WOW!

    It's been 2 days, my face is sore from the giant smile plastered across it since Saturday evening. Congratulations to my fellow candidates, to Sifu's Regier, Vantuil, and Csillag and also to Mr. Sollinger for a well earned student of the year.

    Having watching from the sidelines, and being part of and performing in several ceremonies I have to say this was the most emotional that I have experienced.

    I huge thank you to everyone for all their efforts for the day not to mention all of the time spent in the days and weeks prior planning and preparing for the day.

   It's been 2 days and I'm still excited, feeling more and more that this is where my training  really begins.

See you on the mats!



Scott Fuhr

http://scottfuhr.blogspot.ca
http://flavors.me/scottfuhr
http://www.silentriverkungfu.ca

Aristotle said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

     What I've taken from this year is immense. As I reflect on all I've accomplished this year it appears that I've done more than I originally thought, I guess that's the point of keeping track.

    One thing just came to me today. I was in a Lion since before I was in the I Ho Chuan, but not this year, which is disappointing. Although I'm no busier than I was before, the timing of my schedule is what has kept me from being in a lion this year. Maybe next year it will work out.

     The year is over now, but I'm not going to look at it as an ending, it's a new beginning. I am not going to be on the Monkey team but I'm still going to take advantage of the tools I have received and used while I was in the I Ho Chuan. We will see what the future holds, maybe I will see some of you on the 2017 Chicken team.



Scott Fuhr

http://scottfuhr.blogspot.ca
http://flavors.me/scottfuhr
http://www.silentriverkungfu.ca

Aristotle said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

     
     During my short stint in San Sou I got the opportunity to train at the Ging Wu in Edmonton in traditional San Sou by a San Sou judge and competitor. I believe it was Sifu Greg, and anyone that was there please correct me if I'm wrong. He came up from Calgary and put a "Training Session" together that was very well done and fun. We went thru the rules, the scoring, the ring  and some basic but effective moves. It was done to hopefully generate some more interest in the sport in the west. We were there for several hours and, at the end, got to compete against some students from other schools.

     Now if you've been in a SRKF tournament and have sparred you know it can get intense and that's with people you know, who hopefully, aren't there to hurt anything but your ego a little. Well that's what I expected when the competing was about to start. There were 2 things that stuck out in my mind, #1 the first 2 people up were Sifu Tymchuk and another guy roughy his size, and I believe Sifu Tymchuk was a Blue belt at that time but I can't recall as we weren't wearing belts so I'm not sure of the other guys rank either. It was supposed to be light controlled contact with emphasis on the clean take downs and getting your opponent out of the ring and scoring points for such.  Well it didn't start out that way, it was like 2 bulls smashing into each other and swinging. It rocked the second floor of the Ging Wu training space and set the tone for the rest of the matches. That was # 1 number 2 was when my 1st opponent, who let me know earlier he was a "white belt", did a flying kick at my head in the first second and was nearly successful. Obviously he had loads of training, after that near miss I didn't let him breath, I just kept moving forward kicking, punching, pushing. At one point I could feel his frustration and considered backing off a little but after nearly having my head kicked off, I just couldn't. There was so much more but those 2 things keep coming to mind.

     It was during this training that I came to the conclusion I don't like going to the ground. If a clean takedown put my opponent on the ground, no problem, but if might end up on the ground with him I let go and kept striking.

    This blog was supposed to go in a different direction but seemed to come easy so I went with it.


To be continued...

   

Scott Fuhr

http://scottfuhr.blogspot.ca
http://flavors.me/scottfuhr
http://www.silentriverkungfu.ca

Aristotle said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

    So now I'm coaching 2 sports and at times on 2 different teams with much less qualifications than many other parents, you are not allowed to coach either of these sports without being certified, which involves a couple of weekends and or evenings of classroom training depending on the level you would like to coach. You need a record check, first aid, respect in sport(which is different for each sport) and in hockey, a specific sports injury first aid. No wonder it's hard to find coaches. So, no problem I do it all. A lot of time put in before I even hit the ice or a diamond. None of this may seem relevant to Kung Fu but it's part of "My Balancing Act".

    Now after 3 months of training out of the Kwoon I returned, not as polished, but not having to relearn anything because even tho I was no longer registered I kept on practicing. Right back to working hard so I can catch back up to a few of the people I had been training with before my absence. This is the point where I joined the San Sou, and started to attend Tuesday's also. One more evening away from my family. At this point I don't think I'm missed that much because the kids go to bed shortly after I leave for class. Plus I incorporated them into some of my training. They would sit on my back for push-ups and on my feet for sit-ups. Also, as kids do, they would copy me as I did forms.

