Holiday Season

Hello all,

I would like to wish everyone and their families a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The Gamble Family

UBBT 2011 Highlights

Hello all,

2011 has been a very rewarding year and I have improved greatly as a person.  The UBBT process has been a driving factor in progressing in my kung fu and in every aspect of my life.  Here are the highlights for me:

Blogging - this has been a great tool in ensuring that I stayed on track with my personal goals and connected to the UBBT team.  It also took me out of my comfort zone a couple of times, blogging about myself and even sharing personal feelings.  This is new and somewhat of a breakthrough for me.

Random Acts of Kindness - recording random acts of kindness helped me to be mindful of being kind.  Also, I was more aware when I received random acts of kindness.  If these activities catch on for many people, there would be a lot more kindness in the world.  This one was very easy to do and it feels good.

Physout - This to me is the biggest factor in being successful in achieving my goals is to publicly record and manage my progress.  This is a great tool and I posted my progression on a weekly basis the same time as my weekly blog.  It provide me a tracking tool as well as motivation to succeed.  I would suggest that this should be a requirement for the 2012 team, just my opinion.

Have a great week!

Allan Gamble

End of Year Approaching Rapidly

Hello all,

We are nearing the end of 2011 and it has been a very challenging and rewarding year.  Very busy times right now with work, family, christmas, black belt grading process, ubbt year, dragon dance, and some other things.  I plan to blog a reflection of my ubbt journey next week as I am on the run this week.  All is going well and I am very happy!

Allan Gamble

December 2011 UBBT Challenge!

This is the final month for our 2011 UBBT and it is prudent to issue a challenge related to blogging.  We had our final 2011 UBBT progress meeting this past Saturday and Sifu Brinker nudged us to share our experience through blogging.  This is a great way to share our individual journeys with our current team mates and provide our learning for the 2012 I Ho Chuan team.

I would like to challenge all 2011 UBBT participants to blog on this site 5 times in December!

Gamble has 2 blogs today!

Have fun.

Allan Gamble

Getting Better

There are a group of us candidates grading for our black belts this year and we are in the final stage with a lot of work to do.  The focus now is improving our individual techniques and forms.  The last couple of weeks have been very challenging and hard on the body physically, but I think we all turned a corner at our evaluation last night.  Our partnerships have strenghtened and we have invested  a lot of effort in getting better each time, and I think we hit a major milestone last night.  Last night felt pretty good and our efforts are being rewarded with continuous improvement.  Also, our most recent Dragon and Lion dance looks awesome!  I think it came to life when we added the music component.

Have a great week!

Allan Gamble

Playoff Time

Hello all,

We are approaching the final month of this year's UBBT challenge, and for some of us the final stretch for our black belt grading, and I equate this to playoff time!  It is time to step up our game to the highest level and finish strong to meet our goals.  The year so far has been rewarding and challenging.  There are many old injuries flaring up, new injuries, and bumps and bruises which are all typicall of playoff time.  This is just how it is and very similar to how the wonderful sport of hockey works, which is my comfort zone to draw from.  It is time to have a winning attitude, suck it up, and put forth our best effort.

Have a great training weekand have fun!

Allan Gamble

Sharing Information and Learning

As I am in the process of a black belt grading year I would like to share some information for those who may be grading for their black belt next year and considering their individual I Ho Chuan goals for 2012.  I am content with the goals and training preparation I comitted to, but there is always learning that can be passed on to others. 

Specifically, these goals listed below focus your training directly towards kung fu to make you a better martial artist, and not directly geared towards making you a better athlete.  Someone, Sifu Brinker, told us this a number of months ago and it is very wise advice.

40 events - practice timed kicks. (one minute kick and one minute rest) front thrust, side heel thrust, round house, and spinning back kicks. (practice with a partner and provide technique "eye for detail" feedback)  Record your results each week.

1,500 forms - practice all forms mindfully.

40 events - full cirriculum review. (ask two questions each class for clarification and document)

40 events - practice cirriculum techniques from all belt levels at open training with a partner or group.  Choose a section of the cirriculum each week.

40 events - develop and practice your five individual techniques with a partner.

1 event - family vacation.
   
All of these will make you a better martial artist and they will provide you with an abundance of physical training.  I would suggest focusing on these types of activities versus an abundance of running, biking, circuit training such as p90x, and others.  Mindully practicing forms is physically as intense as any type of physical training in my experience, and all of the goals above have mental training along with kung fu training.

