A Night Out

Dai-Sifu, Sijee Olivia, Sijee Isabel. A night out in november.

Fook it!

The poststructuralists were right, language is indeed a prison.

As I'm writing a novel right now I feel contained within a seperate universe where only words and words and words exist. I'm strangled by words!
I'm just happy I'm not writing about kung fu. The nonverbal can not always be consolidated by the verbal, as is stated in the film above. I've been pondering how hard it would be to describe the kung fu moves in a true and thrilling way, I mean: how to make it fiction. And it must be thrilling. Why bother to do anything if it did not thrill and fascinate?

But some things can't be described until one experiences it. Like the perfect fook-sau, which I'm hunting as if it were the Holy Grail.

Strange. I haven't been training at all for a week and already I have obsessive thoughts about the fook-sau and I stare at peoples forearms like I have some sort of wierd kink. Forearms, forearms, fook-sau, tan-sau....
CRASH BOOM BANG!

How good for me then that I will train tonight! And how good for me that the perfect fook is just an armlength away (Dai Sifu is in the kitchen, he he...)
CRASH! BOOM! BANG!

I had a slight glitch in my chi-sao, every time I went from bong-sau to tan-sau, a glitch in forward pressure and voila! I create an abyss of unintention were the opponent can get through.

Would it happen if his chi-sao were soft and fluffy and playful? Feel-good fighting? Dancing? Well, it would be decieving, perhaps leading me to forget what it's all about: hitting the opponent. Intention creates forward-pressure. With the right intention we fill in the blank spots between one position and the next. CRASH BOOM BANG!

We cross the abyss.

My fascination with the fook-sau continiues. It seems like every time I train I discover something new about it. A good fook-sau is like the proverbial Flood, it cleans the slate. The Exterminating Angel.

I can't finish Kung Fu like I finish my novel. Cursed be the riddles of the flesh!
Why can't I just be satisfied with what I create, things of substance, that take on a life of their own. Training, though so physical, is at the same time so immaterial. Not at all like black ink on a white paper, that someone might be staring at 100 years from now. Even the darkest of bruises will turn pale after a few days...

I guess the dillemma could be easily solved with a videocamera.

I long for tonight when I will train 18-20.30. FINALLY less writing the god damn novel and more CRASH BOOM BANG!

All Along the Watchtower

One of the songs I constantly listen to is All Along the Watchtower by Bob Dylan, from his 8:th album, John Wesley Harding, which was released in 1967. The album is life-elixir to me, as well as his 30:th album "Time Out of Mind".

To me, Dylan somehow incarnates the beauty of simplicity, and the tinge of incompleteness, the haunting feeling of something left for you to fill in... I can't really explain it, the way Dylan awakens strong emotions in me... The listener is left in an evocative space, where dreams and memories come to life.

It's a great source of inspiration.
All Along the Watchtower fills me with an euphoric, apocalyptic feeling. It's like some great riddle hides within the song.




Then Imagine my thrill when, a couple of weeks ago, I saw Battlestar Galactica, my favourite series, and a cover of All Along the Watchtower is used in the end of the third season as an important key for things to come. It was like the episode was made just for me!

Less is More

WT is simple, direct, effective. But man is an indirect animal - loves to complicate it all, make patterns, make funny movements, make illusions... in Kung Fu as well as everywhere else.

Wing Tsun is like a sharp sword - it should be as a sharp sword, my Sifu tells me. He is not indirect at all. He shows me what it means, krasch, booom, bang! No bullshit.

And it has finally dawned upon me what WT is all about. I have reached some conclusions.

LESS IS MORE

A good fook-sao and slight, deadly alignment of the hip exterminate all.

The simplicity of it all is stunning, breathtaking like a good punch.

I will no longer dwell on fancy, complicated kung-fu moves. In fact, right now, I won't even bother to learn the biu-jee form. I will perfect my basic techniques, they were first for a reason- I will train on my punches, my fook, my tan and bong, with the right no-bullshit mentality I will never need anything else.

Every point clear.

Yes: I train Kung Fu for self-defence. Knock out bad guys. Break a sweat. I want to do it as direct as possible.

