I am going to start posting a work out of the month. I challenge you to do the work out, and post your times. They will be pretty tough, and the point is not to be better than anyone else. It gives you a time to beat next year when we get back around to the work out.
"Angie" will be our first work out for August:
100 Pull-ups
100 Push-ups
100 Sit-ups
100 Air Squats
For time - complete all reps of each exercise before moving to the next.
Feel free to post your times (or just write them down for yourself), but post that you completed the work out.
For fun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsTbas5NgF0
and part II:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruSy5wwnImk
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
The Learning Curve
Sometimes it's easy to give up on new things before giving them proper chance. People don't like feeling uncomfortable, out of their element, unsure, vulnerable or weak. No one likes the feeling you get when you are standing there and everyone is watching you, waiting, because you can't seem to grasp what they can so easily do. No one likes the feeling you get when what you're doing goes against everything you've ever known, how you've been programmed, so much so that you cannot figure out how to adapt to it, how to change, how to just let it wash over you as you go with it.
I'll let you in on what it's taken me a lifetime to learn, and what I still struggle with daily; it's not alway about trying or forcing. Sometimes it's about allowing. You have to allow yourself that time to learn. You have to allow yourself the opportunity to make mistakes and the opportunity to work through them. You have to allow yourself to be patient. You have to allow yourself the chance to adapt. You have to allow yourself to be open. You have to allow yourself to be free.
On that first day, when you watch someone else demonstrating, it looks easy enough. But then when you try yourself? Not easy. It's our fear that makes us hesitate. Nothing else. It's not that hard, per se. It's just new. It's not about being an expert at one thing. It's not about being able to run the fatest, lift the most, kick the hardest, punch the fastest, or stretch the deepest. It's about being a jack of all trades, and attempting to master a few of them. It's about being able to perform well at all tasks, not expertly at one. It's about learning to respond and react to everything that can be present to us. It's not just about working out, it's about being fit. It's not about martial arts classes, it's about being a martial artist.
I'll let you in on what it's taken me a lifetime to learn, and what I still struggle with daily; it's not alway about trying or forcing. Sometimes it's about allowing. You have to allow yourself that time to learn. You have to allow yourself the opportunity to make mistakes and the opportunity to work through them. You have to allow yourself to be patient. You have to allow yourself the chance to adapt. You have to allow yourself to be open. You have to allow yourself to be free.
On that first day, when you watch someone else demonstrating, it looks easy enough. But then when you try yourself? Not easy. It's our fear that makes us hesitate. Nothing else. It's not that hard, per se. It's just new. It's not about being an expert at one thing. It's not about being able to run the fatest, lift the most, kick the hardest, punch the fastest, or stretch the deepest. It's about being a jack of all trades, and attempting to master a few of them. It's about being able to perform well at all tasks, not expertly at one. It's about learning to respond and react to everything that can be present to us. It's not just about working out, it's about being fit. It's not about martial arts classes, it's about being a martial artist.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Seminars
What is the importance of going to a seminar? Why pay the cost of a month's tuition to someone for a single afternoon of training? What can this person teach me that my instructor can not? Is my instructor deficient in some skill? Why go to a seminar? Is it even fair to ask me to attend?
These types of questions are often asked by new students in a martial arts program. Sometime a martial arts instructor will not even suggest going to any seminars, or seeing other instructors. I find that teachers who refuse to even suggest to their students to go see other instructors might have something to hide, not the least of which might be their ego.
Unless you know everything there is to know about a particular martial art; then there is always something new you could learn. Unless your instructor knows everything there is to know about their martial art, then there is a gap in your learning sphere of total knowledge concerning your chosen martial art.
There is always someone who knows more than you do, and a seminar allows you a chance to pick up the skills that they can teach. Seminars cost more money for a number of reasons: the cost to get an instructor to a location, per diem costs, the time the instructor spends away from his family is worth something, and finally the skills they have to teach. There needs to be an exchange, and so the cost of a seminar often equals what you pay for a month's worth of instruction.
It does not mean that your chosen instructor doesn't have things to teach you, or that there is some huge skill gap. It means that everyone can learn, even your instructor. In some dojos there is an actual number of seminars per year that the instructors want their students to attend. Now lets take the abstract and make it personal for the teisatsu dojo.
By the time you are a fifth kyu you should strive to attend at least one seminar a year, by the time you are a first kyu perhaps two or three seminars a year, and by the time you reach your black belt and beyond the number should grow to as many as you possibly can, depending on your life circumstances. Once you stop attending and learning from others your skill set will slowly start to cave in on itself, becoming only those things that you like to practice. It is also the sign of an ego that's starting to get out of control when you think that you no longer need to study with other instructors because they have nothing left to teach you.
The martial arts are not for everyone, but everyone could learn them if they so choose. There is a cost for the transformation from the masses into a martial artist. If the cost of seminars are too much remember that the monthly costs here are as low as they are anywhere in this city, so perhaps putting extra money aside would the be the proper thing to do. Is it too much to expect students to attend a seminar? I really don't think so, and if I didn't think it would be worthwhile I would not suggest them. I try to bring in people that have something useful to teach.
When a visiting instructor comes to your dojo and less than half the 'normal attending students' don't show up, it's kind of rude to that instructor. I understand that life happens, trust me - I understand. It's just food for thought.
These types of questions are often asked by new students in a martial arts program. Sometime a martial arts instructor will not even suggest going to any seminars, or seeing other instructors. I find that teachers who refuse to even suggest to their students to go see other instructors might have something to hide, not the least of which might be their ego.
Unless you know everything there is to know about a particular martial art; then there is always something new you could learn. Unless your instructor knows everything there is to know about their martial art, then there is a gap in your learning sphere of total knowledge concerning your chosen martial art.
There is always someone who knows more than you do, and a seminar allows you a chance to pick up the skills that they can teach. Seminars cost more money for a number of reasons: the cost to get an instructor to a location, per diem costs, the time the instructor spends away from his family is worth something, and finally the skills they have to teach. There needs to be an exchange, and so the cost of a seminar often equals what you pay for a month's worth of instruction.
It does not mean that your chosen instructor doesn't have things to teach you, or that there is some huge skill gap. It means that everyone can learn, even your instructor. In some dojos there is an actual number of seminars per year that the instructors want their students to attend. Now lets take the abstract and make it personal for the teisatsu dojo.
By the time you are a fifth kyu you should strive to attend at least one seminar a year, by the time you are a first kyu perhaps two or three seminars a year, and by the time you reach your black belt and beyond the number should grow to as many as you possibly can, depending on your life circumstances. Once you stop attending and learning from others your skill set will slowly start to cave in on itself, becoming only those things that you like to practice. It is also the sign of an ego that's starting to get out of control when you think that you no longer need to study with other instructors because they have nothing left to teach you.
The martial arts are not for everyone, but everyone could learn them if they so choose. There is a cost for the transformation from the masses into a martial artist. If the cost of seminars are too much remember that the monthly costs here are as low as they are anywhere in this city, so perhaps putting extra money aside would the be the proper thing to do. Is it too much to expect students to attend a seminar? I really don't think so, and if I didn't think it would be worthwhile I would not suggest them. I try to bring in people that have something useful to teach.
When a visiting instructor comes to your dojo and less than half the 'normal attending students' don't show up, it's kind of rude to that instructor. I understand that life happens, trust me - I understand. It's just food for thought.
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