 

   
         
To be continued...

   

Scott Fuhr

http://scottfuhr.blogspot.ca
http://flavors.me/scottfuhr
http://www.silentriverkungfu.ca

Aristotle said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."


     

     Rewind back to classes, at this point, I am really wishing that I would have kept better track of what I was doing and when. So I'm working thru the Orange curriculum and enjoying every second. I'm getting lots of time at home with family, life is good.

     When you have kids, you want them to have fun, be active and hopefully find something that they are passionate about.  Anytime you have to push them to do something they don't want to it becomes a struggle for everyone involved. They are still little at this point point so you put them in activities you think they might like, the majority started by 18:00 and were done by 19:30. Kathryn started dance and T-ball, James just T-ball. None of these activities interfered with Kung Fu because they were early or were on opposite days. Worked for me so still didn't miss many classes.

   That quickly changed, the next fall hockey needed an assistant coach and that conflicted with my classes  but only occasionally so still good, just more rushed. That spring tho while still running around with hockey, baseball starts and they also need help and coaches and that spring I left Kung Fu for 3 months. There was just no way to coach and make it to class in time, they were on the same days. Sifu Brinker was not really excited about that fact, probably believing I wouldn't return. Well...still here.

         
To be continued...

   

Scott Fuhr

http://scottfuhr.blogspot.ca
http://flavors.me/scottfuhr
http://www.silentriverkungfu.ca

Aristotle said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

Happy New Year!!


    Now, I have been writing a lot, trying to get things as accurate as possible. I'm not sure that my time line is going to be 100% accurate, I may have it mixed up a little but not intentionally.

     At that time there seemed to be a pattern of training, sparring one night forms the next followed by techniques/combinations on the third night. Except for that summer, and now I may remember it wrong, but it felt like we sparred every night. Again for those that haven't sparred or are new to sparring,it can be quite intimidating. For me their are 2 reasons; 1. I don't want to hurt anyone and 2. I don't want to get hurt. Only being able to speak for myself, the feeling I get from sparring is sometimes overwhelming, but that's the point. Being overwhelmed and panicked but maintaining a certain level of calm and control. Not as easy as it may sound, while getting punched or kicked, the feeling of pain can sometimes leads to panic and confusion.

    Fast forward to my first tournament. I was terrified to enter as I assume most people are. This happens to be the first time I met Sifu Rybak. She was centre judge and it was myself sparring Sifu Tymchuk, we started as we always do, all D-8 as Sifu Frietag calls it. Sifu Rybak quickly broke us and told us to ease up, which of course only happened for a second, and after exchanging a series of blows the 2 of us had these huge grins, unusual for most most but common for us which had Sifu Rybak shaking her head at us. Who won? It didn't matter because I was there for the experience of a tournament.

   

     
To be continued...

   

Scott Fuhr

http://scottfuhr.blogspot.ca
http://flavors.me/scottfuhr
http://www.silentriverkungfu.ca

Aristotle said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

     I have to rewind a little. Just to mention someone, who before I went to the orange class, joined with his friend. His excitement and focus was contagious. Travis Panasiuk was as inspiring off the mats as he was on the mats. If not for a tragic accident there is no doubt that he would have surpassed my training. For those reading that never had the pleasure of meeting or training with him his picture is on the alter in the Kwoon.

     There's an excitement, I assume all of us feel, when we achieve the next belt level. It is multiplied when we have to change classes. Definitely different than when I went from morning to evening classes. On how to describe it, I'm not sure of, a nervous excitement is the closest thing. You enter the Kwoon just like you have many times before but with new partners (some are the same) to train with and, for me, Sifus I hadn't yet met.

     I'm going to start with sparring in this class. I met with Sifus Tymchuks fists and feet here early on, even before I knew him. One of the first sparring classes, I think my nose was squished to the right side of my face by a punch, then quickly flipped to the other side by his kick (or the other way around) and he had this huge grin on his face easily seen thru my watering eyes. It was quite the introduction and one of my most memorable. It made me all the better because I worked that much harder after that so as not to have that happen again. Then Sihing Krebs came in and would hit me 3 times before I even knew he was throwing a single punch let alone a combination. Between those two I felt like the Kelly Buchburger of the Kwoon, protecting myself by blocking with my face, but not afraid to try. This may sound terrible but I thought it was awesome. This was just the start of sparring in the Orange class.