But man is an indirect animal.

Some people doesn't want to do Kung Fu in a direct way, and it's ok.
The key is honesty, I guess. Complex intricate, mysterious stuff holds great fascination. Some use Kung Fu as a road to spirituality and mysticism, losing themselves in complicated aestetic moves. Moves without a worldly purpouse (like punching the bad guy). They may pave your way to heaven, but will they save you in a fight?

Don't fool yourself: analyze what you're doing, and to what end.

I keep it simple. Truth often is.

Lund WT revisited

Today I was teaching WT at the kwoon in Lund, which is where it all began for me, almost exactly four years ago. I hope that I managed to give something back to WT Lund today. I enjoyed myself immensly, and hopefully the guys had as good a time as I had. Forgive me if I talked too much nerd, and details. I ranted and raved about the hip-connection, so I hope that you never forget it now.

I also send a thanks to Johan, who helped me out when I black-outed on Chium-Kiu ;-) and helped me take care of the newbeginners.

Hips don't lie.!

I will be back next time Sihing Jacques needs a stand in.

http://www.lundswingtsun.se/

Painting in progress

I am currently painting a Bart Cham Dao warrior.
I've just completed the second layer of colour. Two more layers and I'm done.

Quote to live by...

This is what I believe:
That I am I.
That my soul is a dark forest.
That my known self will never be more than a little clearing in the forest.
That gods, strange gods, come forth from the forest into the clearing
of my known self, and then go back.
That I must have the courage to let them come and go.

- D.H Lawrence

12:th GRADE TODAY!

Went down to Sifu Riis gradingseminar in Roskilde today, to be tested for the 12:th studentgrade in Wing Tsun. I was scared and nervous, knowing that this would be a Rite de Passage. It is also why I chose to grade outside WT Center, where I know everybody and feel comfortable. I also wanted another Sifu than my own Sweetheart Sifu to test me. To increase fear. 

And ever since Summercamp 2005 when i went for my third grade have I been a bit scared and in awe of Sifu Riis. I can still remember how shaken I was after his classes back then, "Does he really mean we should hit eachother this hard?" and "How can he be so brutal?" was thoughts that went trough my head then, and I can't say I didn't think something similar today, three years later.

It went on for four hours something, and I had to preform Siu Nim Tao, Chum Kiu with application and explaining the theory behind it and also the first four parts of the Dummy form, do defense against weapons, environmental fighting on a long staircase, running up and down trying my best to defend myself against multiple opponents. I also did the helmet-fighting (big fear) and Chi-Sao sections 1-4. 

Pictures will be up as soon as I get them from Sifu Riis. And maybe the film from my fighting-test... 

It was a juicy and thorough test to say the least, but gradings is not something that should be easy, like something you can do on a coffee-break. I believe in real tests, in overcoming your fears, overcoming yourself. 

Now I'm heading full speed for 1:st Technichan. It will not be an easy task. But I'm not in this for discount-techniques and illusions about what I do. Im prepared to devote hard work and time. I want the real deal :-) :-)

Kung Fu means hard work - it is not meant to be easy and cosy all the time. 

Per Aspera Ad Astra. 

Hips don't lie

I spent saturday and sunday in Odense, attending Sifu Morten Ibsen's seminar. It ran over two days and amounted to 10 hours of training. Sifu Morten teaches in the same manner as he practice his WT: straight forward, to the point, direct, intense. As seen in the picture, he left nothing to chance, from head to toe he didn't hesitate to correct all the details.

He guided us trough the concepts of Wing Tsun, concepts that is so simple to understand but so hard to master. Sifu Morten convincingly argued for the few basic techniques which makes all other quite obsolete: Tan-Sau, Fook-Sau and, third but rarely, Bong-Sau,Sifu Morten put a lot of emphasis on the basic structure, how do we stand, how do we generate power. Success begins at the heels!

The slightest error in the stance can have disastorous consequeces. When I put my weight back on the rear leg and forgot about turning the hip into my opponent, it literary gave me wings: I flew across the room. Without the hip-connection I have no power, It doesn't matter how many fancy things I can do with my arms, or how much I can beg for mercy.