This is just my two cents but I wanted to share.

Have a great training week and big push towards the end of our 2011 UBBT year!

Allan Gamble

Every Day is a Good Day

I have chosen to write this blog because I have heard many times in my career, family, and kung fu that I am a very hard person to read.  So here goes; I will provide some information about myself which is going to take me out of my comfort zone, just a little bit, but not too much.

I am a very happy and positive person because this is how I consiously choose to be.  I like to put everything in overall perspective and this helps me maintain a positive attitude, even when I struggle, which we all do from time to time.  I believe that every day is a gift and we are all very fortunate to be located where we are.  Most people in the world do not have the same opportunities that we as Canadians do.  We live in the best country in the world and in my opinion, the province offering the most opportunity.

I am very fortunate as I had a tremendous "farm life" upbringing and also have a great family life, surrounded by a wonderful group of friends and teammates.  I am grateful to have a supportive kung fu family of sifus and teammates who are willing to help us down the final stretch of this grading year, offering a wealth of infomation, honest and clear feedback, and expertise.  I tend to gravitate towards other positive people and I am someone who will help anyone who needs it.  I respect and admire people who are "doers" versus "talkers".  Negativity bothers me a lot.  This is because most people who have negative opinions and outlooks typically are in a position to do something to change their destiny or outcome, but refuse to do so.  I believe that we can all change out outcomes if we really want to.  We all start with a blank page and can draw whatever picture we want.

I have had the opportunity to work in another country where basic needs are met only sometimes and freedom is non-existent.  This provides me with constant perspective, compassion, and clarity.  My family is consistently and quietly active in helping those in need within our community and internationally.

I am a very private and quiet person with my emotions.  When I have a problem I will seek information and advice and gather all information that I need to correct a problem.  I rarely will ask for help directly.  I carry my struggles internally and will rarely involve others.  I am a critical thinker and will analyze all information over and over following every available path to an eventual solution.  I will do this in private until a solution is attained and then will approach the solution with passion and excitement.  This process works for me.

I am a hard worker when it comes to anything I pursue.  I will be successful because I am confident that I will work as hard as anyone I know.  This is why I gravitated to kung fu, as the system is sound.  I will take advice and critique and work on specific elements, usually privately at home, until I am ready to move to another area.  I will always tend to hide and mask my injuries, this is a 40 years of hockey thing, and will privately work very hard on my weaknesses, which I do not like to discuss publicly. 

I am just starting to delve into the philosophical aspect of kung fu and look foward to this.

I am excited for the future and the final stretch of 2011 and look forward to 2012.

Wow, that is a lot for Gamble to share!  I am very happy!

Have a great training week!

Allan Gamble

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

This Week

Hello all, training is going well.  This week I will continue with daily conditioning, forms, and individual techniques.  I will specifically focus on cirriculum review and code of ethics memorization.  That is all for this week's blog, less blog and more work.  Have a great week!

Allan Gamble

Forms and Training Balance

For the last 2 weeks I have been very committed to increasing my conditioning level and the results are great.  Last night I decided to switch to forms, which I have neglected for the most part for the last 2 weeks, and the effects were devastating.  I have lost so much in 2 weeks in forms. 

Forms will be a priority this week, and every day up to grading, and I am confident they will recover.  My learning is to practice forms every day and surround this activity with conditioning, techniques, cirriculum review, and my 5 individual techniques.  The key will be to balance my training in all areas including some family time.

Have a great training week!

Allan Gamble

Don't Give Up

I have been working for the past month on my 5th choregraphed technique which includes a flying arm bar.  I have practiced this with multiple partners and until today, I have landed many times on my head or back.  Each time the technique failed I would go back to the beginning watching videos and discuss the step-by-step specifics with others.  Very slowly, and maybe a little concussed,  I have been able to piece this together and now have the technique basics in place.  Until today, I was at a point of giving up and moving on to a different technique.  Just this morning I was able to successfully comlete the techniques with Mr. Young and he deserves much credit as we have been working on this for some time.

Here is my learning;
Never give up on something that is important to you.
Seek the advice of others.
Walk through the specifics many times with your partner before trying physically.
The path to success will include many obstacles and failure points.
Succeeding at something you have worked very hard for is very rewarding.

