Shag'n Dragons...Canto II: Lets Get This Party Started

In my other blog, I have mentioned that I have read the "Art of War" by Sun Tzu back in grade school...I thoroughly enjoyed reading it as it offered an insight and way of looking at life, regardless if you are an athlete, four star general or CEO...

After making our first major step, the picking of a name, it was time that I sat down and figured out my game plan...the roster I had enlisted was a very young group of people...when I say young, I don't mean in age, but in relative experience...in fact, it would be safe to say that our team was composed entirely of newbies...only three people had more then one year of experience and so I had to start right at the beginning when it came to coaching...I read up on training techniques, strategy and basic principles of coaching...I was nervous, but it was a good nervousness...I had finally taken control of something larger then myself, made myself as its main driving force, and told people to trust in me...a huge responsibility, and I would be lying if I didn't say I wasn't a little scared by it...but I live by a simple motto "Go big or Go home", and so I decided to go for broke on this one...the first thing I decided to do was to have the entire team get together and go over the basics of paddling technique...it was a great night where I met some people, to which I would eventually become good friends with, for the very first time...I went over the basics of the catch and pull and over boat commands...everyone seemed to take it all in and I could sense, for the first time, a real desire...it was the spark I had been looking and it only motivated me even further...with the basics out of the way, it was time I got them into a pool and see if they could do what I told them...

A few weeks later, the team came over to my place and we began our first pool practice...it was so much fun, I have never that much complaining and bitching from anybody....but boy was it necessary...I don't think a single person was happy with their performance, let alone dry, but it was a wonderful experience and I can say with the utmost confidence that every single person there enjoyed and valued it...the team was starting to gel together and all I could think about was something Sun Tzu said: "regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys. Look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death"...Now, I wasn't planning on having my teammates die, but I did want them to believe in me...in all of my sports and leadership moments, I've always believed in the old adage that a leader is someone who instiles confidence and belief in their subordinates through action and communication...I didn't want my team to think that I was some kind of slave driver but, at the same time, if I felt that we could do better or harder, I was going to do it with them...I feel that a leader should lead by example, should be the first person to speak up and say that it was a great attempt or a pathetic attempt...the leader should take responsibility for the good and the bad, and only if the team believes in you, does the team truly succeed...lead by example, be the rock that your team can lean upon during their darkest time, but don't be so distant from them that they can't talk to you or trust you...as the Romans would say "Strength & Honor" and this is what I truly believed in...this is what I wanted to be to them and to myself, and I knew I could...I only needed the opportunity to demonstrate my desire to succeed...

On a side note, to this day, I still feel as strongly about leading my team and I can only hope that my friends understand my words and actions in these years past....I'm not an easy person to deal with, and I have had moments where people have misinterpreted my words and actions...I have been accused of being too passionate, too aggressive, to hard on people...these accusations have been made to me, both in sport and in my personal life, and that its probably why I'm single right now, and the people and things I love have been placed in tiny, neat compartments in my soul...Dragon Boat is the closest thing I have to a truly Zen-ful existence...for that time on the water, my life has purpose, clarity and simple meaning...my life on-land is a sea of chaos one in which I have had much difficulty, as of late, navigating...I started this blog as an attempt to explain in words my love for this sport...perhaps after reading these notes, you may truly understand my intentions, my desires, and my true nature...there are times when I'm on the water, that if I were to die at that moment, I would feel no regret, no pain and no hate...it would be peaceful...

We did three pool-practices before it was time to hit the water...the team is as ready to go as it could be...I got them all on the same page and they were stoked for the Island competition...once we get the first on-water practice started, get the kinks out, things will be great...we all have worked hard to get to this point, and have endured much pain and sacrifice...how could it get any worse?...I've got three words for you: sink the boat!

