Scion of the Je'daii: Kyellan the Journeyer

[Kyellan]

 

 

Part I

There is no ignorance; there is knowledge

 

I have a tournament coming up in November (a big multi-art shebang in MA), and last Friday, Sifu was talking about my white-sash test coming up in a couple of months. I'm hoping to impress him enough that he might test me before the tournament, so that I can proudly wear my sash to said destination.

 

 

Part II

In balance with chaos and harmony

 

My second focus is going to be on food. I have problems with food. I need to find balance between chaos and harmony when it comes to my eating habits; I find them very easy to manage when in harmony (ie, when I have full control), but throw in a little chaos and it all goes out the window.

 

 

Goals

 

Part I

I've spent a lot of time thinking about this, and I've decided that the best goal for knowledge this time is simply to attend as many classes as possible throughout the next six weeks. I need to expand and refine my knowledge of my arts, but given that I keep causing injury when I try to add extra sessions, I don't think it's wise to push, at least for now.

 

There are 24 classes (3 kung fu & 1 lightsaber per week for 6 weeks) between now and the end of the challenge, and I'd like to hit as many of those as I can. The real focus of this challenge will be on Part II.

 

Part II

 

According to my food log from the last challenge, I am fairly sure that the biggest resistor to my weight loss is sugar. Not all kinds of sugar, just the empty kind of snack treats and desserts that I was raised on. I killed my soda habit years ago, and that's really the major factor that caused me to drop down from ~290 to ~230 the first time, way back when. I think it's time to perform an anti-sugar experiment to see if it is the cause of the inertia.

 

To this end, for every day of the challenge in which my "empty" sugar intake is zero (that means no candy, cookies, cakes, or ice cream... how come all of those have keywords that start with 'c' anyway?) I will get one Galactic Credit. For an unbroken streak of 7 days, there will be a bonus of 5 Credits.

 

At the end of the challenge, those Credits will convert into dollars, and I will have a maximum of $72 (42 challenge days plus 6 potential bonuses) to spend, guilt-free, on whatever I want.

[Luciana Valerosa Culming]

Signing up for the journey...

[Oramac]

Of course I'm following a fellow Force user! 

[Chen Wangting]

Following because Kung Fu!

[Kyellan]

Jedi stuff--video from our August dueling day on 8/29.

 

A little background on the below: Sifu saw a video called "Coolest Lightsaber Moments on YouTube Part 1". At timestamp 4:35 in this video (seen below) you can see a duel between a guy with a blue lightsaber, and a guy with a red "light-spear" with a sliding handle.

 

https://youtu.be/-GuAzHtBQCU?t=4m35s

 

The effect in this video was obviously done in post, but my Sifu was inspired to do it with an Ultrasaber for combat purposes, which you can see in action below.

 

https://youtu.be/17ZvwkJWQIc?t=39m56s

 

Edit: And yes, that's me in the second spear duel.

[NicTheRugger]

Following because of Kung Fu as well! New to kung fu, and will be following you for awesomeness.

[NicTheRugger]

Oh no! The dreaded double post! Duplicitous text has been replaced with adorable kung-fu kittens!

 

 

[Kyellan]

Following because of Kung Fu as well! New to kung fu, and will be following you for awesomeness.

 

I see in your challenge thread that you're about to start a kung fu journey yourself! What style/tradition is the kwoon that you're checking out?

[Oramac]

Jedi stuff--video from our August dueling day on 8/29.

 

A little background on the below: Sifu saw a video called "Coolest Lightsaber Moments on YouTube Part 1". At timestamp 4:35 in this video (seen below) you can see a duel between a guy with a blue lightsaber, and a guy with a red "light-spear" with a sliding handle.

 

https://youtu.be/-GuAzHtBQCU?t=4m35s

 

The effect in this video was obviously done in post, but my Sifu was inspired to do it with an Ultrasaber for combat purposes, which you can see in action below.

 

https://youtu.be/17ZvwkJWQIc?t=39m56s

 

Edit: And yes, that's me in the second spear duel.

 

That's badass!  I've never seen that before, but now I totally want to try it.  And of course the mechanical side of me is thinking about ways to make the sliding handle part grip the blade if the wielder squeezes it so it stays in place, then slides when the squeeze is loosened.....

