Foo's "Poem of Struggling To Keep Up With His Elders"

[Foo]

Sometimes, we are
simply a noitcelfer | reflection
of the world's troubles.
 
....let us stop striving and simply BE
      .......to be and make a better world with our very
                                 ......thoughts.
 
=====
 
This challenge's theme will simply be some oddly non-prose ways of communicating my feelings each day about how my challenge is going, foregoing my previous fictional narrative for a more abstract poetry.  I like to keep things interesting.
 
Beyond that, I had a revelation after booking my flight to go and visit Dr. Yang for training this coming April.  I am going to be training with a kung fu grandmaster and students that are living with him for 10-year long spans of time.  The reality of this really set in today.
 
You know in Kill Bill Vol 2 where "The Bride" goes to train with Pai Mei?  On her arrival, she's very upbeat and happy about the chance, but within the first few minutes of meeting Pai Mei, she realizes just how horribly under-prepared she is and how far behind her own kung fu skills are.  She is beaten in a sparring match as easily as an eagle would kill a worm, and this is how she begins to actually make real progress.
 
.....that is very possibly going to be me.  I am very probably about to be totally outmatched by a man old enough to be my father.
 
So, this month and possibly the next few are going to be dedicated to getting as close to prepared as I possibly can.
 
Step 1, Strong Like Tiger:  I will be following a push/pull/squat routine that centers on progressive bodywieght calisthenics programming for 3 days each week.  I have a few different guides, and am looking over those this weekend to set a hard plan for how to program correctly for the best possible results.
 
Step #2, Fast Like Leopard:  On an alternating 3 days, I'll be doing circuits with a heavy emphasis on building cardiovascular endurance.  The main thing here is to make sure that I'm not overtaxing my recovery time, but am still keeping my work capacity up to be in "fighting shape".
 
Step #3, Lithe Like Snake:  Continue Vinyasa Classes and morning yoga to keep flexibility improving.  I've fallen in love with these routines and the methods to deepen my own joint mobility.  No reason to stop something that's been working so well as I can figure.
 
Step #4, Balanced Like Crane:  Since I'm going primarily for Tai Chi Chuan, my studies of the Yang Long Form for will be followed for no less than 6 days a week.  This will include qigong on my own and form work with class.
 
Step #5, Wise Like Dragon:  To keep this slightly more rigorous routine up, I'll be trying to tune my diet in to hit and hold a lively bodyweight of ~#180 while eating fish and raw veggies.  No alcohol, no soda, no complex sugars, minimal grains/rice.
 
"....but Foo, that's too much stuff for a challenge, you're going to burn yourself out."  No, because I have a very real fear of being totally embarrassed by how unprepared I am to keep up with my elders as a deeper motivation.  I have been building momentum and intensity for a while, so now it's time to get this all tuned in to be able to maintain an all-day long kung fu training schedule.  That's what I'm going to be doing regardless of if I'm prepared for it or not.
 
*bows deeply*
 

[Leimanu]

This is amazing!  You're really going to travel and study under a kung fu master?  This is like the movies!  lol.  Looking forward to following your journey.

 

So, practicing tai chi can get a prepared to study kung fu?

[Foo]

Well, tai chi chuan IS a kung fu style. It's a bit confusing as most of what is taught is the very slow form, but on the other hand, it was originally a short-boxing style (literally, the name "Tai chi chuan" means "Supreme or Grand Ultimate Fist").  In practice, tai chi stresses staying loose, but so does western boxing.  It's not as crazy as it seems at first glance, but you also need to understand that...well, rather than me rambling about it, let me just link a video with the guy I'm going to be learning from.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp2jWeaKrqI&feature=iv&src_vid=6NagW6BImF8&annotation_id=annotation_2727781337

 

In addition to that, I'll be working some White Crane and Changquan with them, which are more traditional Northern Shaolin styles.  So, to answer your question as best I can, tai chi is one of the best ways to practice kung fu, as that's what it was originally intended to be.

[Foo]

"Foo, you DO know that you can't actually detox your body, right?  I mean, your Chinese Medicine and tea and tai chi is all a lot of 'snake oil.'  

It's all just stuff that hasn't been proven by science to actually do anything.   It doesn't work.  You are an idiot for doing it, look at how angry I am telling you this!  Obviously, if you're as well educated as you think you are, you'd know that none of your mystical practice has anything to do with why you're exercising 4 hours a day, eating a clean diet.  Also, how can you sit there and be happy?  Allow me to educate you on how my western ways with my fedora and cigarette and 68.8% obesity in the USA rate shows the superiority of my Big Mac and fries God can help to make you less ignorant.  You do kung fu?  That's not even training UFC or BJJ to roll on the mat and put on the gloves and make that fat cash that causes people like Rhonda Rousey to question what their real purpose in life is and maybe it's having children and raising the next generation of UFC Fighters.  Well, maybe if you did some more practical something that is taught by ex-Navy Sniper SEAL team alpha bravo charlie delta Chuck Norris in the 1980's, then it would have teh real street cred that my scientifically proven real ultimate art of boxer who's shooting steroids and putting all that money in the bank to suffer brain damage and sell t-shirts to kids who'll become jaded later when their super mega power ranger spinning kick doesn't work at their school locker room brawl because they didn't prepare hard enough by working on Nautilus machines and taking their pre-workout shake and snorting 9" lines of creatine and doing 6-minute abs and blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

 

"You're right, I DO need to turn my hips more during 'Bring the Tiger Back to the Mountain.'"