Sifu talked and explained a lot about the hip connection, which for me makes an almost magical difference. The slight, slight turnings of the hip creates awesome power. Hips don't lie... now with a deadly sway. Shakira still got something to learn

The Dark Knight

Batman did not disappoint me. A more deeper, darker and brooding Batman than ever. Go see THE MOVIE! It's awesome.

Who needs a white knight anyway?

Going for Batman!

Today at 12 I will go to the cinema and watch Batman: The Dark Knight. I'm really excited. Batman has been my hero since childhood. I was a bit disappointed with the movies that followed Tim Burton's two first Batman movies, but with Christian Bale as Batman a new era began. I was really thrilled with "Batman Begins" and with Bale's performance. 

Summercamp 2008

Just arrived home from Wing Tsun Scandinavia Summercamp. It was a splendid week, with a lot of training and party. And now the training continiues....

As Above So Below

"If the earth is a sphere, then the abyss below the earth is also its heavens; and the difference between them is no more than time, the time of the earth`s turning.

If the earth is a vast horizontal surface reflecting, invisibly, even for each man his own proper soul, then again, the abyss below the earth is also its heavens, and the difference between them is time, the time of an eye lifting and dropping. The sun-door and the tree-root are the same thing in the same place, seen now from below and now from above and named, by the seer, for the moment of seeing."

Maya Deren- Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti

More Noir and music

Fantastic jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux sings a cover of Leonard Cohen, toghether with some classic film noir pictures:

Film Noir

I'm enthralled by the black-and-white movies with Lauren Bacall and Huphrey Bogart. I will watch all of them this summer, starting with "To Have and Have Not". A clip:

They don't make movies like that anymore. I don't know what is wrong with the world. 

I was pleasantly surprised last week when I watched "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" which captured some of that film noir-feeling, combined with the plot and dialouge of pulp fiction and comicbooks. And two drop-dead handsome actors, Jude Law and Angelina Jolie:

A typical day

A typical day in my life, when I'm not working:

8.00 waking up, drinking espresso and a proteinshake, and some omega 3 and omega 6 capsuels. Surfing internet, checking e-mails.

8.30 I put on my shoes and go out for a run or a fast walk.

10.00 Wing Tsun training

12.00 Lunch 

13.00 Study, meditation, painting

16.00 more food, more reading

18.00 Kettlebell training or Wing Tsun

20.00 Going home, dinner                  

23.00 sleep

                         

Doing Squat

Trained with Elif in the gym this weekend. We did a lot of squats and lunges and my legs hurt like hell. I've been training kettlebells so much this month that I almost not put my foot in the gym at all. It was nice working with the weights, although they felt a little bit dull after all the dynamic kettlebell-training. But Elif added all the dynamism one needs anyway.

17.o0 it's time for some fighting-training, helmet and gloves on. 18.00 it's WT Elite, and after that i'm probably beat, but if not I will also go for WT 19.00-20.30, otherwise it's the sofa and the last episodes of Babylon 5. 

Wooden Dummy for Dummies!

Welcome to Structureland! 

(Where anything is possible if you have the correct angles! Only your footwork sets the limit!)

Today it was Wooden Dummy seminar at WT Center with Dai Sifu. So nice to get the chance of a thorough run-trough of the Muk Yan Chong, the Wing Tsun Dummy Form. Sifu explained the basics of this intriguing form. For instance pointing out that the Wooden Dummy is a piece of wood, it is NOT a Chi-Sau training tool. Do NOT stick to the arms.

Dai Sifu presenting the Wooden Dummy for dummies. As he eloquently put it: 

"MYC teaches and corrects positions and coordination of hands and footwork. Although some toughening and conditioning of the arms is an outcome of training on the Dummy, that is not the purpose.

Do NOT strike the Dummy full force! 

Each movement on the Dummy is separate and must be completed and felt as separate movements. 

Do NOT speed through the form."

