Father

Fathers

This past week was father’s day and I took some time to reflect on how my father has influenced my life.

 My dad is a great man who worked hard all of his life to provide for our family a better life than he had.  He grew up in the trades and due to a physical injury could no longer practice his trade.  I remember that I was only about 3 or 4 years old at the time so my memories are a little fuzzy.  I do remember my dad in a full body cast and that was something quite scary for someone as young as I was back then.  My dad recovered and perceived as he has always done and finished his career in the same job these past 25 years  (how many of us can stay in the same job that long?).  What I have learnt from my father is hard work and honesty is some of the very most important virtues you can carry with yourself through life.  I really don’t know how you can go wrong in life living by these virtues?

I played a lot of sports growing up with hockey in the winter and baseball in the summer.  Most of these years my dad was the team coach which was tough on me because he never wanted to show favoritism.  I usually ended up working harder than most of the other kids just because I wanted to prove that I made it based on my own skills Vs having my dad as the team’s coach.  One thing that I was always respected my dad for is that he pushed me hard but never made me do it.  I am not sure if I am explaining this right but he knew how to push me and how far to go.  I remember that I didn’t have the same appreciation of this back then as I do now!

During this past year in the UBBT 8 program I reflected on this journey and how my father has indirectly influenced it.  The UBBT is so not a sprint but a marathon that takes a huge amount of commitment an dedication.  The lesson's learned from my father have helped me along this journey.  I have fallen an stumbled and I have also flown so high at times during UBBT 8 and it is only half done.  I know that I would not have bee able to get where I am with out the lessons learnt from my father.

Dad, you were tough at times and I am sure that I deserved that kick in the pants to keep me on the right track.  You were a role model that I looked up to and you never let me down.  You are a big part of who I am right now.

Thanks Dad and happy Father’s day!

Ian Repay

Student member of UBBT 8

Silent River Kung Fu

Stony Plain, Alberta

What level are you performing at?

What level are you performing at?

I have set goals for myself like very one of my team mates have done.  These goals have limits like 50 000 pushups and 50 000 sit ups etc.  However there is no limit to how hard I push myself to reach these goals.  To me it is not about reaching these goals but how I reach them is so much more important to me.  I would not be disappointed with myself if I didn’t reach say 50 000 pushups as long as I had performed at a level 10 trying to reach that goal.  We all know that we can’t perform at a level 10 every minute of every day as that would be impossible.  However I do know that most of us are not performing at a level 10 and we don’t do much to change it.  It is much easier to perform at a 5 or a 6 and we think we are performing enough…..but are we?  I don’t think so!  This road (UBBT 8) has me reflecting not only on my Kung Fu training but also on how I am living my life.  Do I perform at a level 10 when I am at the Kwoon?  I try very hard to but there are times that I may be at a 7 or 8.  Now do I perform at a level 10 in life outside of the Kwoon?  However, now that I have grasped this concept I am starting the ramp up my level in life just by being mindful of where I am and what I am doing.

So I leave you with this question, “What level are you performing at right now”?

Mr. Repay

Student of Silent River Kung Fu

Student Member of UBBT 8

Martial Arts

Martial Arts

Over this past year I have been very involved in my Kung Fu.  I joined martial arts because I wanted to know more about the spiritual side of the art.  I first tried TKD and I found that it was a good art but it was not the style I wanted to learn no was the school what I was looking for.  Don’t get me wrong here, TKD is a great MA just the school didn’t teach the “spiritual” side of the MA that I was so looking for.

Yesterday I had a conversation with a new business owner that was trying to understand his customers and to a smaller extent his business.  He has a new equestrian business that he and his family started 2 years ago.  They were very successful dairy farmers for over 30 years and decided to take their business in a new direction.  After about 15 minutes of conversation we both came to realize the same thing.  You need a complete package if you are going to have a successful business.  Without the right facilities, the right trainer and owners that truly care their business is not going to flourish.  If you have one or two of these pieces your business may run and you may pay the bills but you are not going to reach your businesses full potential.

This brings me back to my Kung Fu training.  I believe the school where I train has all three pieces.  We have a great Kwoon, with great Sifu’s that are very skilled and more importantly they are very approachable.  Finally we have an owner (Sifu Brinker) that really does care about not only the health of his business but the overall health of his students.  I have found what I was looking for in a MA school not only in the style of the MA but in the family that is there helping me grow.

Ian Repay

Student of Silent River Kung Fu

Student member of UBBT 8

"Do not criticize any of the other martial arts. Speak ill of others and it surely comes back to you.
The mountain does not laugh at the river because it is lowly, nor does the river speak ill of the mountain because it cannot move about."

 -Master Morihei Uyeshiba