It's taken me the better part of a morning to figure where I am in my Ten Tigers spreadsheet. Math skills aside, shifting from light to full after the first quarter was confusing, though entirely beneficial. As was having to figure out this posting!
Behind on 40.5 one hour private lessons
All attended/12 group lessons
Ahead on 28,781 pushups
Ahead on 28,781 situps
A little behind on 650 form repetitions
A little behind on 22.5 hours of sparring practice
A little behind on 650 two minute cardio rounds
Ahead on 300 miles of walking/running/swimming/biking
Only a very little behind on 3150 minutes of stance training
Done!/One martial arts tournament performance
Done!/365 Random Acts of Kindness
In Progress: harmonics on guitar/Try something new
In Progress: Women who run with Wolves/ Nicomachean Ethics/Read two books aimed at improving the self, one ancient (tao te ching, gospels, etc.) and one modern (Thich Naht Hahn, Tolle, Covey, etc.)
NOT DONE/Environmental Cleanup
NOT DONE, but is planned/Community Action project
NOT DONE/One day of empathy training
This posting catches me up/Monthly writing assignments
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
#8
Yes yes I know that this was extremely late and it’s not going to be any good but at least it’s here.
Things that I can apply to non martial arts part of my life (wow that was really weird) is that sometimes you just can’t do everything at once you have to take small bites at first then after you get the hang of it then you can speed up (speeding up part optional). For instance the ten tigers program is very good at teaching me that you do have to take small bites (I mean trying to do 35000 pushups in one day dose not sound fun, I don’t know about you Steven but I’d rather just do 30 per day)
Another example is that it is a, shall we say, good idea to take good care of your body for instance for the instance, when I just stopped doing the ten tigers for eh…call it four months and then I tried to do ten pushups, I got really angry at myself because of how hard it was, but I couldn’t get enough motivation to do anything about it. Cause it just kept going through my head that it was too much trouble to actually do 30 pushups (and sit-ups but that’s implied) I actually tried to quit the ten tigers program, but when I got home that night I was so angry at myself for trying to do that. But now I think that it’s a piece of cake to do 30 and 30 and 5. In fact I already did 100 pushups and am about to do 100 sit-ups.
So there you go
Larkin
Things that I can apply to non martial arts part of my life (wow that was really weird) is that sometimes you just can’t do everything at once you have to take small bites at first then after you get the hang of it then you can speed up (speeding up part optional). For instance the ten tigers program is very good at teaching me that you do have to take small bites (I mean trying to do 35000 pushups in one day dose not sound fun, I don’t know about you Steven but I’d rather just do 30 per day)
Another example is that it is a, shall we say, good idea to take good care of your body for instance for the instance, when I just stopped doing the ten tigers for eh…call it four months and then I tried to do ten pushups, I got really angry at myself because of how hard it was, but I couldn’t get enough motivation to do anything about it. Cause it just kept going through my head that it was too much trouble to actually do 30 pushups (and sit-ups but that’s implied) I actually tried to quit the ten tigers program, but when I got home that night I was so angry at myself for trying to do that. But now I think that it’s a piece of cake to do 30 and 30 and 5. In fact I already did 100 pushups and am about to do 100 sit-ups.
So there you go
Larkin
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Learned From Failure
An important thing I have learned from failure is that sometimes, failure is needed.
If I am not on the path I need to be on, a failure can force me to reexamine my journey.
If I am not making progress on the path I need to be on, a failure can show me the changes I need to make.
Sometimes, barely succeeding allows me to keep following a very difficult path, whereas failing allows me to abandon that path to follow an easier one.
I've learned that even though it is a blow to my ego, and feels rotten, failure sometimes is exactly what I need.
The Struggle Continues!
TT Writing Assignment #9:
What is something important you have learned through falling short, falling behind, missing your goals, or outright failure?
To let go of guilt. Guilt gets in my way of getting back on track for improvements. It wakes me up in the night, just as surely as trying to sleep without completing my crucial tasks for the day. Unless I invent a time machine, guilt is useless except as an incentive to avoid it in the future.
To plan more realistically. It turns out that I cannot do everything, be everywhere, and fill gaps for everyone I love, even myself. And even if I actually can do everything, without a plan to achieve it, the deadlines just go zipping by without triggering any alarms. When I find myself failing, it's often because I haven't taken the effort to manage the details of the goals on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.
To change. If I keep missing my targets, something is not right. The plan must not only be more realistic, it might have to change altogether. Change is probably the most complex and frightening component because who is to say that change is for the better? I so often feel that if I just keep getting up and charging at the target again, perhaps this time I'll hit it. Luckily I have a friend who points out, repeatedly, that that's the definition of insanity ... so now sometimes I can stop and think about what must change. Sometimes everything must change because the goal is false. Then I have to go back to step one again, and let go of guilt … But sometimes things must change because the goal has simply changed, as they do over time. Perhaps when I started the journey I only wanted to simple goals, and now they're more complex. Perhaps the path required for the achievement of goals is too lonely. Each day I change, and it's okay – and important – to inquire of myself if I'm still doing what I really want to be doing.
To ask for help. Even following simple steps can be too hard without friends and loved ones. I know that much of the thinking I have to do when I've fallen short or struggling must be my own, done on my own, acknowledged and worked through in my own head in my own intensely personal space. But it surely is good to have someone to whom I can turn for a bit of help with the questions rolling through my head. Sometimes I think I'm going crazy, or misinterpreting signals, or making decisions based unreliable reactions, or simply that I can't do it. I'm not capable. The voice of a friend can remind me to trust myself – simple, but not easy. Asking for help provides me with new or different information and can break the cycle of self-doubt that gets in the way of resetting my goals, or simply trying harder to reach them.
Case in point. I am behind in my Ten Tigers for legitimate reasons – or so I tell myself. But the motivation to catch up eluded me until the other day. With a little outside influence added to my own circular thinking, I was able to replace some negative thoughts with positive ones, create rewards where only failure weighed heavy. And now I'm within striking distance of not only pulling even, but pushing ahead. I've re-set my goals to allow for my need for off days, and raised the bar for performance.
And that's not the only struggle this writing applies to. Writing to these assignments makes me consider where I am right now, and follow my own steps to get in a better place. My muscles are sore, but my mind is okay. Thank goodness.
What is something important you have learned through falling short, falling behind, missing your goals, or outright failure?
To let go of guilt. Guilt gets in my way of getting back on track for improvements. It wakes me up in the night, just as surely as trying to sleep without completing my crucial tasks for the day. Unless I invent a time machine, guilt is useless except as an incentive to avoid it in the future.
To plan more realistically. It turns out that I cannot do everything, be everywhere, and fill gaps for everyone I love, even myself. And even if I actually can do everything, without a plan to achieve it, the deadlines just go zipping by without triggering any alarms. When I find myself failing, it's often because I haven't taken the effort to manage the details of the goals on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.
To change. If I keep missing my targets, something is not right. The plan must not only be more realistic, it might have to change altogether. Change is probably the most complex and frightening component because who is to say that change is for the better? I so often feel that if I just keep getting up and charging at the target again, perhaps this time I'll hit it. Luckily I have a friend who points out, repeatedly, that that's the definition of insanity ... so now sometimes I can stop and think about what must change. Sometimes everything must change because the goal is false. Then I have to go back to step one again, and let go of guilt … But sometimes things must change because the goal has simply changed, as they do over time. Perhaps when I started the journey I only wanted to simple goals, and now they're more complex. Perhaps the path required for the achievement of goals is too lonely. Each day I change, and it's okay – and important – to inquire of myself if I'm still doing what I really want to be doing.
To ask for help. Even following simple steps can be too hard without friends and loved ones. I know that much of the thinking I have to do when I've fallen short or struggling must be my own, done on my own, acknowledged and worked through in my own head in my own intensely personal space. But it surely is good to have someone to whom I can turn for a bit of help with the questions rolling through my head. Sometimes I think I'm going crazy, or misinterpreting signals, or making decisions based unreliable reactions, or simply that I can't do it. I'm not capable. The voice of a friend can remind me to trust myself – simple, but not easy. Asking for help provides me with new or different information and can break the cycle of self-doubt that gets in the way of resetting my goals, or simply trying harder to reach them.
Case in point. I am behind in my Ten Tigers for legitimate reasons – or so I tell myself. But the motivation to catch up eluded me until the other day. With a little outside influence added to my own circular thinking, I was able to replace some negative thoughts with positive ones, create rewards where only failure weighed heavy. And now I'm within striking distance of not only pulling even, but pushing ahead. I've re-set my goals to allow for my need for off days, and raised the bar for performance.
And that's not the only struggle this writing applies to. Writing to these assignments makes me consider where I am right now, and follow my own steps to get in a better place. My muscles are sore, but my mind is okay. Thank goodness.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
I'm not perfect, entitled, or special.
The main thing that I have learned through failure is the importance of letting go of the ego. I recall the following statement, but I can't remember where I got it. It goes like this. A person says, "Why me?!, Why me?!, Why me?!" The answer is, "Why not you." I can relate failure to each my my careers; acting and teaching.
When I first got into acting around twenty years ago, I started off on a roll, no pun intended. I obtained a role in every play I auditioned for. It got to the point where I would just look at the list of the auditions, and simply pick and choose. One evening, I auditioned for the main role in an Agatha Christie play. I auditioned my butt off. I used a British accent, showed off every emotion one could possibly think of, and then shed a few tears for good measure. My friends who were also auditioning were blown away. They said that was the best work they had seen me do, and I was a shoo in for the part. Usually, I would get a phone call in a day or two offering me the role. The call never came. I was so conceited at the time, that I thought there must of been some type of error. Maybe the producer and director misread the contact number. I gave a ring, which was something I had never done, and was informed that the role went to another actor. I was shocked. It went to an actor who was a fellow student at the acting school I attended. I saw his audition and was bored to death. Yet, he correctly interpreted the character where I simply wanted to show off. It was an Agatha Christie character, and I treated it like a Stan Lee character. My ego was my true failure.
I began teaching in my early twenties. I was young and still full of ego. One day around fifteen years ago, I saw a student doing his math homework while I was teaching my English class. My attitude at the time was how could this person do this. Doesn't he know that he is missing out on me speaking, which is a wonderful opportunity. What in the world is this student doing?! I berated him, and he cried. After class, I apologized, and walked him to the counselor as he requested. The young man was devastated, and I was shocked and ashamed at what I had done. Later, the counselor informed me the student was having severe family issues, and not doing his homework was not helping those issues. I was the straw that broke the students back, or in this case, his spirit. I hurt someone's feelings because of my ego. All I had to do was simply ask him to place the math book away, and please focus on literature right now. Instead, I made a huge scene because of my ego. I'm ashamed of both of these moments of my life. I failed as an actor and a teacher. More importantly, I failed as a human being. On a more positive note, these failures are learning experiences.
I've learned that I'm not perfect, entitled, or special. I've learned this through failure and my martial arts training. Studying kung fu keeps me humble. It's great to see my fellow students and my teachers succeed and grow as better martial arts and human beings. Through hard work, I can become a better martial artist. It's a simple concept, but can be difficult to apply. Also, through hard work I can become a better actor, teacher, and more importantly, husband, father, and human being.
When I first got into acting around twenty years ago, I started off on a roll, no pun intended. I obtained a role in every play I auditioned for. It got to the point where I would just look at the list of the auditions, and simply pick and choose. One evening, I auditioned for the main role in an Agatha Christie play. I auditioned my butt off. I used a British accent, showed off every emotion one could possibly think of, and then shed a few tears for good measure. My friends who were also auditioning were blown away. They said that was the best work they had seen me do, and I was a shoo in for the part. Usually, I would get a phone call in a day or two offering me the role. The call never came. I was so conceited at the time, that I thought there must of been some type of error. Maybe the producer and director misread the contact number. I gave a ring, which was something I had never done, and was informed that the role went to another actor. I was shocked. It went to an actor who was a fellow student at the acting school I attended. I saw his audition and was bored to death. Yet, he correctly interpreted the character where I simply wanted to show off. It was an Agatha Christie character, and I treated it like a Stan Lee character. My ego was my true failure.
I began teaching in my early twenties. I was young and still full of ego. One day around fifteen years ago, I saw a student doing his math homework while I was teaching my English class. My attitude at the time was how could this person do this. Doesn't he know that he is missing out on me speaking, which is a wonderful opportunity. What in the world is this student doing?! I berated him, and he cried. After class, I apologized, and walked him to the counselor as he requested. The young man was devastated, and I was shocked and ashamed at what I had done. Later, the counselor informed me the student was having severe family issues, and not doing his homework was not helping those issues. I was the straw that broke the students back, or in this case, his spirit. I hurt someone's feelings because of my ego. All I had to do was simply ask him to place the math book away, and please focus on literature right now. Instead, I made a huge scene because of my ego. I'm ashamed of both of these moments of my life. I failed as an actor and a teacher. More importantly, I failed as a human being. On a more positive note, these failures are learning experiences.
I've learned that I'm not perfect, entitled, or special. I've learned this through failure and my martial arts training. Studying kung fu keeps me humble. It's great to see my fellow students and my teachers succeed and grow as better martial arts and human beings. Through hard work, I can become a better martial artist. It's a simple concept, but can be difficult to apply. Also, through hard work I can become a better actor, teacher, and more importantly, husband, father, and human being.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Lessons from Martial Arts: Embrace the Process.
Ten Tigers Writing Assignment #8:
“Discuss how martial arts training can be used to make improvements in non martial aspects of our lives. One example would be to take self defense principals and apply it to the food we eat.”
I could write on this one for the rest of my life, and hopefully I will.
