The Great Escape

The title of this post suggests that this is going to be very deep.  Yeah, that's probably true.  In October 2013 I spent the last 7 days learning a number of different disciplines from Grandmaster Nick Gracenin.  For those of you living in Washington DC, I hope you realize how lucky you are to have a martial artist of Master Nick's ability living in your city and actively teaching.  I have learned such an incredible amount from Master Nick that I really need to take some time and reflect and absorb all of it but I feel that I have to share this one tidbit with the folks who might read my blog because it does relate to how we live our lives not just martial arts and not surprisingly has a lot to do with the overall theme of this blog. There is a concept of harmonies in Tai Chi.  There are external harmonies which refer to the kinetic harmonies within our bodies that we need to understand.  The internal harmonies refer to the part of ourselves that we can'...

I'm sure most of you have seen this image floating around facebook and I'm sure you have an opinion.  If you don't that's probably a good thing because maybe it means that you are happy with who you are and have found fulfilment in your life. I get what Maria Kang is trying to do.  She's trying to shock and motivate people by stepping just a bit beyond the typical "Here's what Body for Life did for me" testimonial. The problem is that she comes across like that friend of yours who joined the gym and started shopping at an organic food store and is now telling you all these facts about working out and diet and fitness and you think to yourself, "Could I just get one solid throat punch in and make this person shut up for 10 minutes?" Well, believe it or not, I was that person at one point in my life.  I'm sure I drove my friend nuts with all my blathering on about diet and fitness and working out.  This was probably about 10 years ag...

My lovely and talented wife was honoured yesterday with a long service award.  She has been working in the public service for 25 years and was recognized for her work and dedication.  As we were talking about the award she commented that she wishes she had done more and I can understand that feeling because I've felt the same way.  Although I've never dedicated even more than 5 years of my life to one organization, I can understand the feeling that you could have done more in your career but I don't know if any of us are aware of how much we have really accomplished. My wife is an amazing person.  She is truly the kindest person you will ever meet and that is no exaggeration.  If you asked any person who knows her what they think of when they hear her name I bet the top three would be: Kind, Smiles a lot and Quirky.  These are all qualities that I absolutely love about her.  Anyway, knowing the type of person that she is I know that when she does her...

So I've been studying martial arts for quite a few years.  I started to study Chinese martial arts when I was 37 (in September) and I'm now 44 so that means I've been doing this for... holy!  Seven Years?!?!  Well, there were a few breaks in those seven years where I didn't go to class for several months at a time but just for the sake of keeping the story straight in my head, we'll say I've been doing this for seven years.  Two of those early years were spent studying Wushu  but after a back injury and some time away from practice I decided to start studying the internal martial arts.  Most of you will probably think of Tai Chi but the world of internal martial arts is much bigger than that.  Since I seem to have a bit of a passion for martial arts and people like to ask me questions about Tai Chi I thought I would include a few posts on my blog about Tai Chi from my perspective.  Keep in mind that I'm a student and will be for life so my underst...

The city I live in is currently embroiled in a a debate over the future of water management.  The city council is proposing a Public Private Partnership (P3) to solve some of the long term infrastructure problems we are facing.  A referendum has been called and scheduled for September 25th, 2013 where citizens will vote to determine the future of water management in the city.  I've done some digging and so far I haven't really found enough information to make an informed decision.  Part of the problem here is that there won't be enough information until after the referendum because a contractor has not been selected, a design has not been created and there is no contract to review.  The City has provided an FAQ for residents which can be found here: http://www.regina.ca/residents/water-sewer/learn_about_our_water_system/water-sewer-system/sewage-treatment-plant/qa-public-private-partnerships-p3s/ So, not having any detail on what impact a P3 approach might hav...

“It's only 54 floors and at this time of day how long can it take?”  He thought the elevator car would reach the ground in plenty of time.  The pain was bad and his hand was throbbing, yes,  but he was nowhere near passing out.  A man in Everett's profession managed to deal with pain and he learned how to hide it so as not to attract attention when strolling through a crowd after an event that didn't go exactly as planned.  No, Everett was more concerned with avoiding notice and the leather gloves would only prevent blood from dripping on the elevator floor for so long. “Breathe man, breathe”, he whispered trying to return his visible vitals to normal before any other passengers joined him on his ride to the ground.  With any luck, the car would be there on Market Street waiting just as they had planned.   The floor indicator released a dry electronic beep giving warning that he would have company at the 46th floor. The black leather gloves ...

As much as I hate to admit it, I'm far more materialistic than I would like to be.  I'll take some solice in the old adage that admitting you have a problem is the first step to overcoming it. A couple of days ago my daughter lost her cell phone.  We had an old beat up chaise lounge in the living room and she was sure that the phone had fallen through the bottom of the chair and was stuck in the dust cover on the bottom.  After tearing the dust cover off I soon realized that the phone had fallen between the cushion and the frame into a big empty pocket that was in the arm of the chair. I have to admit that I was a little upset at first.  I was at a crossroads.  I pay for the cell phone and it would be expensive to replace and I bought the chair which was also relatively expensive.  For some reason the more I thought about it the more ridiculous my anger over the situation seemed.  Nobody was in any danger of dying or even being hurt here....