There was also time for some serious applications:

As with the other forms MYC is a collection of ideas, techniques and suggestions - some connected to the Siu-Nim-Tao and Chum-Kiu, others to the Biu Jee.

Kettlebells continiued

Sitting down now after an intense workout that began 11 'o clock with one hour jogging around the lakes in central Copenhagen. I can't remember if it's three or four of them right now, but they are quite impressive.  And the chestnut-trees are all green and full of leaves. Nice!

When I had conquered the lakes I ran to WT Center where I swinged kettlebells and other heavy items for one hour, togheter with Charlotte. A lot of stretching and a proteindrink to finish with. 

Now I will relax with a cup of dark black coffee, some dark chocolate and Anne Rice's novel "Merrick". 

Also looking forward to the Wooden Dummy seminar tomorrow at 12.00! Welcome to StructureLand!

The challenge from 1755

I have access to 250 year old training-equipement, right here in the apartement where i live:

The challenge: to be able to do 10 chin-ups without assistance before Summercamp 2008! 

Kettlebells

It will be very interesting to see if I can get up from the bed tomorrow. Did my first kettlebell workout today. My body is completely wasted, in a way that feels strangely pleasant. The training is called "Hardcore" at WT Center, and it was extremely fun. It also builds the kind of strength you need as a martial artist, focusing on hips, stomach and back, the core of the body. Shaped like a cannon ball with a handle, kettlebells at first seem more cumbersome than dumbbells. The weight of dumbbells is evenly distributed and doesn’t force grip strength, but the bottom-heavy Kettlebells are designed to hang down and move ‘ballistically,’ requiring the use of more stabilizing muscles, the way the body was meant to move. In effect, you build functional strength.

I will try to attend tuesday and thursdays from now on, and document the changes in my body. Already after today I feel so much more powerful, maybe because I awakened muscles I did'nt even know I have?

Sisters of Mercy

Time to RUN!

Nice weather, a lot of energy, a lot of training, little time for the computer and writing in my blog. I just love my new joggingshoes from Asics and use them as often as I can, to jog around in Copenhagen. And with some nice music in the Ipod, Sisters of Mercy's album "Vision Thing", and some Nightwish:

The hardest battle

"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best night and day to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle any human being can fight and never stop fighting."

~ E.E. Cummings, American poet ~

Fighter Club Seminar

Sifu Kenneth instructing the fighters

Today, the 22:nd march, Sifu Kenneth had Fighter Club Seminar at WT Center. He showed a lot of exercises for improving the fighting skills, and also talked about the psychology of fighting. It was very illuminating to take part of his extensive knowledge on the subject. At the end of the seminar we got to do short sequences of full contact fighting and try to apply what Sifu Kenneth had shown us. The most important thing is to open the fight good. That requires that one is able to trust the techniques, and to be focused on what is at hand.

Before I went to the seminar, I came up with all sorts of excuses of why I should stay home instead. I was sure I would not leave the seminar without pain and bruises. True, but I went anyway. It was a good lesson. To stand there, in front of rather aggressive guys and try to attack and defend myself was very challenging, I was a bit scared, but it was extremely worthwhile, because I learned some new things about myself, and how I react to a massive load of adrenaline and stress.

Preparing to fight...

Instructor seminar

A lot of instructors from both Sweden and Denmark gathered at WT Center the 8:th March , attending Dai Sifu's seminar concerning the programs for grade 10 to 12. Click on image for bigger picture.

The Cult of Infinity

"Infinity renders impossible any solution to the problem of meaning. It gives me demonic pleasure to think that the world lacks meaning because of infinity. What's the use of "meaning," after all? Can't we live without it? Universal meaninglessness gives way to ecstatic inebriation, an orgy of irrationality.

Since the world has no meaning, let us live! Without definite aims or accessible ideals, let us throw ourselves into the roaring whirlwind of infinity, follow its tortuous path in space, burn in its flames, love its cosmic madness and total anarchy!

One must bear within oneself the germs of this cosmic anarchy in order to grasp its meaning. To live infinity, as well as to meditate a long time upon it, is the most terrifying lesson in anarchy and revolt one can ever learn. Infinity shakes you to the roots of your being, disorganizes you, but it also makes you forget the petty, the contingent, and the insignificant."

