Archive for category Daddy Robinson

Fighting the inner demons

Mar 14

Posted by Daddy Lau in Daddy Robinson | No Comments

As per September 2010 I picked up Chinese Martial Arts. I had to get off my arse and start losing weight, get in shape and most of all, spend my time elsewhere than the local wateringhole. Initially only Wushu, but I quickly added Tai Chi Chuan and a measure of Qi Gong to the package.

Now 6 months later I’m really only 3 months into training as demotivation and feelings of a winter depression struck me hard around Xmas time. I’m quite used to dealing with my short attentionspan (“Ow look, something new and shiny!”), so this came as no surprise however I wasn’t counting on the severity with which it hit me. Today, 14th March 2011 I’m slowly getting back up on my feet and picking up the pace as before. With Julian haven taken up Wushu as well I do visit the school every week and seeing him at it with his only 5 years of age, it helps me.

Some of you familiar with Chinese Martial Arts (MA) will probably know a lot of mental training is involved besides the physical part of the story. I have undertaken attempts as both a child and a young adult to train myself in MA, but sooner or later always fell victim to boredom and most of all, lack of selfconfidence and the fear of failure, 2 of my most ferocious inner demons. Which is why I decided to try and consider the mental aspect of Chinese MA a lot more seriously, even if it only were because I now firmly believe and understand physical performance will rise or fall with mental strength. As I feel I lack considerably in the latter department I have started the journey towards a healthier mind as of recent.

Last Saturday was the start of that journey by taking a personal training with my Sifu (teacher) thru talk, understanding, meditation and a Wushu cane session. It goes without saying I came home tired both physically and mentally. The following Sunday would be the start of doing meditation twice a day for 15 minutes.

If, like me, you have never tried to sit down, close your eyes and focus on breathing, and breathing only, you’ll probably understand how tough this can be, or maybe you haven’t a clue. Your demons won’t take long to appear and distract your thoughts, the trick is to return your focus immediately to breathing. So far, I’ve completed 2 meditation sessions alone and I do hope that clock ticking down your 15 minutes will go away some time soon.

In this hectic world it’s not easy for us people to truly relax and come to terms with our inner demons and their antics. I can only speak for myself when I say keep trying…

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2011 – Ride for the Roses

Jan 24

Posted by Daddy Lau in Biking for dummies 單車蠢才, Cycling stories, Daddy Robinson, Family Robinson, Mama Abby Robinson, Strijd tegen de kilos 2.0 | No Comments

Last year we took part in Lance Armstrong’s Ride for the Roses in the province of Zeeland, The Netherlands. This year we will be heading out again and do our share in the battle against cancer. Last year was 55km (30 miles), this time we’ll be going for 80km (50 miles).

去年我倆公婆參加了Lance Armstrong 所發起的Ride for the Roses，於荷蘭的海地省舉行。今年，我們將會再次參加，作出我們小小為癌症基金的貢獻，一起與癌症鬥戰到底！去年我們踏了55公里，今年將會踏80公里。

If you want to know more about the event, please search in our website for Ride for the Roses. And most importantly, your support will be very much appreciated. You can help us by sponsoring us. How do you do that? You can transfer to us any amount you wish through paypal/ credit card. Please also notify us that you’ve done so, so that we can keep track of it and thank you personally.

如果你想知道多些關於這個慈善單車行，請在我們的網頁上找找 Ride for the Roses的文章。而最重要不過是大家的支持！你們可以捐款給我們，作為我們的sponsor，所有善款會捐到荷蘭癌症基金。你們可以經以下Paypal/ credit card方式捐任何款項給我們及通知我們一聲，讓我們可以跟進及多謝你們。


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Taichi Chuan, Wushu?

Sep 28

Posted by Daddy Lau in Daddy Robinson | No Comments

As some may or may not know I made a rather radical 180 degrees turn changing my lifestyle just after my birthday on the 3rd Sept. I left the outgoing life for what it is and started focussing on losing weight, exercising more and most of all, lead a healthy lifestyle in general.

After all the years of sin (read: too much beer and dinner outdoors) I knew the battle was going to be a tough one. Now, week 4, I’ve already lost over 4kg.’s, I only have a brew in the weekends and commit my weekly days (and the Saturday) to work and sports, Taichi and Wushu to be more precise.

