2018-2025 Mind Shift

 

This blog stems from a place of hindsight, history and reflection, comparing recent feelings and outcomes to this year. Essentially the reference is about how I pushed forward in my previous I Ho Chuan years, how I remember it feeling and what it took to achieve what I did or maybe more so what I didn't! 

The best way to start this I guess would be to layout what internally feels different. To simplify, my previous years results/ numbers were great – but how I achieved them not good at all. I now know, my drive was coming from the wrong place, it was not beneficial to my health nor a pattern that I could maintain for longevity. The energy that took me through the process was not a muscle energy but a hormonal (cortisol) high for many years, which eventually led to my demise, both mentally and physically. My approach in life and in kung fu/ I Ho Chuan were the same and not sustainable. I can speculate as to how this survival mechanism in myself all started, but what I feel is most important is this recognition, changing my ways, learning from these mistakes and building from there.

I know I went into this year with some inner soul nurturing expectations as I true felt I needed (not a laid-out challenge, but just a sideline benefit expectation), physical maintenance, and I think mostly to get my mind sorted “Find my Breath” learn more about and find myself. But not really anticipating what seems to have changed in me or developed over the last years. I may not have come to this realization if I wouldn’t have joined the snake team this year…at least maybe not as quickly without these intentional extraordinary challenges.

I don’t want to jump the gun prematurely with this discovery in myself, as hormones are a very complicated and forever manipulating compound in the human body, which change emotions instantaneously. For now, I’m going to see this as growth, keep it in the forefront and attempt to grow from it.

This mental realization has impacted this year’s approach to the challenges and life outside of I Ho Chuan activities; it’s a shift in my approach, in the value I put on my challenges and how I perceive results. 

For instance, the memorization of “Mastery”, my first years in the I Ho Chuan/ Brown belt/ black belt grading, it was all about checking requirements off the list. This year I see the memorization differently, as something to read from day to day, to keep this in the forefront as a reminder of key principles to enhance my life. With still the anticipation of fully memorizing it but more importantly, I see it as a constant reminder rather that an end goal of memorizing and reciting it.

The push-ups and sit-ups they have kinda become a tool for full body work out. What I mean by this is, these two requirements have become a tool to keep moving and staying engaged. This year there has been the need for adaptive exercises, when my hips are sore, or my shoulders have pain or I’m trying to take it easy on my abdominal hernias. I’ve essentially been working on strengthening areas in the vicinity to my push-up and sit-up target areas and working more on balancing my body and muscle groups. I haven’t let up on pushing forward…well maybe a little, as I am behind on my push-up numbers a little. I can honestly say, my numbers have never been behind, but staying true to the process and adaptive if need be, will keep me on track.

One thing for me is when I perform adaptive exercises due to the requirement exercises setting me back mentally and physically, I make sure I’m not shorting the requirement with something easy. I try to equate the physical exertion of the adaptive exercise to the challenging exercise. Again, it’s still about the number and continued engagement but also about longevity which instills confidence in the process. 

The biggest realization I’m trying to bring forward is I feel my mind is in a much different latitude than it was in 2018. I’d say that because I’m not stressed about the process and challenges, when I have minor setbacks, I see the benefits of my actions more clearly which enables me to proceed without feeling the stress that my mind created through this commitment years ago. I think that…back to my last blog, I may now be defining this entire process differently, which has enabled me to maintain an easier forward momentum and keep my numbers in check. At times I see that I could be doing more but the importance of balance is not as hard for me to accept like it used to be. The aspect of rest and joy is so much more understand than it used to be.

I hope to seek more valuable insight and change in myself, but if this remains true through the year and I don’t falter I will be very pleased with this outcome in the year of the snake. From where I have been in my mental life, I see this as huge improvement in me. I know there are a multitude of factors that have aligned to make me feel as I do: personal defeat and self work, SRKF, the I Ho Chuan process and the snake team have all been contributing factors. Thanks to all who have been a part of my journey so far. I pray that all this remains relatively stable, as we all know the only constant is change. 

 

 

May 5 (day 99) 

Acts of Kindness recorded - 181,

Push-ups - 12255, 

Sit-ups and or equivalents - 13995, 

Kilometers (intentional extra mileage) - 682.1, 3.2

Meditation/ inversion table  (min.) - 167, 

Stretching/ rolling (min.) - 301, 5,

Sparring/ grappling (min.) - 78, 

# of forms re-familiarized - 7.0

Form reps - 240, 

Form time (min.) - 688, 

“Mastery” recite (min.) - 84, 

Blogs - 15