Mindful eating

This evening was one of those moments, moments of clarity.  Sifu Brinker loaned me a copy of Thick Nhat Hanh's book "Peace is every step".  I have been reading it and tonight I experienced a moment of clarity.  It involved " mindful eating " of my supper tonight.  I have always eaten my meals quickly and never paid much attention to where my food came from or the moment I was in.  Tonight was different.  I slowed down my eating and focused on where my food came from.  Right from the moment of seed through the blossoms to the growth of the plant.  I focused on the sunlight that the plant was bathed in through the summer months and the heat of fall.  I have never done this before.  I can tell you that I really enjoyed beaing in the moment.  I watched everyone around me and I enjoyed the taste of my food more than ever before. I truly felt like I was in the moment and world really slowed down around me.

Mr Ian Repay
Student of Silent River Kung Fu
Stony Plain, Alberta

Passion and leadership

I have a passion for a lot of things but one of the biggest passions is leading and developing people.  I have been in a senior leadership role for a good portion of a decade and I have always looked forward to and have been passionate about devolping my sales team and leading projects.

Recently I had a very good conversation with a mentor of mine.  He asked me why I don't apply this passion for leadership beyond my work life?  I didn't have an answer for him.  When I'm at the kwoon I tend to take a backseat.  I let other people lead and make the decisions.  I'm a good team player and I take direction when needed.  However I have a passion for my training just as I have for leading and developing my team at work.

This year I'm going to take on a greater role with in the kwoon.  I'm going to lead some projects and take on a greater role within the kwoon and the I Ho Chuan team. 

Mr. Ian Repay
Student of Silent River Kung Fu
Stony Plain, Alberta

Higher Standard

Black belts have always been held to a higher standard, god like status in my mind.  Ever since I can remember I have always have been in awe of a black belt regardless of style.  It always represented to me a much higher standard.  Something that not many people can achieve.

The black belts in my school are gods to me.  Perhaps I shouldn't hold them in such asteem but I do.  I expect them to do everything better than I can do.  I look to them to carry themselves and act like a black belt should.  I envision this to be like an "old school" kung Fu master.  One that instills unspoken wisdom and respect not only  by their Kung Fu skills but how they walk, talk and interacts with students and people.

I look to their blogs for inspiration and insight and am disappointed when some of them haven't written for far to long. I look up to each and everyone of them wanting to aspire to be just like them.    I have such respect for our black belts and what they represent  that I would be crushed spiritually if they did something that detrimental to this. 

The aspiration to be a SRKF black belt and to be part of our lineage drives me to keep training and keeps me motivated to change my life in a positive way.

Mr. Ian Repay
Student of Silent River Kung Fu
Stony Plain, Alberta

Year of the sheep

I have been thinking pretty hard on the upcoming year of the sheep.  I'm proud to be part of the team and I'm looking forward to starting a fresh year.  I have been reflecting on this past year a lot.  I have failed in a lot of areas and I can attribute them to attitude and apathy.  I have learnt this year that I need to stay engaged and use the tools that are given to me.  Once I become disengaged I have a very hard time getting back. 

I have developed my personal requirements and look forward to starting the year like we do every year, 1000 push ups and sit ups.  No better way to get engaged for the year of Sheep.

Mr. Ian Repay
Student of Silent River Kung Fu
Stony Plain, Alberta.

Bruce Lee - No Limits

I came across this excerpt from Bruce Lee's book Art of expressing the human body.  This really reminded me of the I Ho Chuan program.  Pushing past what we think is our limits both mentally and physically. This book is now on my reading list for 2015.

"Bruce Lee had me up to three miles a day, really at a good pace. We’d run the three miles in twenty-one or twenty-two minutes. So this morning he said to me, “We’re going to go five.” I said, “Bruce, I can’t go five. I’m a helluva lot older than you are, and I can’t do five.” He said, “When we get to three, we’ll shift gears and it’s only two more and you’ll do it.” I said, “Okay, hell, I’ll go for it.”

So we get to three, we go into the fourth mile and I’m okay for three or four minutes, and then I really begin to give out. I’m tired, my heart’s pounding, I can’t go any more and so I say to him, “Bruce if I run any more,” – and we’re still running – “if I run any more I’m liable to have a heart attack and die.” He said, “Then die.” It made me so mad that I went the full five miles.

Afterward I went to the shower and then I wanted to talk to him about it. I said, you know, “Why did you say that?”
He said, “Because you might as well be dead. Seriously, if you always put limits on what you can do, physical or anything else, it’ll spread over into the rest of your life. It’ll spread into your work, into your morality, into your entire being. There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level.”

Art of Expressing The Human Body - by Bruce Lee

Ian Repay
Student of Silent River Kung Fu

Control

I have come to the realization that I can only control what I can and the rest must be dealt with as best I can.  With that being said I have control over what I spend my time doing both work wise and personal.  Both areas are places where I can make better use of my time.  I choose to control what I want and I have been feeling like I have wasted many opportunities. 

I struggle with motivation most of the times.  I accept mediocrity more than I want to.  I put things off until they can no longer be put off.  I still meet my deadlines but I'm surely not proactive as much as I should be. 

To be honest, I figured I would have been further along with my kung Fu than where I am right now.  But...why should I think that when I haven't put in the consistent effort?  I have been fooling myself by thinking that I "deserve" it.  I don't need to re evaluate what I need to do, I know what needs to be done.  I just need to step up and want to make that change, that change in my life that will move me past where I am and where I want to be.

Ian Repay
Student of Silent River Kung Fu

Highs and lows and around and around we go.

I just can't seem to get conistent in my training. I'm still experiencing highs and lows.  The last two weeks have been a disaster for me.  I have been away on business for the past two weeks and my training has gone from super high to nothing.  This is completely my fault as its in my power to choose what I want to do with my time.  I feel like I'm stuck in this massive rut.  I have been here for over a year and half.  I make progress then I fall back down.  I just can't get the traction to get past this spot.  I missed the meeting on Saturday and I feel terrible for it.  As a result, I feel like any progress I made has been lost. 

This has been a year of highs and lows when I was focused on eliminating or reducing the frequency and severity of them. What I have learned from the I Ho Chuan is to keep going and never give up.  I'm going to keep moving forward as best I can and take was comes as best as I can.

Mr. Ian Repay
Student of Silent River Kung Fu
Stony Plain, Alberta