Have a great training week!

Allan Gamble

Inspiration from Others

This past Wednesday, I had an opportunity to lead a board breaking drill in our Kung Fu morning class.  Each student chose a specific technique and we practiced three elements which were form, vector, and releasing chi.  At the end of the drill each student had an opportunity to break a board.  Everyone broke their board and it was inspiring to see, as many had not broken a  board previously.  Having an opportunity to see your training partners and fellow students break through a barrier or complete something for the first time is very inspiring!!  Have a great training week!

Allan Gamble

August Planning

Hello, here is my detailed plan for August.  When I write thing down through blogging, I have them in front of me top of mind, and I am on the path to success.  This blogging is working for me.

I will maintain my physical fitness level and do more running (windsprints and distance) to increase quickness and endurance.
I will do pull ups every night.
I will eat right and lose the last 4 pounds I have committed to.
I will practice and fine tune my 5 personal unique and original applications choreographed with a partner.
I will review and practice all yellow to brown requirements in our cirriculum including forms.

That is if for now, have fun!

Allan Gamble

A Good Read

I am not a person who reads a lot of books but I did take a recommendation from Sifu Brinker to read a book entitled Peace is Every Step, written by Thick Nhat Hanh. 

As I started reading the book I became very enlightened as to the simplicity of being mindful in life and the connection we should have and appreciate to our planet earth.  I am at the very infancy to understanding the concept of meditation and this book has helped me tremendously.  The greatest gift in this book for me is the summarization near the end of the book called the "Fourteen Precepts of the Order of Interbeing".  All of these make sense to me, more than any other guiding faith or previous learning I have.  I will quote the first Precept from the book to provide a flavor:

1. Do not be idolatous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or idealology.  All systems of thought are guiding means; they are not absolute truth.

This is a great book and I will recommend it to everyone I know.  It has helped me a great deal with my individual spirituality, well being, family and friends, and kung fu training.  Have a great training week!

Allan Gamble

Vacations are good for you

I am looking forward to our annual family vacation this year as I do every year.  It is a tremendous opportunity to recharge and to spend quality time with family and friends.

There were many times when I was working in the coporate world a few years ago that I passed on the opportunity of vacations.  There was never a "good time" to be away from work, there was always "the most important" project for the company, there was tremendous corporate pressures, time away was often viewed as letting the corporation down, the time before and returning from vacations were loaded with catch up, etc......  As you can tell, I am not a big fan of the corporate world and all of the things that go along with being an employee in this setting.

Things are very different for us the past few years and vacations are my most favorite time of the year.  This year for me will be a little different, in a good way.  My vacation will have 2 hours every morning planned for kung fu training.  I will be keeping up my daily requirements for push ups, sit ups, pull ups, and stretching.  I will also be spending an hour each day on forms practice, which I will be recording daily and blogging when I can, and some time running, swimming, biking, etc.  I have great support from my family as they are very active and will participate along with me for some of the training.  I will also be reading the book suggested by Sifu Brinker "Peace is Every Step".  Last Saturday at our UBBT something Sifu Brinker said made great sense as there should be no excuses for not training.  "If you do not have enough time in the day for your training set your alarm clock to go off earlier."  I may not have the exact words, but it was something like that.

See you all in two weeks, enjoy your training.

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Mindful Partnership

I have been in the process of developing my five personal techniques in preparation for our October Black Belt grading.  For my fifth technique I have been developing my version of a flying armbar technique/application and have the technique broken down very specifically, in my mind.  I spoke with my son and he agreed to be my partner for practicing this technique.  Here is my learning.  I spent a significant amount of time reviewing the process in my head, but gave a vague description to Mr. Gamble.  I jumped up and landed flat on my back and head, and did see a few stars, which was very funny to watch.  I will be more mindful of working with a partner in the future.  We practiced a little more, both on the same page, and Mr. Gamble is getting pretty good at this technique, and I am developing a different one for myself.  "What was very clear in my mind, was not well explained to Mr. Gamble".

