CHÚC MỪNG NĂM MỚI 2013 !!!

Happy Lunar New Years Everyone!! Since last week, I've been involved with the traditional cultural lion dance at my Kung-Fu school. This year will be my 12th years performing for the Lunar New Years and I haven't missed a year since I started volunteering.

Although, It took about 2 to 3 years of convincing me to get into it from the time that I started Kung-Fu. At first, I was completely uninterested in doing such thing. It just wasn't appealing to me. What REALLY got me into it, was that I was told i could use this opportunity to clock in my necessary volunteer hours to graduate from highschool. All my kung-fu brothers and sisters were doing it at the time, so I figured "Why not." Here I am today, 12 years later... still performing and doing what I can to keep the tradition alive while keepin' it old school. Although now, the main reason for my return each year is for the school, the people, and the good times :)

Not only am I helping my school but also this is helping me stay in shape. The amount of cardio, shoulders, biceps, triceps  thighs, neck, back and core muscles that i use throughout the performances is just as good as going to the gym. 

With the New Year passed , Valentine's Day over, and Family Day behind us... It's time to get "Back on Track!" :) Tonight I will be heading back to Kung-Fu for a nice work out :)

Enjoy the pictures :)

My Lion for Day 1

Last day of Lion Dance with my partner in our flashy  pants :)

Day 17 - 22

As I am getting closer to the end of my Back on Track project, I can't help but feel like I haven't quite pushed myself to the limits of my capabilities throughout this whole program. Then again, while reflecting on that thought... I  feel a sense of reassurance that I AM on the right path and that IS EXACTLY what I should be feeling and thinking. With that feeling and thought inside of me, it will drive me into my next program which will be MORE intensive, detailed, and focused. 

Day 17 - I didn't end up going to the Gym that day due to the crazy cold weather, so i ended up going straight to Kung-Fu after workd. I arrived at around 5:30pm and started getting ready for a good stretch and warm up, followed by intensive kicking drills. Then 2 hours of kung-fu training. 

Day 19 - Went to the gym and did 20 min of cardio (5 min of warm up and 15 min of running at 6.5 speed on the treadmill). Blazed through the cardio due to my new and improved method of distraction lol!

Then went onto the free weights. Same routine as the last few times... although my second set was extremely difficult this time around. While I was doing triceps extensions, I had to stop at 7 of 10, put the weight down, give myself a few seconds, pick up the weight again, and finish the reps. I actually shocked myself and immediately started to assess the situation. What did I do wrong for me to not being capable of doing my full 10 reps?? I started thinking "Did I not get sufficient sleep the night before? Did I do anything strenuous during the day? Did I not eat enough throughout the day? Did I not give myself sufficient rest in between the set? Am I lacking H2o?" After going through the process of elimination, there was only one possible option for me to try out and also capable of seeing immediate results. I gave myself 2 min rest between my 2nd and last set. I went through all of my reps for each exercise without putting the weight down. It still was a struggle to finish my last set but at least I managed it better than my previous set.

Day 22 - Yesterday was sparring day at my martial-arts club. Not a bad day at all, I might add. Everyone did exceptionally well. We also saw a lot of progress in a lot of the students... Visible differences that is. Anyways, i'm getting off track. Usually, I would go to the gym for a 30 min cardio...or at least I should go every monday, but the last two mondays... I haven't. I figured the one hour of sparring should be sufficient cardio for the day. The only problem I'm currently encountering is that from 6PM to 7PM, the school is running the northern shaolin class and during that time...the school is PACKED...literally PACKED... There is barelly enough space to stretch, let alone throw a punch without having it land on someones face. Now I'm faced with a new scheduling dilemma...I'm thinking of going to the gym and do core or something considering i don't ever do core or include core exercises in my program...yes... I am aware that the core is a major muscle that with proper training will enhances all aspect of my fighting capabilities... but I'm just not willing to spend that extra 20 min to 30 min when I've already been at the gym for over an hour. I guess the mondays and wednesdays would be a good core day... I still have lots of figuring out to do before the end of my program ends...