The Progression of KShap

New Year and Updates

2010-01-06T22:10:00.000-08:00

Well, happy new year to everyone. I hope all your goals were achieved, and that you have been able to grow yourselves into stronger athletes no matter what your sport or discipline.

Unfortunately, my blog hasn't been on the forefront of my efforts recently, but that's pretty much due to me being busy training! My schedule has been packed with 4-6 days of training a week in either Wushu or Parkour over the past months. However, I'm sad to say that my own goals were sidetracked by other efforts (such as Wushu, Sanda, strength training, and generally other movements). Nevertheless, I have come closer to achieving all of them. Recently my Wushu has been getting a lot better overall, so I'm very happy with that, and Parkour has been good to me too with a few new techniques, and personal achievements. Break dancing has apparently become the new thing too haha. So I've been attempting that.

In any case, I should really crack down on those goals. But I have nothing to complain about as other things has definitely gotten better in return. Work work work. Good luck to everyone!

Trip Return/Graduation/Update

2009-06-19T16:31:00.000-07:00

Update:
Haven't updated in a long time simply because not much has happened in the recent months out of the ordinary. I've begun swimming at least twice a week, and am looking to begin training kung fu at a school in the area on top of my Parkour training. As well, I've recently graduated from university, earning my Honours Bachelors degree in Business Administration. However, at this point in time I have had not much luck in finding a job... but I'm not too worried as I have my own projects possibly in mind.

Trip Return:
I recently returned home after just about a month trip back in China. Hangzhou was a lot of fun, where I was able to meet many more new people. One downside to the trip was the lack of training during that time period. I can feel the difference now, but I'll work it back. During my trip I was able to make it back out to visit my old kung fu school for a day. It was great to see my shifu and see those who are still training there, again.

Speaking to local students I was able to learn that there is also a local Parkour group there, which was established around 2-3 years ago. It was great as I was explaining Parkour to them and a few of them were very familiar with it and had a few friends who do/have tried it. Unfortunately I couldn't make it out to meet up with them, but I'm sure I will next time I'm in the area. Lots of new cultural knowledge was learned especially this time around as I had the opportunity to immerse myself with the local students more so than during my previous trips. It was a ton of fun this time, but it's also pretty relaxing to be back home for good after 4 years of being everywhere and out of town.

Return to China

2009-03-15T12:48:00.000-07:00

I'm glad to say that I'll be returning to China soon again. As another exchange with my school, I along with a bunch of other students will be staying in Hangzhou for 3 weeks to promote ourselves to a local university there. This is really exciting as I can visit Shanghai and all the people still there again! I can maybe even make it out to Nanjing or some other cities on the weekends. Hopefully that will be possible. I'll be going from mid-May until early June. 不久见中国！

School Life Almost Over

2009-02-22T20:31:00.001-08:00

This final semester of school has been a bit of a doozy, leaving me with not a ton of time for myself. I can't believe that my university life is over soon. That means that the next obstacle is just about to come up... finding a job. I don't know where I want to work, or what exactly. I have ideas in mind, but we'll see what happens when it happens. There are three main places that I've been looking into, though almost nobody is hiring worldwide. I'd be interested in China, Australia, or simply staying at home. But again, who knows what's going to happen until it does.

Fencing has been on and off unfortunately because of school work, but it's been a good optional source for some supplementary training when needed. Once this semester is over I'll finally have a lot more time to train.

China Parkour
A lot of people have been contacting me to get info on the Chinese Parkour scenes. Don't feel weird about doing so as I'd love to help. Just shoot me off an email, or leave a comment here and I'll gladly get back to you as soon as I can. There are many Traceurs in each of the main cities and I'd be glad to help you get in contact with them, specifically the ones in Shanghai, Nanjing, Zhengzhou, and Beijing. They are all very active groups and would love to promote Parkour, themselves.

New Year 2009

2009-01-01T08:15:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year to everyone. I hope that all your goals and resolutions were achieved last year, and hope that all your new ones will be even greater.

It was definitely a new and great year for me. I look forward to the upcoming one.

Nanjing Parkour

2008-12-10T05:30:00.001-08:00

Ahhh, so much fun!

I had a week and a bit for vacation around mid-November and decided to go traveling. I went out to a number of locations including Zhangjiajie, Wuhan, and Yunan province. But near the end of the trip I went and visited Nanjing.

After a few back and forth emails with one of the local Nanjing guys, I had set up to meet them after I arrived... however, it turned out that my train was getting in later than expected. As they were having a meet at almost the exact same time I was arriving, I went straight from the train station to the gymnastics facility to meet them. After a short session (20 minutes) at the gym, they had to close up early and we were kicked out. My plan was to then get to my hostel and get some food and relax for a bit (after traveling for a good 20ish hours on the train) and then meet up with the guys, but what ended up happening was one of the guys invited me to stay at his place for the weekend. His name was Ayong and he was an incredible person to hang out with. He hung out with me each of the days and we went and trained every day I was in the city.

Ayong and I at his pad

These guys were a lot of fun to train with and were very organized, relative to the other Chinese communities I've met. There are many many many awesome hotspots and training areas too. You'd expect that Shanghai would have as good places to train, but it just wasn't true (although the Shanghai spots were all good)! Specifically, Nanjing University campus and an obstacle course area were my favorite spots. On top of that, they also had free access to a gymnastics facility... which was impossible in Shanghai, especially a free one.

Hangin out after a training session at the University

Short summary: Training happened each day, gymnastics facility twice, and a bunch of touring happened around the city with Ayong. All-in-all the trip was awesome, and it ended on such a good note visiting Nanjing. I hope to visit once again and see how they and the community have all grown since my visit.

Chillin at the gymnasium

Training with the Nanjing Parkour group was an awesome experience, and I got a cool shirt out of it too! haha.

-KShap

China Parkour Scenes

2008-11-22T22:48:00.000-08:00

I luckily have been one of very few westerners to have experienced Chinese Parkour groups first hand. It has been an incredible experience, and I've made friends for life here from it. I had the opportunity to train in 3 different cities (Shanghai, Nanjing, and Wuhan), and hopefully next time I can meet the Beijing group. It's kinda like a look into the past, seeing these groups... but with a more "big picture" train of thought than we had back in the beginnings of our groups.

Training with groups from other regions, may they be nation-wide or international, is an experience that everyone should have. Even if it's just going out to a new city, you will always learn at least something from those new people and make great friends in the process.

I have had an amazing time this trip, and I'll be going home next month. Gotta get some more training out before then.

Important Lesson Learned

2008-11-22T22:43:00.000-08:00

Never bite into a fish oil tablet.... it's just wrong.

Camel

2008-10-07T00:41:00.000-07:00

This is a Camel:

This is me on a Camel:

I assure you it's real, not stuffed!

Shanghai Parkour

2008-09-29T02:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the second time meeting with the Shanghai Parkour group. We had 5 people come out. These guys are a great group. They are very motivated, very fun, and very different from every other group I've met... mainly, I believe, because of how secluded they are from the international scene. There's not much organization, but still enough to keep a group connected and together. A few guys are somewhat experienced and a number of them are quite athletic. Very very enthusiastic. Especially about having a foreigner around. Word is also out that there will be a French guy arriving soon. He will be the second foreigner to train with them (haha, I'm the first :P). It will be fun to meet him. One of the Shanghai traceurs is also a great photographer and I'll post up some pictures taken from yesterday's meet sometime soon.

Infrastructure-wise, there's a number of stuff to work with, and a lot more to be explored. They have a few outdoor training facilities to work with, as well as chinese parks and run-down buildings. A lot of potential I think. We had a pretty hilarious time at my first meet last week when we went exploring for new locations. Let's just say it was very cinematic and involved a little tiny dog in a courtyard barking as we entered, and then two huge guard dogs running out from behind a wall. I haven't run that fast in a long time!