I only could make myself attempt kung fu because somehow it called to something long neglected in my spirit. It took a lot of that calling to make me finally get up and do it. Once I began training, I was consumed by doubt, distress, inabilities, and so forth -- but the call kept coming through. As I feared, I soon realized that learning kung fu was the first experience in my life where I could not slide by, I could not pretend to be adequate, I could not act like I understood when I didn't. In all my education (considerable years of it), I was just bright enough to not have to give it my full attention. I found that if I acted like I knew what I was doing, enough people would assume I did indeed know – whether I did or not. Not so in kung fu! So, the first way that martial arts training made improvements in my non-martial life was to make me face myself and my habit of learning at the surface only and, once faced, to develop deeper ways of learning.
I have had to deal with my own learning disabilities, show them in front of others, then figure out how to work through those disabilities anyway. I now know I can only see one thing at a time, so I understand why I have to ask Steven to show me so many times in a row. I can only watch feet, or hands, or the thing in the hands ... and I have to put them together as the pieces I see. Then, and only then, comes the application. Finally, when I see each part of the move, work it into a whole, and then feel the bruise it leaves, I've got it. It's the same for life patterns. At first, and still now, I must have it broken down for me. More and more, I think, I can begin to pick out the parts myself, when I try, from the whole pattern itself. If I practice seeing patterns.
Learning kung fu is the same process of learning anything else well. For instance, literature (poetry, novels, plays) of significance is amazing and beautiful when first experienced – there is a call to the spirit. The call can go unanswered with still much appreciation for the beauty, but to go beyond, to dare understanding, requires much study, much thought, time and effort. And then, once the pieces have been pulled apart, examined for their art, put back together again and experienced as a whole, there comes practice. After I have answered the call and learned, I have to practice. And practice some more. And, it turns out, more even after that.
There is no end. That's the final lesson. I will not arrive, one day, in fine physical shape, able to leap into the air and spin without pulling a muscle, having worked hard, paid attention, and practiced. If I obtain the job I wish for, become the teacher or life-partner I can be – I cannot then stop. Jobs will not stay without effort, abilities will wane, learning will become outdated, and accomplishments will only become stories told of the past, incapable of projecting hopes into the future.
Solid gold. If I don't get beaten, I won't have tried. If I don't keep trying, I will not progress. I will not stop, I will not arrive, I will just embrace the process.
“Discuss how martial arts training can be used to make improvements in non martial aspects of our lives. One example would be to take self defense principals and apply it to the food we eat.”
I could write on this one for the rest of my life, and hopefully I will.
I only could make myself attempt kung fu because somehow it called to something long neglected in my spirit. It took a lot of that calling to make me finally get up and do it. Once I began training, I was consumed by doubt, distress, inabilities, and so forth -- but the call kept coming through. As I feared, I soon realized that learning kung fu was the first experience in my life where I could not slide by, I could not pretend to be adequate, I could not act like I understood when I didn't. In all my education (considerable years of it), I was just bright enough to not have to give it my full attention. I found that if I acted like I knew what I was doing, enough people would assume I did indeed know – whether I did or not. Not so in kung fu! So, the first way that martial arts training made improvements in my non-martial life was to make me face myself and my habit of learning at the surface only and, once faced, to develop deeper ways of learning.
I have had to deal with my own learning disabilities, show them in front of others, then figure out how to work through those disabilities anyway. I now know I can only see one thing at a time, so I understand why I have to ask Steven to show me so many times in a row. I can only watch feet, or hands, or the thing in the hands ... and I have to put them together as the pieces I see. Then, and only then, comes the application. Finally, when I see each part of the move, work it into a whole, and then feel the bruise it leaves, I've got it. It's the same for life patterns. At first, and still now, I must have it broken down for me. More and more, I think, I can begin to pick out the parts myself, when I try, from the whole pattern itself. If I practice seeing patterns.
Learning kung fu is the same process of learning anything else well. For instance, literature (poetry, novels, plays) of significance is amazing and beautiful when first experienced – there is a call to the spirit. The call can go unanswered with still much appreciation for the beauty, but to go beyond, to dare understanding, requires much study, much thought, time and effort. And then, once the pieces have been pulled apart, examined for their art, put back together again and experienced as a whole, there comes practice. After I have answered the call and learned, I have to practice. And practice some more. And, it turns out, more even after that.
There is no end. That's the final lesson. I will not arrive, one day, in fine physical shape, able to leap into the air and spin without pulling a muscle, having worked hard, paid attention, and practiced. If I obtain the job I wish for, become the teacher or life-partner I can be – I cannot then stop. Jobs will not stay without effort, abilities will wane, learning will become outdated, and accomplishments will only become stories told of the past, incapable of projecting hopes into the future.
Solid gold. If I don't get beaten, I won't have tried. If I don't keep trying, I will not progress. I will not stop, I will not arrive, I will just embrace the process.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
the kung fu spirit
One of the main ideas of studying kung fu for me is that through hard work goals can be achieved. This is not a huge revelation, but simply common sense. Yet, I have found over the years that common sense is easy to put in a statement, but harder to apply in one's life. Kung fu has helped me learn how to focus better, stay motivated, and have patience. These three characteristics have not only helped me with martial arts training, but other aspects of my life as well.
I've always been a multi-tasker. Sometimes that's a good thing, and sometimes it's not. Much of my time is spent working on a film script, grading papers, answering business emails, chatting with friends online, etc., all at the same time. On good days, I can accomplish these things without losing focus and without any additional stress. Yet, I have moments when the cards come crashing down. I'm a human being and I get tired. It's simple as that. My kung fu training has kept these moments to a minimum though. It's given me not only the physical endurance to move on, but the mental training to focus in a chaotic world. I believe this has helped me on film sets as an actor and stuntman, a running coach, a teacher, and a former member of corporate America.
My training has also kept me motivated. I always strive to get a little better each and every day. That is not isolated to just my kung fu training. I believe in the kung fu spirit, which I interpret as working to better your own life and the lives around you. Therefore, I motivate myself to be a better father, husband, and citizen. Also, I motivate myself to be a better runner, yoga practitioner, and scholar. I believe all of these things help me physically, mentally, and emotionally. They help me be a better person and martial artist.
I've also learned patience from my martial arts studies, particularly kung fu. Many martial arts studios promote becoming a black belt in 18 months. How can that truly benefit someone? I guess it could fill the pockets of some and fill up an empty hole with false confidence within others. When I go to a doctor, I honestly don't want one with 18 months experience. Well, I guess it's better than one with 17 months. Anyway, it seems we live in a society that wants to rush things. The old saying, "Stop and smell the roses," had been in our culture and other for centuries for a reason. It's worth living life like that instead of rushing through it. I believe with patience comes the willingness to learn. I always want to have that willingness to learn. This is the attitude I work for in kung fu training, work, and family and social life. I've been fortunate enough to earn goals in martial arts training, but they did not come quick or easy. That made them more rewarding. This applies to my goals and accomplishments in life as well.
I've always been a multi-tasker. Sometimes that's a good thing, and sometimes it's not. Much of my time is spent working on a film script, grading papers, answering business emails, chatting with friends online, etc., all at the same time. On good days, I can accomplish these things without losing focus and without any additional stress. Yet, I have moments when the cards come crashing down. I'm a human being and I get tired. It's simple as that. My kung fu training has kept these moments to a minimum though. It's given me not only the physical endurance to move on, but the mental training to focus in a chaotic world. I believe this has helped me on film sets as an actor and stuntman, a running coach, a teacher, and a former member of corporate America.
My training has also kept me motivated. I always strive to get a little better each and every day. That is not isolated to just my kung fu training. I believe in the kung fu spirit, which I interpret as working to better your own life and the lives around you. Therefore, I motivate myself to be a better father, husband, and citizen. Also, I motivate myself to be a better runner, yoga practitioner, and scholar. I believe all of these things help me physically, mentally, and emotionally. They help me be a better person and martial artist.
I've also learned patience from my martial arts studies, particularly kung fu. Many martial arts studios promote becoming a black belt in 18 months. How can that truly benefit someone? I guess it could fill the pockets of some and fill up an empty hole with false confidence within others. When I go to a doctor, I honestly don't want one with 18 months experience. Well, I guess it's better than one with 17 months. Anyway, it seems we live in a society that wants to rush things. The old saying, "Stop and smell the roses," had been in our culture and other for centuries for a reason. It's worth living life like that instead of rushing through it. I believe with patience comes the willingness to learn. I always want to have that willingness to learn. This is the attitude I work for in kung fu training, work, and family and social life. I've been fortunate enough to earn goals in martial arts training, but they did not come quick or easy. That made them more rewarding. This applies to my goals and accomplishments in life as well.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
What TT has done for me
Assignment: What have you learned about yourself/your training from TT so far, and what has it changed about your approach to martial arts?
I have learned from my TT training that I am a procrastinator, unless I have some very strong motivation otherwise. I have learned that I need a group to work with, to learn with, to strive with. One of the most wonderful discoveries of martial arts, for me, was the feeling I got from training with people who shared the same desire to get the essence of the art – to internalize it. Since internalizing anything is such a personal and individual process, it's extra important to have the freedom to figure it out at my own pace, in my own way, but with guidance and support all along.
Ten Tigers has been, and remains, a program that continually helps me keep my goals in line with my daily activities. Martial arts that exists only on the kwoon floor cannot give me the results I want, nor the physical and emotional fitness levels that change my life. When I completed the TT light (1/3 program) last year, I found that it created positive habits in my daily living – but then when the program ended (a month break), I ended too. I stopped everything, felt stubborn, felt like I deserved a break … and found it very hard to start again. The “break,” I now understand, was only a return to habits and patterns that did not serve me well. The positive habits were not yet fully internalized. This second year, which I have bumped up after the first quarter to full participation, has made a huge difference that I can feel in everything I do. I've had to adapt some things – like the increased strength training has made me less flexible so I added more stretching to my routine. And I've discovered new things – like adding kettlebells to my workouts, a growth out of one of last year's special sessions that Steven embraced.
I've also discovered that the higher level of training is a challenge to schedule and maintain, but that when I am on track, everything else in my personal life is going better as well. When I veer off course and fall behind, it's a signal that I need to take a look around me to see what else is askew, and get back on the path of physical, mental and emotional health.
Ten Tigers has been a path I can follow, on an incremental daily basis, that has changed my approach to martial arts by making it part of who I am, wherever I go. I have learned to trust my instincts, listen to my body, train hard, and ease up as needed. I know now that “breaks” are not the reward I once thought them to be. More and more, I am learning to let go of my resistance to change and embrace challenges and fears as positive forces rather than things to be avoided.
I have learned from my TT training that I am a procrastinator, unless I have some very strong motivation otherwise. I have learned that I need a group to work with, to learn with, to strive with. One of the most wonderful discoveries of martial arts, for me, was the feeling I got from training with people who shared the same desire to get the essence of the art – to internalize it. Since internalizing anything is such a personal and individual process, it's extra important to have the freedom to figure it out at my own pace, in my own way, but with guidance and support all along.
Ten Tigers has been, and remains, a program that continually helps me keep my goals in line with my daily activities. Martial arts that exists only on the kwoon floor cannot give me the results I want, nor the physical and emotional fitness levels that change my life. When I completed the TT light (1/3 program) last year, I found that it created positive habits in my daily living – but then when the program ended (a month break), I ended too. I stopped everything, felt stubborn, felt like I deserved a break … and found it very hard to start again. The “break,” I now understand, was only a return to habits and patterns that did not serve me well. The positive habits were not yet fully internalized. This second year, which I have bumped up after the first quarter to full participation, has made a huge difference that I can feel in everything I do. I've had to adapt some things – like the increased strength training has made me less flexible so I added more stretching to my routine. And I've discovered new things – like adding kettlebells to my workouts, a growth out of one of last year's special sessions that Steven embraced.
I've also discovered that the higher level of training is a challenge to schedule and maintain, but that when I am on track, everything else in my personal life is going better as well. When I veer off course and fall behind, it's a signal that I need to take a look around me to see what else is askew, and get back on the path of physical, mental and emotional health.
Ten Tigers has been a path I can follow, on an incremental daily basis, that has changed my approach to martial arts by making it part of who I am, wherever I go. I have learned to trust my instincts, listen to my body, train hard, and ease up as needed. I know now that “breaks” are not the reward I once thought them to be. More and more, I am learning to let go of my resistance to change and embrace challenges and fears as positive forces rather than things to be avoided.
The Red sash test
In this match he did do quite well for his first time sparing 2\3 of the people that he did spar. And three two minute rounds are really hard even if you did have perfect cardio, but as it stands no one has perfect cardio. His technique was good, if slightly limited, but I think every body could understand why that is.
More importantly, not having experience with most of the people that you have to spar can be rather daunting for instance on my red and black and red test I had to spar some people, that I had never even seen spar let alone spar my self it can be a little scary. Some times getting air can be hard to do when you’re sparing three black belts! But doing that is something that you have to do, that is one of the tests in the black and red belt TESTS. And like I said no one has perfect cardio, and never runs out of wind, ect.
But back to center of the matter his technique, having a torn hamstring kinda limits your verity strikes. The only thing is that his guard was ever so slightly high, two instances of this that I saw were black belt 2 and black belt 3, the body side kick is the main technique that got him. Well body side kicks and body punches too, just lowering the guard a little bit would help stop those trouble some body hits.
More importantly, not having experience with most of the people that you have to spar can be rather daunting for instance on my red and black and red test I had to spar some people, that I had never even seen spar let alone spar my self it can be a little scary. Some times getting air can be hard to do when you’re sparing three black belts! But doing that is something that you have to do, that is one of the tests in the black and red belt TESTS. And like I said no one has perfect cardio, and never runs out of wind, ect.
But back to center of the matter his technique, having a torn hamstring kinda limits your verity strikes. The only thing is that his guard was ever so slightly high, two instances of this that I saw were black belt 2 and black belt 3, the body side kick is the main technique that got him. Well body side kicks and body punches too, just lowering the guard a little bit would help stop those trouble some body hits.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Sparring Analysis (self-centered)
Analyzing My Own Sparring Matches:
I looked at some of of my own sparring matches, not to be self-centered, but because I believe that analyzing my own videos is one of the few ways to improve my skills, and I am interested in how I have changed over time.
