Hey familia! How has this week gone?
I wanted to thank everyone who commented last week, it was great hearing your thoughts in what I wrote and getting to hear some awesome progress reports. Way to go family! 🙂
We seriously love hearing from you guys and gals and it helps us to share Enter Shaolin with others when you comment and share our posts plus helps them get a sneak peek into our community.
I also wanted to thank you for allowing me to be me. I had a few people comment on the post and privately that I sounded like a life coach, which not everyone was thrilled about. However, even that person was very respectful to me. Which is what I love about this community… We are diverse, yet respectful of each other’s beliefs and thoughts. I think we could teach the world a thing or two about how to be nice to each other and respect each other. Maybe some peace on Earth? 😉
It was interesting being referred to as a life coach, as that was not my intent at all. I’m just being me. Which happens to be a helper and teacher by nature. It’s just who The Most High has made me to be and I’m embracing it.
Each week that I sit down to right the Friday update, I usually have absolutely no idea what I am going to write about until I sit down and start writing. I let the energy of that moment (Ruach Hakodesh/Holy Spirit/Intuition) guide me in what to write about which usually ends up being from inspirations that popped up from the week or sometimes literally just in that moment.
Some might get confused as to why on a Kung Fu site we might bring up things about communication, health, wellness, money, time management, etc., etc. And it’s because Kung Fu shouldn’t just be about refining your fighting skills, it should be about refining your whole life and in by doing so everything just increases, skill, time, health, etc.
Kung Fu is a way of life and the Chinese, did not consider your Kung Fu as just a fighting form. Kung Fu could be how you cook, how you treat your relationships, how you work at your job or business and so on. Kung Fu just being considered a martial arts is a very Westernized belief.
Kung Fu is about dedication, refinement, consistency and as the name suggests hard work.
Here at Enter Shaolin we really consider you family and we want your time here not to just make you an awesome martial artist, but also a better person as whole. None of us are perfect, we all have areas we need improvement on and that is why it is our sincere desire that by us refining ourselves and making everything we do our Kung Fu, that we will inspire you to do the same. To literally be more in all areas of your life.
Because we know, when we choose to do our best in each moment, to keep dusting ourselves and getting back up, to keep growing and you do too, the change we can create in this microwave mentality society is seriously awe inspiring.
The stories we get in our inbox are beautiful. From relationships, self-esteem to health restored, Kung Fu can be as little or as big of impact as you want. My thoughts are if you are going to do something, why not give it your all? What do you have to lose? You can only gain when you are willing to push past your perceived comfort zone.
The human mind and body is an amazing thing, it will give back to you 10 fold what you give it. So take some time this weekend and think about what areas have you been slacking on, and choose to make a commitment to yourself to make those things your Kung Fu. Put the time and energy into them and watch those things flourish.
I told you last week Sifu Larry and I have been going to the gym 5 days a week (minus my one day missed) for now 4 weeks total. Before we were getting a full work out in 3 days a week, and sometimes maybe only 2. We were letting our schedules run a muck instead of owning our time. We knew that had to change, so we set the intention and made it happen.
Change is an amazing thing, it literally can happen right now at any given moment. You just have to decide to make the change. It’s not that we couldn’t have worked out 5 days a week before, we allowed ourselves to accept our excuses and use them as crutches.
It feels great to no longer allow those excuses to dictate our workout schedule, it’s also great to be feeling and seeing our rewards from choosing to dedicate more time to taking care of ourselves.
One thing I am self-correcting this upcoming week is getting back to my daily Qigong and Tai Chi routine. I felt great doing it daily and yet I stopped, again time excuses… Well now it’s time to get over those lame excuses and give my body what it needs which is more movement and more things that cultivate and refine my Chi.
What about you? What is one thing that you are going to overcome this upcoming week? Let us know in the comments below. 🙂
Now on to your training…
Here’s Your New Enter Shaolin Training:
Wing Chun
- Muk Jong Training – Cutting Angles, Finding Your Root And Learning To Drive
- Bil Gee – Intercepting And Staying On Target With The Fingers
- Chum Kiu – Open Bridge Technique to the outside of the arm
Ngo Dac Na
Blessings,
Jamie Pelaez
& The Enter Shaolin Family
Hello
In my opinion – you are a life coach. I believe it comes with parenthood and experience. The ability to make decisions based on the information we have at the time and following through. In hind site, some of these decisions do not work out – but that is where the experience comes from.
