My Wakeup Call

This past weekend I got the wakeup call that I needed, the annual Silent River boot camp. When I first woke up at 5am on Saturday I felt terrible, my head was foggy and my body ached. I didn't think I had it in me to even leave my bed and had came to the conclusion to just give up. I don't know what motivated me but with only a few minutes to get ready I set out to the Keephills Community Hall to begin my day.

Each seminar had it's purpose, and as I went though the hours of work leading to the fitness test I found myself in a better mental state. However once the fitness test started it felt like my world was falling apart. I was so angry at myself for not performing at my best, regardless of what shape my health has been in. I just felt like I should give up on everything. But I couldn't give up, because letting myself doubt take control would only let my friends, my family, down.

After completing the 2km run that marked the end of the boot camp, I felt my self doubt vanish. In it's place I found an urge to improve myself and a desire take all the lessons I had learned that day and put them into my daily training. Although I am not where I need to be for my black belt grading, I feel that I have gained the tools necessary to succeed.

In my last blog I reached out for help and am thankful for the advice I was given. I want to reach out again because the only way my health will improve is if I make changes to my healthcare. The doctors I have seen at my family clinic have been trying to patch me with medications that have little to no effect. I am currently waiting for my recommendation to an ENT specialist but I have my doubts about taking this route. Any recommendations on this matter would be greatly appreciated.   

What is Happening?

On Wednesday I felt like myself again, waking and eating in the morning and having consistent energy levels throughout the day. However yesterday my condition slip again and it has continued into today. My joints and lower back ache, my mind feels fuzzy and incoherent and I feel as if my energy stores and depleted. Also when I walked my dog yesterday I had an intense pain in the upper abdomen that was making me wince. My mind keeps going back to my last doctors visit, where I was told my iron levels were high but that fact wasn't looked into. I keep staring at webpages about hemochromatosis and my symptoms seem to fit.

Today I came to the conclusion that my best course of action would be to acquire my test results and go to a night clinic in hopes of getting answers, not more questions. Because of these events I am unsure about my ability to participate in the annual bootcamp tomorrow. It's very hard for me to write this but I am at a point where I am actual scared of my condition.

I'm about to head to Edmonton to pick up my results and will be updating this post as I get new information.

UPDATE: After driving to central Edmonton to pick the results and driving back, I opened the envelope I was given to only find the results for the urine sample. I needed the results from the blood samples to execute my plan and now find myself with no other options until next week. Since my condition is so volatile I won't know if I'm well enough for bootcamp until the morning of. I will be at class tonight and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Training at Home

One of my personal requirements is to create what could consider a proper training space for me. I think the best discussion I made was putting this space in my bedroom. In the morning I can literally roll out of bed and start pumping out reps first thing in the morning. I can also put my YouTube subscriptions or other media on my laptop and watch while I get my numbers in. The only problem I've had is having a large enough space to practice my forms.

I used to train in my backyard but a few weeks ago a colony of wasps built a nest under our deck. The nest was situated at our back door, leaving my dog unable to relieve himself unless he was taken for a walk. After many nights of removing a few screws than running from the swarm, we were left with two stripped screws only allowing one side to be lifted. With my mom armed with a garden hose and myself with a blowtorch, we finally destroyed the nest. Tomorrow I will be checking for any new nest, but also will start playing catch up on my form reps.

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More Answers, Questions, and Waiting

I have to start by apologizing for missing my last two blog days. On Thursday I met with a new doctor to discuss the results from my latest blood test as well as get a second opinion on what could be wrong with me. The results came back normal except for high levels of iron. I did some "research" (google) and found out that the body only absorbs 10% of dietary iron but a hereditary disease called Haemochromatosis can increase absorption by a factor of three. Next chance I have to see my doctor I will bring it up. I was also given a recommendation to an ENT specialist, but before I get the appointment I need to first take a hearing test. It seems that the closer I get to figuring out what's wrong with me, I have to wait and wait before taking the next step.

Friday ended on a good note. Although I felt tired and hungry after two hours of class I was convinced to stay for sanshou since the class was practically empty. I know to have a successful year in the I Ho Chuan I must log 1000 rounds of sparring, but with how my health is affecting my balance and stamina I have been missing out instead of training smartly.

Over the weekend the ideas for my first "real" YouTube video have started to work out. If everything goes to plan I'll be uploading my first videos next week.

Last Minute

I didn't think of a topic to journal about, hopefully I will have something tomorrow.

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Another Day

Tonight I have a goal, reach 15,000 pushups and situps. I have an hour and twenty minutes to get in the last one hundred repetitions. In between sets I made a calculation for how many repetition I need to do every day to reach 50,000 the Friday before the annual New Years banquet.