==========

Day -minus one: Detox

 

Perhaps my slightly odd poem above explains why I do this before every challenge well enough.  The truth is, I did study biological chemistry and I do know that the "detox" is actually handled by the liver and kidneys.  The thing is, it puts my Yi or intention in the right spot.  Despite how much wonder has been made by the advances in medicine and health, I personally believe that no chemical on earth will ever take the place of a perfectly.timed.deep.breath.

 

So *inhales audibly* let us begin........

[Snarkyfishguts]

You are really diving into the deep end of the pool here, and I am totally here to root you on!!! WOO HOO FOR FOO!!

[Aerisand]

Excited about your challenge's direction

I'm sure you can pull these 4 weeks off, I'll be cheering for you!

- - - -

Sent from my capsule using a telepathic squirrel.

[Foo]

first fall of the ax

this is when the standing tree

pushes back the most

 

======

 

Today was an epic Monday.  I left work tired and with a pounding headache.  I have not felt quite so run-down in months.  I try to not pass judgement on feelings, but even I'd buy in and say that today I felt rather poorly.  I wanted nothing more than to just get into my car after I left the office, and go home and to bed.

 

...and I didn't.  Instead I answered the voice saying "Your head is killing you it's okay to postpone it today" with "....well, then just die and get it over with, it will be a first on a tombstone, 'Here lies Foo, dead from Mondays!' and that will be your legacy.  Embrace it."  This thought pulled the smile back to my face, and I went ahead with my plan to amp up the workload.  So, I did.

 

Now, I'm not saying this was the most energetic day I've ever had working out.  Actually, I'd say that I paid special attention to be mindful of how my body was opposing my every attempt to make it better.  My strength routine was totally lackluster, but I did everything that I had written down.

 

By the time I got to vinyasa time, I felt significantly more centered.  My headache had subsided and I rolled through my yoga routine only really noticing that my first downward dog seemed a bit resistant.  After that, it was a reasonably flowing flow.  I did my standing meditation at the end of class, as my challenge from last month convinced me it's totally worth doing.

 

I finished up the day with a long qigong session and my forms practice for the Yang-108.  Right now, I am overdue a shower, but feel as happy as I ever do.  It's good.  While I could choose to beat myself up over not hitting any personal bests today, I could also pat myself on the back for pushing through a day where I wanted to quit.  Instead, I'll just choose to embrace that today was the first day of this new challenge, and that I give love to and receive love from my fellow druids out there.  Strive on with diligence, friends, for things are moving and sucking and being awesome as always.

[Mahnshooth]

Wow...this really sounds like an Epic Quest!  Traveling to train under a grandmaster?!  I will definitely be following along.

[Aerisand]

Just getting started is the first step, you've got it, time to build some inertia for future steps 

[Foo]

Here......................................nowhere.............................................now

now...............here

here....................................now

 

========

 

For all of the doldrums that was yesterday, it would appear I've made a full recovery from my case of the Mondays.  I was informed that I needed to work over tomorrow morning and quite a lot next week because we have a few new projects and some visitors from Japan coming in for meetings, which didn't sit well with me at first because my new workout schedule requires more time out of each day.  On the other hand, I was reminded that it's not like I'm going to be able to cram an extra 20 years of practice into a few days and of Heidi's advice "Remember Foo, the finger that points to the moon is not the moon."  It's just another school to learn on my path through life to the True Tao.  There's no reason to lose my equanimous mind, because if I do, no matter what else I might succeed in, I've lost my way.  It doesn't matter if you nail the asana if you lose your breath, because if you do, you've lost the yoga.

 

So, then I went through Vinyasa and Qigong and Tai Chi practice and cardio circuits...all feeling like the soreness was simply a fun new adventure into learning where some of the spots in my body were that needed more attention.  I am the soreness, and it's good to be things.  This challenge is going to be good for me, because it's easy to keep a meditative mind while meditating, but much more challenging when life is shoving you around.  The river of tao is often riddled with waves, but I wish to be a skillful sailor.

[AugustaAdaByron]

Following along!

[Foo]

You are who you were meant to be. You are exactly where you need to be doing exactly what you need to be doing. Every single event in your life is unfolding for a divine purpose. You are worthy of love and greatness. Don’t force it or rush it. I believe that truth and goodness always win out in the long run, that a kind word spoken from the heart can heal years of bitterness, and that life is a precious gift to be relished and enjoyed with your whole heart.

