*Deep breath*

Focus…

Face the challenge.

Consider the scenario.

Choose an option.

Be deliberate.

Be insistent.

Improve.

Just beautiful…

This feels raw, emotional and is just a beautiful website sharing a touching tale.

On to other happenings from the last month or so.

Things have just been chugging along. Wedding plans are getting sorted out slowly but surely, I am getting closer and closer to professional qualification time and I am now two months into my BJJ training and am loving it!!! I get pummelled by just about everyone as they are more experienced, more skilled and much bigger and stronger! I guess I just need to get smarter and more efficient! The upside is that since I’m basically trying to lift and maneuver myself under 80-120kg training partners I am getting considerably fitter and a little stronger too. Can’t wait to get back to boxing to round off the training some more.

House hunting is on the horizon too, so I anticipate some weekends being chewed up with inspections towards the end of this year & the start of next year. Prices at the moment are crazy still, so we’ll take our time to find something that suits us. It is exciting to think about having our own home though.

and… I have also been going through the photos from our Nepal trip, and am itching to lock away our next adventure. So time to get back to doing the 1k steps and day walks.

So much to do, so little time…

*sigh*

and growing up is so expensive!!

Oh congrats to Amph for pushing through the altitude issues and making it to the top of Mt Fuji!! YAY!!! and home in 2 weeks!!! DOUBLE YAY!!!

Not a bad two weeks..

Well the last two weeks have been a ‘growing’ two weeks.

Work is busy so I have had to put in the hours, but it feels like there has been progress made and my understanding is improving which is good for the confidence.

BJJ training is also progressing well. Having only trained for maybe just over a month I feel like I am recognising the danger signs and it is taking longer for me to be swept or tapped out. Undoubtedly I am still being schooled by everyone at training, but it is great being able to feel the progress. Also, the training schedule at BJJ has changed which equates to potentially more training sessions that I will be able to make it to! I hope to get a long to some no-gi sessions and when I get more experience I would like to get along to the MMA sessions too.

Boxing has suffered a little as my routine has been interrupted, but I also have had some good tips from one of the pros in the gym on improving my footwork.

To top it all off we had an enjoyable trip to Sydney where we attended a concert and relaxed for a weekend.

So I am tired but feeling good generally. Hopefully I can keep things on the up and continue to build the confidence in all the different facets of life.

Regrets..

Wow!!

Two post in one day!

Anyway, I was having a discussion with N the Pirate and I expressed some regret in the way my martial arts journey has gone to date.

The lapse over the last 4-5 years, although in my mind being justified, makes me wonder where I would be if I had continued training and juggled the other aspects of life at the same time. Knowing my tendency to be deeply absorbed in my training and train as often as possible, it was probably a good idea for me to focus on studies instead of allowing myself to be distracted by training, but if I had continued training in anything be it being more serious with my Kung-Fu, or continuing in Iaido I would have somewhere in the range of 8-9 years of training under my belt. Even had I started Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at that time, I would have had 4 or 5 years under my belt there too.

I could be really progressing along reasonably well… I could maybe be monstering people on the mat… *sigh*

To quote Brando, “I coulda had class… I coulda been a contender, instead of a bum, which is what I am – let’s face it.”

Well, maybe that’s a little melodramatic.. hehehe…

Anyway, I wonder if I have wasted the time and opportunity. Maybe I should have continued and just had the mental fortitude to know where to draw the line between study and training?

I guess we’ll never know, unless Amph builds that damn time machine.

Almost half way..

Well we’re coming to the half way point in 2009 and what has happened and what have I achieved?

My plans for improving my Chinese language skills have not come to fruition, but I do have another 6 mths to remedy that.

Wedding plans are progressing slowly with a venue and Cheazles’ dress sorted and now invites, photographer and perhaps cars to come.

My health and fitness regime has been promising and my big paunch is now a little paunch.

I am now a white belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and my boxing skills are improving.

Work is picking up speed and is beginning to consume all of my time and towards the end of the year I’ll be looking to get my professional qualification which is a little scary!

The Lakers are one win away from winning the NBA Championship for this season!

Rubinho is home and keeping me entertained!

The second half of 2009, what is to come and what do I hope to achieve?

I hope to improve my Chinese (fingers crossed that I get off my lazy buttocks).

Cheazles, myself and our wedding team organise and lock in all the rest of the wedding details.

My exercise regime yields the following result:

My BJJ mongness progresses to less mongness and that I can jump in the ring and spar at boxing.

I get my professional qualification.

The Lakers win the Championship!

and

I eagerly await the return of Amph!!!  Woot!!!