Have a great training week!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Horse Stance

We participated in a great Sihing class on this past Friday night.  I seem to learn best when we take a specific technique or form and repeat the process many times.  Reprition is a great learning technique for me personally.  One of the messages from Sifu Brinker was to listen to what we were being told and incorporate the information while being "in the moment".  Specifically, we were to focus on the perfect horse stance throughout the kempo form.  When I inserted this gift into my personal kempo form the results were tremendous.  I now feel centered throughout the entire form just by paying particular attention to the horse stances within the form, even while swatting mosquitos when practicing outside.  I am also gaining confidence in the kempo form and I needed to do this.  Perfect horse stances will be the theme of this week's forms practice.  Have a great training week!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Daily Tracking

I would like to share my experience with daily tracking.  So far this year our SRKF team has participated in three months of daily tracking challenges:

March - daily diet tracking
June - daily two hour training tracking
July - daily forms training tracking

For me personally, this daily regiment has definitely helped me stay on track.  There were a couple times in early July that I was very busy and was not able to participate, however as soon as I saw others posting to the site, I was immmediately motivated and back on track.  I will be using this tool as my family will be away on a two week vacation at the end of July.  I will be posting daily, as well as documenting other personal goals, for these two weeks as I am very focused on this 2011 year.  Just my two cents on what is working for me.  Have a great week!

Testing Your Limits

I had a great opportunity to participate in our annual "boot camp" this past Saturday and had a tremendous time.  Throughout the day I was concerned about how much fuel I would have left for the two and a half hour physical test, at the end of the day going into the evening.  To my surprise, my numbers were still strong, relatively speaking.  I learned a lot about myself going through this process and I am proud of the accomplishment.  The team concept has been engrained into me from participating in team sports for my entire life.  With this in mind, the highlight of my day was the motivation and energy surrounding the entire team of students and sifus, throughout the physical testing.  The synergy and encouragement was strong.  Congratulations to all of my team mates, and thank you to all of the sifus who made this day exceptional!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Active Listening

I feel that a great characteristic to have as a person is to be a great listener.  We have had several consistent messages from our sifus lately pertaining to the "four phases of kung fu".  The consistent message is we need to focus more on the first phase of kung fu which is "form", or "technique".  This is especially evident in my forms.  When I think of this personally, it is a tremendous opportunity for me.  When practicing or performing forms, my focus has always been demonstrating the aspect of power.  I always consider each technique as crashing through a cement wall.  This has been my comfort zone. 

I need to change this to focus on the first phase which is "form".  I am going to challenge myself starting today to mindfully practice forms focusing on the first phase of kung fu.  The benefits will include centering, flow, quality of moition, effortless movement, and the connection of the six harmonies.  I look foward to the benefits of this direction with my forms practice.  This will align my path in making kung fu an art for me.

I will also listen to the advise from Sifu Brinker on Saturday.  Today I have stopped breaking boards, partially because I have broken all that I have, and also because the advise makes sense to me.  I will focus on the specific techniques within my board breaking sequence.

To keep this front and center for myself, the four phases of kung fu:

Form or technique
Speed and power
Accuracy
Realism

Have a great training week all!!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Gaining Momentum

A group of us have been recording our kung fu training for the month of June.  We have been very focused on our conditioning, and it has become the focal point for our kung fu training.  I am finding that as my conditioning level increases, all aspects of my kung fu training are improving physically and mentally.  Our challenge for June is to record two hours of training per day.  Personally, I am going to strive for three hours per day and will add more endurance and quickness training with more distance running, wind sprints, and the P90X training program.  I am also going to record my daily weight as I seem to be successful when I document what I am doing.  I will strive to be at 175lbs by the end of June and I am starting at 184lbs today.  Daily documenting has helped me a great deal with my physical training, but has not stopped me with stuffing chips in my mouth in the late evening.  Have a great week!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Allan Gamble - June 09

0.5 hr push ups, sit ups, pull ups, stretching
0.5 hr forms - all
0.5 hr cirriculum review
0.5 hr walk, stretch

2.0 hr day total
19.75 hr month to date total

June is "Go Time"

Hello all,  it is time for me to kick things up a notch as our black belt grading is approaching.  June will definitely be a very productive training month.  We have an internal UBBT challenge to document our training based on a two hour daily requirement.  I look forward to this challenge as it will be great physically and mentally!!  Have fun.

