Finding Balance

I have, for the last 2 weeks, struggled with finding balance between my training and my other commitments. The initial setting up flavors pages and a blog page, coming up with challenges that meant something to me and trying to come up with a plan as to how to tackle this year, has had my mind racing.   I have felt a little overwhelmed and kind of nervous.  I have read over requirements again and again for I Ho Chuan and find myself wondering how am I going to accomplish this? 

I am fortunate to have a family who is very patient and understanding. Even though, I have found myself feeling guilty that I have neglected some things while focusing on others.  Somehow the days seem to be flying by and I feel a little disappointed that I haven’t accomplished all that I wanted.  I have found that as soon as my numbers and reps are done for the day, the rest of the day goes so much smoother.  On the other hand, if I don’t get that training in until later on in the day, I seem a little anxious and wanting to get to it. It is not that the other things are less important, I think it’s just my personality, if it’s on my list, lets get it done.    I find kung fu seems to be on my mind all the time, even when I should be focusing on other things.  My oldest son jokingly told me the other day that I should take the nunchuks out of the kitchen because every time I start playing with them, while waiting for something on the stove, the smoke detector goes off and we have another burnt meal (it only happened twice).  Although I need to focus more on what I am doing at a particular time, I realize just how much kung fu has become a way of life for our family.  This goes from our diet, importance of exercise and activity, acts of kindness, how we deal with everyday situations in our life, and so on.  It’s in everything we do.  All around us people are plugging away, just trying to make it through another day, the same thing day in and day out, a life of the ordinary.  I really want something more!

There is more to life than just that one thing.  It is made up of a variety of different parts, each needing care and attention.  This is everything from work, school, family, kung fu etc.  Finding balance varies so much from person to person, depending where they are in their life and what commitments they have.    I am relieved to hear that I am not the only one who has been in this place before, trying to sort it all out.   I have been told that I need to fit kung fu into my life not my life into kung fu.  How true this is.  I need to have a plan but need to be flexible to change and alter as things come up, whether they are due to sickness, injuries etc.  I am so working on it!

  I have come to the conclusion that I am going to take one day at a time, to focus on what I am doing and have a purpose for doing it.  All anyone can ask of me, is to do my best.  That is exactly what I intend to do.  I so agree with Mr. Chervenka’s last blog on heart.  When a person puts all he has into something, because it is important to them, you can only get one more step to something great.

 Alana Regier

My Furry Training Partner

In June 2011, our family set out on a mission to find a cat.  Our cat we had was very old and had disappeared.  I had spent a lot of time searching on kijiji and in the local papers when finally an ad was posted.  The lady who had posted lived only about 6 miles away, so off the kids and I went.  When we got there, there was a golden retriever (my dream dog) tied to a tree, anxious to meet anyone coming in the driveway.  As soon as the kids got out of the car they were like magnets to the dog.  We all forgot about the cat.  As it turned out, the cat wasn’t going to work, but we came home with the dog. 

Our dog, Lady (not Darcy’s choice of names), is our almost 5 year old puppy.  Her previous owners were an older couple who were not able to give her the attention and exercise she needed.    We now have an almost 5 year old, 80lb, full of energy, addition to our family.  She has turned out to be one of the best additions ever, especially for myself.  I love to walk, and not a slow pokey pace, so this has been great, I think I have met my match. Before she joined our family, I still went for my daily walks, however, not with the same dedication and commitment.    One of my challenges this year is to run a leg in the Grand Cache Death Race.  As of last week it is official, I am signed up and paid for.  I am not a natural born runner like some, so I am having to change my training in order to prepare myself for August.  The most consistent and loyal training partner I have so far has been Lady.  I find myself waking up before its light or anyone else is awake to take her out for her first walk/run/drag of the day.  I have to be honest and say that there are many mornings where I say to myself “maybe I’ll just go later and sleep in that extra 30 minutes “ or “surely she isn’t going want to go out in 35 below temperture.”  However, somehow I find myself getting up anyway, just in case.   I am rewarded with trusting and happy eyes, a furry face and a wagging tail waiting.  I think to myself, if she can hack it so can I, and off we go.  It only takes the first kilometer to get a kick start and feel awake.  The best time of the day for me has turned out to be early in the morning.  It is quiet and relaxing, allowing a person to truly just enjoy everything around them.  Our morning routine has turned out to be just what I need to get me started for the rest of the day!  Lately I have noticed just what these walks/runs/drags have been doing for me physically.  About a week and half ago we did the shuttle run in class and I felt great, I could have kept going.  Then there are a couple of hills we encounter on our walk through the park reserve that I can take at a good run and don’t even have me puffing anymore.  Something as simple as 10 km day walks has turned out to benefit me in more ways than I thought.  I feel better both mentally and physically.  In actually logging kilometers since January, I am amazed at how they can add up quickly. I have a heard a number of people say that the hardest number for them to keep up in their training has been their kilometers.  This is the one for me that I find easy and an absolute joy.

