The Best and Worst of Us.

On our journey through life it can be so easy to focus on the darker side of humanity. The wars, the greed, the backstabbing, cowardice, corruption and misery. Every news site you visit today will simply be a new mix of these old ingredients.

But there's another side to us, the one that looks at a vast sea and says, "I can sail across that", or looks to the moon and says, "Let's see what's up there." Exploration, adventure, creativity, and the willingness to do something difficult.

What amazes me is how Kung Fu brings out this quality in almost everyone it touches. When you watch a skilled martial artist or tai chi practitioner, it's hard to not hear that little voice in the back of your head that says, "I want to be able to do that."

A few weeks ago the new Karate Kid movie came out, which, as has been much discussed, is actually the "Kung Fu" Kid. It was number one at the box office. Every few years we seem to get this wave of interest in the martial arts and with each wave a few more people want to go deeper, buy a book, watch some how to videos, or go to their local dojo. Kung fu speaks to the best in us physically and mentally, and it brings me hope that all is not lost.

I'm glad to be sharing this spark with my fellow KFBers!

Lean Strong Flexible Agile

This is working! I've never been functionally stronger.

And I'm getting great range of motion out of my legs. I thought I had peaked two years ago, but this new round of inner muscle is allowing for all kinds of fun.

Also getting FAST. Brain and body are working together like never before. New feats possible.

More soon!

Getting Real

I had a long week. Big corporate presentations, the usual responsibilities of running a yoga studio and keeping the lights on, massive amounts of Kung Fu Body layout work (there's a workout this week with an INSANE 34 separate photos, and... ta da... videos!

So I rewarded myself by starting a new RPG on the Xbox last night. You play this character who has to walk the vast wastelands of post-apocalyptic Washington DC. Cool game, but you literally have to walk your ass for minute after minute through this dead sad landscape to get to the small towns of survivors scattered around.

I put in a good 12 hours of work today and was going to play some more of my new game, when I thought about how ridiculous it was that after a whole day sitting in front of a computer I was going to sit in front of a game system and watch my character walk across a digital landscape.

So I grabbed Kazue and we went for an analog walk, all the way across town. Got some frozen yogurt and came back. Yokohama by night is one of the most beautiful places. This picture doesn't even come close.