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Having Fun with Kung Fu

This has been a really good week for kung fu training.  I have been recording good numbers with respect to my UBBT goals and am developing confidence and creativity in board breaking.  We had an opportunity in our morning class to practice our board breaking skills with Sifu Prince, who has been an inspiration to me with respect to board breaking, among other kung fu related activity.  This has been a fun time and I am looking forward to participating in board breaking at our in-house tournament this weekend.  Have a great weekend all!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Good Things are Happening

This has been a very busy week, as most seem to be these days.  Today when I had a chance to reflect on this week I have much to be thankful for.  I feel that I have accomplished a lot of good things this week which make me a better person and one step closer to achieving this year's goals.

1/ A group of us participated in a practice conditioning test to open the week on Sunday, and it went very well for everyone.  I have confidence in my conditioning level and also have a defined plan to get better in certain areas to be in a good position for black belt testing this fall.

2/ I participated in standard first aid training which is a black belt requirement and now have a new skillset to add for myself and family.

3/ I participated in an event with a local volunteer group, "The Healing Seed" and we were able to feed 150 stranded people who were affected by the forest fires in Northern Alberta.  It was a great experience.

It was a good training and personal development week.  Have a great long weekend!!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, AB 

Time is at a Premium

Very busy week with work, yard work, and training.  Balancing work, life, and training is a good challenge for 2011.  Have a great week!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Forms Seminar

I had a great opportunity last Saturday to attend our annual forms seminar.  The form I chose to work on was Lao Gar, which I really enjoy.  The atmosphere, direction, and feedback that we all received from our Sifus was excellent.  The improvement that you can achieve by dedicating a few hours to a specific form is amazing.  It was a great week.  This week finds us away visiting relatives but offers a great opportunity to work on conditioning activities.

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

April Challenge

The month of April has always been a challenge for me with snow mold allergies.  I have a bit of difficulty with my respiratory system, but the month is almost over and I am looking forward to a green May.  Training is going well, however my numbers are a little low in forms over the past couple of weeks.  The good news is I am looking forward to our "Forms Seminar" this Saturday and hope to work on the Lao Gar form, which is a required form for Black Belt testing this fall.  I am really excited for this opportunity!!

Have a great week.

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Fine Tuning

I have spent a lot of effort this year related to improving my overall conditioning level.  I think spring-time may be here, but we have been fooled before, and I am going to add running for the next few months to my goals.  This will increase my quickness, which is required for some of our black belt conditioning requirements, and will also help with the remaining seven pounds I would like to discard.  I am also going to add pull ups as a goal throughout the next  few months as well.  Training is going well and I am finding it benefitial to switch up my routines to add some flavor.  Have a great Easter weekend!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

A Little Set Back

I had hoped to be ready to really focus on my physical and mental training after returning from a short vacation, however I am ill this week and am not able to train hard physically.  The bright lining in this is that I am able to focus on our memorization requirement for April.  Have a great week!!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Numbers

Training is going well.  Last week was a physically demanding week for conditioning, strength, and endurance training which was great.  This week for me is all about attaining numbers related to push ups, sit ups, and forms.  I will be away for 5 days starting Friday and know that I will be doing little training during this short vacation.  Have a great week!!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Diet Tracking - Looking Ahead

For the month of March our group UBBT project was to track and blog everything that we consumed each day.  I definitely have determined a trend in my consumption.  I consume about 2,500 calories a day, which is in the target zone for my gender, size, and activity level, however there is a lot of (good) and a lot of (not so good) calories.  I have done some research and will actively incorporate the following moving forward.

Much research indicates that a person who trains consistently should consume about 60% of their calories from complex carbohydrates in their natural state.  This catgegory includes oatmeal, whole grain cereals, grains, brown rice, potatoes, whole wheat pasta, root vegetables, wholemeal breads, beans, and lentils.  I will consume more within this grouping. (the good and improvement)

I will continue consuming protein from lean meats, poultry, and vegetables. (the good)

I will continue consuming dairy from low fat milk, yogurt, and cheese. (the good)

I will control and avoid fats found in fried foods, processed foods, and fast foods. (the not so good)

I will contol simple sugars found in junk foods and pop. (the not so good)

I will keep this simple as it is not complicated.

