What a feeling.

Today was one of those amazing days of lows and highs.  All that matters is how the day has ended and it has on an incredible HIGH.  

A little insight to what happened today.  We pay our sales reps bonuses for selling different items.  Recently we have found ourselves in a situation where we have a significant amount of aged or slightly expired inventory.  We paid out on sales for these items as it was a better situation to get something rather than disposing of it and getting nothing.  I personally don’t sell directly to customer as I am the sales manager for my company.  On this one occasion, I had a situation where I could sell a significant amount of product to a customer I know quite well personally.  This customer is one of my reps direct accounts.  However he didn’t make the sale even though he was there a couple of hour before I made the call.  I ended up selling a bunch of product and my company wants to pay this “bonus” out.  

Here is what I was torn about and what I did about this that made me feel so amazing.  I felt initially that we would pay the rep the commission.  I felt this way because it was his customer and I wanted to build some good will with him.  After reflecting upon this for some time (my boss thought I was mad for wanting to pay it to him and wanted me to have it) I decided that perhaps I should keep it as I did make the sale after all…  On the way home today I am talking with my wife about this and she suggested that I donate it to charity.  I was struggling with this all day and I didn’t feel that the he deserved nor did I deserve it.  We continued to talk and all of a sudden I had an epiphany.  We had a request for donations for a women’s shelter and why not donate it to them?  Who could better use this money than a woman’s shelter?  I called up my boss and told him what I wanted to do and he was extremely happy to be able to deliver this message and gift to them.  

What an amazing feeling came over me right at that moment!  It would have been really easy to keep a nice chunk of money but I realized that many more people could benefit from it in a lot better ways than I could have.  One of the reasons that I thought of this was the work we do at the Kwoon with the benevolent society.  It was a way that we can give back to the community that needs our support more than ever.

Ian Repay

UBBT 8 Student Member

Silent River Kung Fu

Discipline…what’s that?

Reflecting back on UBBT 8 as we wind down this year I am thinking about discipline.  When I started on this journey I felt that I had a lot of it.  I started off with an abundance of discipline and I felt like this would not be that difficult.  Wow was I wrong!  I have come to discover that one of my greatest weaknesses is discipline.  I realized that upon reflection that I don’t yet have it.  I have failed myself in this area and I am not happy with my self.  I have also realized that not only do I not have discipline when it comes to my UBBT 8 requirements; I don’t have a level of discipline that is at level in my personal/business life that I am happy with.  I now realize what I need to do. Right now to get that level of discipline the first step is to admit that this is an area of weakness.  Now that I have done this, I have become mindful of it and it is at forefront of my thinking.  To me this is so important that to not only acknowledge the weakness but to always be mindful of it.  

I am going to use this learning to be more proactive and will be the start of my development.  I am going to be mindful of my mental state and work toward changing my thinking and my actions.  I know this will not be easy as this is who I have always been.  However, it is never too late to start or want to start to change. 

Today is the first step on my new (bumpy) path.  Today I am mindful of my weakness and today I going to start to change my life.

Ian Repay

Student Member of UBBT 8

Student of Silent River Kung Fu

UBBT - Celebration of life

These past couples of weeks have been very trying at best.  My grandmother has taken a turn for worst these past couple of weeks.  We are now planning what most families don’t want to do that often and that is plan a funeral.  However we all take solace in the fact that she was almost 90 years old and lived a very full life.  There has never been a woman in my life that was so positive at all times.  She was content in all aspect of her life and that is a tough thing to do these days.  We seem to be living a life that is superficial at best.  We are looking for that next promotion and that new car as we try and justify our place in the world.  My grandmother was not that person.  She was spiritual and her belief in the Lord was what gave her such peace in her life.  She was not interested in the shiny new things rather she was interested only living her life with the Lord day by day.

I have been having a difficult time recently with my UBBT requirements as my personal life, my business life and my Kung Fu are not in balance.  I am struggling to even find the energy to do my push ups and sit ups as well as my journaling.  I have no excuse for this and I have to push through and use this UBBT process as way to bring my life back into focus.  I have been traveling a lot these past week s and I have not been able to attend classes which are not helping me keep that “connection” with my teammates at the kwoon.  I know that I should be reaching out to my teammates for support but I feel that in doing that would send the message that I am not strong enough on my own.  I know that I should not feel this way but I do and I am not sure how to stop feeling this way? I have decided that I am going to finish hard regardless if I am going to reach my goals or not.  I know that I going to fail in areas and in some areas I may reach my goals.  I realize now that this is not all about reaching the goals but rather the journey to get to the goals is what matters.

