A Jung Bo Staff For Christmas

 

Bo Staff For Christmas

My new Jung Bo staff arrived yesterday. It's a bit of a Christmas present to myself. I plan to stick with it until the Bo is a part of me.

Bo Staff hung up

Practice yesterday and today was different. 

On Monday, it was largely stretches and strengthening exercises combined with energy meditation and breath work. This was much more of a workout than it sounds like. I broke a solid sweat by the end of class.

This evening, Tuesday, 12-23-2025, it was core exercises and kicks. A lot of it was done on the floor. 

I haven't tried many of these moves before, so I was starting from zero, referring to the core exercises, which are based on Pilates.

Thje kicks are another story - and towards the end, we were allowed to pull out the Wavemaster and practice on it, which was good. I was remembering my Tae Kwon Do & Karate classes from several years ago. Remembering, but having to rebuild the strength to get back to where I was then.

In all, it was a very good pre-Christmas workout.

I left a card for the staff at the school, hopefully they will find it.

Unfortunately, we're getting very rainy weather for the holidays, so I haven't been able to take the new Bo outside and practice with it yet. I feel a little like a kid who got new electronics as a gift, but without the necessary batteries.

Still, it's good. The Bo is very light weight. I'm looking forward to it. I think I'm going to call it "Dazzle."

I hope all of you reading this have a wonderful holiday and New Year!

Thank you for reading.

I bow to my instructors and fellow students, to our past masters of the art, and all who have preserved, improved, and passed down this art before me.

With Respectful Regards,

Dan

Celebrating 12-20-2025 - A Date Which I Will Remember

 

Jun Bo at Christmas

Today, Saturday was a wonderful day.

However, to set the stage, we have to look back at Friday, December 19th. 

On Friday, work was interesting, but not difficult. This was good, because I got out on-time, and made it to school on-time and returned after four days out to recover from doing too much with the pearls. My back had been one big cramp for a couple of days, and I had let it settle back down for a couple of days more.

Lesson: Never work a group of rarely-used small muscles more than one day in a row. Always take a day off between and do different exercises.

On Friday, December 19th of 2025, I worked on leg-strengthening exercises, and then on Jun Bo. It was my second round of training. Basically, in English, we would call the Jun Bo a quarterstaff. It's about 6' long in my case. I just really love the feel of working with this weapon. Learning to spin it and control it feels good physically. I was really feeling a workout in my shoulders, upper back, chest, and bicep/tricep muscles. It was a good, slight soreness afterwards, the kind that you know is building strength.

I love working with the Jun Bo enough that I ordered my own online. It was a very reasonable price, and it's a really nice-looking hardwood Jun Bo from what the pictures show online. It should arrive sometime Christmas week.

Today, Saturday, 12-20-2025, I stepped onto the scale, and I was at 299 lbs. I have not been this light since 1999. This is despite a few holiday meals.

Getting up off our couch or low chairs is now much, much easier. A lot of things are. My clothes are also all much looser-fitting.

Finally, I was also able to work with the pearls again today, though I only did two sets. I'm feeling good.

I came home and decorated the front room inside our house for the holidays. I got the wreath put up on the front door, and Christmas flowers in the planter on the front porch. I also put some magnetic decorations on the car.

Thank you for reading.

I bow to my instructors and fellow students, to our past masters of the art, and all who have preserved, improved, and passed down this art before me.

With Respectful Regards,

Dan

Overdone.

 

Workout Sore

I overdid it in class - worked with the pearls on an exercise to strengthen the small muscle groups in my back along the spine. I had a serious talk with those back muscles, and now they're seriously talking back to me.

Mental note: Treat it like weightlifting. Don't work the same muscle groups two days in a row, especially not groups of small muscles that rarely get used.

My bad, but it'll make me more aware.

It also tells me that these muscles need strengthening, but carefully.

Thank you for reading.

I bow to my instructors and fellow students, to our past masters of the art, and all who have preserved, improved, and passed down this art before me.

With Respectful Regards,

Dan

Wow - I'm Really Enjoying Jung Bo Practice!

 

Gong Bo

I got a thorough workout with my pearls today, and then National Instructor Ben started teaching us Jung Bo, which is a six-foot hardwood staff. I absolutely love it!

There's something about the staff spinning that, when it's going properly, just feels fantastic. Plus, it's something I can do without stressing my knee.

I didn't think I would want to do weapons training, but this one makes the most sense out of all of them. I often carry a walking stick when walking around the neighborhood because we have coyotes, and lot of people walk their dogs. 

I am totally going to dive into this one.

Also to note, there is a small ritual to observe when you pick up a weapon to train with; First, you bow to the flags in the room. Second, you pick up the weapon. Third, you bow to the instructor teaching you the weapon forms.

When returning a weapon to storage, you bow to the flags, place the weapon in its proper place, and then bow to the flags again.

Also, I picked up my new gi (uniform) from the tailor shop with the patches added to the sleeves and the pant legs hemmed up. Today was the first day I wore mine to school. Also National Instructor Ben presented me with my first belt, and taught me how to tie it properly.

It was one of my favorite days in school so far.

Thank you for reading.

I bow to my instructors and fellow students, to our past masters of the art, and all who have preserved, improved, and passed down this art before me.

With Respectful Regards,

Dan 

The Synchronicity Of Pearls

I definitely was having trouble with my knee in class this evening. However, National Instructor Ben brought in an upper-body workout that I can push hard on while my knee is in the process of healing.