These very simple changes will have great results!!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

It is Good to Laugh at Yourself

I have to laugh at myself.  I was favoring my left foot this morning in kung fu as I am pretty sure I have damaged my third metatarsal in my left foot about 10 days ago.  It it is not getting better and maybe a little worse each day.  It is probably time to get an x-ray but I have been putting it off, and that is just how I roll.  We were practising timed kicks this morning and I rolled my third toe on my right foot and heard a little click, which I have heard before, and know for sure that I broke my toe, on the other foot.  This is pretty funny stuff, hobbling on both feet.  The good news is it will not interfere with push ups, sit ups, random acts of kindness, and gave me a topic to blog about today.  Have a great training week!!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Individual Price Paid for Canadian Government Services

We as Canadian citizens are the "customer" of government services which are broken down into federal, provincial, and municipal levels.  The "Canada Revenue Agency" is the department responsible for collecting revenue, which we define as taxes paid through corporatate profits and individual income, as well as consumption taxes.  I had the opportunity to participate in an audit this week for "one" of the taxes that the "Canada Revenue Agency" is responsible for.  The specific tax is our federal "Goods and Services Tax", which is a multi-level tax assessed and claimed back at every level of business through conception of a product or service, to the final consumer.  Most provinces have their own provincial taxes as well, which are now being combined into a "Harmonized Goods and Services Tax".  Fortunately living in the province of Alberta, we do not have a "Provincial Sales Tax" simply because we have substantial oil revenue.  I have just touched the complexity of the tax system but my point is that we as citizens are bombarded with taxes!!  I am an accountant by profession and I felt totally uncomfortable during the three year audit of our business, and started to wonder how other citizens trying to run their businesses feel when the "Canada Revenue Agency" employess interrupt their businesses to visit their customers.

Again we are the customer!!

How can we measure our Government's Scorecard.  This is very difficult to do, but I can make a reasonable estimate of how much tax as citizens we pay.

Household personal income measured
100%

Income tax
federal and provincial income tax
unemployment insurance tax
taxable benefits received tax
dividend tax
investment tax
personal business profit tax
27% estimate

Ownership tax
municipal property and business tax
4%

Excise/hidden tax
fuel, tobacco, environmental, hotel, airport, to name a few
6%

Consumption tax
federal goods and services tax
harmonized sales tax
11% canadian average

This is a high level estimate, and may not be all inclusive, and for every $100 we earn as citizens we pay $48 for our government services.

How do we begin to measure the bang for our dollar?

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Mindful Practice - "Stick Form" this week

Hello all, this week's training has me focusing on our "stick" form.  I did 10 reps last night and saw great improvement in technique and speed.  The biggest thing I worked on is the mental aspect of a focusing on a specific form, at a specific moment in time.  Before practicing, I spent a little time emptying my mind to ensure that I could focus on nothing other than what I was practicing.  This really worked for me.  Normally when I am practicing kung fu, there are always a number of other things that I am thinking about at the same time.  The things Sifu Brinker repeats to us all the time are starting to sink in.

Where am I and what am I doing
Mindful practice
Living in the moment

Wish everyone a great training week!!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

World Health - The Real Issue

I am posting an extra blog this week as I have been doing a lot of thinking related to our planet.  We had a great discussion at our UBBT meeting this past Saturday, much of which was related to choices.  The choices were related to our environment such as non-renewable resources and food choices.  There are many perspectives and viewpoints related to the following issues;

non-renewable fossil fuels
alternative energy sources
CO2 emmissions from all industries
global warming (this one is vague in my opinion)
fresh water supply (most critical in my opinion)
meat vs vegetarian vs vegan diets
conflict over control of the above

All of these and many others seem to be top of mind for most people and governments within the industrialized nations.

This is my take on it, and only my opinion.  The world needs to get control of world human population.  In the year 1900 the world population was 1.6 billion.  In the year 2009 this has grown to 6.8 billion.  This is a growth rate of 325% from the base 1900 year.  This means that there are 325 more people today for every person who existed in 1900.

For a more micro perspective, the world population is growing at a rate of about 200,000 people per day.  This is staggering growth and the world population projected for the year 2050 is 9.2 billion.

World population is growing and the natural resources are dwindling?  This will become more staggering as the bulk of the developing countries, which represents the bulk of the world population, becomes industrialized.  The developing countries represent about 75% of the world population.

Based geographically here is where the world population is located:

Asia - 61%
Africa - 21%
Europe - 5%
North America - 7%
South America - 5%
Other - 1%

In summary, over the last 100 years our population has increased from 1.6 billion to 6.8 billion and is ramping up at the rate of 200,000 people per day.  To me the solution is simple.  What can we do as a group to influence world population?