That's all I can really think of right now. I'll surely have more stories later about the Parkour scene here.

Thanks for the pics Mr. Qiu! haha

-KShap

How Competition Dilutes Free Running (Not Just Parkour!)

2008-09-23T03:44:00.000-07:00

This following article was recently posted on the boards of Parkour North America by kaos (Chris Levesque), who had the chance to speak with Sebastien Foucan on the recent issue of competition. I am not surprised at the way Sebastien has responded and I am quite relieved that it was finally explicitly spoken. However, though I respect Sebastien's mindset and commend him for looking past all the crap that has gone on/is going on, I feel he is taking too laisez-fair of an attitude. I believe that you shouldn't care what others do as it does not affect your personal training, but there is no way of saying that it will never affect you in another way (may it be emotionally or even still physically in a different sense).

Personally, I cannot stand to see people hurting themselves under such pretenses. It's dangerous ignorance and it should not happen. I couldn't care less about whether or not people understand the concepts... that's not the reason. The reason is the danger that misunderstanding, in this specific case, brings. Watching some of the footage from a previous UF competition where the video had been labeled something like "WOW HAHA HILLAIRIUS BAILZ LMAO JUMPER" and involved one of the athletes falling and receiving no immediate reaction from any onlooker to aid him is just disgusting. It was quite obvious from the footage that he had received a concussion from that fall. That is why people should not put themselves at such risk for praise. That is why I care to promote Parkour (and any other form of movement) as they truly are.

Enough of my rant. Here's the article written by kaos. It gives you a much clearer view into the mind of Sebastien, who unfortunately hasn't given much opinion out publicly in recent times:

"There has been plenty of discussion on the message boards about the recent Urban FreeFlow (UF) hosted competition labeled as Freerunning (some might say ‘mislabeled’). Traceurs and Freerunners alike are talking about it, because most of them understand that, due to certain websites and the media pushing their assimilation, what happens to one discipline affects the other. While most of the discussion is centered around how this event affects Parkour, few people are mentioning the effects on Freerunning. Maybe this is because so many traceurs like to pretend it doesn’t exist. The fact of the matter is that it does exist, and who better to comment on the current state of its existence than the founder himself: Sebastien Foucan.

I took a moment to consider what Sebastien thinks of these competitions and how they affect his discipline, and put together some questions for him. Foucan recognizes the clear differences between Parkour and Freerunning. With many of the other original and high-profile traceurs (Yamakasi & Parkour Generations) now supporting competition, Foucan may be one of the few left still keeping it real. Parkour and Freerunning have always shared a certain similarity in their foundation; no competitions. This is something that Belle and Foucan agree upon. But forget about how the founders defined the disciplines…there is money to be made! (sarcasm)

I asked Sebastien what his general thoughts were about the event hosted by UF, and he felt that it had added to the confusion about his art. He said, “The main problem is that their explanation of what they are doing is not clear knowing what Freerunning is about and it will bring more confusion” It seems Sebastien feels that UF is presenting a watered-down version of Freerunning that can be easily molded into a competition. Many people forget that Freerunning was also founded as non-competitive discipline, and companies like UF, APK, and Generations are taking advantage of that.

Attempting to get to the heart of the matter, I asked Sebastien what he thought about the direction these companies were taking the art. His response was very honest, “It makes my work harder to make people understand Freerunning which was already difficult with the confusion with Parkour. But no one can take the art, its impossible!” Foucan takes his role as an ambassador seriously. He wants people to understand Freerunning, and he recognizes that these competitions are taking it in the wrong direction and confusing people. It’s nice to hear his optimism, essentially saying that the art is stronger than the intentions of these companies. In his responses to my questions, he kept repeating the concept of the path, “They choose their path, and I will not take part with arguing.” It seems he plans to continue spreading Freerunning in its true form regardless of what others say or do.

Foucan knows he has his work cut out for him. He recognizes that information in the media can be hit or miss, but what is more concerning to him are the misunderstandings among practitioners. He feels that most practitioners today do not “understand that the movement is consistently moving, and there is interaction between all those movements.” According to him, this ‘one move at a time’ mentality has affected parkour, as well. He admits that while beauty has always been an aspect of Freerunning, it is not the goal. One’s expression and connection to their surroundings are paramount. In an effort to explain his discipline better, Foucan will be releasing a book soon titled, “Freerunning: Find Your Way.” It should be an interesting read from a man who admits that he likes to be vague at times. While this approach can be a double edged sword, Foucan prefers not to be tied down by overly specific definitions.

Just for fun, I thought I’d ask Sebastien if he considered competing in the event. As you can imagine, his answer was an emphatic, “NO.” He did not care to comment about the showmanship displayed, “Nothing to say about it!” He explains that “competition is not the way of Freerunning.” So if this competition is not Freerunning…then what is it? Foucan admits that the movements shown at the event are encompassed in the art, but the event has failed to capture “the essence of Freerunning.” Ultimately, it comes down to money. This event is not Freerunning and it is certainly not Parkour. It is a chance for a few people to get a tiny amount of fame, but more importantly, it is a chance for companies to slap a popular label on their event and make some money off of our community.

Foucan repeatedly emphasized the senselessness of arguing. He would much prefer everyone to follow their own path and not criticize each other. It is an interesting philosophy that many could learn from. No one has to conform to someone else’s way, but at the same time, they don’t have to make others conform to their way. However, this leaves the door wide open for the competition-profit complex to march on. Foucan admits that the major problem facing the global Freerun community is being “absorbed by the competition new path of it.” In the future, he hopes that people will still able to “receive the original messages of Freerunning.” He keeps a very positive outlook while staying away from any negativity. After all, as he said, “Life goes fast my friend.” “It's an art and you have to enjoy it!”

by Chris Levesque (kaos - Parkour North America)"

-KShap

International Peace Day

2008-09-21T00:52:00.000-07:00

The past while in Shanghai has been quite interesting. Aside from my academic and social encounters, I have had a lot of introductions into the UN and many of their involvements to help make the world a better place. Most notably, I had the pleasure to meet a man named Fred Dubee, the senior advisor of a UN department called Global Compact, who is involved in helping to create a better world through business; creating a business world that is helpful to the environment and to society. They promote corporate social responsibility and the things businesses can do to make the world better. It was a bit of an eye-opener as to how much corporations can really help out, and how much they do actually help (though it isn't often seen, in some cases it is a lot).

However, though the UN does promote many positive actions around the world, all of which are of good intentions, I feel that International Peace Day has got to be the most effective and warm-hearted program hands down. Having a day with not only no fighting, but no worry of fighting can do wonders for those who are in need of international help. A day such as this allows for so much more medical care to be provided to those in need, so much more reconstruction to be done, so much more social well being to be aided, and the list can go on. Not only is it something that can help on a global scale, it is something that can help on a local and individual scale. This day promotes everyone to do anything positive, may it be to forgive enemies, or even just to take friends out for dinner.

A day like this is perfect for the worldwide Parkour community and related local communities. It gives a chance for us to really give back and promote personal growth. It gives us a chance to show just how good-natured the Parkour world is. I hope that if this year your community hasn't done something as a group, you will at least have done things on an individual level. There are still many more Peace Days to come, so start planning on how you can promote positive nature on future Peace Days (but don't forget about every other day of the year!). So, what have you done today?

End of Kung Fu Training

2008-08-24T22:46:00.000-07:00

I have only a few more days left, then I am off to Zhengzhou for the weekend and then to Shanghai on September 1st for University. Though a lot was same this year around, there's still a lot to say.

Arrival:
This time around was much easier. The flights were no problem and the connections were great because I already knew where the departures were located. I also had noone beside me on any of my three flights... I was able to sleep, sprawled out along all the seats throughout each of the flights. It was great :).

