And The Panic Set In.........

Well I haven't blogged in a while so I thought I would put some thoughts down.

Last nights class was great, I received my white stripe for Kempo I although I still need more practice at home. I have been trying to do that weekly. The panic set in when we had to do shoulder rolls but, I said to myself "just do as many as you can," at least you are trying and I made out okay but, I do need to practice them more. I have also been kicking our bag at home and I have been doing Front Thrust Kicks, Side Heal Kicks, Round House Kicks, Spinning Back Kicks, I have been doing 100 per leg about twice a week. I will have to add Combatitive Front Kick as I forgot about that one. I also do the high, low, centre punching too. Need to step it up with the push ups and sit ups though. Mr. Crawford and I have also been practicing sticky hands and some wrist escapes but, not too many because Mr. Crawford hurt his arm recently.

Now I have my white stripe and black stripe and I am looking forward to receiving the other stripes and working my butt off to acheive this. Thank you to all the Sifus and Sihings that have helped me in class.

That's it for now, see you all in class.

Susan Crawford

Up One More Step In My Kung Fu Journey

Well I am happy to say that I have acheived my yellow belt now. I am so proud of myself in this accomplishment. I remember thinking it's going to take me forever to get there and boom I reached it. Now I have to pick up the pace in my training and practicing at home. I have also gone back to the Tri Leisure to start my weight lifting program again. I can honestly say I am feeling a little sore in my muscles. Our first night of pandamonium was awesome although, I felt like dieing but I made it past that point and kept telling myself it was for a good cause. I was even able to do one chin up although, I tried to persuade Sifu Hayes into letting me use the stool but, he was having none of that LOL. Looking forward to Wednesday night.

Not much more to blog about since I am at a loss for words, which is unusal for me LOL. Bye for now.

I Forgot To Get The License Of The Truck That Ran Me Over

It's been a while since I blogged because I really didn't have anything to say. I thought I should try and write something.

Well for the last little while I have been having trouble sleeping at night. I wake up at 1:00-1:30 am and can't get back to sleep. It is getting to be frustrating because it makes it hard to get up in the morning at 5:30 am, hence the title to my blog. I go to bed around 10:00 pm so maybe that's why I wake up in the night because I am going to bed too early. I usually read before I go to bed but, I guess that's not helping me much either. It has kept me from being motivated.

It has been great coming to Kung Fu and seeing all the new people there working their butts off and their dedication to show up for classes. I know for myself I have to start working harder because as we move up into the other belt levels we will be challenged even more. I still feel challenged every class and love it. I really need to get back to the gym and start up my weight training again. I took a class "Women on Weights" last year and it was great. We had a plan set up for us and so it's just a matter of going and working on it and adding in some of the things I have learnt through my kung fu classes.

I guess that's it in a nutshell and I better get doing some work here or I will be in trouble LOL.

Awesome Class............I have my kung fu spirit back!

Last night's class was totally awesome. I liked the warm up as it was different.

We practiced shield work last night and that was really fun. I was punching the shields so hard that today my arms and wrists are sore but, a good sore. It felt good to put that much energy into it. I was sweating so much it was running down the side of my face. I have to work on my weave a little bit more to get it right.

After class I spoke with Sifu Shipalesky about my kung fu from the time I started until present to see if she has seen an improvement and she said I have improved greatly. I was starting to doubt myself whether I was cut out for kung fu. I have been feeling down about my performance for a while now. I was also comparing myself to everyone else in the class and I can't do that. Everyone works at their own pace and some students have prior experience too. I compare myself to Brian a lot and I am going to have to refocuse my energy because I have to accept that he has prior experience. I need to put my energy toward my personal kung fu journey. Brian has been helping me lately and critiquing my combinations and the other curriculum items, which is helping me to improve. He's like a drill seargent LOL but, his knowledge and encouragement has been a great inspiration for me to work harder and that if I practice and work hard at home, I will be a great martial artist. It can be done if I put my mind and energy to it.

