Original Goals
Training Results
I've started training for 1 hour to 1.5 hours each morning. My workout consists of 2 parts - qigong and forms. For the qigong I do Yijinjing postures and/or Hua-To's 5 animal frolics. I go to a nearby park early in the morning and work out. I've also been experimenting with including conditioning programs like P90x outside of my daily training sessions to improve my strength. I've started and stopped the P90x a couple of times. I've had 2 week trials but I have not been able to not skip days due to time constraints and muscle fatigue. I need to look at re-orienting my schedule so maybe I do my conditioning work in the morning and my form practice /qigong in the evenings.
I've noticed huge improvements in my cardio-vascular conditioning, flexibility and reflexes. My stances are more solid and I've also been able to understand certain movements more intuitively. This has also led to improvements in class. I've become a better teacher when instructing students and my sparring has improved tremendously. It was hard to wake up an hour earlier everyday but after two weeks it became like clockwork. I didn't even think about it. It became a habit like brushing teeth and I was bothered if I didn't train so if I missed a morning, I would do make ups at lunch time or in the evening.
2) Martial Arts Program - It was a goal at the beginning of the year to start a non-profit martial arts program for at risk youth in my area.
Martial Arts Program Results
I'm partnering with Free Arts of Arizona and I'm extremely excited because I am going to teach a beginners Shaolin Kung-Fu series for 9 weeks starting June 1st!
3) Diet - My goal was to go to a Vegetarian diet at the beginning of the year. My diet has been 70 percent Vegetarian /30 percent Vegan. I'm trying to slowly cut out all animal products from my diet (I still consume limited amounts of dairy in the form of cheese).
Diet Results
I've lost 15 pounds going from 180 - 165 lbs. I've cut my body fat percentage from 15% to 9% and lost 2 pant sizes going from a 34 to 32. I feel more energetic but I feel like I've also lost some upper body strength as I haven't been doing as much strength training. I also have not quite figured out the right protein balance as I'm experimenting with different plant based protein sources such as hemp powder, beans, nuts and tempeh. 4) Meditation - Here was my meditation goal - "I will meditate daily for a total of 20 to 30 minutes a day. Whether it is doing it early in the morning or late in the evening. I can combine it with my training schedule."
Meditation Results
This is the area that I've struggled the most because I have not practiced seated meditation much in the last 6 months. I've found more success with more motion based meditative movements such as walking meditation, Taiji and doing things like Yijinjing and even sometimes yoga. I haven't yet fully mastered the art of sitting still and I would like to be able to sit in zazen (seated meditation) for at least 15 minutes. So if I reread my goal then I have had success but I would like to be able to explore seated meditation more. Added Goals
5) Learning Mandarin - I would like to be able to eventually read and write Chinese. I think this will give me a greater understanding of Kung-Fu. I've signed up for a 6 month subscription to learn conversational chinese at www.melnyks.com which I've really enjoyed. The podcasts are free but you have to pay for the worksheets and transcriptions. I've experimented with using MIT's Open Course Ware to see if I could self study using their course content for Chinese I but I found that I did not learn as much as I did with the conversational Mandarin at Serge Melnyk's site.
6) Explore the philosophies of Ch'an Buddhism and Taoism - I wanted to have a more in depth knowledge of Ch'an Buddhism and Taoism to also further my understanding of the art. I've been studying online at www.buddhanet.net which is a fantastic resource for Buddhism. You can find general introductions to Buddhism as well as translations of sutras in all the different branches of Buddhism (Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana). Shaolin Chan Buddhism belongs to the Mahayana branch.
I've also picked up a few books that I've also found valuable to increasing my knowledge in this area. I'll compile the list and post them on here at some point.
7) Knowledge of Chinese Medicine. In particular the knowledge of Acupuncture points and Qi meridians - I've always wanted to get an in depth understanding into pressure points for Martial arts as well as for healing. My goal is to first understand the meridians and then work on knowing all the points in the human body.
8) Skill in joint locking (Qin-Na) and ground fighting - I would like to work on getting more skill in joint locking as well as ground fighting (throws, take downs, sweeps as well as defense on the ground). My instructor is a fantastic wrestler and we have been exploring all the throws and joint locks in many of our existing Kung-Fu forms. My goal is to be able to skillfully apply Qin-Na locks as well as take downs. I've neglected to improve on this as I've relied too much on my striking skill. We've had new students who come from grappling based arts who have shown me that I have neglected this area of training for too long (special thanks to Big T for kicking my but and showing me I needed to improve my ground skills)
9) Complete the P90x program from start to finish - I have not been able to finish the P90x program all the way through. The DVDs are sitting on my kitchen counter taunting me daily. my goal by the end of the year will be to have completed it once.
