Who are you. What are you.

Sifu Rybak:
”The long awaited reemergence of sparring is a prime opportunity to do a deep dive inward as a student, as instructors and as martial artists in general. As black belts, we need to be very clear in our understanding of what we are; are you an amazing fighter or an adequate fighter? Does your desire to be great in a sparring match align with your current course of actions or your spirit? Does it reflect the reality of your skill set or ability?

We need to be brutally honest with ourselves when it comes to our abilities.  If we are not, then we are acting on ego. Ego is the ultimate enemy because of the potential harm that it creates as we are acting upon the wants of our ego. Our number one mandate as black belts and as instructors in a class MUST BE to DO NO HARM. If our ego is driving our actions, we are doing harm to both the student in front of us and to ourselves. You are losing the respect of the students and ultimately our power of influence over them, which is the most powerful tool you have.

So know thyself. That is the ultimate goal of our style and should direct our intent and actions. You need to be okay with your holes, your weaknesses and your faults. If you are trying to hide or cover these faults, putting out false bravado, you will, 1. Never be able to make the situation better, and 2. Lose respect and the power of influence. Understanding, acknowledging and working towards improving our weaknesses, that is what it is to be confident. Having all the answers or knowing better than others, that is not confidence. That is the need to be praised and that is ego defining our path.

As black belts you are now free to choose your own path based on your values. However, with that also comes the need to understand and acknowledge the consequences of our choices and actions. No matter the path you follow, there are consequences. You will not be as good as someone else. You need to be okay with that, and more importantly YOU NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE IT. Even if you are more skilled than the individual in front of you, you are a student first, instructor second. You cannot help a student without empathy. You cannot be empathetic without first being in their shoes.

In this school, sparring is one of our key values. We are in the martial arts, it is an integral part of what we do. It is not everyone’s cup of tea. That is okay, but the lessons found in sparring go way beyond the ability to punch someone in the face. Do not deny someone else those lessons by letting your ego dictate your actions.”

Sifu Brinker:
”Everything Sifu Rybak has said about sparring applies to all aspects of our skill set. As a black belt you MUST focus on what is important to you if you are ever going to maximize your potential. You MUST also be realistic and honest with acknowledging the consequences of your decisions. If you do not value perfection in your forms, you do not have the credibility to teach forms to your students. You MUST accept that you do not have the power of influence when it comes to forms. Complaining about a student’s lack of respect for what you are telling them is illogical when you have not earned their respect first.

We all bring value to the school and the rank of black belt. So it is imperative that we each be the black belt we want to be. Don’t just talk about it, be it. Embrace the black belt you are and boldly proceed. “

How Do I Improve?

There are different ways I learn and grow. 

1. Attend my classes - I've done this since I joined Kung Fu and I continue to do this in the Black Belt class. This is the class where I am the student.

2. Help out in a class - I've done this for most of my time in Kung Fu. Helping out in the kids classes since I was a yellow belt and later on in the adults classes. As I help out, I am also learning lots by listening to the instructors and watching the students. In these classes I can help and I can also training with the class (which also helps the students of that class - lead by example).

3. Teach a class - take an active role in leading a portion of the class (or the whole class). This forces you to think in ways that you did not in the past and therefore enhances your own learning.

4. Planning a class - I find that planning is also key aspect of growth. As you plan, you are reinforcing or challenging your understanding of the art.

All of us can continue to grow by attending our classes, helping out in classes (Young Dragons, Teen/Adults, 2nd Deg. Brown), teach a class (or a portion of it), planning what you are going to teach.

Which should we pick? All of these...

Yitzik Csillag

In Person Training

I’m sure this is not new news to anyone, but our lessons in the black belt class (and any class, for that matter) are best received in person. Online attendance is a great resource for those days when life happens, as a way to still engage and absorb. It has its limitations, however, and sometimes they become a crutch and hinderance.

Over the next while, we will be focusing on chi and energy work. Specifically, we will be covering the established syllabus with a new approach; that of energy, intent and direction. Attendance in person is going to be critical, as partner work is required. 

Chi and energy is a relationship. It is difficult to evolve in our training without experiencing this relationship. As such, it is going to be difficult, if not impossible, to absorb and practice the upcoming lessons in an online fashion. The quantity and quality of feedback (from both the instructors and students) is limited unless we are all in the same room.

Khona Rybak

SRKF Clan Titles

I founded Silent River Kung Fu in 1987. It was a humble beginning with me teaching my classes out of Stony Plain school gymnasiums. Eleven years later in 1998, I took out a second mortgage on my house, cashed in my RRSPs, and put a down payment on the first two bays of our current location. In 2011, we acquired the Ecowater bay and expanded our facility by almost doubling our training space. Two years later in 2013, we purchased the Tanarama bay and now own the entire east strip of the Stony Plain Professional Centre.

The point I am trying to make by sharing this information is that we did not arrive where we are today all at once. We slowly evolved to arrive here and now. It is important to note that our arrival here has been coloured and influenced by many unforeseen factors and events, including the current global pandemic. Back in 1987 I never dreamed that I would be an 8th degree black belt with master level students. Nor did I foresee the future problems that were being created through my inexperience and misplaced humility. I made two specific decisions way back then that now need to be addressed in order for me to lead Silent River Kung Fu toward a brighter and more secure future. Decision one was to use the Belt Ranking System, and decision two was to use the title of Sifu for all of my Black Belts.