Tournament, August 2008 – match with Tammy: I remember NOT wanting to spar Tammy. Watching the video brought the feeling back. She probably knew that, because as the match began she plowed into me straight down the pipe, and forced me to move back to the edge of the mat. Because she was a very aggressive opponent, I saw in the video that I started keeping out of her way, not staying in her line of fire because, if I did, I could not stay on the mat! I was looking for opportunities to strike as she moved in, while getting off to the side. That's usually not my style, but it was working. I have reach, height and weight on Tammy, so I was able to strike before she was, but she is much faster. It looked like I was using the side-step method to keep out of the way of taller opponents, though it was her aggression and speed that made me react that way. My kicks were not chambered. That made them slow as molasses and ineffective when they did hit. When we slowed down a bit, after the first rush of activity, my kicks were still not chambered, even when there was plenty of time to do so. Only size advantage let me seem to overmatch Tammy. Speed and style were hers. She threw combinations, moved in quickly, kept her guard up and was FAST. She kept her head to her left, though, and sometimes left it unguarded. While she led with her right, keeping her head to the left protected it most of the time, but being a left-handed, taller opponent, sometimes I could get over that right hand for head strikes. Tammy was good at disrupting an attack with hook punches that came out of nowhere and high/low combinations that were difficult to block.
Red sash test, June 2010 – match with Steven: (1st one, not the second one where I actually thought I'd rather just stay on the ground and get stomped than get up again. ha.) I see myself not reading what is going to happen next, after I move in. I look for a chance to dive in, and I don't have a combination ready in my head. I act, then react. For instance, Steven often chambers his lead leg, and I wait for it to drop and then throw one punch, or one kick, mostly halfheartedly. My body language tells me that I don't think my kick or punch is going to do anything – and so it doesn't. My kicks are not chambered at all, again because of that halfhearted delivery. Without a proper chamber, there is little, if any, snap and therefore little, if any, speed or surprise.
I also see that I am making many energy-draining moves – starts of kicks that aren't thrown nor are they effective feints, head movements, bobbing, circling, without purpose. Nervous energy that could be redirected.
Steven waits. He knows I'm going to come in. Then, when I think he's going to wait some more, he comes in quickly before I'm set. At one point, I moved in with a punch or two, actually DUCKED a hook punch from Steven, and then when I failed to follow through (probably happily thinking, hey, I saw that punch coming and dodged it!), then came the side kick. The side kick knocked me back, and in my brief period of mental disgust at falling for the side kick again, Steven followed immediately with a flurry of punches before I recovered. After that series, I threw a pointless punch or two, then had a fairly logical combination where Steven easily kept out of reach. The combination made sense, but the targets were not selected. After that, though, there followed a brief period before time was called where I was wasting more energy with little punches, and low, short kicks that wouldn't do anything even if they hit full power. It looked like I was trying to poke a dragon in the eye without wanting to.
Red sash test, June 2010 – match with Eli: My style with an aggressive opponent is different. Eli always moves in and I work on defense rather than aggression. I know if I get in close, he'll be able to use the short right hand power punch that is one of his favorites. With Eli, I was able to wait for him to kick, then follow the kick in with punches. That's a combination that has worked for me repeated – except against Steven's side kick because (a) I'm not able to move in after being knocked backward and (b) he's waiting anyway. (there's a clue there somewhere) If a kick is not effective enough to move your opponent back, they can follow it in and eat your lunch. Ergo, do not throw ineffective kicks.
During one clash, I was able to move in and strike the mid-section (harder than I intended). Though I took a hit to the head, the strength of my strike reduced the head hit significantly. However, I think that if no pads were involved, anyone could take that mid-section strike better than a crack over the head. And what if he'd had something heavy in his hand?!
I show little to no side movement. Circular, yes, but not any movement getting me to the outside of my opponent. I stay straight down the middle, which is not logical for real-life situations against a taller, stronger opponent, which Eli now is.
National tournament, August 2010 – match with intermediate female opponent: This was the first opponent I can remember who did not wear a mask. In this tournament, face strikes were disallowed. It is hard, in the speed of a match, to remember not to strike what has been a regular target. (If I am ever in a street fight, I will certainly go for the face.) I lost a point because of illegal face strikes.
My opponent had a strong side kick (where have I seen that before?) and good timing. She was tall and outweighed me. I could not depend on my strength and size in this match. I had some trouble with her good, high kick since it was well aimed. She had that kick, and a punch that followed, or vice versa depending on the situation. Once I blocked her lead hand strike, and her kick immediately followed. That combination created a difficult-to-block high/low combination. I don't know how I would have done against her in point-only sparring, but in continuous matches opponents have a chance to get past the initial strike(s) and change the game. After eating her kick and punch a time or two, I found the timing of her kick to get past it, and blocked her punch. I caught her kick, and climbed over it punching. She did not have a well-developed close fighting style. Once I discovered that, I felt I had her. The emotion of the fight changed at that point, too, because I knew what to do, and she seemed to be made uncomfortable by the close-in contact. Her body language at the end of the first round told me she thought I had her too. Her shoulders slumped, she would not meet my eyes, and she looked like she wished she hadn't signed up. As we “set up” for another round, she walked slowly. My body language was bouncy, literally on my toes ( a waste of energy, probably) and confident. That helped me psychologically in the fight as well because the judges see that body language, as well as the opponent.
I looked at some of of my own sparring matches, not to be self-centered, but because I believe that analyzing my own videos is one of the few ways to improve my skills, and I am interested in how I have changed over time.
Tournament, August 2008 – match with Tammy: I remember NOT wanting to spar Tammy. Watching the video brought the feeling back. She probably knew that, because as the match began she plowed into me straight down the pipe, and forced me to move back to the edge of the mat. Because she was a very aggressive opponent, I saw in the video that I started keeping out of her way, not staying in her line of fire because, if I did, I could not stay on the mat! I was looking for opportunities to strike as she moved in, while getting off to the side. That's usually not my style, but it was working. I have reach, height and weight on Tammy, so I was able to strike before she was, but she is much faster. It looked like I was using the side-step method to keep out of the way of taller opponents, though it was her aggression and speed that made me react that way. My kicks were not chambered. That made them slow as molasses and ineffective when they did hit. When we slowed down a bit, after the first rush of activity, my kicks were still not chambered, even when there was plenty of time to do so. Only size advantage let me seem to overmatch Tammy. Speed and style were hers. She threw combinations, moved in quickly, kept her guard up and was FAST. She kept her head to her left, though, and sometimes left it unguarded. While she led with her right, keeping her head to the left protected it most of the time, but being a left-handed, taller opponent, sometimes I could get over that right hand for head strikes. Tammy was good at disrupting an attack with hook punches that came out of nowhere and high/low combinations that were difficult to block.
Red sash test, June 2010 – match with Steven: (1st one, not the second one where I actually thought I'd rather just stay on the ground and get stomped than get up again. ha.) I see myself not reading what is going to happen next, after I move in. I look for a chance to dive in, and I don't have a combination ready in my head. I act, then react. For instance, Steven often chambers his lead leg, and I wait for it to drop and then throw one punch, or one kick, mostly halfheartedly. My body language tells me that I don't think my kick or punch is going to do anything – and so it doesn't. My kicks are not chambered at all, again because of that halfhearted delivery. Without a proper chamber, there is little, if any, snap and therefore little, if any, speed or surprise.
I also see that I am making many energy-draining moves – starts of kicks that aren't thrown nor are they effective feints, head movements, bobbing, circling, without purpose. Nervous energy that could be redirected.
Steven waits. He knows I'm going to come in. Then, when I think he's going to wait some more, he comes in quickly before I'm set. At one point, I moved in with a punch or two, actually DUCKED a hook punch from Steven, and then when I failed to follow through (probably happily thinking, hey, I saw that punch coming and dodged it!), then came the side kick. The side kick knocked me back, and in my brief period of mental disgust at falling for the side kick again, Steven followed immediately with a flurry of punches before I recovered. After that series, I threw a pointless punch or two, then had a fairly logical combination where Steven easily kept out of reach. The combination made sense, but the targets were not selected. After that, though, there followed a brief period before time was called where I was wasting more energy with little punches, and low, short kicks that wouldn't do anything even if they hit full power. It looked like I was trying to poke a dragon in the eye without wanting to.
Red sash test, June 2010 – match with Eli: My style with an aggressive opponent is different. Eli always moves in and I work on defense rather than aggression. I know if I get in close, he'll be able to use the short right hand power punch that is one of his favorites. With Eli, I was able to wait for him to kick, then follow the kick in with punches. That's a combination that has worked for me repeated – except against Steven's side kick because (a) I'm not able to move in after being knocked backward and (b) he's waiting anyway. (there's a clue there somewhere) If a kick is not effective enough to move your opponent back, they can follow it in and eat your lunch. Ergo, do not throw ineffective kicks.
During one clash, I was able to move in and strike the mid-section (harder than I intended). Though I took a hit to the head, the strength of my strike reduced the head hit significantly. However, I think that if no pads were involved, anyone could take that mid-section strike better than a crack over the head. And what if he'd had something heavy in his hand?!
I show little to no side movement. Circular, yes, but not any movement getting me to the outside of my opponent. I stay straight down the middle, which is not logical for real-life situations against a taller, stronger opponent, which Eli now is.
National tournament, August 2010 – match with intermediate female opponent: This was the first opponent I can remember who did not wear a mask. In this tournament, face strikes were disallowed. It is hard, in the speed of a match, to remember not to strike what has been a regular target. (If I am ever in a street fight, I will certainly go for the face.) I lost a point because of illegal face strikes.
My opponent had a strong side kick (where have I seen that before?) and good timing. She was tall and outweighed me. I could not depend on my strength and size in this match. I had some trouble with her good, high kick since it was well aimed. She had that kick, and a punch that followed, or vice versa depending on the situation. Once I blocked her lead hand strike, and her kick immediately followed. That combination created a difficult-to-block high/low combination. I don't know how I would have done against her in point-only sparring, but in continuous matches opponents have a chance to get past the initial strike(s) and change the game. After eating her kick and punch a time or two, I found the timing of her kick to get past it, and blocked her punch. I caught her kick, and climbed over it punching. She did not have a well-developed close fighting style. Once I discovered that, I felt I had her. The emotion of the fight changed at that point, too, because I knew what to do, and she seemed to be made uncomfortable by the close-in contact. Her body language at the end of the first round told me she thought I had her too. Her shoulders slumped, she would not meet my eyes, and she looked like she wished she hadn't signed up. As we “set up” for another round, she walked slowly. My body language was bouncy, literally on my toes ( a waste of energy, probably) and confident. That helped me psychologically in the fight as well because the judges see that body language, as well as the opponent.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
What I've Learned
The main thing I have learned about me from this program is that I do better when I have goals.
Before I had specific goals to meet, I found it very easy to believe that I didn't have time or energy to train at that moment. The moments would add up and soon I'd realized I had not trained outside of class for a week. Then, I would train really hard for a few days. Next, I'd start making excuses again. Too tired, too busy, too stressed. . .
Now, when I am tired, busy, or stressed, I have this goal hanging over me, and I have to be much more careful in deciding if I really am to busy, tired, or stressed.
The best part is, when I go ahead and get my training in on those days it helps me realize I'm not as busy as I thought, it makes me feel less tired, and it alleviates the stress.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
growing
Ten Tigers has helped me realize how much potential I have as a martial artist. A few months into the program, I was a bit stressed because I felt like I was falling behind. I'm down on my push up reps, and how will I get caught up. I'll never get caught up. Oh no!!! Yet, I simply took time to slow down and analyze the situation. It occurred to me that many martial artists never find the time, or more accurately, make the time to train outside the studio. I've seen these practitioners in action, and I did not want to be that person. I wanted to be the student who always takes the attitude of the student in a positive manner, which I believe to be that there is always more to learn. More importantly, I want to learn to the best of my ability. In order to do that I must find the time to train outside the school. If I don't, I will never truly grow. Ten Tigers has help me change for the better in regards to time management. Since becoming a part of the program, I've practiced stance work, done push ups, and forms in the oddest places. I remember one of my early teachers tell me how people would laugh at him for practicing his forms in his office. People would drive by and see him through the office window kicking and punching. He did not care. He knew that was the only time he had to put in the hard work to get the positive results. When on the phone, I will often work on stance work. I work in sets of push ups and sit ups when my daughter plays on her mat.
Not only have I started to analyze my workouts more to reach my full potential, I've started to analyze my overall martial arts studies. I used to try to fit in as many forms as possible before my training time ran out. Now, I focus on quality and not quantity. Honestly, I've forgotten a lot of forms and that's a bit frustrating. Yet, most of them are weapons forms, and I don't plan on using a sword or spear in public anytime soon. So, I focus on what little I do know in regards to application. I do not practice as many forms, but really slow down the ones I do know in order to concentrate on what I can use and in what situation. I think of self defense, sparring, and film fight choreography when I practice. It keeps me interested and gives me purpose. That's probably my biggest change in my approach to things. What is the purpose of this, and will it work for me? Some things do and some things don't. Some techniques work on some days and some days they don't. For example, right now, I have a pulled hamstring, so a lot of kicking techniques are not working for me. My body is not allowing it. Therefore, I need to figure out an alternative or back up plan. For me, this is growth. I'm changing with my body, but still getting the same result in regards to application. I've always thought this to be a significant step in martial arts. I've seen "masters" simply count in Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and watch over a class. Where's the teaching in that?! Great, you know how to count to ten in a foreign language. What's the purpose...educate your attacker? I admire the masters of their art who stay in the best shape they can, and they continue to participate. They do what they can still do well. They have a self awareness of what works for them, and they make sure they truly know that information. Someone who used to have a fantastic roundhouse kick may now be more of a puncher. If it is still effective, who cares? My approach has changed to basically what works best for me today. The important part is to be honest with myself, and never forget, that I will always have more to learn.
