My run in with life happened a few months ago. I keep falling behind on posts because too many things are happening and they are all worth posting about, but I’m too busy running with these things that I’ve hardly had a minute to just write and reflect.

Sometime though we are too busy with our fast paced lives that we don’t look at the big picture and remember to enjoy the journey. This was another reminder for me. So about 2 or 3 months ago I had an operation. I had this benign cyst that I had for a long time. It was no big deal actually as people will get cysts from plugged pores or irritation or whatever. I had this one for many years but recently it seemed to be getting larger so I wanted to remove it. Work kept me so busy with travel and all these “urgent” things that I never had the appropriate space of time to get a surgical procedure done. I knew it was important to monitor my health but I thought it could wait. Every day I delayed checking it out, I psychologically created more and more anxiety in the back of my mind.. like “what if it was something worse?”

A year later than I had wanted to drag it on, I finally had the right opportunity to get it checked out. Fearing the general health practice in China, I decided to go to Taiwan – which is known to have quite exceptional medical practice. Sure enough the doctor in Taiwan said it was most likely but not for certain a benign cyst that got inflamed but should be removed. He wouldn’t know what it was until he could remove it and sample it. All of this happened within a medical break I requested when we had no events going on.. but I would have to be back in Beijing as soon as possible. The day of the procedure, I was pretty antsy for sure. Sure enough all went smoothly and I was down to my last day before my flight to Beijing. It wasn’t over yet though. I got a call from the doctor who said I should stay a few more days in Taipei because there was a possibility the removed tissue was cancerous. He sent the tissue to the lab to be checked because the material seemed pretty hardened which could be an indication of cancerous tissue. Upon hearing that news my heart skipped a beat. I tried to stay positive because nothing was confirmed yet.. and since I had booked my flight to Beijing I was pretty set on keeping that date.

I would have to wait 3-5 days to get the results back. Those few days were hard to describe. I carried on as usual but just with a much more open mindset… I looked at everything with an added hint of “life is short”. I think I normally view life that way already but it gave my mindset an added jolt of that. Those few days my outlook grew more vast and I think it stamped in my mind that we must do something worthwhile and that we enjoy. Fortunately a few days later I got a call saying the results came in and it was in fact benign so I would not need to go back to the hospital.

New Beginnings: The Plunge Back into the Darkness

Back to Training

After my surgery I was pretty much not supposed to be active until the opening healed up. This was pretty tough for me and I started getting restless. Especially with my boosted outlook that I had to be active and push myself, I really wanted to start training again and focus on making the most of life. Plus all my time working with Jet we were so busy I barely had time to train. 2 things happened – not directly due to the cancer scare, but of course I’m sure it had some influence.

I decided I wanted to get back to focusing on personal travel, development, training, and health. I also decided that the timing was right for me to move on from my full-time job.

So there it was.. the plunge back into uncertainty. No regular paycheck. No guided set of tasks and direction. No place to live again. Another leap towards my goals, but at the same time not being able to see the ground where I would hopefully land.

When the decision was made, I knew I would have to fight. I guess it’s both physical and metaphorical… but it so happened that I found an awesome Muay Thai / Boxing gym in Beijing.

Hero Gym

So I checked myself and realized I was getting a little flabby from being surgery incapacitated, lack of training, too many long nights, and not eating carefully. My friend in Taiwan also commented that I was getting a beer belly. I was also motivated by my buddy Andy who did a very intense 6 month diet and exercise regiment where he transformed himself from average Joe to 3.75% body fat diesel. I didn’t go as hardcore on the strict eating, but I decided to go light on carbs, high on protein, fish, chicken, no sugar, and many meals throughout the day as opposed to 2 big meals. I also stayed consistent with muay thai training, wushu, jogging, and lifting pretty much 4-5 days a week for about 6 weeks.

sparring

bag work, getting in shape

I need to find some before pictures, but I finally felt back in shape after 6 weeks of intense training. It really felt good to move again especially after I healed up.

A lot of other intense things were happening during this time as I was transitioning work, preparing to move, and also going on a trip due to visa reasons. I think keeping busy keeps me motivated because at least I feel a direction to improve in my fight training.. and with that progress it pushes me forward in my other endeavors. I think this is definitely a new stage in life and it’s not my first time taking this leap. I am rather excited about the opportunities and looking forward to having more time to train muay thai, boxing, tai chi, sanda, weapons, etc.