I hope 2009 has been treating everyone well and that things are progressing as you desire and the remainder of the year yields the fruit of all the good things you have been working towards.

Beware!

Don’t mess with turtles…

The Force!!

I’m training hard in preparation of joining this awesome new gym.

Awesomes..

A little gem that Gorbz brought to my attention… ENJOY…

“I just ate a grape…”

ROFL

Inspired..

I think my watching Hong Kong Movies this weekend with all the martial arts has inspired me to reorganise my time to do some traditional training amongst my boxing sessions each week. It’s nice just being out in the backyard and whirling my kwan do, or doing some pole work and maybe I’ll even pull out my swords and do some cutting. I am not looking forward to pulling the swords out though, I have a feeling my neglect has left a couple of little patches of rust! I know, I’m a terrible swordsman who has not looked after my tools of the trade! On the other hand, my new Kukris should do a fine job paring down my 8 foot pole into a 7 foot 2 inch spear which is what Sifu had told me to do many, many, many moons ago.

Speaking of moons, man have the moons been on the move! We are half way through February already! Two out of the twelve months already gone!

It seems wedding planning is to take up my weekends for the foreseeable future, as Cheazles and I have our big day next year. It will be reception inspections, then working out catering, invitations, photography etc. etc. etc. There just seems to be so much that needs to be organised for a one day event! Although, I’m more concerned with the honeymoon and picking a good destination!

The three leading options are Mongolia for an adventure trip through the steppes to meet the horsemen and experience the nomadic life, another option is Patagonia and a trip to the Grey Glacier and Perito Moreno, or perhaps Europe which Cheazles has wanted for a long time (plus I wouldn’t mind doing a summit climb of Mont Blanc!). The only other option I’ve toyed with is a trip to Northern India to go to Ladakh and Zanskar and doing multiple high pass treks, but having done Nepal just recently I think maybe we could postpone that one a little since it’ll be nice to experience a different environment.

Anyway, that’s just me dreaming. The piggy bank is being tipped into the wedding at this stage, so my holiday adventures are just a distant dream in the meantime.

Oh well… time for bed soon. Work week is starting and the weekly grind begins again. Lets see if I can motivate myself to get up early and do some hei gong in the morning.

**** Edit ****

Oh, just a finally addition. It’s been a sad week here with the bushfires burning. So best wishes to all who have been touched by the bushfires. It’s so sad to think that there has been so much devastation to the people and the landscape. That beautiful Mt Everard Circuit up in Kinglake is likely to have been wiped out too.

Kudos to all the fire fighters out there and to all who have helped in their own way.

No Yeti…

Cheazles and I are back from our little trip to the Himalayas and unfortunately we did not manage to see any Yeti. Maybe it was because we were over on the Annapurna side of things and not toward Everest. We saw one zany lycra clad man in the snow, but no Yeti.

Anyway, it was an amazing experience and we enjoyed it thoroughly!

There were numerous highlight moments, but enjoying my birthday in the mountains was fantastic. It snowed that day so we got to trudge through the white stuff, did a bit of a ridge walk and we lunched in a beautiful snow filled valley. It was pretty damn awesome!

Another major highlight was waking up above the clouds. I crawled out of my tent one morning to be greeted by this…

We were surrounded by a sea of clouds… and then the sun rose, giving us this…

The size of the mountains was staggering, we had trudged our way off the beaten track up to an altitude of 4,225 metres above sea level and were fairly pooped, however that was only to the snow line of that particular mountain! We were probably only just over half way up and oxygen was at 60%! Kudos to all the folk that go up higher (especially the Sherpas/Guides/Porters) because it is hard going and I can only imagine how hard it must be when the oxygen level drops further!

As for enormous mountains, we could not go all the way to the Himalayas and not see the big daddy of them all! So we took a scenic flight of Everest, and that is one big bit of rock!

Sagarmatha (Mount Everest)

So Cheazles and I have agreed that we would like to go back and trek to Everest Base Camp some time, however we have a few different options we would like to explore first and I think Cheazles would like a warmer climate for our next holiday. So maybe South America might be a winner! I can’t wait to go on another trip into the wilderness!

I must say though, when the trip ended with a walk through one of the developing villages at the end of the main tourist trail we all felt a little sad. The mountains had been so magical, but progress can not be stopped and there were roads being built and the pristine nature of the hills were changing. I can only imagine what the place would be like in 20 years time. They mountains are huge and immovable and have stood there for so many years, but although we are minuscule in comparison we leave a mighty big impact on the environment, not even the mountains can remain unscathed over time. It would be wrong to deny anyone the opportunity to improve their standard of living, but I sincerely hope that we all manage to protect and keep the magic alive.