UFC 137

I have been looking forward to this event in Las Vegas for some time.  It will be a great time, even though my UFC idol GSP is injured, and will not be defending his title.  My kicks are progressing well and all is on schedule, and I will find time for training while away.  This is just how it is!

Allan Gamble

The Path to Everyday Improvement

I have been trying to find a good way to put into words the path to daily improvement and Bruce Lee says it very well.  It is all about removing limits you place on yourself.

“If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.” - Bruce Lee

Have a great training week!

Allan Gamble

Final Preparation

Hello all, this is the final week of preparation for black belt grading this Saturday.  I am constantly moving my mindset to the following:

I have trained and worked hard this year leading to Saturday.
My faith, guidance, and direction from our Sifus and the UBBT process has prepared me well for Saturday.
I believe in my team mates and myself.
I will sleep and eat well leading up to Saturday.
I will have high self esteem and confidence, without ego, on Saturday.
I will bring positive energy on Saturday.
I will break down the day and live in the moment for each task during Saturday.
I will control my emotions and breathing process on Saturday.
Gamble does not have a quit function, nor have I ever had!

This is it for now, have a great training week.

Allan Gamble

Simple Strategy

Hello all, throughout this year a personal challenge for me is to achieve a weight that I feel is right for black belt grading and my life going forward.  There have been many challenges along the way but I am very happy this morning as I got on the scale I finally achieved my goal.  There were many experiments along the way and success for me was based on the following principles that I would like to share.

Eat three meals per day starting first thing in the morning
Make lunch the biggest meal of the day and have a light dinner
Make half of your plate vegetables
Make healthy choices
Drink a lot of water instead of pop
Spoil yourself one day per week (This is where chips and dip come in for me)
Have a green tea before bedtime
Celebrate milestones of achievement

The most important learning is to not "under-eat".  If your are training like an athlete, your body needs a lot of fuel so it does not start to consume itself.

Have a great training week!

Allan Gamble

Basics

Hello all.  I am having a great week.  Training is going well.  I have memorized the "code of ethics" necessary for grading day and am spending a significant amount of time reviewing our cirriculum.  I am looking forward to working with my partner again on Thursday to progress with my five individual techniques.  I am working on a lot of forms and really paying attention to my foot position within stances, and the six harmonies.  This is the biggest opportunity for me as moving my centre from my shoulders to my hips is a constant work in process.

Have a great week!

Allan Gamble

Mastery - Life Changing Continuous Process

This has been a great year so far.  I have been committed to the UBBT process along with my personal kung fu goals.  Mastery is the process that has allowed me to continually improve myself both physically and mentally.  I have been thinking about this a lot lately with our black belt grading approaching on October 15th.  I find myself sometimes equating mastery, the destination, with the black belt grading and this brings about some emotions of fear and anxiety.  Wow, this is a breakthrough for me.  I have never publicly spoke of these types of emotion before, nor will it ever happen again.

I quickly remind myself that mastery is not attained on black belt grading day, nor is mastery a destination, but rather it is a life long process of continuous improvement.  The attainment of a black belt is one point along the journey of a life committed to mastery.  When I think of things this way I feel confident and proud of the accomplishments I have achieved so far this year.  The black belt grading is another day and if my preparation serves me well, everything will be fine.  When I personally have doubts of my "preparedness" I reflect on my experience in the wonderful sport of hockey, which I have been blessed to have participated for 40 years.  I have prepared for I would guess about 1,600 hockey games and it is the same preparation each game.  All nerves and butterflies are gone as soon as you step on the ice.  Kung fu will be exactly the same on black belt grading day.  Everything is fine as soon as you step on the mats.

Have a great training week!

Allan Gamble

Seize an Opportunity

Last night a group of us Sihings had an opportunity to practice throwing techniques with Sifu Prince and Sifu Harrington.  What a great opportunity!

The techniques we practiced were all related to throwing and flying where partnership is of great importance.  I found that as we got into it, the partnerships, team building, trust, and confidence grew within the group.  By the end of the practice we were not only focused on the individual techniques, but developing creative finishes to each technique.  I want to thank Sifu Prince for providing this opportunity and sifu and sihings for the great training experience.  Have a great training week!

Allan Gamble