My life at the beginning...Chapter VII: My time in the sun with a goddess

The goal of our presentation was to do a drama scene in which we were to answer "what happens next?"...this scene was based upon a list of books and it was designed for groups of two to three people...since my group was composed of five, there was to be one group of three and one group of two...on the day we were assigned this project, only one person was not there...at the time, I didn't know that it was my goddess but we all decided that whoever it was, I would be partnered with that person...let me paint a picture for you...imagine a young man, sitting at his desk waiting to find out who his partner was for an important class project...a project that was worth half of our final grade...now, I was not nor am I now, a comfortable drama actor and so I was hoping that at least whoever it was, they would be better then I...lets start with a slow pan down, focus in on the face of your Hero, and slowly pulling back, showing the entire class and everyone there...cut to a hallway where a pair of high heel shoes are clicking their way down it....move back to the class and you can start to see the anticipation on my face...anticipation or anxiety?...either or, a slow sweat begins to build, a single drop of sweat trickle down the side of my face...back to the high heel shoes, the camera begins to pan up, first you see a pair of smooth legs, followed by a sexy short skirt, a red jacket....back to my face where I'm now looking towards the door, my hands shaking slightly and I gulp in the hopes of clearing my throat...knock, knock, knock...the door opens, a blinding beam of light bursts through the door...sweet music from the heavens above floods the room causing everything, including our own heart beats, to slow down...out of nowhere, a white dove flies across my field of vision, and when I look at the person at the door, a quick shot of my face shows a face of pure astonishment and joy...who can this be?...who could command such a presence that even Father Time himself would stop and say "Damn!"...you got it, my goddess...oh blessed, thy name is Kao...end scene...

I forget what book we chose, but I do remember the scene we mapped out...we pretended to be a married couple who was experiencing hard times...the book was about the tribulations of an Irish family trying to survive and make a living out in the open plains of Oaklahoma...yes, and two chinese people were about to play an Irish family...yes, sounds ridiculous, but seeing as we were the last group formed, our choices were quite limited...nonetheless, we embraced this idea, and I felt that it would be important if we started working on it immediately, so as to do well...We would stay after school and go over our little scene, trying to make it more believable and still trying to stay true to the storyline and subtext found in the book...because I was in some of her other classes, I finally had an avenue to start conversing with her randomly without looking like some kind of stalker...it was awesome...I would walk up to her in our Science & Society class, sit down next to her and start talking about the project, and she would talk back...do you know whats it like to actually talk to your dream?...sure, we spoke only in terms of school and there was no social or intimate conversations had, but I took this is a sign...baby steps towards the greater goal; the goal being the eventual earning of respect of trust from her, leading to me asking her out...oh yeah, I had played it out a million times in my mind and I thought it would work out...If you know me now, I'm sure you can guess how it turned out...after two months of painstaking rehearsals and constant rewrites to the script, we were about as ready as can be for our big day...in one of my greater moments, I was able to work in a hug and a peck on the cheek into the script...yes, it sounds a little pathetic, but dude, you have no idea how excited I was...too bad we couldn't practice the peck a little more often, I'm a believer in practice makes perfect, but I think Michelle felt it was good enough...we decided that our presentation would be set in the home of the family, shortly after it ends, discussing the lost of a loved one and the increasin burdens of financial debt and back crops...not to be narcissistic, but I think I was spectacular...sure, I forgot a few lines here and there, but I was able to ad-lib a few interesting variations...actually, I sucked ass and I think one of my ad-lib moments including the words "dude" in it...not exactly historically accurate but I felt that it kep the pace of the show going...maybe I'm slightly biased, but I think Michelle was sensational...looking all sexy in a homely, Anne of Green Gable, kind of way...don't you find it weird that sometimes the more conservative and covered up a beautiful woman is, the sexier and hotter they appear?...

After the presentation was done, it was a few weeks till the Holiday break, and so I thought that this would be a great time to spring my trap!...ok, that sounds a little harsh, what I meant to say is that this would have been a perfect time for me to lay the ground work for a wonderful relationship... better?...the only problem is, no one bothered to tell her of my ideas for romance...I had the whole thing figured out...I would non-chalently approach her, say thanks for working together on the presentation, and ask her what her holiday plans were...after she would tell me what she had planned, which by the way I already found (I had asked a few of her friends in a discreet manner), I would something like "well, perhaps you would like to get a cup of coffee or catch a movie some time?"...good plan, huh?...I thought so...the day after I came up with this pearl of a plan, I walked into the cafeteria in hopes of finding the future Mrs Wu...she wasn't there, but her friend Young was and so decided to ask her where she was...on a side note, like I said earlier, beautiful, intelligent women hang out with beautiful, intelligent women, and Young was no exception...to this day, I don't remember many things of High School, but I do remember names and faces, and a name and face and body like Young's was a hard thing to forget...unfortunately, she wasn't as nice as my goddess was and when I asked her where I could find Michelle, she told me in a rather brisk and cold way that she had gone away on an early vacation with her boyfriend and wouldn't be back till the New Year...

