stapler gun

Hey guys, I’ve still been a little sick. Here is a quick update.

Martial Arts/Stunts
Haven’t been training much because I was sick the past week or so. I’m in a recovering mode and just got the sniffles. Hopefully it will be completely gone by the end of the week.

I helped coach at LA wushu today and I’ve still been staying active training my private lessons. Also got a new student starting next week so we will see how that goes. This sets me in line with my goal of having a max of 3-5 private lessons. I really enjoy teaching, but keeping it one on one – this way I really get to see someone’s skills develop and provide them direct attention and custom training. Meanwhile, it keeps me active without turning martial arts training into a full-time thing that prevents me from focusing on other areas of my life.

Sam called me the past week and mentioned helping her out on a crouching tiger hidden dragon fight set for 8711, but the scene required 2 girls instead of a guy so it fell through. However, I’m sure some other cool opportunities will arise. =)

Film
Finished shooting pick up scenes for Barry Baz (www.barrybaz.com). There’s nothing really on the site yet, so don’t get too excited. However, I am quite excited because it’s been about 6 months since I finished shooting the main stuff with them and they’ve been editing (with the editors from the same studio that edited the Bourne series) and cleaning it up so that it’s a masterpiece. It’s about an Australian that comes to America. He meets me and I am an award winning film maker of sorts.. but I can’t say much more… so let’s just say it’s a comedy and a whole lot more. Should be done within a month. I’ll post more details when it’s done.

Business
Tons going on over here. Continued working on wk mock ups. Created 2 versions that I like right now.. just trying to decide on a layout. Also got the martial arts complete site in progress. The layout is good just need to get the content up there and adjust the color scheme. I filed for the dba and am still waiting on the paper work.

Corporation’s taxes are due March 15, so I started cleaning up my finances. Feels good to really sit down and see everything from a numbers perspective and then watch how it’s grown over the years. I know this is something that I should actually be looking at quite often, but as a start up you worry about a million things and hardly want to deal with the number crunching. Anyways, it’s looking good for 09.. now just to stay on top of things for ‘10.

Other
Major thing going on is that the front porch is finally getting remodeled and getting tile put in because the old material was starting to crack from the rain. Should be done by Sunday.

Also started doing a few fun raps/freestyles/covers if you hadn’t noticed on my previous posts.

Casual is Cool has our official youtube page which can be checked out at http://www.youtube.com/user/casualiscoolyo (SUBSCRIBE if you are cool)

2010 winter olympics vancouver

Well, I’m going to keep this entry short but sweet. I’m off to the 2010 VANCOUVER HOSTED WINTER OLYMPICS!! WOOOT! I will be flying in to vancouver Wed. night. Anyone around the van area give me a holler before I head out.

My friend has a business called Beard Head and due to various circumstances was unable to go sell his product in vancouver, so he is having me and a few other friends help manage the sales in vancouver. Meanwhile we should be staying at a pretty cool condo near the olympic games and hopefully checking out some cool events and parties. This will be my first olympics and its also been quite a while since I was in vancouver… though I was just in Toronto not too long ago.

As I said, short but sweet. See you all at the games!

beard head

Cheers to Beard Head for making this awesome trip possible. Please check out these awesome beard caps at www.beardhead.com.

Vietcong on Deadliest Warrior Season 2

I’m an extrovert so I gather my thoughts by talking or thinking aloud… so this post is to help me gather my thoughts. It’s been a few weeks since I got back from Asia and since I did my demo for Jackie Chan and all this excitement has sort of died down.

As I mentioned before I’ve been training more san shou lately and also getting into some tricking. I train basically 6 days a week. I still do wushu once or twice a week. I get this itch to want to compete still, but at the same time I want to focus on movies and learning more applications/styles of martial arts to become more well rounded. I think I am pretty sure now that I want to hit up my business ventures hard for another 2-3 months and then turn most of my focus on acting / stunts / entertainment for 2010.

Speaking of business wushukicks is doing well. All administrative paper work is done. Finances and accounting are clean and ready to go for 2010. Sales are also off to a great start. Have to file taxes in March. Merchant account is set up and been working smoothly this month. Saw an all time high of traffic this month as well which shows that more and more people are discovering the site. Wushukicks supplements are in a few locations in LA now. The last thing on my 2009-2010 to do list for wushukicks was to do a layout revamp. I am going to get on this in the next week… oh and also business cards. That shouldn’t take too long though. After those 2 things are taken care of, I will be quite the happy camper.

AngelsTea is doing well. We are in process of doing some redesigns on the tins and packaging. It’s going to look good when it’s done. The one thing with AngelsTea that I’ve come to realize is that it’s going to be a big project (big but fun) and I will probably have to finish up with the wushukicks to do list before I am able to shift major focus to this.