Arriving in the Beijing airport was great. Being barraged by countless people asking if I want to go to Shaolin Temple, Great Wall, etc, along with just the plain old atmosphere of entering China was interesting. Chinese people always assuming they know what you want and trying to throw it in your face... yep, I was back. Here's a small side story to go along with that:

I had just finished our long run up the mountain* and reached the meeting spot. I'm drenched in sweat, it's boiling out, and I'm so thirsty. I start looking around for a drink stand so I can get a bottle of water. I find one and I go up to it and open the fridge. Of course the woman at the store knows what I want; she's a mind reader for foreigners. She immediately points and grabs at the beer. Bingo! Yea, I'm completely dehydrated, why don't I go a have a beer. That would be great! It's crazy....

Within moments of being in the airport, I was already spotting misspellings/grammar errors, and loads of kooky Chinese mannerisms. After spending a few hours in the Beijing airport (between going to a tea cafe, eating, and walking) I went and boarded my land plane to Zhengzhou. Upon my arrival at the airport, I was immediately able to spot out my Shifu in the crowd of people waiting near the entrance. It was great to see him again. I got my bags, met up with him, exchanged a whole load of "hellos" and "what has been happenings", and then got into the van and left on the way to the new school. The driver this time around was the same as the last, though I can say now I think I have become desensitized to their driving habits. An hour and a half later I arrived at the new school to be greeted by my old roommate last year who had been staying up late to wait for my arrival. Within a day I was settled in and started my training. It was good to be back.

Training:
The training has changed slightly since last year. We no longer do the "power stretching" as the Shifus have finally concluded that it is not good for you, haha. As well, morning training has moved 20 minutes earlier (to 5:40am) along with every other scheduled time. Once a week we do Sanda, Tai Chi, and Yi Jin Jing. Other than that, it is conditioning and stretching during first morning training, basics second morning, forms second class of second morning, and then a mixture of acrobatics, forms, and conditioning in the afternoon. Twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays we have free training at night from 20:00 - ~21:30.

Saturdays have been changed too. It is now more of a fun half day, train half day: first morning is conditioning, second morning is basketball first lesson, then Buddha class second lesson. Afternoon training then resumes to be the same. *We still have the long run on Thursday mornings, which have become much better given our new location. The new running path is up a mountain and then back down, one of two different ways. You can either go back down using the stairs path or down a road that winds down the mountain. Either way is fun, jumping down the steps or running down the hill. The runs usually last around an hour now, as well.

The training facilities are a ton better than last year. We have a workout gym that is very good (though through constant use by the Chinese students, the machines are all slowly getting destroyed through improper use). As well, we now have our own training hall that we always train in unless our Shifus decide to train us on the ground outside to toughen us up a bit.

Training has been great. I have already gone through 2 new forms in the time I've been here. My kicks have gotten somewhat better and I have also finally gotten a few new acrobatics that I was unable to do before. When I arrived, my flexibility was at a level that I was finally satisfied with... but now after being here again, I see that I need more, haha. My ankles have survived with little problem and I'm pretty much close to being back to normal (I still have a cautious mentality that holds me back sometimes, unfortunately). I have to be careful with my acrobatic landings on flips and such so I don't re injure it, but there is no longer any pain.

New School:
Hygiene is no longer an issue. There are no flies, no mosquitoes, AND I DON'T NEED A BUG NET WHEN I SLEEP!!! THANK YOU! The rooms are cleaner and we have western toilets and internet access (you have to pay for it, though). However, there is no hot water and the cold water that we do get gets shut off by the school most hours of the day. The Chinese kids are still a mess. They even have cleaning women in our building for the kids, and they still seem to make the place dirty most of the time. Still, the hygiene is a ton better.

(haha, please don't mind the mess!)

The food is much much better at the canteen. It is more than just edible; it is actually good. The old school's food made me (and almost everyone else) sick daily, forcing me to eat at the attached restaurant for every meal. I no longer have to do that. Though I still make my own breakfast every morning, I eat my lunch and dinner in the canteen. There is a restaurant right beside the new school, though, but it is much more expensive and not as good (but still better than the canteen food).
There are a total of around 5000 Chinese students now (it's a big school) and around 30-40 foreigners from a mixture of countries. We apparently have the most foreign students in the entire city at our school. As well, there is one new Shifu who has become the full time Tai Chi instructor, moving the old one back to Kung Fu full-time.

Mandarin Class:
The Mandarin class has become somewhat of a joke now. On top of the fact that she could legally be considered an idiot, the new (initial) teacher at this school can barely speak English. After complaining to the school, they switched her out and gave us a new one who is much much better. They seem to no longer teach us characters and writing; only pinyin and speaking. So pretty much you go and study those things yourself or you don't learn them.

Trips:
There were two trips that I went on with the school while I have been here. One was to Shaolin Temple to meet the Abbot and eat with him, and the other one was to watch a man (who was an alumni to the school) break a record for the walking down the most steps in a handstand position on his fists. The trip to the Temple was a mixture of annoyance and interest. Most of the time was spent standing in line up in a crowd watching a ceremony. The rest of it was fun as we were able to walk around the temple, and then eat with the Abbot in the main mess hall.

The trip to watch the record breaking feat was pretty fun. We first arrived at a staircase going up to a large pagoda, took some pictures and hung out. After a little while, hundreds of students from our school come walking through with giant decorative school flags and behind them was the schools performance team. The next hour was spent setting up everyone in positions and getting the performance team ready for their show. By the time everything was setup a huge crowd of locals had formed around. The performance team was amazing and we had 4 of our foreign students do some forms during the show. After the show was completed we then watched the man break the record (which was not exciting at all, haha). When he finished it a rush of cameras came in to talk to him (I'm not even sure if he actually broke it...). We stayed around for a bit, ate some food, and then went back to the school.

Overall, this year's trip was great too. Though it didn't have the same sized effect on me (due to it being my second time) the training was actually more effective and I still have had a lot of fun. I've met more international people and have become even closer with some of the Shifus. Shanghai is coming up and will be something completely different. I have never been, but I've heard only good things about it. I've also been speaking with the local Parkour scene there and will for sure be training with them during my stay. I can't wait. Zai jian DengFeng.

More pictures will come in time as I still have some to take and don't have the time right now to upload a bunch of the ones I have. I will also probably update further as I remember more.

Pre-Departure Training Session

2008-07-13T13:40:00.001-07:00

Before I leave to Zhengzhou I wanted to get in a final meet with the local scene yesterday. Turned out to be awesome. We first met at our regular Thursday weekly location and then moved over to the new Parkour facility that's just about complete. When there, we went through quite an intense workout. It is rumoured (actually, not rumoured... this is true) that the cast of 300 went through this training routine as only part (they had a lot of other routines that were harder than this as well) of their bulking for the movie. It is called Sevens and goes as follows:

Seven excercises, performed seven times, with seven reps each. The original Sevens routine though is apparently 13 reps per exercise, seven times... making for just about 640 total reps. Dan decided to make it easier, and a true Sevens routine so he dropped it to seven reps each exercise. The exercises are such in order of how we did them (if I remembered it right haha):

1) Squats x 7 reps (at 135lbs or Jump Squats with 35lb weight vest)
2) Pullups x 7 reps
3) Pushups x 7 reps
4) Windshield Wipers for abs x 7 reps (one rep is back and forth)
5) Up and Down a Flight of Stairs with 50lb Weight (either medicine ball or weight vest) x 7 reps (one rep is up and down)
6) Box Jumps x 7 reps
7) Shoulder Presses x 7 reps (at 65lbs if I remember correct)

Hardest part for me was doing the pullups wide grip, and the weighted stairs exercise. I felt pretty sore this morning when I woke up, but it was a great workout nonetheless. My ankle is feeling much better and is definitely ready for the training in Zhengzhou... yesterday proved it for me. I'll just have to keep an eye on it so I don't reinjure it.

