New Blog Features

I’m not being paid to say this, but I really like making this blog with Google. Google has made it easy to create a blog without reminding me of how I barely got a “B” in my college web designing class. J

Here are some really cool features which I hope you guys will enjoy:

ü  Google Search Bar – Type in any word or phrase, and it will show results not only from the Systems within Systems blog entries, but also any article within our main Systems within Systems homepage and Sifu Hill’s Youtube page. You won’t believe how much content we already have!

ü  Sifu Hill’s YouTube Videos – On the left side, you can click the See more videos from Sifu Lawrence Hill link to go to his main YouTube website. There, you can take a peek at what we do in class, and more philosophy videos.

ü  Blog Archive  - 20 years from now, this blog is going to be the next Big Thing that ever graced the world wide web. History in the making. Better then butter and sliced bread! (OK, that might have been taking it a bit too far) Therefore, the Blog Archive will allow you to look back at previous entries.  Click on the year and month links that you want to see, and a list of the blog entries for that period will be shown.

ü  Labels – Want to view only articles about philosophy? Read only about the kung fu topics? Sort only by author name? Each blog entry will be labeled accordingly by topic.

ü  Followers – Be our friend! All the cool kids are doing it! Click the Follow button in the right part of the screen and sign in with your Google account so you can be informed of the latest and greatest blog entries the moment it is posted. Of course, you don’t have to be a Follower if you want to add your two cents to the posted blog entry; anyone can ask a question and make a comment to any of the blog entries. Just keep it PG, people, we’re all quite civilized here. J

If you have any ideas/enhancements requests for the blog, leave a comment in this entry.

Grow, learn, teach!

What's a Sifu?

When people ask “What’s Sifu Hill like?”, the only descriptive phrase that comes to mind is “He’s…Sifu.”

In martial arts terms, your Sifu is more than just the person who teaches you how to fight. It’s a term that should be used with great respect and honor. Using the term “Sifu” would be the same as referring to someone as a mentor, advisor, instructor, life coach, spiritualist, all at the same time. A good martial arts Sifu is your guide towards understanding yourself, and thus understanding how to defend yourself in the world.

Sifu Lawrence Hill teaches his students to know more than just how to defend themselves in a combat situation. He encourages us to be aware on all levels in our lives: socially and spiritually. To Sifu Hill, Shaolin is a form of true self expression. True Shaolin helps you find more about who you are and what you are capable of doing. This is the foundation of combat; when you know yourself, you will be able to connect with everything within your environment.

How it all began...

So I’m in the kitchen chopping vegetables for dinner, trying to find the best words to convey my “oh-so-brilliant-plan-at-the-time” idea to Sifu Hill, who is calmly sitting on the couch trying to catch up on some reading before we eat. Finally, I just blurt out what’s on my mind:

“Sifu, I have an idea that I think will work.”
(Actual sound that came out of my mouth: “SIFUihaveanideathatIthinkwillwork.”)

He looks up from the top of his glasses, with the kind of patient look that develops over decades from listening to other babbling students, even though all he really wants is to finish up reading and eat dinner. “Ok….”

“I want to start a blog. For our school.”

“…Oh~kaayy….”