Not only have I started to analyze my workouts more to reach my full potential, I've started to analyze my overall martial arts studies. I used to try to fit in as many forms as possible before my training time ran out. Now, I focus on quality and not quantity. Honestly, I've forgotten a lot of forms and that's a bit frustrating. Yet, most of them are weapons forms, and I don't plan on using a sword or spear in public anytime soon. So, I focus on what little I do know in regards to application. I do not practice as many forms, but really slow down the ones I do know in order to concentrate on what I can use and in what situation. I think of self defense, sparring, and film fight choreography when I practice. It keeps me interested and gives me purpose. That's probably my biggest change in my approach to things. What is the purpose of this, and will it work for me? Some things do and some things don't. Some techniques work on some days and some days they don't. For example, right now, I have a pulled hamstring, so a lot of kicking techniques are not working for me. My body is not allowing it. Therefore, I need to figure out an alternative or back up plan. For me, this is growth. I'm changing with my body, but still getting the same result in regards to application. I've always thought this to be a significant step in martial arts. I've seen "masters" simply count in Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and watch over a class. Where's the teaching in that?! Great, you know how to count to ten in a foreign language. What's the purpose...educate your attacker? I admire the masters of their art who stay in the best shape they can, and they continue to participate. They do what they can still do well. They have a self awareness of what works for them, and they make sure they truly know that information. Someone who used to have a fantastic roundhouse kick may now be more of a puncher. If it is still effective, who cares? My approach has changed to basically what works best for me today. The important part is to be honest with myself, and never forget, that I will always have more to learn.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
BOO!!!
scared ya did'nt I. it's been a while so i'm gonna tell you my toughest workout.
#1. drink four cups of coffie at cracker barrel.
#2. go home and do 300 random burpies, stair climbes, pushups, situps, double lunges, uber squats (like the normal squat but uber), and horse flys.
#3. sleep.
#1. drink four cups of coffie at cracker barrel.
#2. go home and do 300 random burpies, stair climbes, pushups, situps, double lunges, uber squats (like the normal squat but uber), and horse flys.
#3. sleep.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Kathy Long vs Kyoko Kamikaze
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSSi1hYgQL8
At first, I thought Long was being careless as she starts off with what looked like on overcomitted aggressive attack. As I watched the fight unfold, I realized that she was throwing high power combinations from the end of her reach, utilizing her height advantage over Kamikaze. She was actually being careful to keep her range while unloading some heavy bombs. The fight lasted 5 rounds, but Long won in round one. She started off by intimidating her opponent with her power and continued to do so throughout the fight.
Kamikaze on the other hand seemed to allow the intimidation to control her, constantly backing away, throwing only short combinations then backing off. She never really seemed to set up something to take away Long's plan. Most of her offense seemed to come out of when she had to punch her way out of a bad situation, rather than trying to create a good situation for herself. She seemed very reactionary, allowing Long to control the range and pace of the fight.
Eventually Kamikaze started throwing a few combinations, but too late in the fight, and her strength seemed to have been sapped. At one point she landed a good looking hook punch on Long's chin, only to have long stick out her chin and tap it as if to say, "come try that again!" Before round 5 (the final round) in Kamikaze's corner, Kamikaze looked done. Round 5, Long knocked her down twice. I was impressed that Kamikaze was able to get back on her feet. Long won decisively.
Now I have to watch more of Long's fights to see if this is a common tactic for her. She psychologically overwhelmed her opponent from the beginning and used that advantage to physically overwhelm her as well.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Fight Review (BJ Penn vs. Joey Gilbert)
http://www.fightauthority.com/fist-fight.php?fid=294
I had a difficult time finding a fight to review. I thought with the world of YouTube it would be rather easy. Yet, what I seemed to find most was guys in their backyard having a match. One would be using Pabst Blue Ribbon kung fu against someone using the Funnel This Fist Style. Another thing that seemed to pop up a lot was video game type fights were you could see Chuck Norris fight Abe Lincoln or Jesus fight the Burger King. So, I had to go the the reliable which I hoped to avoid....MMA. I'm not an MMA fan. I guess I'm holding on for boxing to get back where it was in the days of Ali, Frazier, Norton, and Foreman. Oh well...at least I have my old VHS tapes to relive those glory days of boxing. I like the stand up stuff. Honestly, I'm just not knowledgeable enough in regards to ground fighting to truly appreciate it. That is something that I plan on addressing in my future training. I just read an article by a gentlemen who has nearly 40 years experience in the martial arts and multiple black belts. He was writing about his new adventure in BJJ. The article was about being a white belt, and the importance of having that same enthusiasm and willingness to learn throughout your life. Often times, that may lead to venturing out in other training areas to add to your base.
I have heard of BJ Penn before. I subscribe to Inside Kung Fu and he's been on the cover before. I've read articles about him in this publication. Therefore, when I looked to review an MMA fight, I chose one of his. I came across his first UFC fight, and I thought it would be interesting to see someone who has become mega famous when they were new to this level of competition.
I have posted the link to the fight above for your convenience. You may want to watch it before my comments to see if I make decent observations, or you may want to wait to after in order to see if you agree with me or not. Your choice.
It seems both fighters use the jab simply to set up a waist grab to take the other to the ground, or to get a grip on the head to use knee strikes. I did not get the feeling that the jabs were meant to actually make contact. They were more of a distraction. I guess we have all have done this in sparring at some point, or maybe I'm the only one. Who knows? After seeing it though, I kind of wonder if I have been wasting my time and energy doing that. I going to make it a goal that every strike should have a purpose and make contact. I'm going to try to move away from the distract techniques in sparring. They guys definitely like their ground game, and maybe that's why their stand up fighting looks quite bad to me. I admired Gilbert as he kept punching hard even as Penn had his head and neck wrapped up. About three minutes in, Penn turned his back on Gilbert and paid for it. He got whacked. Never turn your back on your opponent. Now, I have broken that philosophy with a spinning back kick or back fist, but I looked before I committed...most of the time. Yeah, I'm guilty too. Penn got hit hard, but he did not go down, but he took a wallop. Eventually, Gilbert gets Penn to the ground and just pounds the H...E...double hockey sticks out of him. The ref stops it. Penn seemed to be to set on the ground game. He was unable to match Gilbert on the stand up game, even though Gilbert was not that great at it. Gilbert also seemed better conditioned, which I believe is a huge part of winning a match. He just kept punching whether standing or on the ground. They were hard punches too. It's obvious that Penn learned from this first match. He has gone on to some great things, and I admire him for that. A lot of people in this world would of got discouraged and said the heck with . He didn't, and he had been rewarded with more wins and by becoming a better martial artist.
I had a difficult time finding a fight to review. I thought with the world of YouTube it would be rather easy. Yet, what I seemed to find most was guys in their backyard having a match. One would be using Pabst Blue Ribbon kung fu against someone using the Funnel This Fist Style. Another thing that seemed to pop up a lot was video game type fights were you could see Chuck Norris fight Abe Lincoln or Jesus fight the Burger King. So, I had to go the the reliable which I hoped to avoid....MMA. I'm not an MMA fan. I guess I'm holding on for boxing to get back where it was in the days of Ali, Frazier, Norton, and Foreman. Oh well...at least I have my old VHS tapes to relive those glory days of boxing. I like the stand up stuff. Honestly, I'm just not knowledgeable enough in regards to ground fighting to truly appreciate it. That is something that I plan on addressing in my future training. I just read an article by a gentlemen who has nearly 40 years experience in the martial arts and multiple black belts. He was writing about his new adventure in BJJ. The article was about being a white belt, and the importance of having that same enthusiasm and willingness to learn throughout your life. Often times, that may lead to venturing out in other training areas to add to your base.
I have heard of BJ Penn before. I subscribe to Inside Kung Fu and he's been on the cover before. I've read articles about him in this publication. Therefore, when I looked to review an MMA fight, I chose one of his. I came across his first UFC fight, and I thought it would be interesting to see someone who has become mega famous when they were new to this level of competition.
I have posted the link to the fight above for your convenience. You may want to watch it before my comments to see if I make decent observations, or you may want to wait to after in order to see if you agree with me or not. Your choice.
It seems both fighters use the jab simply to set up a waist grab to take the other to the ground, or to get a grip on the head to use knee strikes. I did not get the feeling that the jabs were meant to actually make contact. They were more of a distraction. I guess we have all have done this in sparring at some point, or maybe I'm the only one. Who knows? After seeing it though, I kind of wonder if I have been wasting my time and energy doing that. I going to make it a goal that every strike should have a purpose and make contact. I'm going to try to move away from the distract techniques in sparring. They guys definitely like their ground game, and maybe that's why their stand up fighting looks quite bad to me. I admired Gilbert as he kept punching hard even as Penn had his head and neck wrapped up. About three minutes in, Penn turned his back on Gilbert and paid for it. He got whacked. Never turn your back on your opponent. Now, I have broken that philosophy with a spinning back kick or back fist, but I looked before I committed...most of the time. Yeah, I'm guilty too. Penn got hit hard, but he did not go down, but he took a wallop. Eventually, Gilbert gets Penn to the ground and just pounds the H...E...double hockey sticks out of him. The ref stops it. Penn seemed to be to set on the ground game. He was unable to match Gilbert on the stand up game, even though Gilbert was not that great at it. Gilbert also seemed better conditioned, which I believe is a huge part of winning a match. He just kept punching whether standing or on the ground. They were hard punches too. It's obvious that Penn learned from this first match. He has gone on to some great things, and I admire him for that. A lot of people in this world would of got discouraged and said the heck with . He didn't, and he had been rewarded with more wins and by becoming a better martial artist.
Monday, July 26, 2010
self improvement book assignment
Recently, I completed reading Bikram Yoga by Bikram Choudhury as my self-improvement book. Overall, I enjoyed the book, and believe it will benefit me in my future yoga practice. The “creator” of American Hot Yoga is a very charismatic individual, as one would expect from a guru. First, let me inform you what hot yoga is. It is yoga, which is a series of postures that exercise the body, mind, and spirit, that is practiced in a room set at 105 degrees with a humidity level at 40-60 percent. This extreme heat allows one to stretch deeper and it challenges the mind because the heat can effect one’s mind and senses. Bikram has taken the 26 of the 84 yoga postures, and he has created his Sequence. It is widely recorded that Bikram has his lovers and haters, as many gurus tend to do. He is very bold in his opinions and does not sugarcoat any of them. Some I agree with, such as his poor opinion of organized religion. I tend to agree with him that it can be a waste of time and money, but there are plenty of people out there that would say the same thing about yoga, and that’s okay too. Bikram would not agree with the last part of my last statement, and that is okay with me too. So be it. He is very opinionated about how one should live their lives in regards to personal matters such as choosing a significant other or getting a piercing or tattoo. I believe people have a right to choose what ever path they want in a mate, and I believe if someone wants to get a tattoo or get the nosed pierce, that’s their business.
After a whole section on ranting about the problems of the world, which there are many, he offers the prescription for curing one’s frustration with the world. Of course, this is Bikram Yoga. Does it work? Yes! I have been practicing for nearly two years, and I have seen the benefits. I believe that through my practice and my wife’s practice, we were able to have a child after three doctors said we could not. They said it was medically impossible. Hot Yoga does heal and renew the body, mind, and spirit in my opinion. Yet, I am not as extreme as Bikram. Of course, my livelihood is not dependant on Hot Yoga. The studios I practice act are mainly certified by the Barkan Method, which is more liberal than Bikram. It allows for more hands on adjustments and corrections in the practice, and a little bit less judgment on others. For example, one of my instructors said she was going to pretend to be a Bikram teacher one day. She did so by standing on a pedestal. Hopefully, you get my drift. I think we have seen these two methods of teaching in the martial arts world as well.
As I have found with many people who want to show you the way or path to better living and fulfillment, they tend to contradict themselves. For example, Bikram is very much against team sports and individual sports competition. He says it creates a poor attitude and hurts the body. Yet, he brags about how his teaching have benefited such athletes ad Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and John McEnroe. Also, he talks about how his children play sports at school. I guess they are not listening to dear old dad. Please forgive my sarcasm. I’m just skeptical on these types of books. I’m even skeptical on what is considered that basis for most religions and philosophies. I simply take what works successfully for me, and leave the rest behind. I may miss out on some things, but as long as I keep improving as an individual and continue to become a better husband, father, human being, and so on…who cares? If you do, you need a hobby. See, I can be as opinionated as Bikram.
Anyway, the second part of Bikram’s book is going through the Sequence. He discusses each posture and gives valuable tips. I practiced Saturday, and even though, I did not have my best practice that day, I saw where his tips were very beneficial. I also enjoyed how he described exactly what organs, gland, muscles, and so on were doing with each posture. It was good to learn in depth what specific benefits my body, mind, and spirit are receiving during my practice. Our teachers give us the quick version at times during our practice, but in a large group class that is a 90 set sequence, it is difficult to get the specifics. I found this to be the most rewarding part of the book.
The third part of the book is how to apply your yoga practice in your life and society to make the world a better place. I know this sounds cheesy, but I believe this is an important part of yoga or anything one does in life. If it is not benefiting you or those around you, what is the point? I practice yoga to obtain and maintain better health, so hopefully, I can be around longer to enjoy life and all that’s positive in it. Even though I’m not a big fan of organized religion, if it keeps someone out of jail or hurting others, let it be.