Excerpt from "The Cult of Infinity" by E.M. Cioran (my favourite philosopher)

A Girl and her Sifu

Voodoo Dummy

Everything is dependent on intention and focus. To accomplish something you need WILL.

What you do often will change you a lot. Change your movements - change your world.

The Wooden Dummy - A great chunk of wood, carved out according to Wing Tsun practice. Not unlike those alleged center poles used in ritual practice since time immemorial. The Center Pole represented the center of the universe. The World Tree, the Pole Star, the Cross, the Axis Mundi are some of many other names given to this representation.

It is at these symbolic points that all worlds, spiritual and physical, are aligned and attuned. Within this “sacred space” a portal through the dimensions was accessible, allowing glimpses of the mysteries of existence, and the spiritual world. Through this center axis, all worlds could be experienced. The fortunate individuals who found these portals were called Rishis, Gurus, Prophets, Buddhas, Sages and Shamans. And Sifus?

I think of my Wooden Dummy practice. I move around this center pole, also seeking out mysteries. And maybe, what I do with my hands will change my world.

This is my ritual now, this is my cult. Wooden Dummy. Voodoo Dummy.

My arms reach out to touch the wood, to communicate with this dead yet living substance... like I sometimes lose myself in chi-sao, so the mind goes blank, and I become all body, blood and flesh. And when I return from this timeless sphere of existence, something is changed in my body forever.

What I do with my body will change my world.

(This photograph by Louis C. Faron nicely illustrates the ascent, the World Tree, drumming, and out of body or supernatural experience. Joan Halifax writes of this picture: "A female machi (shaman) has ascended her rewe or notched pole. The pole has steps, and the machi climbs to the seventh level to complete her skyward journey. She plays a frame drum that assists her in her climb up the World Tree. ")

Siu Nim Tao

17 februari it was Siu Nim Tao seminar with Dai Sifu, where he gave an in-depth guide trough this first form of Wing Tsun.

It was very rewarding to attend, I had many little revelations. Amazing how many times you actually can have done a form, and still you lose important facets. Because sometimes revelation comes not only from practicing a lot, but also from having a great teacher that can give you correct instruction.

I must admit I feel a little bit like I have been sleepwalking trough the Siu Nim Tao before this seminar. I wonder how I will feel after the Chum Kiu seminar that is coming soon...

The journey continues.

Master of Nothing

Got focus?

Kung Fu has taught me many things about life. I think about it now as I sit and try to finish an exam in anthropology. This thing with discipline, this thing with focus....

I had a teacher once that used to tell me to stay focused. He encouraged me to stay so very focused, that I would forget about whether I was "good" or "bad" in what i did.

I have remembered my lessons well, I hope.

Nothing wrong with having a lot of intrests, but if you really want to master something you need to focus on it and dedicate yourself to it. You need to DO, you need to practice. You need to stop asking if you are good or bad.

With my intense intrests in anthropology, renaissance painting, occultism, literature and Kung Fu I often need to focus on having focus, else I, for example, end up having read 5 pages in 10 different books instead of 50 pages in one. When I end up like this, having done a little in many different things, I just feel like I've done nothing and accomplished nothing.

The same goes with training, I think. Nothing wrong with wanting to learn many different martial arts, but you might end up as Master of none.

I have too many intrests to train more than one Kung Fu style. I want to become a master of something. I dedicate myself to Wing Tsun.

Stay focused.

What will I do with all my Kung Fu?

Great new Tim Burton movie!

Sweeney Todd, a new movie directed by Tim Burton, with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. My favorite director and my two favourite actors, all in one film, about one of those nice subjects: revenge! I will watch it in the theater next week.

Die another day

Me, my sister and her boyfriend Malte, aiming for James Bond.

On normal days, we are the staff of WT Center café and reception. But during the nights, hey, we're double-0 agents!

