Yaaaa... I've Got The Power Twister!

I’m overdue to post a report, though to anyone paying attention to the YouTube channel and other discussions on the blog, it’s probably obvious what’s been going on in my neck of the woods. I missed writing last weekend, mostly because of low spirits, owing to the double whammy of losing both animals I was trying to help… Wilson the Redhead Duck disappeared and, after a thorough search, appeared to have fallen victim to a predator, probably a coyote. As for the Mountain Cottontail, a friend of mine (who’s a retired veterinarian) and I took him to a clinic to have his critically-injured leg amputated at the femur. The rabbit survived the operation just fine, and appeared to be in good health, eating right and all. But then he suddenly died two nights later. We figure it was all just too much stress for the little guy. This is the downside wildlife rescue. Probably only a quarter of the injured animals I work with survive long-term. On the upside though, I’m usually able to give an animal at least a couple days longer than it would otherwise have, and every bit of life is precious

A big part of why I’m training in FMK, in addition to pursuing greater fulfillment of my human potential, is this fundamental recognition of the value of life. Yes, the explicit benefit of martial art is always going to be its potential to help you survive a violent personal attack. But every one of us is going to have recurrent run-ins with age, disease, and other dangerous circumstances. These types of encounters are far more inevitable, and our training can easily determine whether we’ll pass through without incurring extensive injury or immobility. Kung Fu is my preventative medicine

To this effect, since my last post, I’ve continued making corrections to my performance of the CLF-inspired form, and breaking the techniques out for application in formless flow training. I didn’t do any heavy bag practice in this period, because I’m waiting for a split knuckle to close from one too many inaccurate strikes last time. I have, however, been doing lots of cardio and strength training. I’m particularly excited about having received a PowerTwister in the mail, so I can participate in that challenge with everyone at the Chicago kwoon. So far, I’m up to 70 reps. But this number will grow, just as I’ve been progressing with many of the other fitness feats I’m focusing on. Highlights for this past week or so has been extending my personal records in L-hold Pull-Ups (12 up from 10), One-Legged Squats (9 up from 6 with the right leg), and Horse Stance Hold (2 min 12 sec up from 2 min 3 sec)

Finally, as you’ve probably heard, Shi zu has asked me to manage the online ZMA training, which includes an improved organization of the YouTube channel. If you go on there this week, check out some of the new playlists (including separate lists that feature you all personally, so you can look back at the progress you’ve been making).  Out of the 3000+ videos, I still have maybe 800 left to organize. So if something seems missing from a playlist, I probably just haven’t got to it yet, but it’ll be there soon enough. Shi zu also gave me the Kwoon contact list, because I need to send out a few emails to everyone. A couple of these will be invitations to private playlists on the YouTube channel that deal with specific aspects of the ZMA training. I’m also going to be asking favors from some of you, small video and/or blog contributions that may significantly enhance the training experience for online Todai who are just starting. It looks like we may be seeing at least one new face by January. So anyway, be on the lookout for my emails. I’ll get them out this early this week