In TV and entertainment news – I worked on Season 2 of Deadliest Warrior. There was a joke on set that I was going to be a running gag where I just appear on every episode. (Since I was on the shaolin monk and samurai episode last season). The show is always pretty strict on revealing information and I don’t wanna accidentally violate the non disclosure agreement, but basically I was on the show doing some stunts and some shootouts and fighting occur (like on all episodes). DY was also on this and we had some laughs about being the only wushu guys on set. haha! Anyways, look forward to the episode airing when season 2 of the deadliest warrior comes out.

Aside from that, I’m going to start training even more. Hopefully I can get a cork and an arabian soon. I also want to shoot a few small projects where I can get some good fight scenes in and get a better understanding of angles, editing, choreography, etc.

For the first time ever I have my stunt resume finished, professional headshots printed out, and an updated demo reel.. so I think Im ready to start doing things right, hustling more, and submitting myself to more projects.

Cheers to 2010 – My year for film and entertainment.

sparring

I spent 6 hours at the gym today. I worked on some business. Everything feels right.

I took care of some business at the bank at noon.  David sold his business PokerBling which I was a partner (very small percentage of equity) in.. so we cashed out. I met up with him the day before and we caught up and discussed some business of course and then he cut me a check for my investment in PokerBling. I like catching up with David because he’s always chill and at the same time so passionate about making an impact on the world in his own fun loving way. (He is also one of the founders of Nom Nom Truck – a popular food truck in LA) Overall, I think everything worked out because we are both so busy with other projects that it was the right time to sell and focus on our other projects. We have another project in the work so I’ll still be working on some crazy things with David. Anyways, I used part of the money I got back for some inventory orders for wushukicks and for some home repairs.

Then I got crazy at the gym. Met up with sparring partner J Yee. We did a ton of drills. Today’s focus was on leg kicks, timing, defending against kicks, side kicks, combo kicks, 1 2 3 combo, lead leg round followed by cross, and reach/distance. After that we did some lifting where we maxed out on chest and shoulders. I was exhausted at this point, but there was more work to be done. I had previously spoken to a franchise owner within LA fitness and discussed some martial arts products and health products that they could sell in their display and they liked the idea so today we finalized some paper work and got some products for sale in LA Fitness! =) After a little business got done, I got my second wind! My former coworker, accountant by day female future mma star Leah rolled by to do some training. I designed a workout plan that is a mega wushu program. It combines cardio with taolu wushu techniques with sparring, kickboxing, and conditioning. It’s designed to be pretty intense and get you very in shape. I worked out again and we hit the bags for quite some time along with doing a few drils. Today’s focus was on some basic kicks, stance work, and improving conditioning.

…and that was how I ended up at the gym from 3:30pm to 10pm (30 min was spent talking so I didnt count that as part of my “6″ hour gym day).

Overall, I’m feeling really good about what I’m doing. I am getting my businesses very financially organized so that it’s not just some makeshift operation, but a clean corporate entity. I am working out more than ever before and I am so refreshed doing it because san shou has so many cool techniques and moves to learn. Sparring is so dynamic that no session is ever the same. I am getting something done every day and that feels great, but yet I feel like there is so much on my plate still. David and Hue are going to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in a few weeks. At first I thought I would be a hermit, but the more I think about it.. if I get a TON of stuff done before they go, I may plan to go with them and stay for a day or two just to have gone to check out the Olympics. I will be playing it by ear. Alright, time for me to sleep. Night!

Ni wen wo ai ni you duo shen

“Mooncake represents my heart!”

Wushu
NWTC, 99Wushu, White Lotus, UCLA Wushu / gym. This week I’ve been working more on short sections and speed over full forms. Only day I did full forms was at NWTC because they were the only place with enough space to do a full form. I’ve been training every day except one day for recovery.. shoulders have been feeling a little tight and same with my back. Overall I am probably in the top shape of my life though. I am going to bring home a medal from the 10th wushu world championships.

Film
Went out to an audition for Wizards of Waverly Place. It went alright. I said my lines confidently and naturally, but regardless when I came out of the audition it made me realize I want to take some more acting classes and practice more to refine my art. It’s always good to get more practice and I am a firm believer that everything takes practice. You can be talented, but to get to that next step, it still takes practice.. whether its acting, martial arts, giving speeches, etc.

Today I went to a meet and greet with a sports agent. They help book for fitness magazines, sports commercials, and anything athletic related. They liked the pictures I had and seemed satisfied with my athletic qualifications. I’ll be hearing back from them on Friday.

Tea
AngelsTea in Nucleus Art Gallery. (Read here: http://www.angelstea.com/angels-tea-in-nucleus-the-art-gallery-and-store/) Uploaded a few more pictures to the gallery and did some facebook updates. Add Angels Tea on facebook and twitter http://twitter.com/angelstea ! Valentines day should be a good time for people to consider Angels Tea as a sexy fun gift for their significant others.