I am leaving tomorrow morning at 9am.... wow, am I ready? haha

-KShap

Off Again/Training Update

2008-07-02T20:51:00.000-07:00

Off Again:
It's about that time again.... I'm am pretty close to leaving once more! I can't wait... if I thought last year's trip was awesome, the next 6 more months is going to be incredible. My initial plan was to be leaving to Zhengzhou on July 4th or 5th, but due to complications such as an ankle sprain a number of weeks ago, VISA issues (mostly not receiving proper documentation from my school in Shanghai on time), and other things, it looks like I will be more likely to leave around the 14th.

That will leave me with less time than I had hoped to train there for, but some is better than none. Thankfully my VISA came in for the full 6 months, as it looked a little dim at one point due to the increased security for the Olympics. Wouldn't you think the sheer magnitude of people that are going to be in that city would be security enough? It would be impossible to even walk in the street. I may try to visit it, but in all likelihood I won't even be able to enter the outskirts because of the traffic and mass population. The new kung fu facility is going to be a ton of fun.

Training Update:
Training has been a downer as I can only do so much with my ankle sprain. I am too worried of reinjuring it again. Obviously upper body work has been the main goal, but you can only train one area so much before it tires. I had a hard hit the other day when a friend took me through an intense 10-minute upper body routine and I wasn't able to keep up... the stuff that I should have been completing easily, and quickly I was struggling more than I should have, and the stuff that I knew I wouldn't complete all the way through was just pathetic. It was a mixture of mentality and tired muscles that did it. Though those shouldn't really be used as an excuse. However, as long as my ankles are nice and strong for Zhengzhou, it will be worth it.

He that would move the world

2008-06-06T00:09:00.003-07:00

Let he that would move the world, first move himself. You can't help others if you don't take time to help yourself either. How much can you provide for others if you don't have anything to aid you in the pursuit. May it be mental aptitude, physical strength, or other assets that can help... always grow them. Never let yourself drag. Don't stop.

Hello ZhengZhou (你好郑州)

2008-05-17T00:40:00.000-07:00

I am happy to say that I will definitely be returning to the Xiao Long Kung Fu school again this summer for the months of July and August! Since I was last there, the Kung Fu school has moved from its old place in ZhengZhou to its head branch in DengFeng. I don't know much of what to expect at the new location but I've been speaking with some of the guys there and they have been telling me great things so far and how not much has changed aside from the accommodations (which are of higher standard now.... unfortunately? haha). My roommate from last year is back at the school already and will be there for the duration that I am staying, as well. I can't wait. Same communication applies as last time: I will probably be on the internet once a week maximum and my email is the best way to contact me.

This is going to be so much fun again!!! Right after I conclude my training at the Xiao Long Kung Fu school I will be completing a school semester on exchange in Shanghai. So that means 6 more whole months in China! I have already been in contact with the Shanghai and Nanjing traceurs and am planning on training with them as much as possible for the duration of my stay.

I leave early July. The good thing is that this time around I know a lot more of what to expect, so I am more excited than nervous this year. The only really important thing left to do is set a base for self-sustenance of the Niagara Region community, as at this point in time a lot of it is revolved around my organizing with only few stepping up to lead.

Here's a recent clip of my butterfly kick progress:

Training Programs: Effective or Waste of Money?

2008-04-14T20:28:00.000-07:00

You all have seen the infomercials, lots of you have either been curious about doing them or have even gone and done them. But how can you tell the difference between effective training programs and useless ones? It takes a lot to answer this, and most of that answer has to do with how well you understand your body and its needs. Can your body handle the intensity of the program? Is it even intense enough? Are the training techniques, themselves, effective? Does it direct itself towards much needed areas of your body or does it only target your already ripped biceps and chest? What are you goals for this.... what do you want to get out of it? What are you ultimately training for? What are your short term goals/long term goals?

Before anyone goes and gets a training program, they should have a very good idea for answers to each of these questions... and I probably hit only a chunk of the iceberg. However, answers to these questions can only go so far because, let's be honest, sometimes things aren't advertised "as they really are". The only thing left to do after setting goals and picking through choices is to actually try them out. And when I say try them out, I mean, TRY THEM OUT. Work hard for it and follow everything they ask you to do. Dedicate yourself to it and make sure you stick to the plan. Set a timeframe (for example: one month of training 5 days a week) and do not stray from the plan once or else you will fall back into your lazy habits.

To add on to this further: don't feel like you have to rush to better your physical fitness. Don't buy into anything that tells you that it is a quick and easy method. Change won't happen in a matter of days. It takes time and effort, just like anything else. Work hard and you will see those results come in time. In a lot of cases, it may be detrimental to progress too quickly.

Now, I constantly see this one specific program on television and I can guarantee that most of you have seen it before, as well. It uses a technique called muscle confusion, which is well known within the fitness industry as being extremely effective. It also states that it covers all the major body parts in the training. The program is a 3 month training routine, which I will not name on here for the sole reason that I do not feel like advertising for them just yet. There is a training test to be done at the beginning, as well, to see if you are even ready and able to perform it, however, I can't see it being anything remotely hard for any dedicated Traceur. Based on the apparent organization (regimentation) and techniques involved in this program, I see some possible great potential, though. Therefore, come this January when I start my school semester back at home, I will go through this program. From now until then I do not have 3 months of time in a row to be able to do it (or will be supplementing with other planned training), so I will most likely just go through a number of the sub-programs randomly at my own leisure. My goal out of this is not only fitness-related, but it is to achieve a greater idea of the effectiveness of different training techniques. I want to learn new ways to achieve things and compare their effectiveness to others. After completing this program, I plan on providing a personal review of it and possibly moving on to other programs with the same frame of mind.

Roundoff to Mild Concussion

2008-04-10T02:00:00.000-07:00

I still don't know what exactly happened and apparently only one person saw the entire thing as it happened. To my understanding, on Tuesday night during one of my community's weekly gym meets I received a bit of a conk on the head. I remember my intentions, but not what happened the moment of or anything after for a duration of 10-15 minutes. We had setup a few blocks at the end of the tumbling strip and I had attempted a roundoff to back tuck over the blocks and ended up hitting my head somewhere. I was concious when it happened but not too coherent.

I remember "waking up" in the gym instructor's car on the way to the hospital, with my first question (apparently asked for the 12th time) being "what the hell happened?". Took me about an hour to regain all my memory and become fully coherent. The doctor had said (after a 2.5 hour wait and an x-ray) that I had received a mild concussion and probably won't remember anything that happened. Pretty interesting night, haha.

I'm fine now, no more headaches or pain, just a little drowsy. Going to take a little time off until my head gets perfectly clear.

Parkour and Life Decisions

2008-02-22T23:17:00.001-08:00

I hear way too often the question "Hey, how do I get better at Parkour?".

How does one answer that sort of question? A question with that implicit meaning of physical progression in individual movements? How does one help another to understand that Parkour can go (and does go) way beyond the empirical athleticism that is the only thing apparent when observed... that it is not just one move after another, in staccato sequence... that there is much philosophy, judgement, reasoning, discipline, rationale, and conduct brought forth in and out of training that will most always be invisible to the naked eye. From an outsider's or a beginner's perspective, the Traceur is "jumping around", possibly with some potential intent in mind but not much else being run through the brain. This is not the case, though. What can't be seen is the fact that the Traceur's mind is actually moving at a rate much faster than his body is. But, when the Traceur stops moving, does it mean that Parkour has stopped until next time? Physically, maybe, but does Parkour stop for the Traceur?

