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.

http://lairdchris.flavors.me/
http://tinyurl.com/my-totals

It's All in the Numbers

Today I realized I need a new way of logging my numbers. Currently I write them on my chalkboard during they day then input them into a .txt file. Because of human error I have missed days of logs but accept the consequences. Later this evening I will be looking through various apps for my Android tomorrow will be transferring all my numbers.

Today I was also curious at my progress of my pushups and situps. After doing the math I find myself much further than I thought I was. However my other numbers are pitiful. This next week looks promising for my health, I have an appointment with my GP on Tuesday and I think some questions will finally be answered.

I know my blogs have been lacking, and that I have to change my attitude about them. I have many ideas that I will hopefully be implementing in a few months if not earlier.

Totals:

Pushups: 13350
Situps: 13230
KM: 45
Kempo: 76
Jian Form: 177
Acts of Kindness: 160
Rounds of Sparring: 13

Am I on the Path?

I will admit I knew about my problem with blogging. It's something that I find reluctant in thought but once it's actually done I feel better. My life was in a very low spot, and I felt the only thing that could help me was to focus on what I was doing or what I wasn't doing, not what I could do. At the same time how ever I find myself thinking about the plan of action I will need to take to have a successful year.

I believe I have already failed one of my personal requirements. I had planned to have Scott Rodell teach a swordsmanship seminar for the kwoon, but I find myself in a place where I can not make it a reality this year. However at the Horse Team meeting on Saturday I will present my plan to try and not fail it in it's entirety.

Another problem that I have been encountering are the dated requirements. I know I did not learn Mastery by Stewart Emery with in the time I was supposed to but I have only a few sentences left. I will have it memorized by the meeting on Saturday.

Struggle

Last night was the first time I attended a class other then my own in a very long time. For so long I have wanted to do nothing, but staying stagnant will accomplish nothing. I was asked to work with the yellow belts on Kempo and put focus on the open-x - snap punch transitions. It's a part that I have had beaten into my form and knew it was something that we could all work together on. I felt involved in my Kung Fu and had a buzz that lasted until I went to bed.

That morning I had seen my doctor, the results from the MRI I had were in and didn't provide any answers. It showed there is nothing wrong with my alignment, and my doctor had little idea where to go from there. He has prescribed a sleeping aid to try and help with one of my symptoms, but it didn't have much affect on me the first night.

This morning I found myself unwilling to leave my bed until noon again. With the time that I had I worked on repetitions of Kempo and breaking down my techniques, looking for how they should feel. I have been struggling to stay on the path, but I won't give up without a fight.

Outrunning Apathy

Recently my condition has gotten worse, I have been finding myself not able to leave bed until the afternoon and it feels like all of my tendons and fibers of my being have been shrinking. It has been hard to even walk most days but today I decided I had to make changes.

My alarm went off at 8 A.M., but from a lack of sleep I decided to just roll over and fall into the rhythm that had started. I fell into a dream where I was running up a seemingly endless building, it appeared to be an old apartment complex. At each level I would have to open a door to continue up, and I would shut the door behind me because I knew I was being chased by something. There were times where this being almost caught me, but I found myself become invisible, allowing me to gain some distance from this mystery monster. I found myself in agony, but I kept up my pace and eventually reached the door that led to the roof. Standing in front of me was a 4-foot warrior, with green hair, patched armour and blade. I returned to consciousness and listened to the radio from upstairs for a while before getting out of bed at 10 A.M.

After my breakfast and watching my stream of YouTube videos I decided I had to do something with my day. For too long I had been stagnant, only walking my dog, doing little work on my forge and sitting at my computer. I decided to go for a run.

I took a route that I used to run when I was training for Bloomsday back in 2005, 2 kilometers one way and then back. The first kilometer made me feel terribly out of shape, I found myself tripping over my feet and out of breath fast. I had to take two breaks on that first part, something I didn't think I would ever need. The next kilometer I found my step, I felt like a load had been taken off of me and I was finally on the proper road to recovery. I didn't stop on the 2 kilometers back, and when I saw the end I ran with all I had left. I ended with a short walk back to my house, some stretching and finished with Awakening the Dragon.

Tomorrow I'm going to go for a run again, before I go wait for an MRI that I hope will shed some light on what is wrong with me. 

Taking a Break (Physically)

Last week I didn't write a blog and I have beating myself up about it. My only reason for it is that my condition has been getting worse and apathy has started to engulf me. Each morning I find myself weaker than the day before, my hands and feet pale and cold and I have only a small and finite amount of energy to put into my day. I have an MRI booked for the 25th and a doctors appointment on the 28th, and I just hope that what ever is wrong with me is found. Because of this lack of energy and strength I find myself in a rut again, just after I found my balance. But because I am unable to continue in one respect, I have been pushing forward in other ways.

I have started to contact Scott Rodell about having a swordsmanship seminar taught and will be giving updates on that as I find out more. I also have been working on another of my personal requirements, building a forge and workshop to express myself in a way I have always wanted to. Ever since I was a child I loved working with metal and have always sought jobs that involved the ductile and somewhat forgiving medium. I already have plans on how I am going to meet this requirement but  at the moment lack the tools and funds to fulfill it to my own specifications.

Even though I am taking a break from the physical aspects of my training I will still be coming to class, I will be planning on how to play catch up once I am better, and I will still blog and keep everyone up to date on what is wrong or right with me. I don't want to let the team down.

Perpetual Sickness

It's seems that my health's trend of "One step forwards, One step back" is still persisting. Yesterday my chiropractor told me that it was the first time my legs had stayed even at rest, I knew right away that this was a great sign and for the rest of the day I felt like everything was starting to turn around. This morning I awoke with a sore throat and little to no appetite through out the day. My head feels like it's been put back inside of a vice and my body burns while freezing. My doctors still have no idea what is wrong with me, and I am currently waiting for a MRI requisition to come in the mail. Although times seem hopeless, I am sticking with my pushups and situps. There have been a few days where I could only push myself to do 100/120 of each, but today I am pushing myself to get to 8000 pushups. I am grateful for all of the support I have, and hope that my recovery comes soon.

-Totals-
Pushups - 7900
Situps - 7360
Kempo - 15
Jian Form - 85
Rounds of Sparring - 8
Acts of Kindness - 30