They're like bean bags, but what's inside is larger than your typical bean bag filling. I suspect they're a large type of organic seed, because we had to write dates on them. Apparently, they're only good for 4-6 months.

We were given two each, one for each hand.

Then we walked through a series of exercises that work the hands, arms, and torso.

I didn't know this when I prompted Google Gemini to create the jade dragon poster, but these workout tools are called "pearls." 

Thank you for reading.

I bow to my instructors.

I bow to the flags of our nation and art.

I bow to the masters, students, and martial arts practitioners who have passed this art down to us through the millennia.

Thank you All.

Regards,

Dan Stafford

We Passed Second Section On Monday.

Three of us passed our second section test on Monday evening.

We were tested on a couple of our stances, and how long we could hold those.

We were tested on four different forms as well, and also four different kicks, and punch combinations as well as chung combinations.

It's also very cool that we are all three of similar ages, early 50's to early 60's.

Upon passing second section in this art, we receive our first gi, but not the belt. Apparently that comes later.

It was a bit like Oom Yung Doe Christmas. A happy occasion.

I congratulate my classmates!

Thank you for reading.

I bow to my instructors.

I bow to the flags of our nation and art.

I bow to the masters, students, and martial arts practitioners who have passed this art down to us through the millennia.

Thank you All.

Regards,

Dan Stafford

Slow, Careful Review...

Practice today in class was constructive. 

I was the only student in the dojo after the first twenty minutes, thanks to a special event in town.

I was able to practice all my current forms in slow motion, paying close attention to the footwork of turns, weight transitions, and pivots. I am suffering from a minor knee injury, and I'm modifying my forms to avoid any sideways stress on the injured knee.

I will be testing second-section on Monday evening. The school is aware that I'm testing with a minor injury, so they're making accommodations so that I don't injure the knee further.

It was very quiet, and I was able to maintain focus. It was helpful. I am slowing working the footing out.

Thank you for reading.

I bow to my instructors and fellow students, to our past masters of the art, and all who have preserved, improved, and passed down this art before me.

With Respectful Regards,

Dan

Climbing The Mountain Of Jade Ghost Dragon Practice...

 

Dragon Practice

It's a cautious time in my practice. More on that in a bit.

Just for reference, the "Jade Ghost Dragon" is becoming my personal totem - the "spirit" of my martial arts practice. There are times when this art seems quite spiritual. 

I've been suffering from a pulled ligament in my knee for a couple of weeks now. I'm working it through, but slowly.

A big part of it is how I shift my feet before moving from one position in a form to the next, and just as important is exactly how I shift my weight from one leg to the other.

I'm having to deeply and intently analyze the root footwork of every form, and again retrain my muscle memory to compensate. I'm taking my time, and consulting carefully with our instructors.

I am also doing a LOT of hard training to strengthen my knee muscles, quads, and glutes. Every bit of strength I can build in my legs will help - and is helping - stabilize my knee.

As National Instructor Ben stated tonight, there is a silver lining to my going through this now; When I become an instructor years from now, and I have a student who suffers with knee trouble, I will know exactly how to help them. What I also think is that I can in that case teach them some footwork from the very beginning that will help prevent doing any additional damage to their knees.

I'm hoping that I can make this a contribution to the art some day.

Jade Ghost Dragon, lead me safely up the mountain, so that I may help others with their climb some day.

Thank you for reading.

I bow to my instructors and fellow students, to our past masters of the art, and all who have preserved, improved, and passed down this art before me.

With Respectful Regards,

Dan

The Dietary Changes I Made In April 2025, Prior To Starting Oom Yung Doe In August, 2025

(With a couple of minor updates recently)

Breakfast:

* 3 hard-boiled eggs, rolled in various spices. (Not salt) (Video short of how I apply spices: https://youtube.com/shorts/jXErvbAli4o?si=FRxDUxINcgvOarRa )

* 1 carrot

* 1 celery stalk

* 1 radish (10-2025 addition)

* 2 generous handfuls of cherry tomatoes.

Lunch/snacks:

* 5 pitted Medjool dates

* 2 handfuls dried cherries

* 3-4 pieces of crystallized ginger 

* 3 handfuls of mixed nuts

* 2 handfuls of dried cranberries 

* 1 can of tuna fish 🐟 (Skipjack)

* Twice a week, 1 can individual-sized Bush's baked beans. (09-2025 addition)

* Occasional handful of wasabi and soy almonds 

Dinner Sun-Thur:

2 meals from Factor's "Chef's Choice" menu. ( Factor: Get 50% Off + FREE MyFitnessPal Premium+ https://share.google/s4nKBMjrmLh18NyQ5 )

Dinner Fri:

3 street fish tacos and 3 deep fried mushrooms from Killarney's Irish Pub in Temecula, CA 

Note: I do take the following supplements:

Daily:

1 multivitamin 

1 psyllium husk fiber caplet

1 3,000 mg D3

1 1,000 mg Fish Oil

1 Glucosamine Chondroitin

Every other day:

1 turmeric with piperene (black pepper extract)

All the a tumbler of V8 vegetable juice that has a splash of Cholula and a splash of Worcestershire sauce in it.

Regards,

Dan Stafford

More Tired Horse...

I was back in class last night, but my right knee is still giving me grief.

Doing a lot of leg and knee strengthening exercises.

Regards,

Dan Stafford