[NicTheRugger]

I see in your challenge thread that you're about to start a kung fu journey yourself! What style/tradition is the kwoon that you're checking out?

 

Hey there! My kwoon follows the White Dragon boxing method. ( Xin Pai Bai Long Quan Fa)

[Kyellan]

That's badass!  I've never seen that before, but now I totally want to try it.  And of course the mechanical side of me is thinking about ways to make the sliding handle part grip the blade if the wielder squeezes it so it stays in place, then slides when the squeeze is loosened.....

 

Sifu's also trying to get his hands on a longer blade, because 49" isn't quite long enough for the style. The squeeze-lock idea is a good one, I'll have to pitch it at him. =)

 

 

Hey there! My kwoon follows the White Dragon boxing method. ( Xin Pai Bai Long Quan Fa)

 

I admit to being unfamiliar with some of the more esoteric Kung Fu disciplines. Are you finding it awesome? =)

[Toshimi]

Another following because of Kung Fu!

 

And just to get it out of the way, I do Suh Do Kwan, which comes from Kang Duk Won, and Chang Moo Kwan lineage 

[NicTheRugger]

I admit to being unfamiliar with some of the more esoteric Kung Fu disciplines. Are you finding it awesome? =)

I absolutely am. Nothing turns a bad day into a good one like some time at the kwoon.

[Oramac]

Suh Do Kwan, which comes from Kang Duk Won, and Chang Moo Kwan lineage 

 

I know it's real, but having no background in Asian language at all, this sounds like gibberish to me.  lol.  

 

Also, another Jedi in training!!  Woot!  Can't say I've met many Togruta though.  We have a lot of people that need to get our Sabering on! 

[Kyellan]

Another following because of Kung Fu!

 

And just to get it out of the way, I do Suh Do Kwan, which comes from Kang Duk Won, and Chang Moo Kwan lineage 

 

Fascinating--another lineage I had no idea about. The TCMA-via-Korea thing is really interesting. =)

 

 

I absolutely am. Nothing turns a bad day into a good one like some time at the kwoon.

 

100% behind this. Today my arms feel like they're glowing thanks to the rapidly-forming bruises from our blocking practice last night, and I don't mind at all.

 

 

I know it's real, but having no background in Asian language at all, this sounds like gibberish to me.  lol.  

 

Also, another Jedi in training!!  Woot!  Can't say I've met many Togruta though.  We have a lot of people that need to get our Sabering on! 

 

QFT.

[Toshimi]

Fascinating--another lineage I had no idea about. The TCMA-via-Korea thing is really interesting. =)

 

When I started I had no clue there were so many different styles even within Kung Fu. It's been fun learning about them. We do a lot of animal forms, and old temple forms, but there is also an influence from Tae Kwon Do, and Hapkido (actually have a whole list of Hapkido moves I have to learn for my 3rd or 4th belt). I love the mix of take downs with some joint locks, and the hard fist as well. My Grandmaster also used to work with some of the local police forces, and has a passion for real life self defense, so we'll learn something, then spend time making up different scenarios in which it could be used. 

 

I know it's real, but having no background in Asian language at all, this sounds like gibberish to me.  lol.  

 

Also, another Jedi in training!!  Woot!  Can't say I've met many Togruta though.  We have a lot of people that need to get our Sabering on! 

 

I haven't done anything with weapons in a long time, but would be good to get back into it!

[Chen Wangting]

When I started I had no clue there were so many different styles even within Kung Fu. It's been fun learning about them. We do a lot of animal forms, and old temple forms, but there is also an influence from Tae Kwon Do, and Hapkido (actually have a whole list of Hapkido moves I have to learn for my 3rd or 4th belt). I love the mix of take downs with some joint locks, and the hard fist as well. My Grandmaster also used to work with some of the local police forces, and has a passion for real life self defense, so we'll learn something, then spend time making up different scenarios in which it could be used. 