A nice little video,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thuViaxRd_w&NR=1

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Random Act of Kindness I Received

I have been paying a lot of attention to the kindness I exhibit since joining the UBBT, however this blog is about receiving an act of kindness over the weekend.

My daughter and I were at the airport picking my wife up after a week long yoga retreat in Mexico.  As we greeted her and were about to leave the airport I noticed that my wallet was missing.  I suspected that it fell out of my pocket where we were sitting.  We rushed back to that spot and noticed that is was not there.  We retraced all steps from when we had arrived at the airport and could not find it.  We checked at the information booth and with some employees to see if it had been recovered.  My mind started to think of the ramifications if it had been stolen.  We left the airport and I noted an inventory of everything that was inside of my wallet including cash, identification, bank cards, credit cards, and other pertinent information.  I started to think of credit card fraud, identity theft, and the process of canceling and replacing everything that was inside.  As I was driving home my wife started the process and canceled two of the four credit cards.  She then suggested that she should check our home phone messages to see if anyone had found it and called our home.  She made the call and started smiling.  A gentlemen had found my wallet and looked up our telephone number and called our home as soon as he could, so we would know it had been safely found.  He left his cell number and wanted us to call him anytime to arrange for pickup.  He also wanted us to know it was found before we started canceling our cards.  The next day I met the gentlemen and picked up my wallet.  He was a very friendly and helpful man.  I thanked him with a gift card and we both parted very happy.

I don't know why when this happened that I immediately thought of the worst possible scenario vs the most optimistic scenario, but I am thankful for this gentlement who was truly helpful, sincere, and caring.  What a great day!!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Full Schedule

Hello all,

This is a very busy time for me with year end work, hockey playoffs, kung fu training, and my wife away for the week on a yoga retreat.  I have learned how to make our morning "healthy" smoothies but our dinners have mostly been take-out.  Will have a more meaningful post next week.  Happy training!!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

In The Zone

I have been very fortunate to compete in the sport of hockey for the past 40 years.  I still enjoy playing every game, however being the oldest player in a younger league is a fun challenge.  Last night we played our last regular season game and we finished in first place playing the second place team.  It was a great game and a lot of fun. 

When I signed up for UBBT 8, I was sure that I would feel the benefits of better conditioning and this would help out in all areas of my life, including hockey.  For January and the first part of February I felt only a little improvement and was waiting for the benefits to really kick in.  In last night's game I played the game "In The Zone" and haven't played or felt this way in at least 10 years!  My conditioning was great, mindset was strong, and hands were unbelievable.  I owe this feeling to the results of becoming involved with UBBT!!!  I think the real beauty is that you only feel "In The Zone" on rare occasions and when you least expect it!!

Have a great training week!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu - Stony Plain, Alberta

Black Belt Test - Preparation

The best way to ensure that you meet your goals is through diligent preparation.  I am reviewing my game plan for testing this fall and I need to build a repetitive practice routine for timed kicks and board breaking. 

Specifically I need to build a quicker recovery time after performing the front thrust, side heel thrust, roundhouse, and spinning back kicks, for one minute each leg, with a one minute rest between each repitition.  After this eight minutes of kicks and eight minutes of rest I have found that my energy is quite depleted.  The answer always hits me as I write it down.  I will practice this set every week after our fitness class on Saturdays.  I am confident this will work!

Secondly, we spend time board breaking in class but I have yet to purchase the boards, cut them to size, and break them on a regular basis.  Again the answer is quite straight forward.  I will practice board breaking with my own boards every two weeks, probably after fitness class on Saturdays.

Have a great training week!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Late Night Snacking

I knew that at some point early this year I would have to address the issue of late night snacking.  The physical training for the UBBT is progressing well, I am having a great time playing hockey, and kung fu classes are great.  With all of this physical activity I am realizing that I need to make changes related to my late night eating habits.  It is quite simple really.  If you are physically training hard you need to fuel your body in the same manner.  I have become good at the physical training part, as I have been involved in competitive sports for most of my life, but it is now time to pay more attention to "late night snacking".  During the day I am eating right for the most part, but the majority of evenings are filled with chips, cookies, and pop.  Doing this once in a while is certainly fine but when it becomes most evenings, something must change, today.