======

Today I was asked to stay over at work to help a new engineer, who recently finished her doctorates degree, with a project.  She's from India, and lots of the guys I work with were rather upset by being asked to help on her project as they felt that it was a waste of their time or that she shouldn't need any help.  In the meeting with our corporate offices, she had difficulties with getting her laptop hooked up to present her ideas, and people were getting annoyed with her.  Rather than join in, despite the fact that I would normally have been home before this meeting even started, my heart went out to her.  She may have have a few letters at the end of her name now, but she was truly intimidated by both the scope of the work that she was undertaking and the hostility from a lot of the 'old guard' in the tech world that she was meeting with.  Board meetings can be scary when you're fresh out of school, and you're talking to people about gambling huge sums on your ideas being good ones.  So, I made jokes with her, hooked my laptop up the projector and let her use it instead of struggling with hers, initiated conversations about how her ideas could be productive with a little tweaking, volunteered my own time to help her get people behind her newest project, and stuck up for her ideas when people tried to shoot them down. 

After the meeting, my bosses's boss, the VP of our operation asked me to stay.  He says, "Thank you for being kind.  Thank you for being professional, and working for the sake of efficiency, but without being harsh.  Thanks for being so positive to the new kid.  I leave here stressed out and depressed regularly, but this meeting made my day better."

Then I came home and did 4 hours of practice with the Yang Long form.  

I guess my point is that no matter where you are, please try to be kind to each other.  People are all just trying to get by the best that they know how.  Also, I think I'm going to stop doing my daily battle log, because sets and reps just run together these days.  My practice is not something to be measured by numbers, and I believe that my space would be better spent telling you how things made me feel than how many minutes of this stage of life they take.

[Haikoo]

This is not poetic in any way, shape, or form, but all I can think about when I read Foo is Mr. T. (I may or may not be showing my age at that lol)

 

 

Sounds like you are about to embark on an Epic Adventure! Where is this Dr. Yang (excuse me complete lack of Monk type knowledge).

[Foo]

Currently, Taiwan, but the little mountain retreat temple and cabins being set up just for the sake of studying martial arts are located in northern California.  It's funny, Wudang Mountain and Shaolin are tourist traps now.  The most authentic masters are moving to the hills of California.  Life is funny.

[Briniel]

Loved that last bit about your work experience. You're so right, a little kindness goes a long way. It makes the day better for those you help, for those around you (who can appreciate it, like your boss'es boss) and for yourself: I'd much rather spend my time helping someone in a tough situation, than complaining and being annoyed with someone in a tough situation. Thanks for the reminder

[Foo]

Feeling bad.  I spent today in bed, and slept 12 hours.  I woke up feeling pretty decent again, so it looks like a one-day bug.  Back at it soon, and I'll push into a future rest day to make up lost ground.

[Haikoo]

Glad you're feeling better!

[Snarkyfishguts]

I'm glad you got the rest you needed! It sounds like you were REALLY sick! I'm glad you're feeling better too!

[Foo]

This turtle....good speed.  Be the turtle.

 

=======

 

I took it pretty easy getting back into the swing of things.  I did a few sets of push ups and pull ups, and did a longer yoga sequence from Jessica Rose on the internet today.  Not sure if I'm contagious, so figured it would be polite to skip vinyasa classes until at least next week.  I went through my tai chi chuan form a few times, and did some nice and gentle qigong.  It's pretty cool to be able to have a "workout" where with some minor adjustments you can actually find yourself feeling BETTER than you would if you just stayed in bed.  Simply by removing some of the more stressful and adaptive things, my workout becomes restorative.

 

I'm on my 2nd pot of peppermint, elder, and ginger root tea.  Perhaps I needed a few days of turtle-pace to break my attachment to a harder routine. Thanks for the get-well-wishes all.  

[Leimanu]

That was awesome, how you handled the new employee, and bonus points for impressing the VP by just being yourself.  It sounds like your work's culture is a little competitive, and the new employee doesn't know the rules of work, culture, engineering...yeesh.  Get those obstacles out of someone's way so you can see what they can really do.

 

And oh my gosh, no one can every get the damn projector going before a presentation.  No one.  The first 15 min is just waiting for that.

[Foo]

Today was just playing.  I took my boys (4-8) outside.  We made totems to put outside of their window with only stone tools.  I played like a bear for a while (lots of crawling with them in a bear-crawl), and we just pretty much hung out.  While it may seem sometimes that I do gongfu to fight, the truth is, I do it so that I can transition seamlessly from a playful run to a bear crawl and back...and plan to do so for many more years.  The fight is me learning to flow with the hands of time.  I approach it exactly as I would any push hands match....with an equanimous mind.

[Leimanu]

Awwww, those lucky kids

[Foo]

I was thinking I was the lucky one.

[Rihor]

Late, but thankfully it's only 2 pages to catch up on!

[Foo]

Late, but thankfully it's only 2 pages to catch up on!

Good seeing ya guy.  Things holding up well?  I figured you got busy.