I have become more aware of the benefit to having training partners, whether they are furry or not.  Dedicated and encouraging partners motivate me to spend the time training as well  as push me beyond where I think my limits are.  I am very fortunate to have a few of these such partners, most of them in my own family.  So a big thanks to them!

 I wonder if they would allow a dog to run in the race?

Alana Regier

Instruction From A Nine Year Old

This past Friday night was my first I Ho Chuan class.  It was not pretty.  It was not that I thought learning the nunchuks was going to be easy, but I did not anticipate as much frustration as I felt.  It was definitely a practice that I would have liked to have been in private. I came home a little low, which I am thinking must have shown on my face, because Saturday morning I had two notes from other members of the team encouraging me and pushing me on.  Thank you the two of you, you know who you are.   So I dusted off the nunchuks and played with them all morning with fewer whacks in the head as the day went on.  After kind of getting the handle on the reverse figure eight, finally, I decided to practice the portion of the form that we were taught the night before.  My memory failed me on the second move.  Back to being frustrated.  My nine year old son was sitting at the kitchen table eating cereal watching me and then he spoke up and said “that’s not the way dad does it.”  I admit I was a little irritable and as nice as I could, I asked him if he could just eat his cereal and let me concentrate and figure it out.  He continued eating as he watched, not saying anything as I got more and more discouraged and tried to stumble through.  After about a half an hour he asked if he could show me how dad does it.  I bit my tongue and handed over the nunchuks.  Watching him, all of a sudden a light came on and I realized he knew exactly what he was doing.  He made my day!  After apologizing over and over again, I practiced over 80 times throughout the weekend.  I left the nunchuks in the kitchen beside the phone, and every time I passed by or had a couple minutes waiting for laundry or the kettle to boil, I picked them up and played some more.

I was reminded of two things from this.  The first was that my children are watching me.  My behaviours and words are not going unnoticed.  Everything, from how I handle someone cutting me off in traffic to the way I handle obstacles that come up in my training, I need to be aware that little eyes are watching and learning.  I need to, and want to build young men with character, compassion and integrity.  I think as a parent it is our responsibility to give our children a strong and positive foundation. Given the right direction, they will hopefully pass on what they have learnt to the people they cross paths with in the future. 

The second thing I was reminded of, was that what kids have to say is of value and important, whether they are 2 or 22.  The next time my kids want to show me something or have an idea, even if it’s different than how I would do it, I’m going to listen.  Sometimes we need to swallow our pride, shut up and just listen.  We might just learn something. 

Alana Regier

What do I want to be when I grow up?

What do I want to be when I grow up?

Yikes!  My first blog ever.  I very much feel like a fish out of water.  I have found every excuse possible to avoid starting this adventure.  Well I am finally out of excuses and here I am.  Being promoted to Sihing has given me the kick in the butt to start doing the things that I have said “some day I would like to…” or “I really should…”  I am a person who feels more comfortable in the back row and behind the scenes. This whole blogging in public is going to be a HUGE step out of my comfort zone.   I have the quiet voice that people have to strain to hear, even in warm ups when I would swear I was yelling.  My kids even tell me I’m not even very good at yelling at them, ha ha ha.  Well, lots to work on.

 I find myself in a weird place in my life at this moment.  As of a week ago I quit a part time job that I have been at for about 4 years.  I have been very fortunate to be able to be a stay at home mom when our kids were little.  As they got older and started school it was still important to our family that someone was at home when the kids got on the bus and were at home to meet them when the bus dropped them off after school.  This job allowed me to pick my availability, have weekends off and even only work one day a week during the summer months.  It worked well for our family and it was good for me to get out and around people.  My body started taking a real beating physically from a lot of heavy lifting and pulling, and in the last few months it turned into a very negative place to be.  I could walk into work with a smile on my face and by the end of the day I felt mentally drained and defeated.   Well this year I decided to change all that and took a huge leap and gave my 2 weeks notice.  I decided that it was time to surround myself with people I want to be like and an environment that is positive and encouraging. I am seeing my boys grow up to be young men so quickly and I want to enjoy every minute I can with them because I know the day is coming (I have seen little bits of it already) where it’s not cool for mom to be around or they will have other places they would rather be(like with friends).   We all went through this stage in life.  Our oldest is now 14 years old so the teenager thing is here with a vengeance.  I have made the decision, with a lot of encouragement from my family, to strive for something more.  I want to set an example that will help lead my kids in a positive direction in life.  I was promoted to Sihing just before Christmas, and somehow that promotion has pushed me to actually start striving for some of the things “I would like to someday do” or “ things I really should do”.    In the last week alone I have started working on my list of challenges for myself and I am really excited to see where all this will take me!