Martial arts is something I’ve always been interested in, made a few attempts that never really lasted any longer than a year, and so it made sense for me to look in that direction for exercise. Shortly after my turnaround I went to visit a martial arts dojo that teaches Wushu amongst others, also known as “Kung Fu” (which, literally translated, means “skill”) to Westerners. Other styles include Taichi Chuan and Qi Gong. I finally chose to take classes in Wushu and Taichi.

Here is a photo I took last Saturday during a demonstration of Taichi Sword by our school.

I myself train Taichi without any weapons and believe me, coming with absolutely no experience it’s quite a  bit harder than it may look (and definitely less  boring!).

With 2 fulltime jobs and a child in this family Taichi gives me a hard needed break and time for myself.

Wushu is a whole different sport. It requires a lot of stamina, endurance, flexibility and most of all, perseverance. I try hard to keep up with the younger  and much more experienced, but at my own pace.

Concluding this post I’d like to share a video I recorded and edited, on YouTube, of said demonstration Saturday 25th Sept. 2010.

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The Livestrong Project bike – part II

Aug 11

Posted by Daddy Lau in Daddy Robinson | No Comments

Shortly after writing up the previous and first article on the Livestrong Project bike I decided to get started on sanding down the frame to see the horror that awaits me. All was not as bad as I thought it’d be however.

The primer used is a lovely baby blue and turned out to be rather thick, as was the finishing paint. Even though I sanded used a grit 80 it took me well over an hour just to get 2 frametubes to this stage. However, this is for inspection only, the actual complete sanding will be done thru blasting after which the frame will be powdercoated to a lovely deep black.

I was hoping to find markings revealing its original brand, however none could be found. I suspect the guy stripped the frame down to bare metal at the time and even went thru the trouble of removing the logo and plugging the holes as can be seen below on the head tube

As we speak I have a few quotations requested for the blasting and powdercoating, after which I will most probably apply thin framestickers, followed by a few layers of clear, to protect both the frame and the stickers. I’d prefer by far to go with spraypainted logos and so on, but that’d require a specialist to do the job and will most certainly work out considerably more expensive. The point is to keep costs low and profits, and therefore the donation to the KWF, high.

More to follow…

The Livestrong Project bike

Aug 10

Posted by Daddy Lau in Daddy Robinson | No Comments

Today, cancer is a disease still hard to cure and still at the top of the list of the worldwide causes of death. Worth thinking about in our modern society where almost nothing can stop us.

Abby, Julian and myself support the Livestrong foundation and the Dutch Koninging Wilhelmina Fonds KWF, a Dutch organisation funding cancer research. And even though our support may not be more than a drop of water in the ocean, we strongly feel every bit counts.

At the age of 16 I was still living in the Southwest province of Zeeland, in a small village called Noordgouwe. I remember fiddling about to make my moped run just that bit faster, smoother. Naturally, my shopping consisted of mainly parts for the moped in both Noordgouwe and a small neigbouring town called Kerkwerve. Kerkwerve had a bikeshop owned by a grumpy looking older guy, but if you could see thru that, you’d find he was a very knowledgeable craftsman who would tell you what you needed to know when striking the right nerve.

I remember entering the shop 1 day and seeing this racing bike. It was a hobby project of his son and had been spraypainted in a bright pink, grey and black. It was love at first sight, I had to have it!

Unfortunately my Mom never really had the means to buy these things, but she surprised me when I came home from school one day and found the bike waiting for me, I couldn’t be happier!

This story happened over 20 years ago, the bike is still there but she’s looking a mess. Over the last few years I have considered selling it off at next to nothing, but nodoby ever showed up despite promises. Then I considered scrapping the frame, but soon found I couldn’t, the bike still holds emotional value for me.

Then yesterday, I suddenly realised what I should do with the bike, namely restore her to her former glory, but as a stylish black and yellow Livestrong bike. Once done we’ll sell her off and donate the profits to KWF. Once the idea hit me, I knew this is the only proper way to say goodbye to this bike which had brought me many a pleasant time cycling.

This will most probably be a project that may take a year or so, or just months, depending on factors such as time, motivation and interest (for which I’ve an awfully short span). However, I will be posting on milestones along with photos. If you have any good ideas towards the design, have components lying around you’d like to contribute with, anything to promote and/or endorse this project, please feel free to share your contributions, in whatever form.

Cancer is a tough disease, and only thru Unity can we fight this battle and win. Livestrong!

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