By Sifu Lloyd Fridenburg

Editorial

Time and time again I need to remind myself, as well as students, that it’s the journey that counts; not the destination! Here’s a piece by Robert J. Hastings that I always look to when I feel stressed about the future:

The Station

Tucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long trip that spans the continent. We are travelling by train. Out of the windows we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant , of row upon row of corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines and village halls.

So, stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough.

My Addendum

Something I try to instill in my FWP students is that stress cannot exist in the present moment and the more time we spend in the present the less stress we experience. Unfortunately we spend most of our time thinking of, and often regretting, the past or worrying about the future. There is no purpose to worrying about things you can’t control, they will happen whether you worry or not; and what has passed is over. The only thing you can control is yourself; your own thoughts and actions. Everything else is beyond your control.

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By Sifu David Moylan, Owner, Waterloo Kung-Fu Academy

Sifu’s Corner

In what seems like the blink of an eye, another summer has almost vanished. This year, the phenomenal weather likely contributed to that feeling. My family and I were fortunate enough to spend a lot of time by lakes and pools. It was amazing to watch my three young kids develop confidence in the water. I credit this to lots of exposure, as well as lessons for technical skills, and then time to play and practice.

Development in Kung Fu is no different really. Many students at the school had excellent attendance through the summer and applied themselves to the curriculum outside of class time. I am confident they will be ready to advance to their next rank at the upcoming September grading.

For many, training over the summer was much more intermittent. There is nothing wrong with that, as the summer pulls us in many fun directions. In my experience, young students can sometimes have trepidation when returning to classes in the Fall. I have found that private classes can help tremendously with ensuring a student feels confident returning to their classes. Since the curriculum is cumulative, this is especially true the higher the rank, where there is much more technique to remember. With a few classes of one-on-one instruction, students are able to brush off the “rust” and bring back their skills that they worked so hard to gain before the summer. To obtain the best value from these classes, I suggest parents help establish a routine of practice following the classes. This is a definite combination to satisfying return to form!

The summer kicked off with our annual Board Breaking Seminar on June 20th. Special thanks to Sifu Daryl and everyone that assisted to make this another fantastic event. This year was especially meaningful, as it was the 10th anniversary of Sigung’s passing. His family was present for the seminar and his sister provided a fitting tribute followed by a moment of silence to recognize the profound impact he has had on all of our lives.

Like past summers, the summer saw some great performances by both our Lion Dance and Performance/Demonstration Teams. They put on a stellar show at our annual picnic at Kiwanis on Aug.28th. The event was well attended a tonnes of fun was had! Special thanks to Emilie Gordon, Sifus Patti and Lorna and all the LT members that helped make the event so successful! Unfortunately, next year the park is closed for renovations, but we are already brainstorming an alternate venue.

The last three Friday nights in August, we turned the kwoon into a cinema! The first of hopefully many upcoming movie nights was Bruce Lee’s classic: Enter the Dragon. We also screened the visually stunning, House of Flying Daggers and Way of the Dragon.

September marks a return to grading season, with our first scheduled on Sept.17th for qualifying Youth and Juniors. The Adults follow on October 15th. Watch for more details upcoming on a special full day Stick Fighting seminar we are hosting on Sept.18. This will be taught by Filipino instructor Dr.Joe Laraya who is visiting from Hong Kong.

Several of our most dedicated Leadership Team members are heading off to different cities for post-secondary education this Fall. Thank you for your time and energy and I wish you the best!

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Sifu Anne Vandrus

Youth Student’s Corner

For the month of August we’ve been talking about “motivation” as our mental theme, and how you can push yourself to work hard in class and when you practice at home. Finding the motivation to get up and start practicing is definitely the hardest part, but what should you be doing once you’re motivated to get started?

A very simple answer is just do what you know: warm up, stretch, go through old and new forms and sequences, techniques, stances, strength requirements, and so on. You also don’t have to go through everything you know in one practice session. That not only takes a lot more time when you get higher in the ranks and know more things, but it can also make practicing everyday seem like a big scary task. Don’t plan to do everything at once, but do make a plan of what things you are going to get to each day so that you can get the most out of your time.

