So this blog is a little late, but better late then never!

I arrived in LA on June 25th and of course went home to unload my things and rest. As soon as i was done unloading the 60 pairs of wushu shoes i had purchased for Jenn and WW and stuffing them into a big duffel bag, I got a call from my friends and headed to their house to hang out.

Many pairs of Fei Yues that took up my luggage

I have violent friends

Me showing off my pool skills (nonexistent)

Looking at these tacos makes my mouth water...... Best EVER!

Didn't do much but hang out and caught up on good times and the night ended with the the best meal that I had been craving all year long in China..... Estrella Tacos! IMO the best tacos ever in Southern California.

As I am writing this entry and looking at the pics I am getting hungry :(

So it looks like I will be heading back to the US sooner then later. I will be back this Monday the 25th of June.

That means time is against me in terms of getting enough training time and preparing to compete. But I will do what I can. I have a lot of good friends and support and I know I will be well prepared going into this tournament.

I've also noticed that living in China, it takes me so long to get to a certain size (muscular wise) and then within 2 weeks you can lose it all and go back to being skinny haha.

Well see everyone in the US soon.

I will train the rest of this week, fly back Monday and train again in LA.

Wow time flies. Been in China over a year (which flew by) and coming back again for round 2. Still a lot of goals that need to be accomplished. So I have to come back and finish them :)

Everyone download: Jonh Legend - PDA (We just dont care)

Awesome/Cute song...... I'm allowed to say cute because I'm in China

So I've been training wushu here and there inconsistently for the past couple months.  Going to the gym monday through friday, and trying to do one wushu class every 2 weeks, or once a week if i am lucky.

And it just hit me, that whatever I'm doing is not enough. Not enough you ask? Well physically I feel in good shape (going to the gym so much), but mentally and wushu technique wise i am really out of shape. Wushu is however, 90% mental, you practice so hard to gain that confidence you need to go out and compete. Even if physically and technique wise you might suck, that confidence and mental attitude will automatically put you at the top of your game. That is the biggest thing I lack right now. I know im in good shape, but my confidence in my wushu abilities has deteriorated. Of course I can still do the jump kicks and tricks and i know i am still fairly "clean" technique-wise, but that confidence i lack can only be reinforced if only i trained enough.

Since I decided to leave my job for various reasons, and my rent had ended, and all my friends are in shanghai, and wushu is in shanghai.... I moved back to Shanghai recently.

I've decided to try out for the US wushu team. (July 13-15) in Baltimore.

I have about 1 month left to really put things in gear, and regain that confidence i once had. Fortunately, i have been disciplined enough to go to the gym consistently 5 days a week, so getting back into "wushu shape" should not be such a huge hurdle. I do know i have a lot of catching up to do. By catching up I mean all the athletes in the US I'm sure have improved and are far more advanced wushu-wise then I am. So this next month of  intensive training will help me: 1. Get in wushu shape 2. Regain my confidence 3. Hopefully (im praying) allow me to catch up to a certain level of wushu that will enable me to compete with the other US athletes.

I know I am still fairly young, but I have been competing for over 12 years. This would be the perfect way to end my martial arts competition run. So as you can see, this tournament has a lot of sentimental value for me. I want to walk off that carpet feeling at ease with myself that i finished my last tournament the way i started my first one 12 years ago.... being 100%, putting out 200% of effort, feeling confident, passionate, and love for the competition. I have always been extremely competitive in a lot of things I do, martial arts in particular. I try to hide it a lot because it can consume me and drive me crazy. But now I will let it consume me, because it will push me to train that extra mile.

I really dont know what im saying anymore haha but basically the old compeititve tam is back.

But anyways, competing one last time would add closure to a huge chapter in my life. After retiring I can focus and move on to other things. Martial arts will always be part of my life, but competing will no longer be.

So this is my last run...... Win or lose it doesn't matter to me. But knowing i put everything out there on that carpet and walking off feeling good about myself is what I am really looking forward to.

Schedule:

Train wushu - June

Fly to LA - end of June

Fly to Baltimore to compete - July 13

Fly back to LA - July 15

Fly back to Shanghai - July 23

May Holiday in Vietnam

Most of you know, ok about 2 of you know that I went to Vietnam during the May Holidays. I have been looking forward to this trip for about almost 2 months. It was pretty awesome seeing my friends Jeff and Anthony (who flew to Vietnam from LA). We met at the airport since my flight flew in an hour after theirs and started our trip with the usualy handshake/hug followed by the "long time no see", and right after that the ragging and mama jokes quickly followed as we got into a taxi.

We checked in our hotel in district 5 near the "china town" of ho chi minh city. We were all pretty tired so we went to sleep. The next morning we woke up and headed out to do a lil sight seeing, shopping and EATING!!!!

mmmm some good banh xeo at "Banh Xeo 46A"

spring rolls and peanut sauce

Tasty eggrolls mmmm

Driving around town...well not driving but sitting in a taxi and going around town we saw that the vietnamese love to live, eat, sleep, drink, whatever on their motorcycles. They use their motobikes so efficiently its crazy what they would do if they had a regular car.

Here is an example of how to use a motor bike efficiently

At night after a long day of shopping here is me and anthony eating once again.

Me enjoying some shrimp on sugar cane and my usual coconut, i had at least 15 coconuts during my stay in vietnam... something about sipping on a fresh coconut that makes me feel so re-LAX ed if u know what i mean..haha i heard it helps with the digestion system as well

Next blog will be about the trip to the Cu Chi tunnels and my family down in the south country side

This is a little late, but as you all know my favorite team (Los Angeles Lakers) has been eliminated from the playoffs again by Steve Nash and the Suns....

I was very sad to hear about this and even more sad I did not get to see any of the games this year. From the start of the season it looked as if we had a team finally getting along and playing some great basketball. As the season went on the team seemed to unravel and key players were not stepping up and doing what they are supposed to do.

I think this off season there will be some major changes. Although I don't really think drastic changes are necessary, but from the tone of the players voices, the forums, and ball club management during interviews, I think there will be.

Some available options include:

1) The long going talks of Kevin Garnett coming to LA

2) Jermaine Oneal is also very interested

3) paul gasol ? but dont know what kind of trades we need to make

4) Tam Trac - If only i was another foot taller and good at basketball.....