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.

http://flavors.me/lairdchris

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.

http://lairdchris.flavors.me/

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.