After a whole section on ranting about the problems of the world, which there are many, he offers the prescription for curing one’s frustration with the world. Of course, this is Bikram Yoga. Does it work? Yes! I have been practicing for nearly two years, and I have seen the benefits. I believe that through my practice and my wife’s practice, we were able to have a child after three doctors said we could not. They said it was medically impossible. Hot Yoga does heal and renew the body, mind, and spirit in my opinion. Yet, I am not as extreme as Bikram. Of course, my livelihood is not dependant on Hot Yoga. The studios I practice act are mainly certified by the Barkan Method, which is more liberal than Bikram. It allows for more hands on adjustments and corrections in the practice, and a little bit less judgment on others. For example, one of my instructors said she was going to pretend to be a Bikram teacher one day. She did so by standing on a pedestal. Hopefully, you get my drift. I think we have seen these two methods of teaching in the martial arts world as well.
As I have found with many people who want to show you the way or path to better living and fulfillment, they tend to contradict themselves. For example, Bikram is very much against team sports and individual sports competition. He says it creates a poor attitude and hurts the body. Yet, he brags about how his teaching have benefited such athletes ad Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and John McEnroe. Also, he talks about how his children play sports at school. I guess they are not listening to dear old dad. Please forgive my sarcasm. I’m just skeptical on these types of books. I’m even skeptical on what is considered that basis for most religions and philosophies. I simply take what works successfully for me, and leave the rest behind. I may miss out on some things, but as long as I keep improving as an individual and continue to become a better husband, father, human being, and so on…who cares? If you do, you need a hobby. See, I can be as opinionated as Bikram.
Anyway, the second part of Bikram’s book is going through the Sequence. He discusses each posture and gives valuable tips. I practiced Saturday, and even though, I did not have my best practice that day, I saw where his tips were very beneficial. I also enjoyed how he described exactly what organs, gland, muscles, and so on were doing with each posture. It was good to learn in depth what specific benefits my body, mind, and spirit are receiving during my practice. Our teachers give us the quick version at times during our practice, but in a large group class that is a 90 set sequence, it is difficult to get the specifics. I found this to be the most rewarding part of the book.
The third part of the book is how to apply your yoga practice in your life and society to make the world a better place. I know this sounds cheesy, but I believe this is an important part of yoga or anything one does in life. If it is not benefiting you or those around you, what is the point? I practice yoga to obtain and maintain better health, so hopefully, I can be around longer to enjoy life and all that’s positive in it. Even though I’m not a big fan of organized religion, if it keeps someone out of jail or hurting others, let it be.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
July assignment
Fight analysis:
This month your assignment is to find a video of a pro or amateur fight or sparring match and analyze both competitors performance.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
toughest workout
I actually do my toughest workout on a regular basis. Unfortunately, I've been semi-regular as of later. Fortunately, I've gotten back on track this week. My toughest workout is a session of "hot yoga." It is also know as Bikram Yoga as well as the Barkan Method considering where one takes a class at. The titles go back to the teacher in regards to lineage. Sound familiar? Yoga has a number of similarities to martial arts, including stance work for example. One of the first things that a person must overcome is the heat when taking a class. The room is around 100 degrees or more with a humidity level between 40-60 percent. Classes are usually 90 minutes long and mix in a series of movements and breathing exercises. These exercises incorporate a mixture of strength training, flexibility, and endurance.
The physical aspect is tough. A lot of people have a hard time with the heat. Also, sweat can get into your eyes leaving you to balance without one of your main senses. This is often the toughest part for me. Yet, the other aspects of the practice are even tougher. The studio is usually set up where you must face yourself and your fears. This is usually done with mirrors and "the voice" or "guide" as many instructors refer to themselves. Most people fear their own physical being. What I am referring to is basically how you look in the mirror. I have not met many people who are completely happy with how they look in the mirror. You see your flaws in muscle structure, fat, etc. You must face these and bring forth the mental power to overcome these and improve on them with a successful practice. With the room set at that temperature, ladies usually wear traditional yoga clothes that are not as heavy due to the heat, and men simply wear shorts or swim trunks.
Also, another tough aspect of hot yoga is once the doors are shut and the practice begins, everything outside those doors must be left out there. All of the negative energy and ego must be put away in order to have a rewarding and successful practice. You must look inward, think about what you need to work on most to improve yourself as a person, and improve yourself. Every class brings new challanges, new things to be improved on, or in extreme cases, conquered. All of this is easier said than done. One of my instructors says it best. He states often during his classes that "Honest effort gives honest results." This is something that you take from class and try to apply to all aspects of your life. That is the yoga, and that is why it is the toughest workout for me.
The physical aspect is tough. A lot of people have a hard time with the heat. Also, sweat can get into your eyes leaving you to balance without one of your main senses. This is often the toughest part for me. Yet, the other aspects of the practice are even tougher. The studio is usually set up where you must face yourself and your fears. This is usually done with mirrors and "the voice" or "guide" as many instructors refer to themselves. Most people fear their own physical being. What I am referring to is basically how you look in the mirror. I have not met many people who are completely happy with how they look in the mirror. You see your flaws in muscle structure, fat, etc. You must face these and bring forth the mental power to overcome these and improve on them with a successful practice. With the room set at that temperature, ladies usually wear traditional yoga clothes that are not as heavy due to the heat, and men simply wear shorts or swim trunks.
Also, another tough aspect of hot yoga is once the doors are shut and the practice begins, everything outside those doors must be left out there. All of the negative energy and ego must be put away in order to have a rewarding and successful practice. You must look inward, think about what you need to work on most to improve yourself as a person, and improve yourself. Every class brings new challanges, new things to be improved on, or in extreme cases, conquered. All of this is easier said than done. One of my instructors says it best. He states often during his classes that "Honest effort gives honest results." This is something that you take from class and try to apply to all aspects of your life. That is the yoga, and that is why it is the toughest workout for me.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
my hardest work out is
well its a toss up between a good hard game of super tag in the middle of Summer at 12 o clock in the morning
or 50 double lunges (double lunges are lunge kick lunge) and 100 push ups and sit ups
or 50 double lunges (double lunges are lunge kick lunge) and 100 push ups and sit ups
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
My Toughest Workout
My touhest workout is sparing sifu stevon and eli. and also doing the cave craws around the 4 square box and all of thoses climbing things. they are not my favirots, BUT I TRY THEM!!! :)
Monday, June 14, 2010
My Toughest Workout
This is the hardest workout I've done on my own, in one day, that is recent.
4 miles on bicycle (indoors, in a/c, averaging 16 mph)
rest/muscle recovery/water
2 rounds of the following weight bench stuff:
20 leg lifts of 55.5# (that's just how it worked out)
20 bench presses 60#
20 hamstring leg lifts of 55.5#
20 bicep curls at 20# (hand held weights, alternating arms every 10 curls)
rest/muscle recovery/water, then
60 pushups; 60 situps
These three forms were done at the end of the day, not right after the strength/cardio training:
Warrior Palm, with power
Gung Gee, with power
Fu Hok, lighter
4 miles on bicycle (indoors, in a/c, averaging 16 mph)
rest/muscle recovery/water
2 rounds of the following weight bench stuff:
20 leg lifts of 55.5# (that's just how it worked out)
20 bench presses 60#
20 hamstring leg lifts of 55.5#
20 bicep curls at 20# (hand held weights, alternating arms every 10 curls)
rest/muscle recovery/water, then
60 pushups; 60 situps
These three forms were done at the end of the day, not right after the strength/cardio training:
Warrior Palm, with power
Gung Gee, with power
Fu Hok, lighter
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
I'm Thinking This Applies To Mastery Too.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle
Monday, May 31, 2010
What Mastery Means to Me
I have been reflecting on this question for quite some time. Obviously, because I'm posting this on the very last due date. Today, I went for a 4 mile run in a public park. It is designed to be a hiking trail, so it is very secluded. Despite this, I did run into my sister-in-law and her boyfriend as they were hiking. During my run, I knew I had to develop a view to write down on this subject. I believe what has been holding me back from answering the question is the feeling I am setting my opinion in stone. Now I know, that is not true. I'm writing my definition and view at this moment in time. It could change tomorrow, next year, or 25 years from now, and that's okay.
Today, my view is simply mastering something. Yes, something is very broad. But, people can be the master of anything. It can be making cupcakes or growing fantastic tomatoes. Both can be wonderful things.
The term master is used frequently in martial arts. I have seen "masters" of their art who deserved the honor and I have seen those who in my opinion did not. It is nothing more than an opinion. When I teach my cross country team the proper form in running, I hope they master those taught skills. I also hope it increases their speed in order to win events. I have seen these taught skills slow students down. If it is temporary, and their speed increases with the improved form, I'm okay with that. If that speed does not return, I'll probably tell them to go back to what they were doing before. Many NFL scouts got all over Tim Tebow's case because of his throwing motion. He worked on it at a training center near my home, and he ended up being drafted in the first round. His college coaches decided to leave it be. He has 3 college national championships to his name. Who cares about his throwing motion. Well, NFL folks do, but when his time comes, and he is not winning, they may go back to letting him do "his" thing.
In martial arts, I attempt to master a technique, form, and application of those things. To me, mastery is a goal right now. I honestly do not feel like I have mastered anything in martial arts. I simply try to get a little bit better every day. Perhaps one day, Sifu Steven or Master Tom will inform me that I have mastered something. I will be honored, but I will continue to get better every day. I tell my runners on my cross country team, "Just try to get a little better every day, and everything else will take care of itself." I also adapt and try new things as I see fit. I believe that is an important key in kung fu...to adapt. If one does not adapt, they will become stagnant, and they lose what they have already mastered. Many kung fu masters are very good at adapting, and I believe Master Tom has done a wonderful job adapting to the changing world around him and well as his own skill set. It is why he is a Master. Yet, in other systems such as TKD and karate, I have seen individuals not willing to change, and they are in their 30s and watching class from the sidelines. They chose not to adapt or change. They do not see past being able to do a jumping spin kick. They have master in front of their names, but all they do is count in Japanese or Korean. That's sad to me. Yet, I have seen a wonderful world in Chinese martial arts. It is something you can honestly practice at 8 or 80, and much of that has to do with adapting to the surrounding world, but more importantly, to the always changing YOU.
Today, my view is simply mastering something. Yes, something is very broad. But, people can be the master of anything. It can be making cupcakes or growing fantastic tomatoes. Both can be wonderful things.
The term master is used frequently in martial arts. I have seen "masters" of their art who deserved the honor and I have seen those who in my opinion did not. It is nothing more than an opinion. When I teach my cross country team the proper form in running, I hope they master those taught skills. I also hope it increases their speed in order to win events. I have seen these taught skills slow students down. If it is temporary, and their speed increases with the improved form, I'm okay with that. If that speed does not return, I'll probably tell them to go back to what they were doing before. Many NFL scouts got all over Tim Tebow's case because of his throwing motion. He worked on it at a training center near my home, and he ended up being drafted in the first round. His college coaches decided to leave it be. He has 3 college national championships to his name. Who cares about his throwing motion. Well, NFL folks do, but when his time comes, and he is not winning, they may go back to letting him do "his" thing.
In martial arts, I attempt to master a technique, form, and application of those things. To me, mastery is a goal right now. I honestly do not feel like I have mastered anything in martial arts. I simply try to get a little bit better every day. Perhaps one day, Sifu Steven or Master Tom will inform me that I have mastered something. I will be honored, but I will continue to get better every day. I tell my runners on my cross country team, "Just try to get a little better every day, and everything else will take care of itself." I also adapt and try new things as I see fit. I believe that is an important key in kung fu...to adapt. If one does not adapt, they will become stagnant, and they lose what they have already mastered. Many kung fu masters are very good at adapting, and I believe Master Tom has done a wonderful job adapting to the changing world around him and well as his own skill set. It is why he is a Master. Yet, in other systems such as TKD and karate, I have seen individuals not willing to change, and they are in their 30s and watching class from the sidelines. They chose not to adapt or change. They do not see past being able to do a jumping spin kick. They have master in front of their names, but all they do is count in Japanese or Korean. That's sad to me. Yet, I have seen a wonderful world in Chinese martial arts. It is something you can honestly practice at 8 or 80, and much of that has to do with adapting to the surrounding world, but more importantly, to the always changing YOU.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Meanings of Master/Mastery
What does “Master” or “Mastery” mean to me?
These are two very different terms. I think of one as a person, and the other as an action.
I keep “master” in my mind as a martial art kind of concept. Martial arts is the first, and as yet only, place where I have become comfortable with the action of clasping my hands together to bow in respect before my teacher. That person has to have achieved mastery of the skills I wish to learn, though the title of master may not yet have been conferred. But more than that – because there are many, many people with great martial arts skills -- the concept of master is much larger than mastery of skills – in martial arts and elsewhere.
In my definition of the term, to be a master of an aspect of life – be it a physical skill, an emotional management, a technical achievement – brings with it a requirement to share that mastery. Many of the definitions of master also suggest teaching. Sifu Steven, in his post on http://franklinkungfu.blogspot.com/, mentioned meeting Chen Yong Fa, the keeper of the Choy Lee Fut discipline. If the keeper does not teach, the knowledge of the style will not be sustained. To be a master of something means to have achieved a level of skill that is somehow individualized – a master does not just copy or imitate. A master has internalized and understood the thing, added to its life through that understanding, and assured its continued life by teaching it to others.
Mastery of something is required to be a master, though I think of mastery as much more personal. One can achieve mastery through hard work, perhaps even through self-learning, without a mentor, through trial and error, just as juggling, magic, language or math. It seems a more casual concept than becoming a master. Having mastery of something does not automatically make one a master.
Perhaps I think of a master as someone worth learning from and mastery as something one has learned very well. Anyone can achieve mastery of a given thing, with enough work and dedication, but not everyone can become a master.
These are two very different terms. I think of one as a person, and the other as an action.
I keep “master” in my mind as a martial art kind of concept. Martial arts is the first, and as yet only, place where I have become comfortable with the action of clasping my hands together to bow in respect before my teacher. That person has to have achieved mastery of the skills I wish to learn, though the title of master may not yet have been conferred. But more than that – because there are many, many people with great martial arts skills -- the concept of master is much larger than mastery of skills – in martial arts and elsewhere.