Good news is that I’ve already had to make a re-order since my inventory was running low. My family has been supportive as well and family friends have helped spread the word in nor cal and I have made a few sales to get me off my feet with this. Thank you guys! Of course the true test is to continue pushing forward and get a large retail location to distribute my product, but sales are sales and the support behind me is a very positive thing.

WushuKicks
Set up a bunch of sites related to wushukicks. Hoping to cross promote and build up traffic through related markets. I began to evaluate other niches. It goes without saying.. wushu shoes occupies a small market compared to all of martial arts shoes or martial arts equipment. Also sketching in my idea book how to redesign wushukicks cleanly. Looking to get this done soon.

Filed for incorporation at the Secretary of State building. Next step will be to set up online merchant services. Also other To Do items include: Making new business cards, getting QuickBooks Pro, and making a wushukicks intro video.

Martial Arts Nutrition
Quite a bit of back and forth has occurred with the design. The lab has tested and labeled everything on their end. I believe we are at the point where we are going to get this product up and ready soon! Excitement is in the air.

General Business / General Thoughts
The bottom line is this – everything costs money! lol

Incorporating costs money. Merchant services costs money. Pay pal takes money. Shipping costs money. Joining the Realtors board costs money. Owning a realtor supra key to open lock boxes costs money. Maintaining your membership with your local board of realtors costs money. Product development costs money. Manufacturing a product costs money. Gas costs money. Business license costs money. Franchise tax board wants money. Sellers permit costs money.

Aiyah! Why didnt anyone tell me this BEFORE I got into starting up my own businesses. (I complain, but I love the entrepreneurial lifestyle.)

I got some great accounting advice from my uncle who is a CPA and also from my mom who was a controller for a tech firm. Now I am slowly getting all my bills, accounts, and expenses in order so that I can actually see my profits and losses.

My other uncle, a former CIO, encouraged me to read “never eat alone” – a book about building relationships and connecting people. I read it that day just because I figured if I didn’t read it right then, I would probably never get around to reading it. The book has a lot of common sense ideas, but 1) its good to re-enforce those ideas and 2) within its 250ish pages it obviously did have some new information and advice that I thought was clever or motivating.

We had an entr meeting with Dave, Misa, Jaemin, and Alison yesterday. Seems like everyone has encountered the freelance blues at some point.. which is working by yourself and having your own time, but feeling strangely unmotivated. We determined a good solution to that is to work WITH people wether mentors or partners. Even if you are successful its never fun sharing that by yourself.

Seems like Dave is FINALLY going to take some caffeine and maybe start working on getting our clothes design manufactured. I give him a hard time, but I know he has been swamped with Nom Nom (www.nomnomtruck.com) and I have been equally busy preparing for World Games.

Moon Festival
Despite all this business, I had a really relaxing day with my relatives on Chinese Moon Festival. First we visited grandma then we had some crepes for lunch, mooncakes of course, and a nice bbq at my uncles house. All us cousins went to the mall and played with every single contraption in the “As Seen on TV Store”. I had some good chats with my cousin Lydia and took note that its really key to maintain a balance between friends and focusing on success.

The next day we went to a Taiwanese dinner that my aunt invited me and Lydia to. I bumped into the random-est people there: Vivy, a college friend that I hadnt seen in a long time, a bunch of the Miss Taiwan Pageant girls which I saw at the Miss Taiwan Pageant only because my roommate Eliver knew people there (read post: http://www.casualiscool.com/pictures/miss-taiwan-approves-of-angels-tea/), and my aunts friend who happened to be on the US National Taekwondo forms team.

When I set out to write this entry, I was trying to make it as short and matter of fact as possible, but I am glad I wrote all this because sometimes I look back and I think “what have I done all week”, but as soon as I write it down it makes me feel like.. “okay, I have been remotely productive”.

This picture will be in Forbes magazine one day.

Young EO
Met up with a bunch of friends that all are starting or have started their own businesses. Everyone is relatively new (within 1-2 years of starting their business) to the CEO/entrepreneur lifestyle. Regardless of what industry or years of experience, everyone has the same passion for life and for creating something exciting/fun/revolutionary so it is bound to be a great group.

We have yet to come up with a name, but so far my suggestions were ONE – Organization of New Entrepreneurs or CEO – Creative Entr Org.

Film
Landed a non-union butterfinger commercial that we are going to rehearse for tonight. We are planning on shooting it on Sunday. The other “Borat” project wants to shoot on Sunday too. Hopefully I can fit both in.