A person has to experience the culture of Parkour to truly understand what it is all about, and how to "get better". Though aspects can be explained and highlighted, it is not something that can truly be taught out of a textbook. No knowledge is sometimes better than some knowledge. In this case, it's very true.
"Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance."
Unfortunately, the internet can't be a person's only source of guidance. It is always recommended to go out and seek others of more experience for tangible guidance. But guidance and tutorials can only go so far. Getting better physically will mean nothing if it can't be backed up mentally. You have to be able to answer the question of why you want to get "better". If it is specifically and only for personal gain, you may wish to rethink your ideologies and reasons for choosing Parkour. Parkour has become a community, one that gives to and should receive from everyone involved.

Choices:
You can't move towards something without moving away from something else. Every choice you make creates a completely new path, through elimination of other paths. If you decide to stop, you have eliminated the decision to go explore.... if you choose to move, you pass by all the opportunities put in front of you that you would have experienced if only you had stopped to observe. Decisions are constantly being made in life. Decisions to gain something new... or expand on something old. But how often do people truly stop to understand what it is that they will be giving up?

I have made some choices recently. Certain specifics are beyond my current knowledge, but the decisions have been made nevertheless. Going forward with certain things means moving away from other things as well and although it may be hard to deal with passing by and giving up certain opportunities, I know that what I will be getting in return will be far greater.

I will live in the moment, and someday I will look back and my actions will appear to be no more than another story or life experience. But they will be more than that. They will be valuable, to me. They will encompass all the decisions that I had made, and all the opportunities that I gave up to experience what I did. What I had done to become the person that I had become.

People strive to create a life where nothing can ever go wrong, where they never have to face giving up something for an uncertain consequence. I call that a vaccuum. Because the only place where nothing can go wrong is a place where there is nothing else at all. That isn't life. You make choices, and you have to deal with what you receive or miss out on. To go out of one's comfort zone is an invaluable feat and is something that every person should pursue in their lifetime. Make choices, don't avoid them. Change is a positive and natural part of life, yet it can still somehow be one of the most frightening things a person will ever have to face.

Assessment of Goals/Other Updates

2008-02-01T06:50:00.000-08:00

Pertaining to my previously set goals, I have already completed a few of them. Here is my current progression:

School Related:
1. Achieve 80% overall average: This will probably be completed by the end of my final year of undergraduate studies. I have hard work ahead of me if I want to get this. (End of school year update: Overall average is not above 80%, however, previous year's average was.) {Partially Completed}
2. Becoming a member of an ICBC team for the school is looking very probable. I will find out exactly what is happening with it because there may be some extra stuff for me to do since I am now going on foreign exchange in the fall semester*. {COMPLETED}

Physical:
1. 10 One-legged squats on non-dominant side: Working on this and coming close to 8/9. This will be completed soon. {COMPLETED}
2. Improve fencing lefty footwork to that of righty or better: My footwork is improving so much. My lunges need more speed in comparison and so do my fleches. But I am happy with the progress I've made towards completing this goal. I have not achieved this yet, but I hopefully will by the end of this school term. {NOT COMPLETED}
3. Achieve 10000+ score on powerball left side: I used the powerball before the break, it registered ~9600 as the maximum I could get. Last night I went back to it and I hit ~10400. {COMPLETED}

Fencing Update:
This year's provincial university tournament is coming up this weekend. I have become a million times more dedicated to the team and fencing in general this year than last... and it has shown. Throughout the school year I have been a part of the university's varsity team and I am now competing as a part of our provincial team. We will be competing in Toronto this weekend for the Western Provincial sectionals. If we do well enough this weekend, we will move on to the provincial finals.

*Foreign Exchange:
I am incredibly happy to say that I will be going on school foreign exchange in September. I will be studying further business courses to complete my undergraduate degree in China at ShangHai University of Business. The application process is midway and I still have to choose my courses. This is going to be so much fun. Hopefully I will be able to visit the ZhengZhou school again in the summer before my studies continue in September. If there are any Traceurs that will be in China between September and December, contact me and we'll meet up to train. I have been trying to speak with the local Traceurs in Shanghai but I have yet to get a response. I may have better luck later.
If I am to go on the foreign exchange, which means that I will have to coordinate with my teammate on a case study over the Internet for the ICBC competition in October. It may complicate things, but I've been told that foreign exchange is a much better opportunity than the business competition. Who knows... maybe I'll be able to do both (For those who do not know the ICBC competition, it is a very prestigious competition that my school only allows 10 selected students to enter. It is a huge opportunity to further business careers if your team [of you and one other student] do well).

That's about it for now.
- KShap

Wrapping Up An Amazing Year/Awaiting the New One

2008-01-04T13:25:00.000-08:00

This past year has shown me many things, all that have helped me to progress in many different ways. My trip to China in the summer was a huge eye-opener, my effort towards my schoolwork has improved so much, and I can tell that I have become stronger, quicker, and more agile over the past year through all of my training efforts. I can't wait to see how I progress myself in the upcoming year.

Happy New Year

End Of The Semester, Start Of The New Year

2007-12-13T19:02:00.000-08:00

My first semester of school is just about up, and wow am I glad I finally get a break. I've been working overtime to get my marks as high as possible. At the moment, my training has been put on the backburner until my school workload diminishes. Haven't been to the gym or to fencing in the past two weeks because of exams and final projects.... I think I can feel my strength decreasing. However, I am very pleased with how I am doing academically. I will hopefully be able to balance them more next semester to give more time for training.

On a side note: I have switched from fencing right handed to fencing left handed. This is because I have more precision with my left hand. However, the downside is that my strength is lacking in my left hand compared to my right.

I've made some new goals:
School Related:
1. To make it onto the Dean's List at my school (80%+ overall average) by graduation of my undergraduate studies.
2. To make it onto the school's ICBC business competition marketing or business policies team.

Physical:
1. 10 one-legged squats on non-dominant side
2. Fencing: Same level of footwork control when fencing lefty as I currently have, fencing righty.
3. 1000+ on powerball with left hand by January 31st, 2008 (I have not been able to achieve it for January 1st.)

That's it for now. I will be thinking up a New Year's Resolution and posting it when I figure it/them out.

-KShap

B-Kick In Yo Face

2007-10-18T07:47:00.000-07:00

Shift back to the summer: Part of the training that we did in China were acrobatics.... one of the moves that we were taught being the Butterfly Kick. For the life of me I just could not do it. I would always go into a twist instead of a kick. When I returned home I told myself to learn it.... I hadn't tried it since.

Present time: On Saturday we had our first indoor gym meet at our new gym location. One of the new guys (who also does Katana, which is pretty wicked) came out and tried a load of stuff. He was reluctant at first, but apparently is now hooked on Parkour :). We spent some time doing basic Parkour moves and eventually got onto acrobatics. So we were all doing our things, trying out some stuff, using the tumbling strip and foam pit, etc and then, out of nowhere, the new guy pulls out a Butterfly Kick. "You gotta teach me that now!" haha. Within 5 minutes of him showing me the proper execution, I had it. I'm really really happy at how easy it was once I understood the technique behind it.

Now I'm gonna go video tape myself doing it so I can fix up the quirks.

Sweeeeet.

Jogging:
The jogging has been working a ton. I can definitely notice my increase in endurance through fencing. I used to tire easily after 30 minutes of footwork and now it's going much smoother.

-KShap

Jogging

2007-10-02T18:49:00.001-07:00

If I have my running shoes on (which is at least 3 days of the week midday to late afternoon) and I am on my way somewhere (by means of my feet aka. not bus or cab) I will, for now on, jog to my destination. I have gone on a roll for the past two weeks and this is a great and easy way to raise my endurance.

That is all.

