future goals

40,000 push ups
40,000 crunches
50 yoga sessions
a week of Krav Maga training
7 straight days of Hot Yoga
participate in 4 running events
participate in 2 misc. athletic events
do not eat sweets for one month
participate and/or donate in/to 12 charity events/organizations
read a book by the Dalai Lama
10,000 front roundhouse kicks (each leg)
30 hours sparring training
100 reps each of current forms I know as of 02/01/2011
read 12 books designed to improve self

Ten Tigers taught me that it is best to set very specific goals. That seems to work best for me, so I designed a personal list for next year that I thought would help take me to another level of spiritual, mental, and physical fitness. I'm planning on participating in more 5K events this year as well as martial arts tournaments. I would like to participate in at least one open tournament as well. It is important for me to get back into consistent yoga training. I've found that this is the perfect fitness combo for me in relation to combining the strengthening of the mind and body. I'm also looking forward to taking a week of Krav Maga training. I've found the art fascinating since I watch a couple of documentaries on it. After viewing some online videos of it, I see some techniques that I believe make the practitioner vulnerable, but I am impressed with some of their conditioning work and bag work that I hope to incorporate in my training for fitness purposes.

In a broader sense, I hope to continue to improve my kung fu as well as growing in a positive way as a parent, husband, and citizen. I'm planning on producing my first film this summer too.

Goals

Planning goals for post-TT-year-two involves combining what I know about my goal-meeting strategies with what I now better understand about my physical needs.  I'm working on a mind, body, spirit type structure that incorporates short interval training more than longer dedicated times, alternating types of workouts, etc.  Now that I know myself better, though TT, I can craft goals that I WILL meet.  CAN is not really the issue anymore.

So, in short, TT goals have made it so that I do not wish to exist without goals -- though I've done a fine job of pretending in these last few days.  Without the impetus of goal-setting/reaching, I seem to exist in a weird kind of vacuum, not really aware and not really connected to anything. 

I'm going to use February to try out some specific workout schedules to see how my body reacts.  I'm also going to set specific goals to reduce my sugar intake, which has reached some significant heights lately. 

Through the two TT years, I've surely seen some dramatic changes in my lifestyle, and in fellow TT members' lifestyles.  It's important, I think, to look back to see where I've come from, as well as to evaluate where I am now.  I don't want to forget the changes!

TT progress report

I'm behind on my private lessons, but I hope to get those caught up soon. They are truly rewarding, and I enjoy them very much. Unfortunately, I have not been able to attend all of the group training sessions. I have enjoyed them very much when I have been able to make them though. I'm also behind on my push ups, but I am making up ground very fast. My brother in law gave me a wonderful tip that I am going to continue incorporating in my training. You take a deck of cards. You flip a card and do however many push ups the card numbers. So it says 7, you do 7, then wait 30 seconds. Then you take another card, and it's a jack, you do 10 push ups. You can do a lot of push ups going through the deck. Since I have a almost 1 year old running around the house, sometimes I take the whole day going through the deck, but the great thing is you get in a ton of push ups. I've also incorporated dumbbell workouts because I want to get more toned and exercises the smaller muscles as well.

I'm ahead on my sit ups. I found the 8 minute ab workout that used to haunt our late night TV in the days of VHS to actually work quite well. I found it on YouTube and it was actually highly recommended by a number of fitness and men'shealth magazines. I have a long way to go, but I've lost around 5 inches of my waist, and I feel my core strengthening slowly, but surely. I'm also ahead on my form reps. I do the Ng Family Tai Chi form every morning when I wake up. I alternate days with Hung Gar forms and Ja Kari Do forms. When the weather is nice, I work my weapons. I'm also ahead on my running miles. I coach running, and logged in a lot of miles with during the season and over the summer. I love running in the super hot weather. It was a good thing I got these in early. Unfortunately, I tore a hamstring in the fall and got a horrible case of pneumonia in the winter. Fortunately, I'm much better now, but unfortunately, I've lost some conditioning. I ran a 9 minute mile this past Friday, but jumped up to a 11 minute mile on Saturday over a three mile course, which is definitely not acceptable.

I'm on schedule for my stance training minutes and random acts of kindness. I chose fatherhood as my new undertaking, or I guess, it chose me. Either way, it has been a wonderful experience, and it's so hard for me to believe that my daughter will be 1 on January 6. She loves to be read to, and loves books. Also, she loves music, especially rockabilly and folk music. She loves playing as well with her toy pianos, etc. The list could go on and on, but I am thankful that she is part of our lives. Even though I was only required to choose one of three options in this category, I did a community action projects as well. Through an organization in Lebanon, TN, I collected requested items for U.S. Marines serving overseas that were sent over in care packages.

I read BIKRAM YOGA as the book for self improvement. I discussed this book in detail in a previous blog. I guess I had three days of empathy training that just sort of came to me. I had the lead role in the film YOU CAN'T STAY HERE, which won five awards at the Nashville 48 Hour Film Fest. In this competition, you film a movie in 48 hours. I played a man who lives in poverty and them becomes homeless. I had moments where we filmed at an abandoned school in Nashville that was used as a gang hangout and the cops showed up to keep an eye on us while filming. Also, I begged in Nashville for money for footage. Early in shooting they put make up on me to look sun burned. When I got the makeup off, you could not tell the difference. I actually got pretty bad sunburn during filming along with the rest of some of the crew. Also, I completely lost my voice for a couple of days. This has happened in the past, but this time, I looked at it through fresh eyes. It was very difficult because I had to teach those days. After I went to the doctor, I went to a restaurant to get dinner. Normally, I would go through the drive through, but I had to go in because I could not speak. It was interesting to see how frustrated people get at you because you cannot speak. The pharmacy was more compassionate of course. I remember when my Mom owned a clothing store. We had one customer who could not speak, and wrote everything on a notepad. My Mom was have long conversations with this man, and I was always fascinated how quickly he wrote.

Finally, with this entry, I'm on schedule with my monthly writing assignment. I wish everyone peace and love in 2011.

Progress Thus Far

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

Behind on forms. Done with stance work. Done with miles. Done with Cardio. Just a little ahead on pushups and crunches. Behind on sparring.

#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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

red sash test sparing

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.

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.

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.

“In peace there's nothing so becomes a man As modest stillness and humility; But when the blast of war blows in our ears, Then imitate the action of the tiger: Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, Then lend the eye a terrible aspect; Now set the teeth, and stretch the nostril wide, Hold hard the breath, and bend up every spirit To his full height!”

William Shakespeare quotes (English Dramatist, Playwright and Poet, 1564-1616)

Similar Quotes. About: Peace quotes.

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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.

Kathy Long vs Kyoko Kamikaze

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSSi1hYgQL8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UINhMFDCbYc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlL68kjNBUo&feature=related

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.