In my definition of the term, to be a master of an aspect of life – be it a physical skill, an emotional management, a technical achievement – brings with it a requirement to share that mastery. Many of the definitions of master also suggest teaching. Sifu Steven, in his post on http://franklinkungfu.blogspot.com/, mentioned meeting Chen Yong Fa, the keeper of the Choy Lee Fut discipline. If the keeper does not teach, the knowledge of the style will not be sustained. To be a master of something means to have achieved a level of skill that is somehow individualized – a master does not just copy or imitate. A master has internalized and understood the thing, added to its life through that understanding, and assured its continued life by teaching it to others.
Mastery of something is required to be a master, though I think of mastery as much more personal. One can achieve mastery through hard work, perhaps even through self-learning, without a mentor, through trial and error, just as juggling, magic, language or math. It seems a more casual concept than becoming a master. Having mastery of something does not automatically make one a master.
Perhaps I think of a master as someone worth learning from and mastery as something one has learned very well. Anyone can achieve mastery of a given thing, with enough work and dedication, but not everyone can become a master.
Master
I like the first definition of "master" from wordnet "an artist of consummate skill". That is the definition that speaks to me when I think of a martial arts master.
What does it take to be "an artist of consummate skill"? How does one know when one gets to that level? Does mastery of different skills require different levels of ability?
These are a few of the questions that come into my mind when I think about mastery of martial arts. The next time Master Tom Pardue ranks me up, I will have the title "Master" in his system. That is why these questions are important to me.
Knowing me as I do, there is a very good possibility that I will never really feel as though I am an "artist of consummate skill". I have a tendency to see what the future potential is more than I see what my current accomplishments are.
I do feel that mastery of different arts/sports/skills require different levels of skill and training. For example, Mastery of checkers is very different from mastery of chess, and mastery of "Go Fish" is different from mastery of Poker.
When it comes down to it, to me, mastery is still a mystery.
definitions of master from wordnet
Noun
- S: (n) maestro, master (an artist of consummate skill) "a master of the violin"; "one of the old masters"
- S: (n) overlord, master, lord (a person who has general authority over others)
- S: (n) victor, master, superior (a combatant who is able to defeat rivals)
- S: (n) master (directs the work of others)
- S: (n) headmaster, schoolmaster, master (presiding officer of a school)
- S: (n) master, master copy, original (an original creation (i.e., an audio recording) from which copies can be made)
- S: (n) master, captain, sea captain, skipper (an officer who is licensed to command a merchant ship)
- S: (n) master (someone who holds a master's degree from academic institution)
- S: (n) master, professional (an authority qualified to teach apprentices)
- S: (n) passkey, passe-partout, master key, master (key that secures entrance everywhere)
Verb
- S: (v) master, get the hang (be or become completely proficient or skilled in) "She mastered Japanese in less than two years"
- S: (v) overcome, get over, subdue, surmount, master (get on top of; deal with successfully) "He overcame his shyness"
- S: (v) dominate, master (have dominance or the power to defeat over) "Her pain completely mastered her"; "The methods can master the problems"
- S: (v) master, control (have a firm understanding or knowledge of; be on top of) "Do you control these data?"
Adjective
Sunday, May 2, 2010
My strengths and weaknesses
My greatest weakness as a martial artist is my tendency to avoid attacking very much. This I have been noticing more and more lately and have been trying to fix. This has proved much harder than I first expected (especially after eating a couple sidekicks), but I'll keep trying and maybe someday it wont be so much of a problem anymore. I am also easily thrown off my game by mental warfare.
My greatest strength as a martial artist (correct me if I'm wrong) is my defensive ability. As I said before I'm not very good at attacking so in result I have spent a lot more time practicing defense. However even I my strengths I am finding weaknesses. Such as my inability to block attacks not commonly used (ask Eli if you don't believe me). however most of the time I think I'm not the easiest person to hit.
My greatest weakness as a member of my family is my tendency to procrastinate. Like leaving chores and such until the very last second. I also tend to think more about what would be good for me than what would be good for my family as a whole.
My greatest strength as a member of my family is my ability to easily make amends and forgive others and my self. This has proved a useful skill both after an argument and when I let everybody else down.
My greatest weakness as a member of my community is (again) to leave everything until the last second. Also I tend to not have a very good idea of whats going on unless it has something to do with me directly. Examples include, not knowing about community events and not knowing about elections until the day they happened (this isn't so bad since I can't vote yet anyway).
My greatest strength as a member of my community is my ability to do well on a team and to work well with others. For example I am currently part of a leadership team at my school and we organize things such as blood drives, community cleanups, and donations to the animal shelter.
My greatest strength as a martial artist (correct me if I'm wrong) is my defensive ability. As I said before I'm not very good at attacking so in result I have spent a lot more time practicing defense. However even I my strengths I am finding weaknesses. Such as my inability to block attacks not commonly used (ask Eli if you don't believe me). however most of the time I think I'm not the easiest person to hit.
My greatest weakness as a member of my family is my tendency to procrastinate. Like leaving chores and such until the very last second. I also tend to think more about what would be good for me than what would be good for my family as a whole.
My greatest strength as a member of my family is my ability to easily make amends and forgive others and my self. This has proved a useful skill both after an argument and when I let everybody else down.
My greatest weakness as a member of my community is (again) to leave everything until the last second. Also I tend to not have a very good idea of whats going on unless it has something to do with me directly. Examples include, not knowing about community events and not knowing about elections until the day they happened (this isn't so bad since I can't vote yet anyway).
My greatest strength as a member of my community is my ability to do well on a team and to work well with others. For example I am currently part of a leadership team at my school and we organize things such as blood drives, community cleanups, and donations to the animal shelter.
note: The following is only my personal view and I am not trying to demean anybody by what is said.
I've been doing some thinking and have reached the conclusion that 30 push-ups/sit-ups a day is too easy. So for the past few weeks I've attempted to do 100 a day. I have discovered that it is not fun to wake up every morning and do a hundred and then have to sit at a desk for seven hours. It is also not enjoyable to do it at night and then be super sore in the morning. So Ive decided to customize my ten tigers goal by doing 70 push-ups and sit-ups a day. This should provide a challenge and still allow my muscles to function properly each morning. I was wondering what you guys thought. Should I just take it easy with only 30, should I push myself with 100, or should I go with the median of 70?
I've been doing some thinking and have reached the conclusion that 30 push-ups/sit-ups a day is too easy. So for the past few weeks I've attempted to do 100 a day. I have discovered that it is not fun to wake up every morning and do a hundred and then have to sit at a desk for seven hours. It is also not enjoyable to do it at night and then be super sore in the morning. So Ive decided to customize my ten tigers goal by doing 70 push-ups and sit-ups a day. This should provide a challenge and still allow my muscles to function properly each morning. I was wondering what you guys thought. Should I just take it easy with only 30, should I push myself with 100, or should I go with the median of 70?
Saturday, May 1, 2010
5 day food log
NOTE: I have 2 cups of coffee each morning. Otherwise, I just drink water. I do not drink soft drinks.
Day 1
2 granola bars
spaghetti
Special K with red berries and skim milk
popcorn
ham and cheese sandwich
Pringles
Day 2
granola bar
chicken wrap
baked potato with sour cream
taco
nachos with beef and cheese
cheese quesadilla
Day 3
granola bar
ham and cheese sandwich
corn nuggets
salad with reduced fat dressing
apple
homemade chicken noodle soup with Saltines
Special K with red berries and skim milk
Day 4
granola bar
Smart Ones orange sesame chicken with rice
6 slices of pepperoni pizza
Day 5
granola bar
peanut butter and jelly sandwich
Ruffles
beef enchilada
chicken burrito
chips and salsa
Day 1
2 granola bars
spaghetti
Special K with red berries and skim milk
popcorn
ham and cheese sandwich
Pringles
Day 2
granola bar
chicken wrap
baked potato with sour cream
taco
nachos with beef and cheese
cheese quesadilla
Day 3
granola bar
ham and cheese sandwich
corn nuggets
salad with reduced fat dressing
apple
homemade chicken noodle soup with Saltines
Special K with red berries and skim milk
Day 4
granola bar
Smart Ones orange sesame chicken with rice
6 slices of pepperoni pizza
Day 5
granola bar
peanut butter and jelly sandwich
Ruffles
beef enchilada
chicken burrito
chips and salsa
Monday, April 26, 2010
why I joined ten tigers
There are several reasons why I joined the ten tigers program. First and foremost, I wanted a challenge. I have never really had a lasting challenge such as the ten tigers program and I thought I would test my own abilities to commit and follow through. Now almost three months later I am finding much harder than I thought it would be (sorry I couldn't get this in earlier I just couldn't find the time to write it).
Secondly, I felt that it would provide significant physical benefits, which I thought I would need, this semester especially. I have those online courses, and those, coupled with regular schoolwork, means I wasn't going to be getting much exercise. I thought this program provided the perfect opportunity to do my school assignments and not feel like a couch potato. Don't get me wrong I enjoy my occasional lazy days but I don't like them on a daily basis.
Lastly, I thought it would provide new and exciting experiences, such as the monthly group lessons, enviremental cleanup and empathy training. I thought these would not only propose a challenge and test my physical abilities as listed above, but help me improve myself as a person as well as an athlete and a martial artist.
Secondly, I felt that it would provide significant physical benefits, which I thought I would need, this semester especially. I have those online courses, and those, coupled with regular schoolwork, means I wasn't going to be getting much exercise. I thought this program provided the perfect opportunity to do my school assignments and not feel like a couch potato. Don't get me wrong I enjoy my occasional lazy days but I don't like them on a daily basis.
Lastly, I thought it would provide new and exciting experiences, such as the monthly group lessons, enviremental cleanup and empathy training. I thought these would not only propose a challenge and test my physical abilities as listed above, but help me improve myself as a person as well as an athlete and a martial artist.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Five Days of Eating
Food Log:
4/12/10 Monday:
Cherry poptart
coffee (1 cup w/creamer)
orange juice
water 16 oz
Baskin Robbins blast, medium
ham/potato soup (Eli's)
pnutbutter criss-cross cookies (Larkin's)
4/13/10 Tuesday
Two cups coffee, plenty of Coffeemate Hazelnut creamer
half bowl of Corn Pops cereal with 1 cup 2% milk
PB&J sandwich, BBQ kettle chips, sweet tea
Water 16 oz
KFC grilled chicken sandwich, fries, coke
4/14/10 Wednesday
Two cups coffee, plenty of Coffeemate Hazelnut creamer
Cherry poptart
2 small chocolates
water 16 oz
Wendy's single with cheese, fries, coke (medium)
small bowl of Chicken/dumpling soup, side of wheat bread, milk
stack of GS Samoa cookies
another large glass of milk
4/15/10 Thursday
Two cups coffee, plenty of Coffeemate Hazelnut creamer
large bowl of miniwheats cereal, 2 cups milk
banana
water (24 oz)
2 fruit/grain bars
Veggie wrap, broccoli/raisin salad, sweet tea
lemon/blueberry cheesecake
large glass of milk
4/16/10 Friday
Two cups coffee, plenty of Coffeemate Hazelnut creamer
Full bowl of cereal with 1.5 cups 2% milk
banana
water 8 oz
steak, mushrooms, onions, large potato w/real butter, fresh asparagus, wheat roll, fruit tea
lemon/blueberry cheesecake
4/12/10 Monday:
Cherry poptart
coffee (1 cup w/creamer)
orange juice
water 16 oz
Baskin Robbins blast, medium
ham/potato soup (Eli's)
pnutbutter criss-cross cookies (Larkin's)
4/13/10 Tuesday
Two cups coffee, plenty of Coffeemate Hazelnut creamer
half bowl of Corn Pops cereal with 1 cup 2% milk
PB&J sandwich, BBQ kettle chips, sweet tea
Water 16 oz
KFC grilled chicken sandwich, fries, coke
4/14/10 Wednesday
Two cups coffee, plenty of Coffeemate Hazelnut creamer
Cherry poptart
2 small chocolates
water 16 oz
Wendy's single with cheese, fries, coke (medium)
small bowl of Chicken/dumpling soup, side of wheat bread, milk
stack of GS Samoa cookies
another large glass of milk
4/15/10 Thursday
Two cups coffee, plenty of Coffeemate Hazelnut creamer
large bowl of miniwheats cereal, 2 cups milk
banana
water (24 oz)
2 fruit/grain bars
Veggie wrap, broccoli/raisin salad, sweet tea
lemon/blueberry cheesecake
large glass of milk
4/16/10 Friday
Two cups coffee, plenty of Coffeemate Hazelnut creamer
Full bowl of cereal with 1.5 cups 2% milk
banana
water 8 oz
steak, mushrooms, onions, large potato w/real butter, fresh asparagus, wheat roll, fruit tea
lemon/blueberry cheesecake
Why I signed up for Ten Tigers....
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Why I signed up for Ten Tigers....
I signed up for ten tigers because I'm a Black Sash (I was a red 2ND at the time) and I needed something to help me. I was 9 years old and I signed up for kung fu to help me stay fit. I set a goal for my self to get my Black Belt, and four years later I made that goal. I'm always around a lot of kids at kung fu and my mom’s job. In a few more months I'm going to have a little niece. I want the children in my life to look up to me one day and know they can achieve goals. I don't care what it is or anything just that they look up to me and say if Katie did it I can do it to and go reach that goal. When I grow up I would to love to have a job working with little kids, whether it is being a teacher or a kung fu instructor, it doesn't matter. I want a job that allows me to teach a little 4-5 year old, or maybe even 2-3 year old that its OK to make 1 or 2 mistakes in your life as long as you fix them some how. Maybe someday I can make a difference in the community. I love doing things for people so maybe ten tigers will not only help me with fitness but also help me dream bigger dreams and set bigger goals in my life and then make that goal happen in a couple years or months.