-KShap

Forearms Continued/Training Routine

2007-09-20T08:25:00.000-07:00

Forearms/Training Routine:
As I stated previously, I want to work on my forearms. However, up to this point in time, I never really understood JUST how important forearm and grip strength really is. A person's forearm/grip can be THAT difference between failing, achieving, or even saving. I have been thinking long and hard lately to come up with a routine that will suite my goal to improve what my body is lacking in.

Focus: Upper/Lower Back, Forearms, Grip Strength, Calves, Endurance.
These will all be my primary focus, however, I will obviously still be working on everything else.

Game Plan:
Tuesday - Fencing/Upper Body:
Week 1: Upper Endurance, punching bag, shadow boxing, etc.
Week 2: Weight Training
Week 3: Body weight, hand balancing, rope climbing, pull-ups etc
Week 4: Weight Training

Wednesday - Fencing/Lower Body:
Week 1: Sprinting/Endurance Training
Week 2: Weight Training
Week 3: Plyometrics, Body Weight Exercises
Week 4: Weight Training

Thursday - Fencing/Wrists/Forearm/Grip*

Friday - Core/Stretching
Week 1: Core
Week 2: Core
Week 3: Core
Week 4: Core

Sunday - Endurance/Sprinting/Wrists/Forearm/Grip*

These will not be lazy training exercises in the least. They will be high intensity in order to be as productive as possible. This goes for the Fencing as well. Our assistant coach has a new workout routine that is incredibly hard and never has an "end" per se, only progress to evaluate how you are doing. I look forward to doing that 2 (possibly 3) times a week.

Winter is what separates the dedicated from the non. In the words of an old coach "you are only as strong as your weakest muscle!" and I plan on improving the areas that are lacking (while (at least) maintaining or improving everything else). I will be starting the routine itself on Sunday. I really hope this plan works out.**

-kshap

*Wrists/Forearm/Grip Notes:
1. Powerball everyday
2. Wrist Curls (Reverse as well)
3. Rock climbing, bouldering, or buildering
4. Fingertip pull ups/Chin ups
5. Rope climb
6. Fingertip rows
7. Pinch grip farmers walk!

**Get it? It's a pun haha... I crack myself up... I didn't even notice it until I finished typing.

Forearms

2007-09-09T11:11:00.000-07:00

I've had the Powerball for quite some time now and I find it to be one of the easiest and greatest ways to train your forearms and wrists. My previous record for my right arm was ~9800 and my left was ~8500. After not using it for the better half of the summer I picked it up again today to find that there has been quite an increase, taking into account that I hadn't used it much. My right arm is now at ~10500 and my left is ~9000. I am really happy that my right arm has reached the 10k mark but now I'm looking to get my left arm there.

Goal:
Left arm 10k+ on Powerball by January 1st, 2008.

-kshap

P.S. More pics coming soon from my China trip. If you haven't read any of the write up and pics yet, you can find it all HERE.

China Trip Revealed

2007-08-24T22:58:00.000-07:00

China Trip Finally Revealed:
After traveling for close to 20hours I have finally arrived at the school. This is a picture of the main front gates. The car ride from the Zhengzhou Airport to the academy was probably the scariest 30 minutes of my life. It mainly consisted of a utility van with makeshift seats in the back (that were not attached to the floor of the van), no seat belts, and a ton of darting and weaving by the driver while looking back at me and talking.

The school grounds were (aside from the loose garbage on the ground, and the one training area turned swamp) really nice, but many buildings, such as this one, were left unused due to being rundown and old. By the end of July they were tearing them down in order to make way for new construction.

On August 4th our school moved to the main branch (I had just left the school so it did not affect me). The Chinese students were really friendly (though only a handful could speak English [and not too well at that]) and the atmosphere was great. Our shifus were all friendly and most were able to speak English really well.

The bedrooms were, by Western standards, horrible, but I got used to it within the first few days. The beds were wood and there was a small problem with flies and mosquitoes. I later bought a bug net and a bigger air matress. Each foreigners room was a shared double room with a bathroom. In comparison to the Chinese students' accomodations ours were great as they stayed in rooms of 4-6 and in worse condition.

It was amazing having our own washrooms instead of having to use the public ones like how the Chinese students did. Those were horrifyingly disgusting. Washroom downfalls: no showers had hot water and all toilets were squat-style.
(This is a picture of my room's washroom [the shower is off to the right of the toilet and is just a shower head attached to a pipe coming around the side of the wall])

My daily schedule was as such: all days except Thursdays (where we had a 10km morning run followed up by "power stretching" and then were allowed into the city until 16:10) and Sundays (full day off) we went for morning runs at 6:00. After the run we would do what the Shifus called "power stretching". At 7:45 we would have breakfast. For those who were taking the half-day Mandarin, as I was doing, we started Chinese class at 8:50 and ended at 11:50. Those who trained full day martial arts had Basics training from 9:10-12:10. Everyone then had mid-day break at which time you could do whatever you would like. Most people slept or watched movies in the DVD room. Some days I would spend that time doing extra free training to make up for the training time I lost from taking the Chinese classes. At 16:10 everyone resumed training based on the daily schedule (some days were Kung Fu, some days were Sanda, some days were Tai Chi). In the end, though, you were able to choose which activity to train in. The afternoon training would go on until 20:10. We then had dinner and at 20:50 we had night training. Night training gave you the chance to practice anything of your choosing that you were unable to practice during the day.

Most times we would train in the training halls, but at times we would train outside with the Chinese students. The foreign students had priority of the training halls over the Chinese students except for the school performance team. Therefore, if they wished to train there, we had to train outside. There were three halls, two general halls and one acrobatics/Sanda hall.

Sometimes during break times or for a warm-up we would play basketball...... if it hadn't rained that is. The summers there are rain season and it is supposed to rain every other day. At times it wouldn't rain for a few days, at which point when it finally did rain it would come down like no tomorrow (like in the second picture here).

We went on a trip to Shaolin Temple early on in June. It was an amazing trip and a great experience. I personally didn't enjoy the actual temple itself as it was too "touristic", but the other things we did were fun. The main highlight was the climbing of the Songshan Mountain.... who knows how many uneven stone steps we climbed; it was definitely 100 times harder than climbing the CN Tower here in Toronto. One: There is no A/C (haha)... it had to have been at least 35 degrees celcius (as it was every other day of the week). Two: The steps were completely uneven, some so skinny that even a baby wouldn't even be able to place their foot on it! Three: After 1 hour of walking/running/quad walking up it, after a 10 minute break to look around the pagoda and buddha statue we then had to go back down!

To make it simple and short, I started up with a t-shirt and pants, by the middle of the mountain I was without a shirt and had taken off the bottom half of my shpants. It was boiling.... but fun and a great workout. (And to imagine that the monks used to quad up and down this every morning!!!)

I had so much energy at the beginning that I was climbing up and down all of the bamboo.... I should have conserved my energy for the mountain...

Note the look of extreme exhaustion on my friend Arnold's face.... we were only a quarter of the way up!

Note: Do not be fooled, it is not cloudy up on the mountain.... the grey cloud in the pictures is pollution (the one thing I really did not appreciate nor enjoy in China).

In July we went on another field trip to Luo Yang. Very fun trip. Here are a few pics:

On the way there, our bus broke down.... 3 times! The third time was most serious as the engine started smoking and the smoke was entering the bus! Solution 1 and 2: pour water on the engine. Solution 3: bus driver magically becomes a mechanic.... view below (third pic)
Our bus driver got sooooo dirty. He was litterally inside the engine face first, with his legs sticking out... one of the funniest things ever. After that, he and his wife (who for some random reason came along) went to the stream on the side of the road and washed him up.
After about a 5 hour drive, we finally made it:
These grottoes were the main attraction. Thousands of them containing statues that are thousands of years old. It was very interesting, but got very redundant near the end.

