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.