Last number on different styles i heard was over 500. I find it totally fascinating to see new styles. In July i met some guys who train "tong bei quan" and would love to get to know "bajiquan" and "xing y quan". Some much interesting stuff and so little time. ;-)

[Kyellan]

Well, last night's Kung Fu was a surprise sparring session. It went pretty well, and I actually felt like I learned something. Unfortunately, it also came with a kick to the back of the head from Sifu (thank you helmet) which resulted in a temporary loss of balance, which resulted in me ending up flat on the floor when I tried to throw a kick. :/

 

Also, somewhere in there I must have twisted my foot, because walking was starting to hurt when I got home last night, and when I woke up this morning I could barely walk at all. Yay. It probably got twisted when I fell, and I didn't notice until we were done, thanks to those pain-killing endorphins you get from a hard workout.

 

Still, it's nice to come away from a class feeling like you really learned something. I tried really hard to focus on staying in close, blocking fast and throwing multiple attacks, and I actually landed a couple. I have no idea whether Sifu let me land them or not (the answer: probably), but it still felt like improvement to me.

[Kishi]

Probably it was a combination of him letting you land them and you earning those openings. I know when I train with Sensei that he does let me get some things sometimes. But he's also trying to work too, and I know he has to work harder with me the longer I've been with him. Which, for you, would mean that you should be grateful to him (which it sounds like you are), but also that you are learning and you are getting better.

 

Also, that opening banner is badass, man. I love it. I've never seen that opening quote anywhere before. Did you come up with that?

[sarakingdom]

ALL THE ICE.  All of it.

[Kyellan]

Probably it was a combination of him letting you land them and you earning those openings. I know when I train with Sensei that he does let me get some things sometimes. But he's also trying to work too, and I know he has to work harder with me the longer I've been with him. Which, for you, would mean that you should be grateful to him (which it sounds like you are), but also that you are learning and you are getting better.

 

Also, that opening banner is badass, man. I love it. I've never seen that opening quote anywhere before. Did you come up with that?

 

Yeah, I think that's exactly it. A couple of the openings kind of felt artificial, but one or two seemed genuine, so that was good. =)

 

I grabbed the banner itself from somebody's Star Wars forum sig, but the quote is actually from the Dawn of the Jedi comics series. It's the code of the Je'daii, the precursor order (before the Jedi/Sith split and before lightsabers). I really like the unified feel, it speaks to me far more clearly than either the Jedi or Sith codes.

 

 

ALL THE ICE.  All of it.

 

Yup. Had it on ice and ibuprofen pretty much constantly. Is better today, hopefully even better tomorrow.

[Kyellan]

Well, on the first day of the challenge, my foot is feeling mostly better, although not entirely. I think I may have overstretched the fascia or something... it didn't swell at all. In fact, there's no external sign of injury, just the pain when my right foot pronates. I'll go to class tonight and just take it easy, making sure to back off of anything that I can't handle.

[RisenPhoenix]

Hmmmm.... a thing in MA you say.... In November you say.... Hmmmm.....

[Kishi]

Well... be careful, though. It's easy to say that you'll take it easy, but the class environment has a way of making pain seem smaller than it is, and it intoxicates the mind with fighting spirit.

 

I'm not against fighting spirit, obviously, but you gotta be mindful and control it so it doesn't control you. Remember: you can't be a good training partner if you're too injured to train.

[Kyellan]

Hmmmm.... a thing in MA you say.... In November you say.... Hmmmm.....

 

Yeah, I can't remember precisely where it is, but I will find out and let you know. This one is more expansive, too... there's folks from all kinds of disciplines (karate, muay thai, taekwando, etc), not just Kung Fu.

 

 

Well... be careful, though. It's easy to say that you'll take it easy, but the class environment has a way of making pain seem smaller than it is, and it intoxicates the mind with fighting spirit.

 

I'm not against fighting spirit, obviously, but you gotta be mindful and control it so it doesn't control you. Remember: you can't be a good training partner if you're too injured to train.

 

Very true. The foot problem is much reduced in shoes of any kind (which is weird) so wearing my kwoon shoes (not to be confused with moon shoes) last night allowed me to participate. We were mostly working on individual forms last night, which was helpful--that way I only had to worry about myself. =)

 

I earned my first Galactic Credit yesterday! Woot!