I was able to find an online app that counts the days until February 20th, 2015. This plugged into the formual with my current numbers requires me to perform 160 each day. I've also found that 50 pushups cause a .2% increase or decrease to the number. The last 50 pushups to 15000 will put be at 159.8 pushups a day.

After completing the last 50 pushups to 15,000 I wrote the formula on my board. x represents the current total of repetitions and y represents the number of days until February 20th. I think that's all I can do for today, but tomorrow is another day.

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Changes

One of the few constants in life is that there will always be change. Over these past few weeks I've been trying new ways to log my numbers, blogging on different schedules and working towards new ways to express myself. Today I was working on a project that I hope will inspire the I Ho Chuan team as well as influence as many people as I can to try and rid the world of mediocrity. My last major hurdle for this project is mastering my memorization. I was hoping to finish this project for this week, but I believe that I won't have it finished until next.

I have also been remaking the firepot to my forge. The last one that I created didn't allow for proper air flow, so after tearing it all apart and recycling the clay I went to work again. I learned from my mistakes and made the pot wider and shallower, and after a few attempts of lighting the charcoal, it roared to life. I will have to fire it a few more times before I can work with it properly, but this latest build has been my most successful.

After blogging each week day last week, I found myself feeling more engaged in my training. From now until I start my vlog, which will follow the same schedule at first, I will be updating this blog each weekday.

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Braindead

Today has taken a toll on me. I played a few hours of Ingress, putting me at a recorded 100km this year. I am far behind.

My two hours of class tonight put me through a lot of physical stress. Bruised shins and forearms from combinations followed by many repetitions of lion dancing. I'm feeling more comfortable under the lion skin but still view myself as a sub-par head. That only means I'll have to practice on it more.

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How I Logged 23km Today

Today I spent three hours playing a video game, and I had a great time during those hours. I walked between landmarks and art pieces, and even stepped into a shop to pick up my favourite incense. All of this took place not in some cyber world of online gaming, but in the world we all live in.

The game I was playing is called Ingress, a location based alternative reality game (ARG). Created by a Google startup lab of Google called Niantic Laboratories this project led by John Hanke is the start of a new type of gaming. The objective of the game is to control portals in the "real" world for one of two factions, the Resistance and the Enlightened. Typical portal candidates are public works of art and places of commune, but there is a wide range of accepted portals.

After three hours of walking up and down King St, I was able to capture most of the portals in Spruce Grove for the Enlightened. I plan to take over a few remaining portals tomorrow and reinforce the links I created between them.

this morning

this afternoon

Today I found the clay in my forge still a bit to wet to fire yet, but I did take the pictures that Mr. Smid asked me to take.

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Building the Firepot

Today was a large step towards my personal requirement of building and working my own forge. One of the last materials I needed was clay and was told to try the Parkland Pottery Guild. After inquiring with the members I was given a large bag of recycled clay. The only charge was to tell a friend about the guild,  but informed them that I would be telling my crafty mother. They were thrilled.

I've made two forges before but over the winter my air supply, a cheap hair dryer, shorted out.I tried to salvage it but I think I'll need to invest in something a bit better suited. I used the clay to create a better shape to the firepot, the place where the smith creates a fireball. I'll be firing it tomorrow providing the clay has dried properly.

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What Am I Doing?

In my blog I have never explained what it is I'm doing. I know many of my readers are apart or know what the I Ho Chuan program is, but I also know that some readers don't know what it is exactly. I think the person to describe it the best is our head coach, Master Instructor Jeff Brinker. I have put all of my requirements and totals on my personal website, which can be found here.

Today I have been improving on the framework I started with, fleshing out the designs I implemented at the start of my first year in the I Ho Chuan. I'm hoping to also expand into YouTube in the next few months, making a vlog as well as videos about jianfa and kung fu as well as my personal thoughts on current events.

One YouTuber that has inspired me to try out the medium is Skallagrim. 

Tomorrow I will be sharing my progress on my personal requirements as well as how I plan to incorporate them into the I Ho Chuan as well as the kwoon.

No Excuse for Inactivity (A Late Canada Day Entry)

During the meeting on Saturday one of the topics that bothered me the most was blogging. Not because of the topic itself, but how I have not been engaged with my journalling. To try and rectify this I will be posting a blog each weekday this week, then return to blogging each Sunday.

Canada Day was a major highlight for this year, performing in a lion dance for 77 new Canadians, the challenge of modifying my jian form and the hard work that everyone put into the day have given me a boost that should carry me until bootcamp. Although I had accepted the challenge to log 1000 pushups and situps, I only achieved 100 of each. After the demo I went to the Spruce Grove celebrations and caught up with some old friends. Later in the evening I was tasked with calming Hawksley, my border collie, during the fireworks.

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