"Never stop following your dreams..."
- Katie Cole
Why I signed up for Ten Tigers....
I signed up for ten tigers because I'm a Black Sash (I was a red 2ND at the time) and I needed something to help me. I was 9 years old and I signed up for kung fu to help me stay fit. I set a goal for my self to get my Black Belt, and four years later I made that goal. I'm always around a lot of kids at kung fu and my mom’s job. In a few more months I'm going to have a little niece. I want the children in my life to look up to me one day and know they can achieve goals. I don't care what it is or anything just that they look up to me and say if Katie did it I can do it to and go reach that goal. When I grow up I would to love to have a job working with little kids, whether it is being a teacher or a kung fu instructor, it doesn't matter. I want a job that allows me to teach a little 4-5 year old, or maybe even 2-3 year old that its OK to make 1 or 2 mistakes in your life as long as you fix them some how. Maybe someday I can make a difference in the community. I love doing things for people so maybe ten tigers will not only help me with fitness but also help me dream bigger dreams and set bigger goals in my life and then make that goal happen in a couple years or months.
"Never stop following your dreams..."
- Katie Cole
Friday, April 16, 2010
5 day food log
Food Log
4-15
Fried Eggs
4-12-10
Scrambled eggs (2)
Toast with strawberry jam (2)
one cup of coffee with 2 teaspoons sugar
banana
cup of tea 2 sugar banana muffin
1/2 banana
fried rice (rice, bell pepper, onion, tomato, eggs, salt, pepper)5 m&ms
Another cup of coffee as before
banana
banana muffin
My wife's wonderful Mexicanish concotion (Tortilla chips, spinach, cilantro, tomaotoes, onion, tofu, bell pepper, maybe some other stuff too.)
Strawberries
Cup of Tea
several glasses of water throughout the day that I didn't think to put down.
4-13-10
Cup of Coffee 2 sugar
The rest of Tammy's banana
Shredded wheat cereal (frosted) with milk
small bowl of leftovers (chicken breast, bell pepper, scallions) wrapped in a tortillaleftover stir fried rice from yesterday
cup of oolong tea
cup of coffee2 peanut butter cookies
spaghetti with sauce (no meat, tofu)
4-14
Coffee3 egg omelette with bell peppers, scallions, spinach, ginger, garlic, salt, and red pepper
2m&ms wait is that 2ms, would 2 m&ms mean I had 4 pieces of candy? I had 2 pieces of chocolate that melts in your mouth not in your hand.Peanut Butter Jelly Sandwich
Leftover Spaghetti from yesterday
Cup of coffee
BBQ chicken (2 pieces) Baked potatoes (1 1/2)OJ (not Simpson)
4-15
Fried Eggs
Toast with Jelly
Coffee
Tea
OJTea
Spaghetti with chicken breast
coffee
Egg and veggie breakfast burritos Birthday cake
Root beer Strawberries
peanut butter cookies
fritos
vegetarian spring rolls
banana
4-16 That's right, I'm keeping a food log on my birthday
Egg and veggie breakfast burritos Birthday cake
Root beer Strawberries
Strawberries Baked Potato
Baked Potato STEAK! Chicken breast Ice Cream
Apricot dessert TeaCookies and Cream Ice Cream.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
my strengths and weaknesses
My strengths and weakness
Without kung-fu I would not be the same person I am today, and that in it of its self is one of my greatest strengths. Kung-fu has strengthened my body and my mind, and that is some thing that I learned it’s not all about the physical it’s mental too. The physical part is just push-up’s and sit-up’s which is not as easy as I make it out to be but it’s not nearly as hard mental. The mental for me is part of controlling my temper it sounds easy when I am not mad in the smallest bit, but when I do get mad I gets so hard for me to control it. Motivation some times I find myself getting up later and later to the point where I get up and I feel happy until I look at the clock. Some of my weaknesses are like cracks and some of them are like chasms. my temper is a chasm and another thing that is a chasm is tendency to leave things to the last minute or should I say procrastination for instance my ten tiger work-out like at midnight I will find myself with all of the work-out left. I hope it will not be my weakness forever.
As a member my family my greatest strength is my humor making people laugh is really fun to me, I makes me laugh, coming up with new and better jokes to make them laugh even harder is fun to me Bringing a little bit more fun in to the world. I use all sorts of jokes to my advantage but by far my most used humor weapon is of coarse sarcasm it may be the best tool to make people laugh but it is the most dangers weapon be because it can hurt some ones feelings and trying to make some one laugh that is out of the question, or the joke. As for my weaknesses I believe that my greatest weakness lies in my temper, it may be the same as above but I think that it is my greatest weakness, it aggravates me when I lose it, “yeah I get mad when I get mad”. I’m trying to stop it and indeed sometimes wining but sometimes not. I see it as my weakness because it correlates to so many of my other weakness.
As a member of my community I think that my greatest strength is my willingness to help, for instance doing a clean up on the lake bottom (by the way what do you think on getting you guys down here to do something like that) I find clean ups very fun. And that’s about it for the community
Without kung-fu I would not be the same person I am today, and that in it of its self is one of my greatest strengths. Kung-fu has strengthened my body and my mind, and that is some thing that I learned it’s not all about the physical it’s mental too. The physical part is just push-up’s and sit-up’s which is not as easy as I make it out to be but it’s not nearly as hard mental. The mental for me is part of controlling my temper it sounds easy when I am not mad in the smallest bit, but when I do get mad I gets so hard for me to control it. Motivation some times I find myself getting up later and later to the point where I get up and I feel happy until I look at the clock. Some of my weaknesses are like cracks and some of them are like chasms. my temper is a chasm and another thing that is a chasm is tendency to leave things to the last minute or should I say procrastination for instance my ten tiger work-out like at midnight I will find myself with all of the work-out left. I hope it will not be my weakness forever.
As a member my family my greatest strength is my humor making people laugh is really fun to me, I makes me laugh, coming up with new and better jokes to make them laugh even harder is fun to me Bringing a little bit more fun in to the world. I use all sorts of jokes to my advantage but by far my most used humor weapon is of coarse sarcasm it may be the best tool to make people laugh but it is the most dangers weapon be because it can hurt some ones feelings and trying to make some one laugh that is out of the question, or the joke. As for my weaknesses I believe that my greatest weakness lies in my temper, it may be the same as above but I think that it is my greatest weakness, it aggravates me when I lose it, “yeah I get mad when I get mad”. I’m trying to stop it and indeed sometimes wining but sometimes not. I see it as my weakness because it correlates to so many of my other weakness.
As a member of my community I think that my greatest strength is my willingness to help, for instance doing a clean up on the lake bottom (by the way what do you think on getting you guys down here to do something like that) I find clean ups very fun. And that’s about it for the community
My Strengths and Weaknesses.
My Strengths: I believe that my strengths (somebody tell me if I'm wrong) are fearlessness, specifically meeting new people.
The new people, Joe, Eloy, Melisa, and Jeremy, I'm actively try to make friends with all of them, I'm already friends with Joe!
My other strengths are solidity, forgetting pain, and, well, strength.
Forgetting pain... its hard to describe but I'll use an example, like when someone throws a weight at your head and you sit there for a few seconds rubbing your head, then you get up to spar.
It's when you take a hard right hook that knock you to the ground before you noticed you've been hit, then you get back up.
It's when someone says something hurtful then thirty seconds later you give them a hug.
That's forgetting pain.
Solidity in my case refers to a solid basic stance, I may not be able to do a completely parallel horse stance, but its solid.
That's me, solid mind, solid body (maybe a little to solid), and a solid family.
Strength is in family, I do what is required, if that means going outside to help lift a giant Wooden fish then so be it. If that means comforting my sister then so be it. I help where I can and leave well enough alone elswhere.
my Weaknesses: My number one weakness is weak will, I can't stop myself from, eating to much, procrastinating, and being lazy.
A bad combonation for a martial artist,
and as a result of my number one weakness I have a low cardio level, which mean that I can't run very far without being winded.
I also tend to be to contented and not active enough, which only gets worse during winter.
that is as good as I can put it.
eli
The new people, Joe, Eloy, Melisa, and Jeremy, I'm actively try to make friends with all of them, I'm already friends with Joe!
My other strengths are solidity, forgetting pain, and, well, strength.
Forgetting pain... its hard to describe but I'll use an example, like when someone throws a weight at your head and you sit there for a few seconds rubbing your head, then you get up to spar.
It's when you take a hard right hook that knock you to the ground before you noticed you've been hit, then you get back up.
It's when someone says something hurtful then thirty seconds later you give them a hug.
That's forgetting pain.
Solidity in my case refers to a solid basic stance, I may not be able to do a completely parallel horse stance, but its solid.
That's me, solid mind, solid body (maybe a little to solid), and a solid family.
Strength is in family, I do what is required, if that means going outside to help lift a giant Wooden fish then so be it. If that means comforting my sister then so be it. I help where I can and leave well enough alone elswhere.
my Weaknesses: My number one weakness is weak will, I can't stop myself from, eating to much, procrastinating, and being lazy.
A bad combonation for a martial artist,
and as a result of my number one weakness I have a low cardio level, which mean that I can't run very far without being winded.
I also tend to be to contented and not active enough, which only gets worse during winter.
that is as good as I can put it.
eli
Monday, March 29, 2010
Strengths are harder to claim than weaknesses!
My main strength as a martial artist is my love of the art. It took me by surprise, and that love is what is carrying me through the unlikeliness of ever becoming a martial artist. Though I still can't quite believe I will ever be good at it, I enjoy every little thing about it, and revel in the details. I can apply hung gar stances to moving ice-encrusted tree limbs, use gung gee as an emotionally-stabilizing response to stress, and find epiphanies in sparring.
My weakness, however, is that doubt that I see written in my strength statement above – I hesitate to believe in myself and that sometimes keeps me from doing my best. At the lion dance seminar, I heard myself convincing myself (odd as that sounds) that I could not remember the steps when it was my turn in the lion. Sure enough, that's what happened!
I can see myself a little more clearly when I think of the persona of martial artist. That's so new to me that it's easier to identify strengths and weaknesses. Evaluating strengths as a member of my family is much harder. Perhaps it comes down to love, again? Certainly the power of my love at the birth of each of my children took me by surprise – and continues to still today. My main strength within my family might be that they can always count on me to love them each day, and to act on that love consistently.
My weakness is that sometimes I steamroll right over those I love and try to arrange the world for them, forgetting that each person must make their own way and claim their world for themselves. I can't bear to see any member of my family disappointed, and so I do anything I can think of to avoid letting it happen.
As a part of my community, my main strength is that same ability to steamroll and make things happen when necessary. I can get a lot of things done when they are left in my hands. However, I know very well my weakness is that I do not play nice with others. I do not tend to function well within a community, but rather as an individual. When I can think of my community in terms of individuals, or serve my community by helping individuals, I do much better.
This was hard to write, and made me uncomfortable -- which is how I know it's helped me a grow a bit more tonight. A little like performance. Little by little, like improving a form, I'm learning to move toward those things that make me flinch.
My weakness, however, is that doubt that I see written in my strength statement above – I hesitate to believe in myself and that sometimes keeps me from doing my best. At the lion dance seminar, I heard myself convincing myself (odd as that sounds) that I could not remember the steps when it was my turn in the lion. Sure enough, that's what happened!
I can see myself a little more clearly when I think of the persona of martial artist. That's so new to me that it's easier to identify strengths and weaknesses. Evaluating strengths as a member of my family is much harder. Perhaps it comes down to love, again? Certainly the power of my love at the birth of each of my children took me by surprise – and continues to still today. My main strength within my family might be that they can always count on me to love them each day, and to act on that love consistently.
My weakness is that sometimes I steamroll right over those I love and try to arrange the world for them, forgetting that each person must make their own way and claim their world for themselves. I can't bear to see any member of my family disappointed, and so I do anything I can think of to avoid letting it happen.
As a part of my community, my main strength is that same ability to steamroll and make things happen when necessary. I can get a lot of things done when they are left in my hands. However, I know very well my weakness is that I do not play nice with others. I do not tend to function well within a community, but rather as an individual. When I can think of my community in terms of individuals, or serve my community by helping individuals, I do much better.
This was hard to write, and made me uncomfortable -- which is how I know it's helped me a grow a bit more tonight. A little like performance. Little by little, like improving a form, I'm learning to move toward those things that make me flinch.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Strengths and Weaknesses.
As a martial artist I have a big strength in that I can consume information quickly and have it solid in my mind quickly. Pair that quality with my ability to understand body movements and mimic them easily and it is easy for me to learn movements, techniques, forms, etc.
But that is not my biggest strength as a martial artist. My biggest strength is my desire to improve myself. Without this, the physical talents would be sitting idly by.
Oddly enough, my biggest weakness, is my tendency to procrastinate, and my lack of ability to motivate myself to get up and do the work that needs to be done to master something. (Why I created the TT program) It is so easy for me to put off my workout to another day. Some part of me seems to know that since it takes little effort for me to learn it, that I should just keep using little effort.
My biggest strength as a member of my family is my desire to improve myself. I always want to become a better husband, father, etc. To accomplish this I work on communicating clearly and considerately, listening, etc. I do what I can to make my family run more smoothly.
My weakness as a member of my family is my tendency to procrastinate. I can always find a way to put off a chore, save a project for later, so on and so forth. Menial tasks are so easy for me to forget about.
My biggest strength as a member of my community is (guess what) my desire to improve myself. I want to be able to do more to help the people in the world around me. I want to be able to do more to remove suffering and add joy to people's lives.
My biggest weakness (hmmmm I wonder what he's going to say) is my tendency to procrastinate.
That reminds me, I need to call Soles for Souls.
www.franklinkungfu.com
eastwestkungfu.ning.com
But that is not my biggest strength as a martial artist. My biggest strength is my desire to improve myself. Without this, the physical talents would be sitting idly by.