Last night I trained with a 11 year old girl and we did elbows. By the end of the sessions – her elbows were penetrating through the bag I was holding and I was feeling it through my spine. Her last 2 knocked me over both times (I was on my knees). The smile on her face was priceless – her mothers proud face was priceless and my feeling of achievement was also priceless. Experiences like this will keep me training for a long time
Cheers
Hey brother Steven, I love your outlook on life coach. Indeed we are all life coaches, if we choose to learn from the lessons of life.
I am so happy to hear the awesome moment you had with one of your students. That proud moment is definitely priceless and I am sure one that will help you all keep going. Kudos brother!
Excellent post Jamie. Keep up the sharing. Martial Arts should be integrated into every aspect of your life. Training at any opportunity
Thank you brother Marlon! I couldn’t agree with you more. 🙂
Kung fu – I heared somewhere that Kung Fu means achieving mastery at something (not only martial arts but You can also achieve Kung Fu in cooking).
Don’t know how much of that is true but it seems sensible to me.
I’m thinking about mastering power of my will….
I sure can workout and train hard but if it comes to sweets – I also it tones of them.
I know I shouldn’t but whenever I don’t have anything else to do at the moment I tend to go and get something sweet to eat.
That’s my addiction I need to work on this week and probably for next few months.
Hopefully I’ll get there !
Thank You for one more good Article !
Yes Dariusz, that is correct! For short it is hard work, meaning anything you put hard work, time and effort into; which overtime you will become better and and eventually master.
What sweets do you normally go for? I might have some suggestions on some replacements for you. 🙂
If you want email me at support@entershaolin.com. Blessings!
Hmm. If there would be only one kind of sweets i would be very glad :}
I’m like a vacuum. Whenever I don’t have anything that would keep me busy i go and take whatever i can find and eat it…
Chocolates, candy bars, crisps, candies – even sugar – You name it and i eat it.
I see your problem, and believe it or not a lot of people have that issue. We don’t keep many sweets, crisps, etc. in the house either because if it is there, it’s going to be eaten!
Sifu Larry is the same way, it’s pretty much human nature.
So the simple solution is keep your weaknesses out of your house, stop buying them and inviting them to be eaten. 🙂
Treat yourself once a week by going out and getting a piece of dessert or make something at home once a week for a treat, but other than that keep it out! Have fruits and veggies at your disposal instead for when you feel like snacking. You can do it! 🙂
For me I also need to get back into daily practise of Tai Chi. I’ve managed to make time for meditation every day this year, so now a few more things need adding to the mix. Tai Chi, and once that’s progressing ok, Wing Chun/NDN as well. I also want to overcome my mental block with the section of the Sil Lum Tao that I’ve been struggling to remember for I don’t know how long.
Lets get it brother! I am happy to hear you have managed to do daily meditation, that is awesome and for a year straight!?! Congrats!
I have a section in Tai Chi at the end of the first third that sounds about like your Sil Lum Tao conundrum! Hence why I am committing to Qigong and Tai Chi daily so I can get over this hump. LOL!
Once I get that down, I am going to add Sil Lum Toa into my daily regimen. I am probably going to do these 6 days a week as I do rest on the 7th day and from what I hear even yogis take off the 7th day from yoga. So while it’s not strenuous, I’m thinking that a full day of rest from all the norm even Qigong, etc. will do my soul well.
What benefits have you had from your daily meditation practice thus far?
I haven’t done it each day for a whole year, only so every day so far in 2016 🙂 For the year before that it was been hit and miss whether I’d meditate on any given day. I still consider myself very much a beginner meditation wise. The main observable benefit I get at the moment is being calmer and improved concentration. I don’t yet have a gentle enough touch to observe without being absorbed by my thoughts, but I feel like I’m making slow progress towards being able to watch them flow by.
That is still awesome brother! Congrats on bumping it up for 2016! Being calmer and having improved concentration are some great benefits that will permeate through all that you do.
I notice the same benefits from Qigong which is really just meditation in motion. I think having both would just sky rocket your benefits. I started doing yoga recently, 1-2 times a week and there is some meditation time in those sessions that I simply adore, which has made me realize my body is hungry for more moment to sit or lay down and be still.
So I am making it happen. Happy meditation brother!