After crossing the lake over a bridge we arrived at that temple. It was huge and beautiful.

We trekked through some forest trails behind the temple and eventually came upon a nice, small tea restaurant in the middle of the forest. These two cute girls were playing music for the customers. Very very very relaxing and amazing scenery

Some of us on a cliff beside a waterfall.

We eventually came upon this souvenir shop.... my friend Pedro and I found the English translation of "Handicrasps Shop" to be a little off. So we fixed it.

The following are pictures taken around the city and on my days off from training:

THESE BLUE TRUCKS WERE EVERYWHERE!!! And the Chinese people were so insistent on putting as much stuff as they could possibly pack on them! This is an example.

This is what a typical side street in the city looks like. Mainly what you see would be small stores on ground level and then housing complexes, appartment-style, packed vertically. The suburban residential areas were a little different as they had no stores, only appartments (I only saw one house while there).

Here is the main shopping market.... the only place in the city where the cars were not allowed to (and actually did not) drive.

This is one of the numerous parks in the city. Lots of times when walking through, we would get stopped by a Chinese person who wished to practice their english with us. (They all were definitely studying from the same course books because EVERY QUESTION WAS THE SAME!). It was fun/funny though.... I enjoyed it.

Want a scooter? Well, there were a million of these (at least!) driving around everywhere, including the sidewalks. One guy actually offered one time to taxi me and my roomate on the scooter with him after we had just purchased 2 luggage bags and carrying our regular day packs... he appeared so confused as to why we didn't take him up on his offer....

An example of the thousands of street food stands that were scattered all over the city.... the noodle stands were great. I actually became good friends with one of them when I was staying in the city after leaving the school.

Those aren't bullet holes... they are "speed holes".

Here is the Er Qi Ta (February 7th Tower). This is one of the two city centers. The other was more prestigeous and for the more wealthy.

Here's the Er Qi Ta at night. The city was amazing at nightime as the weather had finally cooled and there were so many less people out (but still a lot of stuff to do).

The following two pictures are of general scenery of the farmlands and non-city life:

This is a picture of me and the foreigner shifus as I was waiting for my taxi to leave the school. Top from left to right: Tai Chi Shifu (or Ocean as he liked to be called), Sanda Shifu (nobody knew his real name), Headmaster Shi Yan Lin (don't be fooled, he isn't the headmaster for no reason. very nice guy, though), Xue Shifu (nicest man you could ever meet... no joke, definitely in the top 3 nicest people I have ever met). Bottom: Me and Yuan Shifu (my shifu).

There are many many many more stories, but I only have so much time and so many words... The training and lifestyle was amazing and unlike anything else I have come to encounter. I am very satisfied with the results and the mindset that I had coming out of it.

All in all, this trip was INCREDIBLE! I have never had so much fun in my life.... every moment contained a different emotion. I felt extreme satisfaction to utter disgust, extreme seriousness to extreme hilarity, confusion to understanding, total fear to total happiness.... the list can go on and on. This trip is definitely one to put in the books of my life experiences. It will be one that I will never forget.... I only wish I could have stayed longer. I miss it already.... I'm definitely looking forward to going back some day.

-kshap

Parkour is Reaching CHINA!!!

2007-08-04T09:58:00.001-07:00

What are the odds?
Keep in mind when you view this picture that on top of it being extremely random to have seen such a thing in the first place, I am in a non-english speaking country where it is even more rare to even spot the roman alphabet (and not to mention a western language aside from English).
This was taken while walking down a clothes shop street in the city of Zhengzhou, Henan:

What are the odds?....

Don't do tomorrow what you can do today.

2007-07-08T00:08:00.000-07:00

Quote of the moment:
Don't do tomorrow what you can do today. This trip has definitely been worth it.

My apologies for the lack of trip stories/info. Maybe I'll write something in an hour or so, I have the day off and I'm in the city right now... we'll see.

-KShap

AHHHHHHH

2007-06-28T07:26:00.000-07:00

AHHHHHHH
CAN'T SEE MY BLOG!!!!! Gonna try to update soon.... they restrict access to blogs here in China..... I have found a way past it but it's quite annoying.... pictures soon!... maybe.

T-Minus 6 Days and Counting

2007-05-27T14:22:00.000-07:00

T - 6 = China
T = China + 6
(China + 6) - 6 = China
Therefore,
China = China

Given the facts proven in the above mathematical calculations, it is easy to come to the conclusion that China is equal to China. Therefore, in 6 days I will be leaving the place in which I've spent my whole life to travel to a world of completely differentiated culture. Two whole months of waking up at 5am to train martial arts for 7 hours and then learn a whole new language that is completely different from any I have learned in the past for another 3 hours..... the people who know me personally are probably asking themselves, how the hell does he expect to survive this? I would tell you the answer, but I don't even know it!

I still haven't decided whether I will be taking Chinese Sanda (Chinese Boxing) or Shaolin Quan (Hand to hand Kung Fu). I'll probably test each one out the first days that I'm there and make my choice then.

At this point in time I'm getting both nervous and excited to go. I have no idea what to expect. For those who wish to be updated on the going on's of the trip, I will be updating this page every now and again. I will most likely NOT be on MSN for the duration of this trip, however, if you wish to contact me you may email me at K_Shap(at)hotmail(dot)com.

:OSIGRHJOIRJESFGOIJWROJWAJFKOMGZZZOOORRRSSSZZ~~!!!!111!!
- Kyle

Parkour Is NON Competitive/Trip Update

2007-05-09T20:53:00.000-07:00

Parkour is NON Competitive:
Taken from a topic at Parkour.net:

This community supports PARKOUR, not COMPETITION -
Run Without Rivals!
The members of this community stand firmly against the idea of organized parkour competition.

Our reasons:

ONE:
We don't believe in elites.
We don't believe in any form of selection among practitioners.
We don't believe in the necessity of any form of hierarchy of performance among practitioners.
We believe to be "the best" doesn't mean anything in parkour, because winning or losing don't mean anything in parkour philosophy.We do not accept such a drive as part of the parkour philosophy.

Instead, we believe the drive to train should always and only come from within.We strive to be stronger for ourselves and others, not against people, but with and for others.Therefore, we reject and disregard any form of rivalry between practitioners.Instead, we value mutual respect and solidarity in making progress as individuals and as a community.

TWO:
We believe it stands against the philosophy of parkour to compete to win or earn anything that is not part of parkour values, such as medals, prizes, trophies, money, fame, recognition, or glory.
Same goes about showing off for a crowd.

Instead, we look for priceless and beneficial outcomes to our actions.We also look for benefits we all can share.
We are givers, not takers.

THREE:
Competition encourages the unready to sacrifice their health for early victories, or to reach a ranking that has no true meaning.
It forces elite competitors to constantly and repeatedly endanger their most precious good, health, because of obsession and obligation of victory, and whatever is at stake as a direct consequence of it, including money, rank or status, pride, and also professional or sponsoring contracts and profitable commercial deals.
It leads competitive practitioners to unbalance their training and focus only on the specific skills needed to win, leading to chronic injuries.
Despite official denials, doping is most of the time involved in every level of competition, that money is involved or not.
We believe the physical consequences of competing at high level goes against the philosophy of parkour which emphasizes on moderation and the necessity of enduring.

Instead, parkour is a humble, patient and lifelong discipline, and the human body requires incremental conditioning to ensure its resistance and longevity.Moderation is a truly important value of parkour and an indispensable quality in order to preserve oneself and for the body to endure.Therefore, we reject whatever goes against moderation and that impairs the body.