I was devastated...she had a boyfriend...you may be wondering how in my research, I could have missed this huge and blaring obstacle in my future hopes of marrying this women and all I can say is, oops...I never asked that question, although I probably knew she had a boyfriend...I guess I was just naive and dreaming that someone like her would want to be with me while in a relationship...I guess too many movies had warped my fragile little mind...I took this blow as a hero's test and decided that forewarned is forearmed...I set out to find out as much as I could about my enemy, because as Sun Tzu always said "if your enemy is sercure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is tempermental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, seperate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected." I needed to find a way to put a divide between him and my goddess, while at the same time appear innocent of this...I was not going to give him any rest; if he wanted to be with my future wife, then damnit, he better work for it every single day...

Let the games begin!

My life at the beginning…Chapter VI: Welcome to Purgatori, I’ll be your guide!

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

I read the “Art of War” by Sun Tzu back in grade 9…I was intrigued by a book that was written by a Chinese fellow over two thousand years ago, but is still applicable today…so many people use the words and teachings of this man in their daily lives, whether its in business, politics and sports, that even in this modern age of technology his words resonate even more then it did back when he lived…the Art of War is almost a guide, filled with interpretations and alternative ways at looking at warfare and all of the administrative parts of it, and applying it to your life…it is because of this general yet specific way of making sense of things, that its teachings can be applied to pretty much anything…

It was the summer before my fourth year in Bethune…I had be ostracized by my so-called ‘friends’, deemed unworthy by the social outcasts of companionship and was beginning to feel that nothing could make me feel worse…although I had decided to bounce back and take control of my life again, I needed a sign…something that would provide that spark of inspiration, a moment clarity that would indeed allow me to refocus my thoughts and move forward…as I mentioned before, its funny how after so many years of growing up, experiencing life and traveling thousands of miles, I once again find myself in the same emotional pit of loneliness…the only difference about me today vs. me of yesterday, is that although I feel sad and alone, I have confidence in myself and know that things will be better…but back then, I didn’t have this strength and I really needed an outlet to express my feelings…that’s why I’m fortunate now to have this blog option, because writing down my experiences, thoughts and feelings is very therapeutic…

Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.

Going back to my story, I was restless and I needed a sign…I decided that instead of taking the school bus, I was going to get there early and be ready for whatever my first day of school had to offer…I had already gone through registration and so I knew where my classes were…I was in a good position, felt comfortable and was beginning to think that things wouldn’t be so bad…this year was going to be an interesting one in that I had fast-tracked some of the mandatory classes such as English and Math and I was going to be doing Co-op…that meant that for a few days of the week, I would be out in the working world and not at a place full of hate and awkwardness…but the most exciting part of this year was that I would be in three classes with Ms. Michelle Kao…wow, even today I still get goose bumps when I say her name out loud…in the first few weeks of school, things were pleasant…instead of eating lunch in the cafeteria, I decided to move into the library…our library had two conference rooms and so I started going there at lunch time to eat lunch and to just escape from the constant clucking that I heard everywhere…I had a spare after lunch and so for two and half hours a day, I was allowed to just sit back, read a book, do some work or even sleep without having to feel bad…in my previous year, I had met two girls in my English class…they were very nice, incredibly smart and more importantly, they actually seemed to enjoy my company…so, when I started hiding in the library, I invited them to join me in my little sanctuary…they took me up on my offer and for the rest of the year, lunch was once again enjoyable and relaxed…it didn’t hurt either that I was surrounded by three girls most of the time, but those are just minor details…

For Co-op, I had decided to pursue the science option and I was placed at Centenary Health Centre…I was sent to the Nuclear Medicine Department where I was assigned as an assistant to the technicians of that department…I was lucky enough that my supervisor had students there before and had an actual game plan of things for me to do…years later, when I would have my own young student’s mind to mold and shape, I found out that it was a lot harder to keep him busy then I thought…it was a great time, I learned a lot about radioisotopes, stress tests, setting up IV’s and how to avoid the kick of an 84 year old cancer patient who doesn’t want to be in a scanner for two hours…another great part of my experience at the hospital was that my supervisor was able to get me into different departments and experience different facets of Hospital life…I got to work in the ER, ICU, neonatal, physical rehab, biotechnology, pharmacy, psychiatric and I even got to witness a quadruple bypass surgery, a knee replacement, a nose job and a left leg amputation…as a young student and someone who hadn’t made a decision about his future, this was an eye-opening time, one filled with sights, smells and sounds that proved to be the most invaluable learning time of my life…

I was finally starting to feel like things were getting better…lunches were fun again, three days a week, I was at a place that gave my life a new perspective, and more importantly, I had lucked out and was placed in an English presentation group with two superhot ladies, a jock douche and my goddess…could things get any better?...apparently not, but they can certainly get a hell of a lot worse…