I can’t tell you exactly what you should be practicing each day of the week because that’s up to you and what you like doing – you might do just forms one day, just kicks the next, just blocks the next, etc. or you might like doing a little bit of everything each day – and whatever you decide, I suggest planning so that by the end of each week you have been through all your curriculum (new as well as old) so that way nothing gets forgotten. I also suggest writing down your plan once you’re happy with it so that you don’t forget it and can see what’s on each day’s schedule. It might also be handy to have in your training binder in case a Sifu asks you about it in class – you never know!

Remember that you have the choice to practice more or less than what’s written in your requirements for your level, but don’t forget that all actions have consequences; if you decide not to practice you will not improve or advance as fast as you might hope, and if you decide to push yourself to work as hard as you can you (and your instructors) will definitely see the benefits to your growth as a martial artist. Your Kung Fu teachers only see you two hours a week, so the rest is up to you.

My final bit of advice is to train with other students whenever you can, be it during open kwoon time, just before your class, or actually planning a get-together with your Kung Fu friends. Kung Fu is an individual activity, but that doesn’t mean you always have to practice by yourself. When you have trouble being motivated, it’s nice having a friend to help you. I’m definitely inspired when I hear about the practice schedules that my classmates, and the students I teach, follow!

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Sifu Greg Weir

Junior Student’s Corner

Professional athletes and sports psychologists have long known the benefits of visualization. That is, imagining doing something successfully before actually trying it. For example, every time LeBron James steps to the free throw line, before shooting the ball he pictures it arcing perfectly through the air, then dropping into the hoop. Research has shown that he will make more free throws as result of this visualization than he would if he simply stepped up and shot the ball.

It’s difficult to quantify how much of an impact visualization has (it’s bound to be different for different people), but here’s an interesting story I read about:

James Nesmith was your typical, average golfer. He belonged to a country club and practiced a fair bit, but he could never score any better than low 90s. Mr. Nesmith also happened to be a soldier in the US Army. Eventually he got sent to the Vietnam War and soon after was taken prisoner. Locked in a small cell all by himself, James quickly realized he had to do something to maintain his sanity. So every day he’d play a round of golf in his head. He imagined getting dressed in the morning, driving to the club, warming up and then playing all 18 holes. In real life a round of golf takes around four hours. In James’s head it took four hours as well. He’d picture hitting the ball from the tee and then in his mind he’d walk every step down the fairway to where his ball lay. He’d take a club from his bag, feel it in his hands, make a few practice swings, then hit the next shot. Since he was playing in his head, he didn’t hit any slices or hooks, nor did he miss a lot of putts, so his imaginary games went quite well.

After seven years of this practice, Major Nesmith finally got out of prison. When he returned home, one of the first things he did was go to his club to play a real round of golf. Despite the fact that his body had deteriorated considerably due to the time spent in his tiny cell, that first day he shot 74—roughly 20 strokes better than what he used to shoot!

What does Major Nesmith’s story have to do with you and your Kung Fu training? Well hopefully you’ve come to realize that there’s more to Kung Fu than just the physical aspect. The mental part is just as important.

Believe that you can do something, picture yourself doing it and you’re much more likely to be successful.

The next time you have a few minutes free, try visualizing yourself doing a form. Do it perfectly in your mind over and over again—great stances, full extension on all your strikes, perfect balance. Then the next time you’re at the kwoon, trying doing that form for real. You might be surprised by the results.

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By Sifu Rebecca Knapp

Some of you may recognize why I am writing about this particular topic at this point in time – I have lately, on several occasions, experienced notable instances of lack of hygiene at WKFA – specifically the smell! In fact, it’s turned my stomach and almost made me leave the floor – not kidding. I thought it would be good to address hygiene as a whole, as it comprises more than just body odour.