Starting today I am going to replace the chips and cookies with fruit, yogurt, or eggs and the pop with water or green tea.  I will give myself one night a week to still have chips and a pop.  This should make me better by 86% related to late night snacking.  Have a great week!!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

Ask Questions?

Our Sihing class on Friday night was great.  At the end of our class we always have an opportunity to ask questions and there are always a couple questions that we receive answers and clarification for.  This most recent Friday, Sifu Freitag "encouraged" each of us to ask a question.  The result was tremendous.  There are many things that I am somewhat unsure of as it relates to our Kung Fu cirriculum, and now there are a few less as a result of the 10 questions clarified in class. More specifically, I am clear on the following:

Opening and closing a horse stance
Breathing in a horsestance
The five knife hands in Kempo
The final step in Stick 3
Sleeping hammers in 18 temple motions and the suttle difference in kempo

In each of these above I was able to take away a specific detail that provided a clarification that I did not have before.  Asking a question is a simple concept, but following through adds a tremendous benefit and when applied to a group the synergy is amazing.  Thank you for the encouragement Sfiu Freitag!!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu - Stony Plain, Alberta

Forms - Developing An Eye For Detail

All is going well in my UBBT world.  My physical requirements are progressing on schedule, and are enhanced by the high volume snow removal work that we are all experiencing in the Edmonton, Alberta area.  It is rewarding to help out families and neighbors with their snow clearing and random acts of kindness are benefiting from this snowfall.  We live in the country and there are many neighbors without tractors and blades to clear their yards and driveways. 

I have recorded 57 forms practiced year to date, including today, and I know that, outside of regular kung fu classes, this is more practice than I committed to forms for all of last year.  I am not proud of this but here is the benefit this year.  I am not spending time remembering the sequences, stances, techniques, and flow of each form, but I am now focusing on specific details within each form.  Hence, I am developing an "eye for detail".  Everyday I feel my forms are improving and I am starting to develop a confidence level that I have not had before.  I have been, and am planning to continue, asking two specific form questions at each weekly Sihing class and then implementing the knowledge for the next week of forms practice.  Also I want to thank Sifu Prince for the ''PhysOut" program for UBBT goal tracking.  This is a great tool for managing goal progress!  Have fun all, the snow is forecasted to subside this evening!!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

UBBT 2011 Annual Goals

Week number two is underway and progress is going well.  We all have been receiving extra conditioning as a result of the snowfall in our area.  I am publishing my UBBT goals for the 2011 year. 

Here is my learning so far.  I am very motivated each week if I know that I have a day off of push-ups and sit-ups, and have decided that Sunday each week will be a recovery day.  Also, I found out last night that if I practice a specific form ten times in one day, I receive a greater benefit than if I practice the same form only a twice a day all week.  With this in mind, I am dedicating myself to ensuring that I perform twenty forms each Sunday.  This also will reduce the daily pressure to ensure that I have enough forms for the week in total.  Have a great week!!

1/ 50,000 push ups

2/ 50,000 sit ups or equivalent

3/ 52 blogs

4/ 1,000 form reps (500 kempo and 500 other)

5/ 12 assignments completed and handed in on time (sihing requirements)

6/ 1,000 random acts of kindness

7/ 1 completed charitable fund-raiser as an owner and leader of the project

8/ reduction of purchasing plastic water bottles by 95% and reduction of using plastic bags when purchasing groceries by 95%

9/ no quitting

Allan Gamble

Student Member

Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta

2011 UBBT 8 Ready, Set, Go!!

I am very excited to start the 2011 year.  I have set all of my goals for the Ultimate Black Belt Test 8 as a student member and am looking forward to the challenge.  New Year's Day will be fun filled with 1,000 push ups and 1,000 sit ups.  I have completed this task in previous years and have learned a lot about the process involved in developing a plan of attack.  I always start with the push ups first by completing in reps of 25 about every 10 minutes.  This works out to 40 sets and will take 6-7 hours to complete.  Once completed I will tackle the sit-ups with the initial 5 reps kicking out as many as I can.  I will then complete the remainder in sets of 25 with varying types of sit-ups working different core muscle groups.  Have a great day!

Allan Gamble
Student Member
Silent River Kung Fu, Stony Plain, Alberta