We do want to use our Kung Fu, because it’s not just about martial arts, not at our school anyway. We wouldn’t have the green stripes on our belts if we weren’t meant to use our Kung Fu in the world. Kung Fu teaches us so many things that should be taken into the world and used on a daily basis. It teaches self control, self discipline, self awareness, service to others, sharing, how to learn, how to teach, random acts of kindness (and not so random), self confidence, and so much more.
It's all interconnected.
I’m here for all of that!
Pushups/equivalent: 300
Sit-ups/equivalent: 144
Sword Form: 1
Da Mu Hsing: 65
Random Acts of Kindness: 5
Sparring: 0
Kilometres: 118
Memorize mastery: wrote it out yesterday but still need to do it today.
Nurture Relationships: worked on that today
Blogging: 4
Declutter: took another box to the thrift shop
Great Coat: Hopefully will be getting a new electric cord on my Singer sewing machine next week.
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