As most of you know, Kung Fu is unique in the marital arts in that its hierarchy is clan-based (experience) as opposed to military-based (absolute rank). You have heard me say it before: “All Black Belts are equal but some are more equal than others”. This is the Chinese approach. We value wisdom and experience as much as, and sometimes more than, outright skill. What is most important and pertinent is how long you have been training and who you have been training under. The second that we start putting absolute ranks on people, we are classifying them within a hierarchy that does not necessarily conform to the hierarchy of the clan. To complicate things even further, I have given the title of Sifu to every adult Black Belt because of, as I mentioned earlier, my misplaced humility in my youth. When I started promoting students to Black Belt, I felt they should have the same title as me. Now thirty years and seven degrees of black belt later, I am having to deal with the issues that this approach has created, including the issue of pulling us even further away from the clan hierarchal approach and deeper with the militaristic hierarchal approach.

Today we are going to ‘reset’ and pull things back on track. Beginning immediately, I am adjusting our use of titles to conform to their traditional definitions.  This will bring us closer in line with traditional Kung Fu clan titles:

•  師父 Sifu (Teacher/Father) - Master Black Belt (5th degree and higher)

•  師兄 Sihing (Teacher/Elder Brother) - Black Belt (4th degree and lower)

•  師弟 Sidai (Teacher/Junior Brother) - Junior Black Belt

•  徒弟 Toudai (Disciple/Junior Brother) - Student

For those of you who have been attending the Ging Wu Chinese New Year Banquet, you will have noticed that every time they ask all the visiting Sifus to come up for a group picture, Silent River Kung Fu always has way more people in that photo than any other group. We are not bringing more Black Belts than any other school, we are just giving the title of Sifu to more Black Belts. By making this switch to more traditional titles, we will be more inline with most Kung Fu schools.

Lastly, you will have noticed that we now have a title for non-Black Belt students. This is to bring the students in line with the gender independent Black Belt title terminology. We have never used the feminine format of the titles and we want to move forward with that approach for all our students. This will also address a long-standing issue that our non-binary and transgender students have had to contend with by dealing with the gender specific pronouns of Ms, Mr, he, and she. Moving forward we will be utilizing the Toudai (pronounced TOE-DIE) prefix when addressing a student. Therefore rather than calling Ian Repay Mr. Repay, we will address him as Toudai Repay. If you find this transition difficult to navigate initially, please use their first name until the Toudai title becomes more normalized. 

Jeff Brinker

Teaching Opportunities

I have developed a tool to help black belts and higher queue belts experience more opportunities to teach:

Instructor Booking Tool

I am opening up this opportunity immediately to all SRKF Black Belts and I will be opening it up to the 2nd Degree Brown Belts in 48 hours. If the tool and opportunities are being consistently used by you all, I will expand the opportunities to include our adult classes. If the tool is not being used consistently by the Black Belts and 2nd Degree Brown Belts, I will expand the scope of the opportunity to include Green Belts and up. If they also fail to consistently find value in this initiative, I will remove the tool and revert back to limiting teaching opportunities to a committed few. 

I don’t think I should need to point out or remind everyone that it will be impossible for you to advance to the master ranks if you are not logging a lot of teaching hours. 

Teaching is the only way to acquire the insights and wisdom that must be developed to earn the title of master.

I hope you all can take advantage of this opportunity.

Jeff Brinker

12 Years Later and Still Pertinent

Sifus Engage

8th Degree

So this happened over the Christmas break. It was not expected and caught me off guard. It came with a personal note that read:

“Jeff:
As one of my final acts as founder of the project “The Ultimate Black Belt Test”, I am promoting you to the rank of 8th Dan.

If you’re like me, you will reject the notion that you’re qualified. Nevertheless you should see this then as an opportunity to live up to the notion.

• Promote a progressive kind of MA education.

• Inspire good, kindness, and compassion.

• Be an example , to the best of your abilities, to others of what a Master of any art might be.

If you live these things, and seek to improve yourself as a human being — and promote this kind of martial arts — then you will grow into what it is to wear an 8th Degree Black Belt.

w/Love & Respect,

Tom Callos”

I wanted to share this with you guys because, as we all know, a promotion above 5th degree is an honorary promotion that mainly recognizes your ongoing contributions to the art. When you read what is written on my certificate, there is little doubt that we all share in this honour. Silent River Kung fu is my life’s work and if it were not for the support and contributions of all of you, we would not be who we are. Thank you!

Jeff Brinker

To My Black Belt Students

The lesson on Thursday began tying together the internal nei kung work we have been working on this past year with the external harmonies we have been working on since we began studying kung fu. I think everyone has a better appreciation for the complexities within the hung set and some deeper insight as to why I teach those forms so late in a career. I am hoping that there is a concerted effort to apply your new insights consistently to your form training so that I can continue to move ahead with systemizing the teaching of these higher concepts. 

I also want to thank those of you who were there for the discussion we shared at the end. Your insights are always valued and appreciated. The higher arts are not for everyone but there is no future for traditional martial arts if we allow kung fu to devolve into the exercise of narcissism that prevails in today's "martial arts".  That word 'perspective' is something that we need to keep in front of us at all times. Two students exposed to the same lesson can see things completely different from one another. One student's tool is another's hoop. Perspective is the difference between seeing the instructor as someone trying to help you or someone who is limiting your progress. It does not take much to shift a perspective so it is important to always ask those two questions:

• Where am I?

• What am I doing?

There is a difference between learning how to defend yourself and learning how to live. Learning how to defend yourself is a very one dimensional approach that only does address the needs of the ego. Learning how to live is the only true self defence for everything that life is going to throw in your way. Yes, it is the more difficult road to travel but we all know that value is found in the journey, and the more difficult the journey, the more value it offers.

Jeff Brinker