100 Pushups

I am sort of proud that I managed to fit 100 pushups in while dropping the kids off at school. But this feeling of accomplishment sort of meant that I did not do as much Kung Fu and meditation practice later in the day. I guess there are drawbacks to these small accomplishments. On the other hand I guess it's why people like to do pushups. It doesn't take much time but you really feel like you've accomplished something. You also kin dof look puffed up so you LOOK like you've accomplished something as well.

Practicing Little Things

Although I have been practicing every day, recently it has all been classes where I am teaching. Although I get down into horse stance, etc. Mentally and spiritually it is not the same. I realize I have to put some time for my own practice. I decreased the amount of basics that I make the children do and that gave me an idea to do a daily practice of small things. One Mein Lay jum /Tai Chi form. Because the idea of the practice is not to get better at Mein Lei Jum but to give myself a mental break.
A few minutes of siting meditation.
Perhaps I should put an external form in there as well.
Today I performed and for some reason that always feels like a huge event even if you do the math It may not be as many hours or minutes of actual Kung Fu.

Tree with Stress Fracture at Harry Downe's field.

So the beautiful tree in the background here is probably 100 years old or something. They are taking down on the branches today, cutting a huge piece of it off by this afternoon. (Stuff gets done in Brookline man.) 

I also heard that in 3-4 years they plan on redoing this whole playground. 

School Schedule

Noah is back to school, and I am determined to do some sot of Kung Fu every day. 

That is going to be tough because school takes a long time, and then after school, it is so fun to play with friends on the playground. Yesterday it ended up taking us an hour to do 30 basics each. No stretching, no calisthenics. I get more than that done in Half an hour with younger children usually. His argument was that he was tired because he had been running around.

Well that's why we only did 30 each instead of 100 right?

Tomorrow we perform at the Lantern Festival. So I guess today we will just do a brief rehearsal

Luk Lik with Pee pee Pants

Luk Lik.. over and over done to some Chinese dulcimer.

Praise and adaptation

Well I guess as important as it is to make the kids do class, it's also important to recognize when they need a break or when they've done enough. Today I was pretty mad at Noah acting up in class. but at the end he did 25 pushups. Like 25 real pushups. I don't think I was able to do 1 push up when I was 6 years old. So I guess the classes were doing something somehow, I don't know.

I realized that maybe I was trying to fit too much stuff into a class, and so we should still do the classes every day.. but cut down the material. And also, when he is able to do something good praise him fro it.

As for Jonah, he seems to fooling around all the time in class. But then he hit me with a bunch of cups and they hurt. So obviously the basics are working their magic, whether he is giggling or not.

Besides, once school starts the classes definitely have to be short.

I think I will stick to having the stretches being bridges and front stances and that't it. As the weather turns cold, if we continue to do classes outside it won't be a good idea to touch the ground anymore anyway.

Kung Fu and Writing

I've come to view my writing through a Kung Fu perspective. That is, I often will write a blog post, and I know it isn't that well thought out. It isn't beautifully inspired. But I have to make sure I do at least one, or maybe even several a day. The goal isn't that particular blog post. But to skip a day and then another day. That's getting lazy. So what I am saying is I have started to view my writing like basics and forms. I try to do it every day.

As I do this I realize I have become extremely lazy with my video making. Making videos for me is that advanced form of Kung Fu like Mein Lei Jum. In a way, it's easier, but in a way it's more difficult. Plus it takes a ton of patience to just wait for things to load.. I can't stand that stuff.

But even my writing can sometimes slip.

I decide I don;t have the right story or I avoid certain topics. I am afraid to write about certain things.

I have to force my self to just push it out, knowing that, "M hai yut ha duk ah." I'm not going to get the perfect post out there in one turn.

As Neil Gaiman said, "Imagine that you have a million words in you that is absolute rubbish and that you have to write all that before you can write anything good."

So I have been taking that approach. If I had taken that approach from the beginning of my writing career, which I would count as having started in middle school, and continued, maybe I would be a freaking master by now. But unfortunately there was a time in the middle where I was only writing for school and not for myself. I guess I was still writing, but it wasn't the same. It wasn't disciplined.

But if I continue to write for the next ten years... I should be pretty good. I think I have noticed improvements within the last year or so just from blogging all the time.