Obscurity

I had one of those ah ha, moments recently while reading verse 36 of the Tao. This particular verse talks about the "Wisdom of Obscurity". Its about releasing the need to compare yourself and fit in, and releasing the need to be more, in the eyes of others. Oneness and connection are neccessary in our lives in order to help achieve this. As we reduce and eliminate competition and comparison from our lives, we allow our quiet, gentle strength and the true essence of who we are, to expand.

Although I have understood the concept of everything being connected for many years now, I have struggled with applying that knowledge to myself, which has resulted in feeling disconnected at times. My understanding has definitely grown this year due to many factors and that knowledge has helped me to experience that connection more.

So the question is how do we feel that connection and oneness in our lives? In order to feel and know a particular emotion, we must first have felt the opposite emotion. We can only know sadness if we have previously experienced happiness. If we allow the two emotions to be felt without the connection of its opposite, a disconnect is created and it can leave us feeling out of balance. The awareness and understanding that you can not have one without the other creates oneness and connection. When this is realized the natural flow of energy and balance is restored. With balance and energy is at its optimum the need for competition and comparison is eliminated and we are able to see ourselves as equals. Connection needs to be felt within ourselves as well as with everything and everyone around us.

Michele Ward

My Kung Fu

There is no doubt about it, kung fu is definitely hard work and it can also be humbling. It is a different journey that each one of us takes. When you look around at all the students, you will see some that are physically fit and some that are naturally athletic. Some students learn quickly and some are more coordinated than others. The desire to learn and the ability to understand the concepts being taught and to see the bigger picture also come into play. That is part of what makes the journey different for everyone.

This past week has been extremely frustrating for me. A minor injury and a whole lot of aches and pains has plagued me most of the week. Getting down to the floor for push ups and sit ups was a struggle. Maybe that's what it feels like to be 90? As I was doing my kempo reps over and over during the week, I had this recurring thought of "why can't I get this?"  At this point I don't know that 1000 reps are going to be enough, but I also know that stopping definitely won't get me any closer either. This has been one of those weeks where I'm asking myself if kung fu is right for me. I'm probably one of the least coordinated people and I still have a long way to go to being physically fit. My balance sucks and learning and implementing new techniques is a challenge.

I don't know where kung fu is going to take me, but it is a journey that I am determined to continue on. My experiences have been greater than I ever imagined and I have accomplished more than I thought possible.

Michele Ward

Numbers

Sit ups            1090      (41150)
Push ups         1190      (32850)
Walking          19km     (1149)
AOK's             21          (827)
Kempo            26          (324)
Nunchuks        23          (629)

Dynamic Action

 Either the word dynamic is being used more and more often, or I've just become more aware of it's use. Dynamic can be used to describe someones personality, but more importantly it is our ability to recognise changes needed in the present moment and the ability to take action while in motion. It can also reflect future planned changes that we want to make in our day to day lives and how we consciously adjust and make those changes happen. Dynamic action requires conscious effort and awareness. It also requires that we want and expect more from ourselves. Our actions, our speech and how we go about anything we do in our day to day lives are impacted in a positive way when we apply dynamic action to everything we do.

The year of the sheep is rapidly coming to an end and there is still so much that I want to complete. My year has been very dynamic and I have had many successes. I have made huge changes and accomplished much more than I ever thought possible. I want to be able to take everything that I have accomplished and learned and continue that momentum. Some of the failures are personal goals that should have been easy, but they all provide learning, opportunity for growth and dynamic action.

Michele Ward

Learning

For the past 3 weeks I have been kept quite busy working on my first term project for school. The amount of research, work and learning involved in order to complete this project was overwhelming at times and the light at the end of the tunnel was dim at best. I can now breath a huge sigh of relief as I have finally completed this project and it has been turned in for evaluation. This has been a huge learning curve for me and I have gained a new appreciation for what it takes to be a student and the work involved in the learning process. The next obstacle is my first final exam this week.

The tiger challenge was another opportunity for learning and hard work. It's an opportunity that only comes along once a year. This is a day that members of our kung fu family get together in a fun and safe environment and perform for a panel of judges with fellow students, friends, and family there to support us. Anxiety and nerves are a given for me any time that I get up in front of other people and I know that most of us battle with this to some degree. So congratulations to everyone that took part in the tiger challenge and thank you to everyone that helped to make this day possible. We really had an amazing group of students participating this year from the little ones all the way up to the black belts. Kudos to those of you that really pushed past your nerves and participated in events that were out of your comfort zone. The most exciting for me this year (also huge anxiety) was developing and working on a musical weapon form. I found that tying in the music to the weapon form gave me an increased level of enjoyment and engagement. It was all over way too quickly, but I had fun with it and look forward doing another musical form next year.


Numbers

sit ups            1000 (39,170)
push ups        1120 (30,490)
walking           22k    (1115)
sparring             0        (226)
kempo             10        (290)
nunchuks          2         (600)
Aok's               21        (780)

Michele Ward