Wushu
Went to LA Wushu on Monday and did 2 half sections and worked on some twists and aerial twists. I am still a little sick and very lethargic I will admit, but I am still forcing myself to practice. I need to practice spear and straightsword a little more. I also need to refine my third and fourth section of longfist. I am still hitting all my nandu/jumps solid.

Clothing
Got prototype2 back. We spent a lot of time and money on this one and it still was not perfect. There is a lot of value in having CLEAR and SPECIFIC communication skills because I guess if what we wanted translated better we wouldnt have to be requesting a THIRD prototype. We are going to try to blend some features from both the 1st and 2nd proto and then hopefully we should be golden.

Goal is to have this done and reach out to manufacturers within a month.

WushuKicks
Due to me finally opening my eyes to the potential that is WushuKicks and inspiration/reminders from others around me, WushuKicks is finally getting a planned site revamp. This is also targeted to be finished within a month although I think this goal is pushing it, but will heavily depend on my timing with the tea site completion.

Another goal is to have merchant account set up before the end of the month.

Tea
Production is completed. It should be shipped out to me sometime this week. Site is 2/3 ready. Need to take product pictures once the tins arrive. Also came up with a list of keywords to target.

Goal is to finish site and have model product pics done within the month.

Miss Independent

Misc
Sat went out to Pasadena and got pretty hammered off Svedka. For some reason it was extremely nasty, but normally its not that bad. Ended up singing ‘Miss Independent’ in a parking lot after one drink too many.

Sun. went to Michelle Lee’s bday with Eliver and hooked up with some homies at her shindig at library bar- alex, amanda, matt b, li jing, sun nuo, john, and tamiko.

Bruce Lee

Article by: Alfred Hsing (Current US Wushu Team Member)
Date Posted: August 2, 2009
Source: www.wushukicks.com

I was just thinking about how success in wushu works the same way as success in business. I was asking myself why my wushu training has been pretty effective, but my results in business have been mediocre and if I was doing anything different. I found out some astonishing results because the way I train is how I should act for my business – For my businesses it is still something I have to work on.

Let me take a trip through how I train wushu and how I got to be a top level us wushu athlete and how that correlates to starting up your own successful business.

1) I always stay focused when training and more specifically whenever I am on the carpet I give my form my full attention.

In other words in business, don’t be working yet on google chat or facebook. Working a highly focused and productive 4 hours is much more valuable than a 10 hour day where you were on your phone and AIM, etc.

2) I trained in China with the Beijing wushu team multiple times.

Aside from the hardcore physical training what makes training in China with one of the top professional teams so valuable? You get advice from proven champions and you train in professional facilities that are conducive to attaining the results you desire.

If you have a start up business where you can work from home, don’t work on your couch, then watch tv on the couch later, then eat a tv dinner on the couch even later. It is important to put yourself in an environment that is conducive to productivity. Even if you dont have to go to an “office” it would be good to set aside a part of your house where you only do work. It would be wise to get equipment that is conducive to increased efficiency. In china they train on quality wushu carpets, replace their shoes and weapons when they are broken, and have a gym with equipment that works out the appropriate muscles. Well, the same goes for business. Have the tools you need to perform optimally.

Also, surround yourself around people who are getting the results you want. In china everyone can do a 720 inside kick. They must know how to do it if they are all doing it so it would be wise to follow their advice. Also by virtue of hanging around it pushes you more and makes you realize it is easily attainable. A good environment motivates you as opposed to slowing you down.

3) I focus on nailing one difficulty before moving on to the next. When I train I have a goal of a move that I want to perfect and then I will really focus on just getting that one thing every time until I get it proficient where I don’t have to think about it.. then I move on.

Same goes in business. Get one area of your business solid then focus on other areas. Right now I am all over the place with various ideas. I’ve known that I need to focus on one business or else I am spreading myself thin. Find one thing for your business to improve on, nail it, then focus on other areas. For example in online business, being number 1 on google seach rankings would be much better than having 3 sites on page 3 of google search rankings.

4) I train 3 hours a day for 6 days a week. (In china its more like 6 hours a day.)

I guess with this its just about being consistent and training more than the next guy. I guess this is self explanatory. If you equally work hard and smart, if you work MORE then you will advance faster.

5) Get rest! Physically your body needs rest and nutrients to maintain and improve faster.

I sorta fail on this one because I usually dont sleep enough, but fortunately I did get light injuries from time to time that sort of forced me to stop training or stop training hard. This would probably be my bodies way of saying, hey it’s time to relax a bit. Taking breaks from hardcore training prevents you from getting burnt out and wanting to quit. If you work 20 hours a day 7 days a week for 5 years in a row, you will probably be tired. Point is, its good to work hard, but rest and even short vacations where you clear your mind are important. They help rejuvenate you and make you feel even more charged up after you get your rest.