What matters most is celebrating the life of one of the most amazing grandmother's a grandson could ever have been blessed to have in his life.

Ian Repay
Student Member UBBT8
Silent River Kung Fu

Perspective change

       

I have come to realize recently that my perspective has changed regarding what I wanted to get out of my Kung Fu.  When I first walked into Silent River Kung Fu it was all about getting back into shape and learning how to properly fight.  This was my perspective one year ago.

During this time and especially through the UBBT test I have come to realize that I am getting more out of my Kung Fu than just getting into shape and learning to fight.  Don’t get me wrong, both of these things are greatly welcomed and appreciated!  However I have come to realize that the spiritual side of the martial arts has had a profoundly positive effect on my life and those around me.  I am a changed person because of my Kung Fu.  The biggest change that I have seen in myself is humility.  Before Kung Fu I had an over inflated view of myself that was far from justified.  Kung Fu has taught me to treat everyone with respect and empathy.  This is something that I personally was lacking for many different reasons. 

This UBBT test has clearly changed me.  I have fallen and failed through this test but through this test I have learn much about myself and that of my UBBT teammates.  I have taken what I have learned in the kwoon and have started to adapt it to my personal life with amazing results.  Things like incremental progression as a way of reaching a goal (50,000 sit ups and pushups etc) that seems so large has been something that will stay with me for the rest of my life!  Martial Arts and in particular my Kung Fu is not just learning how to punch and kick but it is truly a way to live my life, for the rest of my life.

Mr. Ian Repay

UBBT 8 student member

Student of Silent River Kung Fu

Back in the saddle

When I first signed up for the UBBT 8 Team I honestly didn’t know what I was getting into.  I had some idea that this was not a sprint but more of a marathon.  Wow this a marathon… 

As for most my UBBT started off with a bang and I was cruzing along full of emotion and motivation.  However somewhere about SUMMER the wheels started to come off.  I can actually almost peg the day which was my first day of holidays.  Once you allow yourself to take a day off it gets very hard to get back into the swing of things.  Now if you allow yourself to take a couple of days off in a row…..well forget it!  It is so hard to get back “into the saddle”.  Sifu Brinker said to me the other day “we all fail and fall off the horse.  What matters is how quickly you get back on”.  That bit of wisdom is soooooo true. 

Well today was the day that I kicked myself in the butt and got back on the horse!  I ran through all of my forms, did a bunch of push up and sit ups and I have posted my journal.  Today is the first step in getting back into a routine that is my UBBT 8 test.

Mr. Repay

Student Member of UBBT 8

Student of Silent River Kung Fu

Always Training

This past July I have been on holidays with my family near Falkland, British Columbia.  During this time I am obviously away from the kwoon and my training mates.  There is comfort and support within the kwoon that makes training easier to look forward to.  However when I am away from the kwoon training is much more difficult.  It is not that the actual physical training is harder but it is harder to discipline one’s self to actually find the time to train.  There are many distractions during holidays that need to be overcome including different surroundings, different time zones and spending time with the family doing things they want to do.

I find that the discipline that I have gained through my training is helping me find the time to train.  I see the value in my training and I have come to find that making the time to train is becoming easier and easier.  I have been getting up early to get my hour of training in and once it is behind me I feel so much better mentally and physically.

The other part of “always training” is the training that we don’t necessarily count as training.  On Tuesday my family and I hiked to the top of a mountain that had a wildfire burn through the previous year.  The hike up was extremely tough as the incline was steep and the air was getting thinner than I was used to.  I took the opportunity to run up parts of the mountain to get some extra training in and also to test my cardio.  I was very pleased that I was not overly winded and I recovered quite quickly.

There is more to training that just our hour or two that we spend in the kwoon.  If we look around our selves and are disciplined we can always be training.

Ian Repay

Student Member UBBT8

Silent River Kung Fu

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