We stayed to watch the class after the beginners class and I enjoyed the story Sifu Freitag told the students about her friend Kevin (Parachutting Friend) and how loud his sound focus is and that her goal is to be as loud as him in Kung Fu sound focus and that the students should have a goal to be louder than her. It was very inspirational to a fairly new student like myself.

Signing off now because I am starting to ramble on and on and on.

Susan C.

Disappointed............Huge Eye Opener

Well I had a huge eye opener at Wednesday night's beginner class. We did combination, which I thought I knew. After class Brian and I were sitting on the bench as the next class were waiting to start their warm up when Sifu Stoddard came over with the red tape and was proceeding to give Brian his and I got really excited about getting mine too but, I didn't know the combinations as well as I thought I did so, needless to say, I didn't receive the red stripe.

I was disappointed and very upset with myself because I failed to receive my red stripe. I went home mad but, upon further review of the situation, I have no one to blame but myself because I didn't practice enough. I do practice at home but, I guess not enought due to my performance on combinatons. I swore from that night forward, I was going to be practicing a lot more at home and kicking it up a notch. I am also going to have to realize that I cannot compare myself to anyone else in the class. I have to work at my pace and keep in mind that I am still a beginner but, I have improved since my first day of the beginners class. As Sifu T. Playter said at class on Wednesday, we know who is working their butts off and who isn't.

I am now practicing combinations, da mu shing, stretching and kicking the bag every night. I am going to fight tooth and nail to get my red stripe and my white stripe.

Anyways thanks for listening to me.

Susan C.

First Class Back

Last nights class was really fun. We had five new students join the school and it brought back memories from the time when Brian and I first joined. It was pretty full in the class too. I liked what Sifu Brinker said at the end of the class that "anyone can be a black belt as long as you are willing to put in the time". That gave me more inspiration to work even harder at home on all the things we have been taught.

As far as my body goes, I am feeling pretty good. My knees are a little sore especially my left knee but, that's from an old basketball injury I got in high school. It has bothered me ever since that. I sure know when the weather is going to change. Other than that all is well.

Wow how the time flies, I can't believe we are in September and that next week is the middle of the month. I wish there was a way we could change around spring/summer to six months and have winter only be two months, that would be awesome. Does anyone know of a special voodoo formula to do that? Before we know it, it will be Christmas and Brian and I will have been married a year already. We got married on Christmas Eve at our house last year.


I guess I should sign off now until the next time. Oh and all of you who volunteered on the renos, should give yourself a pat on the back because the Kwoon looks awesome. Thank you to all the people who did the organizing and bringing in the food.

Susan C.

The Battle Begins Once Again

Well tonight is the first night back after having two weeks off. I have been doing a little bit at home, like stretching, Da Mu Hsing, some Chi Kung, and doing kicks on the bag at home. I really need to kick myself in the butt and get doing more than just that. I just need to get myself motivated even if I am feeling tired.

I have a feeling I am going to be hurting after class tonight and will be feeling sore on Thursday. I am looking forward to getting back into the routine and seeing all the new students who have joined.

I have decided I am going to setup a "workout plan" for myself and put it on paper and check off all the things that I do and then it will be in writing. I know for sure Brian will make sure that I stick to it and will kick my butt if I don't LOL.

So I will post an update after class tonight and let you know how it went. Looking forward to seeing everyone again.

The Beginning of Something New

Well it's been a couple of months now since Brian and I started Kung Fu. We decided one weekend to go and check out the tournament at the Tri Leisure and then on the Monday after the tournament, we decided to go and visit the school to see what it was all about. We ended up having a meeting with Sifu Brinker and after that we made the decision to join the school.

I am glad we joined. I wanted to get back into working out because it had been a while but, I never expected to be doing kung fu. I have notice a great change in my physical appearance and have started to eat healthy again. Going to the gym and working out is nothing to the work out we get doing kung fu. I am not saying that the gym is not a great place to go because I do plan on going back there too. I haven't done push ups since high school and never thought I would be doing them again LOL.

Everyone at the school is so positive and encouraging to new students. From the minute I walked into the school, I got a really good feeling and so I knew this was going to be a great place to be. I am on a journey in Kung Fu and look forward to it taking me to a greater place.

Signing off until the next time.

Susan C.