Passed down the generations - A love of chop sockey movies and Asian cinema

Nope, this isn't yet another post about martial arts lineages and authentic kung fu schools. It is simply about my love of cheesy Chop Sockey movies. As my daughter is now 11 and already has an interest in all things anime, I'm wondering if now is the time to try to pique her interest in the old school martial art movies that I so loved in my teens and 20s.

Back when VHS was king, I used to have a huge collection of such movies, and Hong Kong cinema in general. I was lucky enough to have a couple of friends who were also into such movies and we would swap recommendations all the time. So many conversations rattled on arguing who was the best oriental action star and which director's films were coolest.

Maybe I need to start by building up our DVD collection once again. There are a few good movies on various streaming services, but nowhere near enough!

All the motivation

The other day, we were out shopping at the local supermarket. My wife and daughter were walking behind me. I couldn't really hear much of their conversation properly. What I did manage to catch, though, was my 10 year old daughter telling my wife that I, her Daddy, protected her.

I've never been much of a physical specimen. Health and fitness has never really been that important to me. Most of all, I'm definitely no fighter - I have no competitive drive or killer instinct at all.

Hearing that from her, though. That's made me want to train my strength and fighting ability like never before.

There's no greater motivation than family, I guess.

Be careful what you wish for....

Pre-pandemic, if you'd asked me what I needed in order to be able to get my #baguazhang training on track, without hesitation my response would have been an emphatic "more time at home". Now that I actually work from home and have regained the lost commuting hours back into my day, though, I find it harder than ever to work up the enthusiasm to practice. Spending all day indoors, with our lovely comfy sofa within arms reach and all the food, drink and spectator-fodder (internet, films, etc) that I can handle has sounded the death-knell for my productivity.

It's really hard to volunteer to do difficult things when so many pleasant easy things are within reach. At least when I went to work, I was out of the house for maybe 10+ hours a day. Going for a walk, hitting the gym or practicing (outside) just meant maybe 30 extra minutes of my day away from home. No biggie.

There are methods for overcoming laziness, of course...

Now, working myself up to any level of activity is a gargantuan task in and of itself. What I'm hoping, though, is that by sharing methods of shaking off the laziness on here might help me to overcome my self-imposed lethargy.

Watch this space!