Next post – Vietnam Adventures!

Night View of Taipei 101 on New Years Eve

It was officially New Years Eve and I started the day off right by going to workout with my friend Susan. I hadn’t worked in a while because work was taking up a lot of my time. Any chance I get to work out.. I get pretty excited. I think I ran 3 miles, did a little weight lifting, and then did some kicks in one of the studio rooms.

Working out aside, the main event of the night was New Years Eve celebrations. After working out, eating lunch, and going back to change… I rested a little and before you knew it there was not much time left before the countdown. I got showered and got ready for the new year and head out to meet my friends Elaine and Alan.

Crowds of people in the background

Alan ended up having some work meetings so I had to meet him up a little later. On New Years Eve in Taipei there are tons of people on the streets. Exciting atmosphere.. but still reallly crowded! There was NO PLACE to eat! I tried to find a simple restaurant but there was nothing! We ended up waiting for a bit and finally a spot opened up. Whew! After dinner I met up with Sarah, David.. and the crew!

NYE in Taipei

Lasik Terminator Mode

David’s friend had access to some news or office tower building where you could watch the fireworks. We kicked it there for a while but this would not be our final location for the night! As planned I met up Alan at Marquees. This is where I watched the countdown.

I must admit, this years fireworks were AMAZING. It was Taiwan’s 100th yr celebration and they spent twice the money on fireworks this year. I was in Taiwan last year for the fireworks.. and I can’t even compare.. there’s just nothing to say. Fireworks zigged and zagged up and down the 101 building they shot out of every direction.. they were like missiles blowing up everywhere except they formed hearts and didn’t kill anyone… to my knowledge. Anyways, youtube some Taipei 101 fireworks for this year.. I am sure everyone will agree it was pretty amazing.

ROC 101

After the spectacular firework display this is what lit the sky after the smoke settled. Pretty epic.

So at Marquee, I basically ran into every single possible ABC (American Born Chinese) from LA in Taipei. I felt like I was at a club in LA because so many people flew out to visit and spend new years. For those who have been to Taiwan or have an opinion.. what changes do you see in ABC life in Taiwan in the past decade? How has it affected Taipei and what lies ahead for the future? I ended the night at Primo. Lot’s of friends runnin around and met some new friends as well. Did lots of walkin and runnin around on New Years Eve, but it was all worth it! Had a blast and was happy to have spent my new years in Taiwan. This year was already off to a great start!

The rest of my trip in Taiwan was all quite busy and fun. However, it can basically be summed up in 3 categories: Meet ups, Parties, and Martial Arts.

Meet ups!
It’s nice to follow people on “facebook” or “twitter” to stay in touch… but I MUCH PREFER meeting up my friends face to face and just speaking your mind, hearing what they’ve been up to, and just having a nice cup of tea or coffee or boba! haha!

I met up with my mei Sarah and her fam for dinner. I checked out her new place in Xin Bei Tou – far! but it was a really nice place with like a time travel capable bathroom/shower. haha! Got to meet up with Ngan’s fam as well and take them out for dinner! It was cool that they came to check out Taiwan.

Glad I met up with tha Cool Silly homies Tony, Leeway, and Ray at Primo. They always have concerts and events.. plus every time I’m in Taipei it’s usually for a couple of days only.. so it was good we bumped into each other and said wsup. Too bad for Leeway though.. we didn’t get to go workout this time =P haha next time though! Better start training now. haha!

I had a few Beers with my friends Ryan and Vanessa. Last time I was in Taiwan they hooked me up on an affordable place so it was good catching up with them. My coworker AND roommate Andy was also in Taiwan so of course we met up and then aside from a meetup with some new friends who work at the Golden Horse Film Festival, I also had lunch with my family friends, aunts and uncles.. and that’ssss about it!

Kareoking with Andy

Parties
Luxy.
Primo.
Marquee.
Spark.

Check, check, check….. and check.

Party mode Jess and Tim

Martial Arts + death day workout
Muahhaha! This category is good. Now.. one day.. and I don’t know why.. but for some reason.. I ended up doing A LOT of working out. Sometimes I schedule things and don’t think or care about the physical repercussions as long as it fits with my schedule I’ll just stick it in. So one day I had scheduled to go workout with my friend Susan. Okay… no big deal.. just a workout in the morning. I go workout.. run 3 miles, do some lifting, and do a little light shadow kick boxing and flips in an open studio room. We go and grab lunch.