   

     
To be continued...

   

Scott Fuhr

http://scottfuhr.blogspot.ca
http://flavors.me/scottfuhr
http://www.silentriverkungfu.ca

Aristotle said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

     Now the evening class, for me, started off a bitter sweet. My kids were both little so the short amount of time in the evening I had with them before they went to bed was cut even shorter due to the start time of the beginner class. The class itself was fantastic and I felt good about going,  there was large variety of students to work with and new to me instructors. A key to getting really great practical experience and larger base to the pyramid. I worked hard for my yellow belt then to orange so I could move to the orange/green class and have that extra time with my kids.

     Up to this point I only remember missing one morning class and no evening classes. The switching of companies forcing me to the evenings was a great move then and when my story gets closer to being current it will be clear why.

   

     
To be continued...

   

Scott Fuhr

http://scottfuhr.blogspot.ca
http://flavors.me/scottfuhr
http://www.silentriverkungfu.ca

Aristotle said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

     I started with the early morning class (6:40) with usually 5 students, the now Sifus Bryant, Regier, Prince and Sihing Choy. At the time, I didn't tell my then company, I just started showing up to work late. They did not notice for 4 months, since I typically worked alone. After about 7 months I ended up switching companies and while I was being interviewed I requested a late start on Kung Fu days but was quickly told no. Of course, I then switched to evenings and a much larger class. Being someone who prefers mornings it was a little tough , I had 2 small kids at home that were still up at 18:30 but not up at 6:40,  so it was hard for me leave home in the evenings and go to class.

To be continued...

   

Scott Fuhr

http://scottfuhr.blogspot.ca
http://flavors.me/scottfuhr
http://www.silentriverkungfu.ca

Aristotle said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

Journey

   




    So I've been thinking about my journey a lot recently. Not just this year but since my first class on the mats. The exact day I don't recall ,but  I believe it was in September with Sifu Laurie. I didn't join with any real plan ahead of me, just , join get in better shape, learn a martial art and maybe, make a few friends. Little did I realize it would turn out to be so much more.

To be continued...

   

Scott Fuhr

http://scottfuhr.blogspot.ca
http://flavors.me/scottfuhr
http://www.silentriverkungfu.ca

Aristotle said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

Worthy

    ALL OF IT WORTHY

      Finally a little time to reflect. Sitting quietly going thru my year seeing my highs. The build up to grading day, working hard to fix everything I know I'm doing wrong , fine tuning the things I'm doing right. To my job growth and success , to 20 years happily married.

     To the lows , where you wonder why you're trying to do it all. Does it make a difference , is it serving me? Not just in the moment , today , tomorrow, the next week, month and so on. To the  relationship with my brothers and parents all but completely torn apart and over. (Still not sure how to fix this one.)


      Is it all worth it?   The highs Definitely ! The lows not so much but they only define you if you let them.

Scott Fuhr

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does." William James

Reflection

   




    I used to take time for just me. To sit and think or walk and remember. It didn't matter what I was doing , it was my time to reflect and energize and , I didn't realize I missed it until recently. I'm not sure where to go or what to do to get it back , but I do know that it's important for me.

Scott Fuhr

http://scottfuhr.blogspot.ca
http://flavors.me/scottfuhr
http://www.silentriverkungfu.ca

Aristotle said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

Unbroken boards

   




     Thanks again to those who organized and worked the Tiger Challenge.
   
     My anxiety gets the better of me every tournament. Therefor I get so wound up ,feeling rushed when I'm not. That I over ,or under think what I'm doing. If I could just turn off those voices that no one else can hear I believe that would help.
   
     I think I know where I messed up my board break sequence. Well there are really two things I could have done to make that a break. 1 have my target a little higher and 2 my trajectory was going down instead of level. Plus the fact that I was more worried about the knife hand break than the punch, and I hardly felt the knife go thru that board. Over thinking what I believed was the harder beak and over confident on the one I believed to be easier.


Scott Fuhr

http://scottfuhr.blogspot.ca
http://flavors.me/scottfuhr
http://www.silentriverkungfu.ca

Aristotle said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

Injuries/Stances

     Injuries are a part of life. I've had my fair share  ,they have slowed my progress and changed my direction but I've never let them stop me. Broken toe , swollen knees , swollen elbows are just a few. Right now , my right elbow is a problem , I start my morning by taking anti inflammatories and end my day doing the same. Some days are better than others and I'm doing as much as it lets me. 