Being rough and tough martial arts warriors does not give us a license to disregard physical cleanliness. Developing and maintaining good personal hygiene is one of the foundations of self-respect, no matter how you spend your time. It also says a lot about your respect for others at the Academy!

Below are some hygiene reminders:

• Launder your uniform every time you wear it. We sweat; sweat releases bacteria and toxins from our bodies, and it smells! I get it – this is normal, we’re martial artists, we’re supposed to sweat! We’re supposed to smell! Right? Nope. So wash your uniform after you wear it. If the smell seems permanent, there are many home remedies that work wonderfully. My favourite is VODKA. Yup – you just splash it on the offending spots and let it dry – no need to even wash it. The vodka will dry and the smell disappears – I’ve tried it, and it works. If you take a swig between splashes, it dulls the olfactory senses, which helps a little too…. Here are some other remedies, compliments of the Google Gods: http://www.livestrong.com/article/250481-remedies-to-remove-underarm-odor-from-clothes/.
• Keep your finger nails and toe nails trimmed. Longer nails will end up scratching or gouging someone. Nails are hotbeds for bacterial growth and if you puncture or scratch someone else’s skin you will transfer that bacteria to them. GROSS.
• Don’t train if you’re sick – it’s not really fair to bring your germs to the club.
• Don’t train if you have a suspicious rash – get it checked out! It’s easy to spread things like impetigo, scabies, ringworm, or MRSA to name a few.
• Wear shoes for training if you have athlete’s foot, plantar warts or other contagious foot conditions.
• Cover wounds with a bandage and athletic tape – the wound heals better and you protect others from potential bacteria and infection.
• Shower after class – this will wash away bacteria from your sweat and others’ as well. You’ll smell better too.
• Clean up your equipment. Stick your nose inside your equipment bag – it will be obvious if you need an intervention! Wipe your headgear, punches, kicks etc with cleaner; wash out your mouth guard. You can stick a dryer sheet or a tissue with essential oils on it in your bag to help keep it smelling reasonable.
• Wash your hands and use the hand sanitizer we have at the club.

I’m not trying to be preachy, just clean. And I don’t want to turn and head the other way when someone approaches me for a partner exercise because they gross me out!

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by Sifu Patricia Fievoli

Parent’s Corner

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By Geoff May

Guest Column

I grew up in a techie family; computers in every room, electronics, games, and more. I’ve always been tech-minded. I believe that’s one significant catalyst of my introvertedness and shyness.

I used to be much more into video games. I programmed when I was in pre-teenage years. I stayed after school to use computers, or play network games with friends.

It was only in later years of high school that I started getting involved in physical extra-curricular activities. Even then, the rest of my time was back to the screen. Every job I’ve had has been in front of a screen, at a desk, with a computer, designing and programming. I’m surprised my eyesight isn’t worse than it is – with the rest of my family needing glasses, I’m still lens-free (well, other than my own eyes of course).

This is why, in recent years, geocaching has become such a wonderful pastime. I find it a great balance of tech, with an enormous dose of outdoors, nature, physical activity. So much so that it’s more often doing this that you come to enjoy the outdoors -more- than the tech, more than the screen, even though it appeals to both.

And now, on top of that, having taken up Kung Fu, which is entirely tech-free, I’ve been regaining a lot of the physical confidence I lost in my younger years. Despite other hindrances, regular activities like sleep and attention are faring much better; as is thinking clearly, enjoying friends and people in general.

I’ll never denigrate the fun and benefits of video games, internet, smart device use, computers and whatnot; there is most definitely a place for them. But as I’ve always said in the context of food, which really applies to every aspect of life: Everything in moderation!

If/when I have children, it’ll be a tough job determining how much tech or screen time is feasible, or even beneficial, without being harmful. This is just another aspect of modern day life that a child needs to ease into carefully and slowly during their developmental years. There are indeed some things you don’t understand let alone know how to control, until you acquire a bit of maturity and ever changing technology that we are exposed to on a daily basis is certainly one of them.

Until that time, life should be analog to be able grasp those basic life skills before fully embracing the digital world.

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