FOUR:
Parkour doesn't belong to corporations, sponsors, medias, and people sitting at home to watch.
We believe we must not accept activities and plans that are abusively called parkour, that misuse its name and hijack its image to draw public and medias attention to something that is NOT parkour, despite the resistance of the majority of the community against such intentions.
Instead, we affirm parkour is a non-competitive discipline that belong to all practitioners, to the local communities, to the teams and friends, and to the human race as a whole.

We believe we must stand together against ambitions that do not reflect the original philosophy of parkour and that are disrespectful to the parkour philosophy and the parkour community.

Competition is not inevitable - it is just another obstacle! Support original parkour, keep our discipline free!

(written by TK17/Erwan)

Trip Update:
Some bad news to those in Europe. I'm very sorry but the trip has been canceled due to numerous reasons, one mainly being other people's cash situations. So instead of Europe this summer, I will be traveling to China. I was meaning to take this trip next summer but I feel it is good that I'm doing it now and that it will actually be more beneficial at this point in time.

I will be studying a program for half day Kung Fu/half day learning Mandarin at the Songshan Shaolin Temple Xiao Long Kung Fu Training Centre. The training schedule consists of between 7-10 hours of training per day. I will be staying for 2 months (June 2nd - August 2nd) and I CAN'T WAIT!

Cheers,
KShap

Some Updates/Trip!

2007-04-16T13:39:00.000-07:00

Final exams for school are almost completed and I finally have time to update this page. My apologies for not updating on time.... on a good note: I successfully completed my pushups routine! Holy shite do my elbows need some damn rest! (the squats routine was completed with no major complaints). I have a few more routines in mind for the next two months.

Currently goals number 3) (Workout gym routine 4x a week) and 4) (Read more often) have been somewhat maintained. Goal 3) can be worked on a bit more. I'm hoping to get my body in the best shape it has ever been in before I leave in June **.

** where am i going? read on to find out.....

Trip!:
June! That's when the next chapter in my training and life experiences begins! I, along with a few other fellow traceurs from Toronto, have been planning for nearly a year to go touring around Europe this summer! That's right, EUROPE!!! (HAHA, I'll be the first one in my family to tour Europe! It's going to be a blast!) Unfortunately, We have yet to book our flights, which may come out a little more costly due to the short time period between purchase and flight. However, I am most likely going to be doing so when I finish my school exams on the 25th. This will honestly be the best trip ever. Some of the main countries we will be touring include: UK, France, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, and Germany (I've also heard some good things about Czech, which I may have to check out as well!). There are around 3-6 of us who will be doing this, all with the intention to train with fellow traceurs from around Europe. So, THIS IS A SHOUTOUT TO ANYONE WHO READS MY BLOG AND IS IN EUROPE! We want to train with YOU! So get in contact with me and/or leave a comment!

The following map contains the route I have thought up. This is not necessarily the route for all of us as we may split up and meet back again at later times. All I know is that we are flying to around Manchester area and that UK, France, and Spain we will be a full group and that I will personally be ending in Greece.

Sincerely,
KShap

Some New Goals/Small Update

2007-02-20T00:31:00.000-08:00

New Goals:
1) I have always stayed a constant weight and never gaining much for as long as I can remember. I have had enough of this as, in a way, it is constraining my possible progress. Therefore, I am setting a goal that by the end of 2007 I will be a weight of at least 135-140 pounds. Of this new weight that I am hoping to gain, I wish at least 90% of it to be in muscle gains. This will hopefully be attained through a more balanced diet and proper physical training.

2) Wake up prior to my current, on average, 1pm in the afternoon for now on with the exceptiong of sundays. My goal for this is to start waking up at 11:00 LATEST and actually getting up.... not just setting my alarm and turning it off.

3) Go to the gym at least 4 times a week until the end of the school year with the following plan:
"Warm up jog and stretches
Dips to failure x 4 sets
Pull ups (both wide grip and close grip) to failure x 2 sets each
Chin ups to failure x 4 sets
20-30 minutes on track
- 10 min warm up jog
- 5-10 min speed burst training
- 5-10 min sprinting trainingOnce up to this point has been completed I will move on to the daily routine planned out for a time period of 45minutes to an hour."
This one will be much easier once goal 2) has been achieved.

4) Read. I barely read anymore.... therefore, I will start reading books for pleasure at night to get my brain tinkering.

Routine Update:
A little more than a month left to go in my pushup/body squat routine. I should start stepping it up to get caught up.... I have been lagging behind.

Routine Progress Report/Some Updates/Karma

2007-01-18T14:32:00.000-08:00

Progress:
So i've hit the halfway mark... ~12000 pushups and ~10000 body weight squats. I can definately see and feel a huge difference. Imagine that, a month and a half of dedicated work and so much has improved. The down side, however, is that I will be taking a small break from this routine as I can feel the strain I've been putting on my joints. I'll be extending the goal to the end of March, not February. On the up side, I've been running track around 4 times a week now at least. My endurance is even better than it was in the summer. I have also done little to no Parkour in the past few months... been keeping to low impact conditioning for now. We'll see how all of this pays off in the summer when I start to PK on a constant basis again.

Update 1 - Fencing
Fancy this.... in my spare time I do Fencing with my University team. Last week we had tryouts for the 4 person provincial school team so I decided, what the hey... I'll attempt it... it should be fun (Keeping in mind I show up and practice much less than majority of the people there). So, yesterday I show up to practice to find out I made 5th spot (aka sub/floater). This means that if anyone is unable to do a bout, I will step in. This was actually quite a shocker as I didn't even expect to make anything on the team. I'm excited to see how this pans out.

Update 2 - Karma (Good deeds don't go unnoticed)
Karma. Some people believe in it, others don't. Today I went to an on-campus convenience store to pick up a "Breakfast-to-go" shake. I pick it and go to the cashier. We exchange "hellos" and "how are yous" and she rings up the total. I pull out my wallet to find I only have a $50 bill.... no change, nothing (well, not nothing.... it was more like ~78cents). So I ask, "Do you guys accept $50 bills?" and she replies "no, sorry we don't... there is a bank machine around the corner if you need to get a smaller bill". I don't have any money in my bank account and I reply as such. To which I then say "Sorry about that, I guess I'll come back a little later to get it when I get smaller change". You know what she does then? She goes and says, "you know what, take it, I'll pay for it for you". And she does. I was actually shocked... that was really not needed as I could have easily gone somewhere to get change. I thank her graciously and give her all the coins I have left in my wallet. As I'm walking away I hear the other cashier ask "why did you do that?!"... to which my cashier replied "he was a nice guy... it's called karma".

If I ever see that girl again I will thank her once more and take her for a coffee or something. She was such a sweetheart. I love people like that. Small gestures go long ways.

Introduction/Grrrr On Account Names/Yay On Progress

2006-12-20T20:11:00.000-08:00

Introduction:
Here it is, my first blog to be written! This blog will pertain to anything training for me.... may it be parkour, walking, running, swimming, conditioning, schooling, sleep improvement.... anything that associates with progressing myself will be put here henceforth.

Account Names:
So I forgot my previous account name somehow.... I have no clue how, I use the same account name for everything pretty much. Previously: kshap.blogspot.com, I am now kshappk.blogspot.com. I may think of something more creative later, but for now this will suffice.

Progress:
Starting December 1st I had set some goals for myself over the winter months (thanks to obsidianpkav for the inspiration). No getting lazy for me this winter! Therefore, on top of any of my regular conditioning or exercising, I will be attempting to complete 22500 pushups and 18000 body-weight squats by the end of February. This averages out to 250 pushups a day and 200 squats a day.... If Toronto Zanta can do 300 pushups a day, I should be able to do this successfully.
Up to this point in time, I am 200 squats ahead of the game and around 400 pushups behind (due to 2 break days). I'll be making up for those in due time. (Three weeks in and can see a definite difference with my chest, triceps and legs... weird how easy it is when you put in the effort)