first month check in

Nearing the end of the first month and I already feel a bit behind the eight ball on some of my challenges. Push ups and sit ups are where they should be but I am not getting enough forms in. I will have to devote more of my time when I am home on break to doing my forms. Speaking about forms I have been playing around a lot with a pair of sai's that I picked up and am slowly piecing together a form for them. Keeping them out where I can see them means that I play with them more. Aside from the forms my kung fu based goals are all on track it is more so my school and life related goals that are kind of suffering. This past week I have spent a fair a mount of time re-organizing my living space so now I have significantly more room to train inside. I also got outside and went hiking a couple times this week. One day was really nice and sunny the other day was pouring rain. My kilometers are probably one of the most positively impacted goals since moving to Vancouver. Without having to depend on a car I walk more, averaging roughly 10km a day. So lots of room for improvement but as long as I can keep tracking everyday and maintain awareness of what needs to be done I'll be able to keep on top of things.

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So I just wanted to start off by saying congratulations to this years black belt candidates. I am sad that I missed seeing the ceremony I heard it was awesome. Second I wanted to say hello to the Snake team.

Things here have just settled down. I had my portfolio submission school on friday at 4:00pm which I got in just in time. It only took a couple all nighters and tons of last minute changes but all in all I am really proud of the finished package the printing looked great and I hand made the book out of birch so it looks really nice but was a lot of work and a bit of a learning experience.

Unfortunately kung fu was a bit of a bare minimum over the last week which is not a great way to start the year and I will be playing some catch-up same with some of my school projects that are coming up due after this week. I did record myself doing my form as a piece for my portfolio. I now understand why it is recommended. Recording yourself allows you to objectively critique your form. Personally I was able to pick up several things that I need to work on in my forms even though I shot it as a silhouette. I can also tell you that soft sand is not the best place to do your forms even if it looks great in video. 

  

In transit

I came to a realization today. I have been wasting time. Sometimes only 15 minutes sometimes up to an hour maybe even more. Previous to this realization my time spent I transit has been spent playing games on my phone, perusing Facebook or some other form of wasting time. Today on my trip home I decided it would be a good day to write my blog entry and going over lau gaur in my mind.

Another thought on transit is that everyone seems so unhappy on the bus. People in Vancouver tend to come off as really unfriendly. It is rare to have a spontaneous conversation with a stranger.

An exception today was as I got off the train and was walking to the bus there was a group of girls offering free hugs to people as they got off the train. Most people walked by without acknowledging their existence and I considered doing the same. Instead I stopped and asked what the catch was. The girls response was only to have a good day for the rest of my day. So I said ok and took my free hug and continued on with my day. I noticed a couple other people after I did this also got a hug and as for my good day I walked to the bus stop just as the bus was pulling up.