Behold! I had scheduled to meet up with Ngan to go meet up the Guo Ti wushu team right after lunch… so Ngan meets us up at lunch and straight from lunch I go to Linkou to train wushu! We train for about 1-2 hours.. it was a relatively light workout. We mainly went there to say hi.. but nonetheless, we still ended up doing basic kicks, jump kicks, and short sections.

THEN…. I had made a promise to MYSELF that I would visit Taiwan BJJ – an MMA training place in Taiwan. I had already tried to go once before, but they were closed the day after New Years… so this time I was resolved to check it out. I figured if I didn’t go I might never go this trip.. so riiight after wushu.. I ate 9 pieces of sushi at the train station and went directly to practice.

It’s my first time at Taiwan BJJ and today happens to be a Muay Thai class. Everyone comes in pumped after renewing their new years resolutions. They also all seem pretty serious when it comes to kick boxing.. in other words I think it was a good class.. people weren’t there to do some light cardio kick boxing stuff. The instructor is kind enough to let me sample a class… so we start warming up and doing drills. No one knew or cared that I had come from 2 other workouts already… then to top it off this is no light workout. We started doing jump rope and cardio drills where you go for 3 minutes at a time. I was pretty much dying from the start. Then we switched into doing some Thai clinching drills followed by pad work and finished up by doing some more high intensity conditioning. Whew!

I think if I had been more in shape overall (gettin fat from no working out on the job) and hadn’t run around the whole day working out I would’ve still been tired… but in alright condition. Instead though!!!!…. the next 3 days I pretty much couldn’t walk normally and had a hard time doing anything that required movement. I also had a major pain in my foot so I was limping and sore. (Somehow magically Sarah’s dad had some light device that apparently healed my foot, but that’s another story).

As if that day of 3x workouts wasn’t enough.. I had one last martial arts session in Taiwan. My friend and MMA promoter Holly took me to her friend’s BJJ school near bei tou. We joined in on a more beginner BJJ class.. did some more conditioning and BJJ basics. I still came out learning some good stuff. I was in much pain though still.. haha!

after mma workout at sarahs new house

If only this picture could express how sore I was.. haha! We did do some hot spring therapy and Sarah’s dad used this crazy light to help me heal my gimp foot. I don’t know for certain if it healed my foot, but the next day after I got some rest, I felt significantly better.

Alright.. well stay tuned for the conclusion of Taiwan Adventures III: Ninja Battle

Essentially reposted from www.wushukicks.com

Alfred Hsing Sport Accord Combat Games

The US and Canada national teams were in attendance at the 2010 sport accord combat games held in Beijing China among many other countries such as Russia, China, Malaysia, Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Brazil, and Japan. The US Team sent veteran wushu athletes Sarah Chang, Peter Dang, and Alfred Hsing.

Aug 28 Changquan Alfred Combat Games Competition

Changquan was the first event of the entire Combat Games held at 9am on August 28th, 2010. There was significant media coverage and the event was in part sponsored by Samsung. I was 2nd in line to compete.. I didn’t make any major mistakes and given that I have been focusing on work in Beijing the past 2-3 months I am pretty happy with my performance today. This will be my last major wushu tournament and I am glad I got to share it with my good friends and teammates in Beijing – the land of wushu and where I always dreamed I would be on the main stage competing in front of hundreds. My dreams as a wushu athlete were finally completed today.

My Longfist – 2010 Sport Accord Combat Games

An Interview with Tom.com – in Chinese (please dont judge my Chinese.. im still practicing)

Peter Dang rocked the house when he took 3rd in the staff competition beating worthy adversaries such as Russia and 2 other Asian countries.

13 Combat Games Ambassadors

In addition the Opening Ceremony held on the evening of the 28th spared no expense as a dazzling display of physical prowess and beautiful music filled the stadium main floor. 13 Ambassadors for each sport were in attendance – among the ambassadors were Don “the dragon” Wilson, mma fighter Fedor “the last emperor” Emelianenko, and many other legends of martial arts. The final closing song of the evening was sung by Jackie Chan who was surrounded by dancers and acrobats as the ceremony came to a close.

There are many more events such as kick boxing, sambo, jiu jitsu that are still occurring since the Combat Games just started. Look forward to these amazing sports broadcasts featured online. I wish I had more time to watch all the other events. =)

It was nice hanging with the US and Canada wushu team peeps… but it’s back to work for me!