    This week I spent working on my stances in Kempo and their transitions from one to another. Fixing my feet , turning on the ball of my foot instead of my heel.

Scott Fuhr 

http://ihochuan.blogspot.ca

http://scottfuhr.blogspot.ca

http://flavors.me/scottfuhr

http://www.silentriverkungfu.ca

Vote

     There is a big day drawing in near. One in which I have little interest in usually, although I have voted before it is not the norm for me. That in itself is a little embarrassing, because I do care who governs us. Not their personal lives and what they did before they became politicians, even thou it has a direct correlation to who they are now, but what they are planning to do for their country and its citizens.

    This election I have not heard a lot of campaigning with platforms and reforms. What I have heard mostly (I listen to the radio) is a lot of " Why you shouldn't vote for the other guy". Maybe this is also normal, but I have never noticed it so prevalent as I have now. It seems childish to me to sling mud instead of highlighting your leadership abilities. Which leaves me to question who to vote for?  

     Anyways, the point that I wanted to make when I started to write this was that we ALL need to get out and vote. It does matter and it is important, we are fortunate, we get to vote and have a say in who our next leader will be. Vote for who you think will be the best for us all.

 Scott Fuhr

http://ihochuan.blogspot.ca
http://scottfuhr.blogspot.ca
http://flavors.me/scottfuhr
http://www.silentriverkungfu.ca

Why, What ,How

     I've been reading about leadership a lot the last couple years and was recently sent this video from a friend. While it is more business orientated I definitely found it relevant to the I Ho Chaun. Why is more important than the what or how.

http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?utm_campaign=ios-share&utm_medium=social&source=email&utm_source=email

   

Scott Fuhr

http://scottfuhr.blogspot.ca
http://flavors.me/scottfuhr
http://www.silentriverkungfu.ca

Pyramid

    Training as a pyramid. The larger the base the higher the peak. The more we train, the more we practice the bigger our base becomes.

    Is our base limitless? Does it stop growing as the we start adding the layers above? I don't believe so. It will never stop growing or changing. We are given a large base on which to stand as we receive our yellow belts. After that, we have to fill the cracks with thoughtful practice and repetition while still learning more. As each crack slowly fills it pushes the base out a tiny bit further and as we discover how our body reacts to this practice we see it again fill a crack that appeared to be already full pushing the base a little further. It has a ripple effect filling other small fractures higher up the pyramid thus making the whole pyramid even larger and stronger. Our bases to me are now seeming endless, as long as we continue with mindful practice.

Any other thoughts?

Scott Fuhr

http://scottfuhr.blogspot.ca
http://flavors.me/scottfuhr
http://www.silentriverkungfu.ca

Success

     My focus seems to be narrowing , I'm feeling good with the progress these last two weeks.

      I heard a quote the other day which gave me perspective on this journey.  "SUCCESS IS A LIFESTYLE". This ,for some reason ,resonated with me. If not a lifestyle how would anyone do it. LUCK? Where does the success come from?  You didn't just wake up successful ,there were probably several sleepless nights to earn your success. Success can't be bought.

    For me success can only come from hard work and lots of it. My successes cannot be your successes because we all have different ideas on what success is and means to them. Regardless of that ,if you make success a lifestyle ,I believe ,it will be easier to achieve.


Scott Fuhr

http://scottfuhr.blogspot.ca
http://flavors.me/scottfuhr
http://www.silentriverkungfu.ca

Blogging

     I started and finished two blogs today. Neither one of those blogs, after reading them, seemed to get my point across. Lots of insight here just poor writing skills.
Reading what I wrote was confusing to me, and I had all of the background. English in school definitely was not my subject, I had someone do some of my assignments. That decision is not serving me right now, but I can't go back. With some hard work better blogs will come. I may even try a video blog no writing involved.


http://scottfuhr.blogspot.ca
http://flavors.me/scottfuhr
http://www.silentriverkungfu.ca      

Relaxed

         Back from a week off in the foothills. We drove until our cell service quit and that's where we stayed. Couldn't have pictured a better week from home.The river steps away , cooking over a fire , the peace and quiet of the forest and my family with me. Training , fishing and quality family time , very relaxing.

Scott Fuhr

http://ihochuan.blogspot.ca
http://scottfuhr.blogspot.ca
http://flavors.me/scottfuhr
http://www.silentriverkungfu.ca