Oddly enough, my biggest weakness, is my tendency to procrastinate, and my lack of ability to motivate myself to get up and do the work that needs to be done to master something. (Why I created the TT program) It is so easy for me to put off my workout to another day. Some part of me seems to know that since it takes little effort for me to learn it, that I should just keep using little effort.
My biggest strength as a member of my family is my desire to improve myself. I always want to become a better husband, father, etc. To accomplish this I work on communicating clearly and considerately, listening, etc. I do what I can to make my family run more smoothly.
My weakness as a member of my family is my tendency to procrastinate. I can always find a way to put off a chore, save a project for later, so on and so forth. Menial tasks are so easy for me to forget about.
My biggest strength as a member of my community is (guess what) my desire to improve myself. I want to be able to do more to help the people in the world around me. I want to be able to do more to remove suffering and add joy to people's lives.
My biggest weakness (hmmmm I wonder what he's going to say) is my tendency to procrastinate.
That reminds me, I need to call Soles for Souls.
www.franklinkungfu.com
eastwestkungfu.ning.com
my strengths and weaknesses
I find it quite difficult to write more about my strengths than my weaknesses. In job interviews, it is usually one of the first questions asked. “As an employee, what do you believe is your greatest strength?” I recall getting this question multiple times when I have been on the job hunt in the past. I always began by apologizing if I sounded conceited. It is easier for me to analyze my weaknesses. I try to improve myself as a person each and everyday. In order to do that, you have to beat yourself up a bit every now and then. The tricky part is not overdoing it. As a seventh grade teacher, I see my students do that a little too much at times. They have good intentions to better themselves as a student, athlete, and human being. Yet, it seems they set their expectations a little too high at times only to let themselves down. Often times, they have yet to develop the emotional strength to handle that. Of course, that will come with age, and I always tell them their only goal should be to get a little better everyday. As a Language Arts teacher, one of the biggest frustrations I receive from students is not being able to read as well as me. I tell them that the only difference is I have been reading over twenty years longer. THAT’S THE ONLY DIFFERENCE. If they keep reading, they will continue to improve, and most of them will surpass me. I’m perfectly okay with that. I don’t mind students evolving past my level of knowledge. I just hope that I planted the seed to get them there.
I guess that brings me to my biggest strength as a martial artist. It is my willingness to work hard to get a little better everyday. Please keep in mind this is my opinion. I may be completely wrong, and that’s okay. I believe that one of the benefits of being part of the 10 Tigers program is having my sifu, kung fu sisters, and kung fu brothers to let me know the truth in their eyes. The only result is for me to improve in some way, and that’s the important thing. I started studying kung fu when I was in my early thirties. I came to it much later than most people. When I was a child, my parents enrolled me in Wado Ryu karate classes. Wado Ryu is huge in Tennessee. I asked about getting involved in martial arts classes after watching BLACK BELT THEATER every Saturday at 3 P.M. My first experience with martial arts was very disappointing. They were not doing the things I saw on TV every Saturday afternoon. That was the stuff I wanted to learn. As a young boy on a 400 acre farm in a town with 700 people, knowing the difference between kung fu and karate was not on the priority list. I was watching Hong Kong cinema on the weekends, taking a class in Japanese karate. Also, times were different back then. The students were all adults except for me and one other person. I felt out of place, and due to my age I could not keep up with the rest of the class. Obviously, times have changed because it seems more children are involved with the martial arts than adults now. I told my parents that I did not want to continue. Plus, it was not the stuff I was seeing on TV. It bored me compared to what I now know to be Shaw Brothers films as well as Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies.
A couple of decades plus some later, I was working out at a local gym. They started kung fu classes there. At the time, I thought that was interesting and nothing more. I honestly had no desire whatsoever to train. The teacher, Kevin McCoy, would talk to me on a regular basis as I worked out. One day, I decided to pop into his class and watch while I was cooling down after a workout. I was hooked. This was the stuff I saw on TV as a child. This was kung fu, real kung fu. I began my training. The training was heavy on conditioning and real life self defense rather than scoring a point in a tournament. Plus, the philosophical side was there. That was the most important ingredient for me at the time.
I’ve studied kung fu ever since. I have had to train on my own due to schools closing down, but I choose to focus on the positive. It allowed me to travel around and see what other places were doing, seeing what worked and did not. I found that I liked Muay Thai a lot, but also found that a lot of kung fu schools out there should just put karate on the door and be honest. It was an interesting adventure. Knowledge is strength, and I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly in the world of martial arts. I am thankful to have a wonderful kung fu family and wonderful teachers. I am also grateful to have the willingness to continue to learn. A lot of that has come with age, especially the patience part.
I believe my biggest weakness as a martial artist is my knowledge of ground fighting. I worked on this early in my kung fu training until I had shoulder surgery, then I backed off. My first kung fu instructor dedicated Saturday classes to ground fighting and Wing Chun training for the most part. Ground fighting is obviously becoming very popular with UFC and all that. I’m more concerned with techniques that can help me on the streets with ground fighting and defending against it. I have no desire to compete in an octagon. Tied with ground fighting for my biggest weakness is pressure points. I struggle with those as well. Hopefully, my willingness to learn will overcome these shortcomings one day. Kung fu for me is a life long journey, so I just try to get a little bit better everyday.
My biggest strength as a family member is my devotion. I truly love my family and will do whatever I can to help them when needed. Times do exist when I am frustrated with my family, angry at my family, and just want to be alone. Yet, those feeling and emotions pass, and I’m by their side when needed. One of the reasons I thought of truly loving my family as a strength is that I have come across people as a student and employee over the years who truly did not love their family. I was shocked at some of the things I heard husbands say about their wives, and parents said about their children. I take most things children say about their parents with a grain of salt. We all go through “stages” in life when we may not respect our parents as we should. I went through that “stage” probably more than once, but even though I might have not shown my parents the respect they deserved, I always loved them.
My biggest weakness as a member of my family is I have poor listening skills. Often times, I get so focused on a task I tend to zone out. I’ve always been this way, and from what I hear, my Dad is the same way. I have great multi-tasking abilities when surrounded by silence. With a family, silence usually does not exist. Therefore, I make a lot of goofs simply because I do not listen. I’m actually a great listener at work, but unfortunately, I tend to leave that characteristic at work. It is definitely something I need to work on.
My biggest strength as a member of my community is that I try every day to be a good neighbor and citizen. Thanks to 10 Tigers, I look even harder for more ways to benefit my community. I help people in need, recycle, and I am currently organizing a community project at the school I teach at. Under my supervision, we are collecting goods for care packages to send to soldiers serving overseas. Also, I sponsor a creative writing club. We are sending short stories, poems, and artwork to hopefully entertain our troops as well. Also, as a school teacher, I am fortunate to be in a position where I can help people everyday.
Even though I work to help others, my biggest weakness is keeping to myself. If I was more extraverted, I could probably help even more people. I do not stay in complete isolation by any means, but I honestly do not make a lot of effort to get to meet new people. Despite that, I feel like I have surrounded myself with super positive people through kung fu class, yoga, and working in the film industry.
I guess that brings me to my biggest strength as a martial artist. It is my willingness to work hard to get a little better everyday. Please keep in mind this is my opinion. I may be completely wrong, and that’s okay. I believe that one of the benefits of being part of the 10 Tigers program is having my sifu, kung fu sisters, and kung fu brothers to let me know the truth in their eyes. The only result is for me to improve in some way, and that’s the important thing. I started studying kung fu when I was in my early thirties. I came to it much later than most people. When I was a child, my parents enrolled me in Wado Ryu karate classes. Wado Ryu is huge in Tennessee. I asked about getting involved in martial arts classes after watching BLACK BELT THEATER every Saturday at 3 P.M. My first experience with martial arts was very disappointing. They were not doing the things I saw on TV every Saturday afternoon. That was the stuff I wanted to learn. As a young boy on a 400 acre farm in a town with 700 people, knowing the difference between kung fu and karate was not on the priority list. I was watching Hong Kong cinema on the weekends, taking a class in Japanese karate. Also, times were different back then. The students were all adults except for me and one other person. I felt out of place, and due to my age I could not keep up with the rest of the class. Obviously, times have changed because it seems more children are involved with the martial arts than adults now. I told my parents that I did not want to continue. Plus, it was not the stuff I was seeing on TV. It bored me compared to what I now know to be Shaw Brothers films as well as Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies.
A couple of decades plus some later, I was working out at a local gym. They started kung fu classes there. At the time, I thought that was interesting and nothing more. I honestly had no desire whatsoever to train. The teacher, Kevin McCoy, would talk to me on a regular basis as I worked out. One day, I decided to pop into his class and watch while I was cooling down after a workout. I was hooked. This was the stuff I saw on TV as a child. This was kung fu, real kung fu. I began my training. The training was heavy on conditioning and real life self defense rather than scoring a point in a tournament. Plus, the philosophical side was there. That was the most important ingredient for me at the time.
I’ve studied kung fu ever since. I have had to train on my own due to schools closing down, but I choose to focus on the positive. It allowed me to travel around and see what other places were doing, seeing what worked and did not. I found that I liked Muay Thai a lot, but also found that a lot of kung fu schools out there should just put karate on the door and be honest. It was an interesting adventure. Knowledge is strength, and I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly in the world of martial arts. I am thankful to have a wonderful kung fu family and wonderful teachers. I am also grateful to have the willingness to continue to learn. A lot of that has come with age, especially the patience part.
I believe my biggest weakness as a martial artist is my knowledge of ground fighting. I worked on this early in my kung fu training until I had shoulder surgery, then I backed off. My first kung fu instructor dedicated Saturday classes to ground fighting and Wing Chun training for the most part. Ground fighting is obviously becoming very popular with UFC and all that. I’m more concerned with techniques that can help me on the streets with ground fighting and defending against it. I have no desire to compete in an octagon. Tied with ground fighting for my biggest weakness is pressure points. I struggle with those as well. Hopefully, my willingness to learn will overcome these shortcomings one day. Kung fu for me is a life long journey, so I just try to get a little bit better everyday.
My biggest strength as a family member is my devotion. I truly love my family and will do whatever I can to help them when needed. Times do exist when I am frustrated with my family, angry at my family, and just want to be alone. Yet, those feeling and emotions pass, and I’m by their side when needed. One of the reasons I thought of truly loving my family as a strength is that I have come across people as a student and employee over the years who truly did not love their family. I was shocked at some of the things I heard husbands say about their wives, and parents said about their children. I take most things children say about their parents with a grain of salt. We all go through “stages” in life when we may not respect our parents as we should. I went through that “stage” probably more than once, but even though I might have not shown my parents the respect they deserved, I always loved them.
My biggest weakness as a member of my family is I have poor listening skills. Often times, I get so focused on a task I tend to zone out. I’ve always been this way, and from what I hear, my Dad is the same way. I have great multi-tasking abilities when surrounded by silence. With a family, silence usually does not exist. Therefore, I make a lot of goofs simply because I do not listen. I’m actually a great listener at work, but unfortunately, I tend to leave that characteristic at work. It is definitely something I need to work on.
My biggest strength as a member of my community is that I try every day to be a good neighbor and citizen. Thanks to 10 Tigers, I look even harder for more ways to benefit my community. I help people in need, recycle, and I am currently organizing a community project at the school I teach at. Under my supervision, we are collecting goods for care packages to send to soldiers serving overseas. Also, I sponsor a creative writing club. We are sending short stories, poems, and artwork to hopefully entertain our troops as well. Also, as a school teacher, I am fortunate to be in a position where I can help people everyday.
Even though I work to help others, my biggest weakness is keeping to myself. If I was more extraverted, I could probably help even more people. I do not stay in complete isolation by any means, but I honestly do not make a lot of effort to get to meet new people. Despite that, I feel like I have surrounded myself with super positive people through kung fu class, yoga, and working in the film industry.
Monday, February 22, 2010
al's back
she's back. Finily after all that time and then she said im leaving so goodbye. so what's up whith you guy's
Friday, February 19, 2010
the real "why i joind the ten tigers"
Why I joined the ten tigers program. This year was hard to decide to join or not because I kind of liked the feeling of being able to just go to bed with out going though a list in my head push-up check sit-ups check stances check. But then I thought about how I feel when I don’t go to tournaments and there I am just sitting there watching the other people do form’s and sparing which I love but I hate the actual tournament. But I this case there was no tournament only the thing’s that I love so much. So that’s why I joined the ten tiger’s team. That’s why But I have not addressed the why I like it so because it give me something to do as opposed to just sitting there and playing video game now don’t get me wrong I love my vids but I kind of feel like a vegetable after playing for a strait day. I always get my work out when I am in the ten tiger’s program.
why I joined
sorry I didn't catch the email about the one page.
I joined ten tigers to improve myself and I think that I joined was because I was ashamed of my ability as an instructor. How would we feel if Steven was out of breath after every exercise?Before ten tigers I was hard pressed to do twenty push ups in a minute. Now I can do fifty-five. I had as much energy as a sloth in winter, now I have energy to spare to go out and ride my bike on a trail doing jumps on every bump along the way, as well as instruct kids!It has also helped me mentally, strange as it may sound my willpower has been improved by it as well, I can force myself to do things I normally wouldn't, like biking for two miles or holding horse stance for five minutes.
Sun Tzu's art of war was very helpful to, attack where you are strong and they weak and so on. It helped me learn sparring theory and overcome my weaknesses in sparring.I learned to live in the moment and not in what is to come. I certainly anticipate things, just not to the extent that I ignore the things that are going on around me.It also help me learn to keep track from day to day, if I just do everything every day life is easier.
Over all Ten Tigers has been a very pleasurable experience and I think that I will repeat it in future years either on my own, if I'm far away, or with Steven.I think this is the best way to exercise since the invention of the stationary bike.and I think that it was the best choice for me.
Eli.
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