Embodied knowledge

Yesterday I was going to switch my cellphone on, which I have done a thousand times, with the specific pin code. I normally never think about which buttons it is that I press my pin code, the hand, so used to the combination, just moves in the specific pattern.

However, this time I started to think about the numbers instead of just doing it, and I could simply not remember the numbers! And just because I started to think about it my hand went confused and could not remember the movement.

As soon as thoughts came between the intention and the hand, motion was corrupted.

This little incident, however small, highlighted a lot of truth about Kung Fu...

Listen Grasshopper!

11:th SG today!

I was attending graduation-seminar today with ca 39 other WT enthusiasts, all going for their graduation-ordeal. It was also very exciting with the new grade-system that Dai Sifu is implementing.

I have attended the instructors seminars last weekend and the one yesterday, and got myself a good picture of the new deal. I feel it's a radical improvement of the system, and its easier to follow than the one we had before. It's so inspiring and fun!

AND as if that were not enough, I did pass the 11:th grade today!

I am very happy holding my 11:th diploma. And now I'm aiming for the last studentgrade. And then the red stripes!

Wing Tsun Women's Front

From February 6:th and on Sijee Elif and I will be running Wing Tsun for women at WT Center at wednesdays kl 18-19.

It will involve some aggression and a lot of fun...

Join the women's front and catch the kick-ass spirit!

Marilyn Manson is my sunshine

We all have different things that attracts and inspire us.
In my case it is almost always the odd, the strange and the different that gives me inspiration and happiness (Why else train WT?! hehe). I'm not interested in doing what other people are doing, and I don't want to be considered normal by any standards other than my own.

That may be part of the reason why I have always loved Marilyn Manson. He does his own thing. Some of my friends think that he's to "popular" to be subversive, but I don't agree. So he uses the goth stereotypes and clichés, but hey, so do I. After so many centuries of terror, ruin and darkness, maybe there is not so many new roads to take? Anyway, I love his style and his sound and his new single "Heart Shaped Glasses" is to good not to share.

Come join the dark side, we have cookies!

Darkness

I look out the window. It's still dark outside, black almost.

I'm not particularly fond of winter. The only positive thing with winter is that the skin really turns pale. Spring and autumn are my favourite seasons, when the light is bright, but not strong enough to give me a tan. The darkness and cold of winter makes me tired and zombie-like.

I get up at 6 in the morning to get to work and it's all dark, all cold. When I walk to WT Center the streets are all dark and empty. The only sunshine is in my earphones, Marilyn Mansons latest album and the fact that I know that the coffee-machine is waiting for me at the center.

Coffee is also dark. So is Marilyn Manson, and the nice WT technican-uniform.

But there is darkness and there is darkness...

...and sometimes there are stripes of red in it.

Face to Face

Siouxsie & the Banshees great song Face to Face from the soundtrack to Batman Returns, one of my favourite films. Claws and paws!

Sore Muscles and tired brain

There is not a single muscle in my body that is not sore today, from the training yesterday most certainly. As a consequence I was really stiff in my chi-sao today although I started to loosen up after a couple of hours. Did 4:th section drills today, which made my brain work harder than my body.

But BJJ is definitely a complete mean whole body workout I can tell. With this training three times a week I will never look at a dumbbell or a cable cross again! And tomorrow I hit the mat again.

Recharge after BJJ according to my sister Maria
(with Protein Drink 25 kr at WT Center)

Tap In - Brazilian JiuJitsu

Started to train Brazilian Jiujitsu today on Iran Mascarenas class at WT Center. It was extremely fun and extremely sweaty. I threw people (including my sister) and got thrown. To do this I had to overcome my fear of falling. I felt completely powerless in that moment between when the feet lift the mat and the body hits the ground. But it was great fun, and I got such a kick from doing something that initially scared me. I've been talking the talk about going to BJJ class for several months and now finally I did - and I'm completely hooked! I DO tap in for this!

A New Year - A New Day

The very first day of 2008, makes you think about what you want to do with the coming year. In my case, I've made no promises, since I know now more than ever that promises are for fools. So you can talk the talk - but can you walk the walk?

So no promises -just action.

"It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me"
- Batman