Beginning with the End in Mind

Now that my testing has come to an end, I can reflect back on the past year with the confidence that I have achieved all of the goals I set for myself.  I really wanted to “raise the bar” with the expectations for a 4th degree test.  I definitely feel I have achieved this.  I can absolutely admit that there were times during my training when I fell off a little, there were times when I started to stray from the path.  The journey to our goals is not always easy.  Life does get in the way.  I do know that I always found my way back to the path; I know I challenged myself and pushed myself harder than I have ever been pushed.  It is my hope that the instructors and students that were around me for the year were also pushed and inspired.

If there is one thing I have learned about myself in the last year it is very much that I need to practice what I preach.  I have always told people how important goal setting is, not just in martial arts, but in life.  By setting the gal of my testing and all of the requirements I was pushed to do more than I have ever done before.  I feel I am a better martial artist than I have ever been, and it is because of the goals I set for myself.  So like I have always said, “Goal setting is the key to success.  Vision, effort and determination will help you achieve anything.”  Currently in my career I now hold 6 black belts, and for my next goal I will be working on a 7th.  I have also gotten many new and exciting ideas about our curriculum and the direction of our school.  We are going to have many new and exciting changes and opportunities for our students in the future.

Over a year ago I had a vision of earning my 4th.  A vision of earning my belt from an instructor and a friend that I had always wanted to test under.  I pictured the different parts of my testing and how I wanted them to happen and turn out.  I visualized for a year of what those events would be, of how they would play out.  I began with my goal in my mind.  Every day for that year I did what I could to make that vision a reality.  The principals we teach in class can be applied to anything.  Use them and push forward in everything you do and you will achieve.  No excuses.  It’s the excuses we make that prevent us from achieving.  Begin with the end in mind.

Reflections on Sparring, Now it’s Time to Break!

As I sit writing this I am listening to the music I plan on breaking to next week. Just through listening to the music I can get my heart rate up and almost bring myself to tears visualizing breaking. With vision, effort and determination you can achieve success.

Ok, to back track to last week,  I am very happy with how I did 30 minutes of fighting; especially with the rules changing every few rounds it’s not easy. I may be a little nuts but I would happily do it again.  Looking back I am very happy with my cardio, I am also very pleased because I feel like my striking with my hands has improved 1000 times in the past year. I feel like I just couldn’t miss. As I have grown older I have also found that I’m less worried about flashy kicking when I spar. However, I will say I kick a lot harder than I used to. I could have done better on the ground but I also recognize it was just due to pure fatigue.   But I got in a few submissions and takedowns so I have no complaints. There were a few times when I was laying on the ground reminding myself, “The only thing that keeps you from achieving your goals are the excuses you make.” I just kept saying to myself, “Get up, no excuses.” Thank you Daniel Adap. I am so incredibly proud of the instructors and students that fought with me. I truly feel that some of them were the best I have ever seen them and I can’t thank everyone enough. You guys did great. I also have to thank my wife immensely who basically let me lay around for a few days in order to recover. She was incredibly thoughtful about it. Now anyone with a small child knows, that does not mean my daughter would let me rest. But we had a wonderful time watching Disney movies while Daddy was resting

So less than two weeks until I put my limbs through countless amounts of building materials. Home Depot would cry ;( With the amount of breaking I’m doing it really is just a case of mind over matter.  I mean, I know a lot of it will hurt, but once adrenaline kicks in, it’s a different story. My training now switches from cardio to pure strength training. I will work on generating a bit more power before then. That’s all for now. Keep focused.

1 Week Left to Prepare for Sparring!

The fighting section of my testing is now less than 1 week  away and the nerves are setting in. I am still training intensely for the event, and I feel I am about as prepared as I can be. My style of sparring has definitely changed since I began training a year and a half ago. My ground fighting and Ju Jitsu has improved tenfold and I am to the point now that I truly feel I do not have a “bad side” when I sparr. My endurance training and conditioning is at an all time high for me. However all of this does not guarantee I will have an easy day on February 1^st. If anything I totally feel that because I am in better shape I need to push myself harder so I will be even more fatigued by the end of the sparring.

I have run into a small bump in the road as I have recently suffered an injury during a training session. This has forced me to back off on the intensity level of training and there are certain exercises I now have to avoid. It is of course my hope that this will not slow me down for the next portion of testing.  I feel I am at a point where I am more focused than ever and I will use my nerves to fuel my energy for testing.  I am reminded of the teachings of T. Durden, “It is only by destroying myself physically can I truly discover the greater power of my spirit.”

New Year, Same Focus

So as we move into the new year and closer to the next two portions of my test I’m keeping the same focus I ended the year with.  Honestly there is no other way to put it than that I feel fantastic.  I feel strong, fast, and in great shape.  My workouts are at a point where they are still very challenging and I feel a lot of growth and improvement from them.  I know that regardless of how much I train I will still be challenged on Feb 1st.  I know I will be absolutely exhausted by the end, but I know that I will be stronger and faster for longer.  My body has also gained a lot of endurance that I will need for breaking on the 18th of Feb.  Going through 100 boards and several concrete bricks will take a lot of power for some time, but with the consistency of my workouts I definitely feel like I will be ready.

1/3 Completed. Thoughts on moving forward.

One down, two to go. Two days after the first part of my testing and honestly my body is still incredibly sore. That is a good thing though since it reminds me that although the testing was not a long event I defiantly pushed myself very hard. I was very pleased with myself having been able to put so much power not only into my first form, but all the way through to my last. I feel my forms went very well because I was able to keep consistent technique and effort though all eight of them.

 

The opening random self defense went very well I think. I feel I was able to evaluate attacks and adjust accordingly even when certain techniques didn’t work. Now the fun part… I have absolutely no idea what happened after I was blindfolded and bounced around! The next thing I remember is sitting on the floor after it was all over catching my breath. In the past two days I have pieced together a few snippets of info from things the instructors have told me, but I am pretty much blank for about 25 minutes. I am told things went well, but the blindfolded self defense was very disorienting. I am not complaining in the least! This just shows me another aspect of training that not only I can improve on but we can all improve on as a school. When I was young I always remember my barber had a little cut out saying from a newspaper taped to his barber’s mirror. I probably read it 1000 times over the years of going there. It read, “Perfection is unobtainable, but in its pursuit we can achieve excellence.” I feel this portion of my testing was in no way perfect, and Wednesday afternoon I was back on the floor training so that I can achieve excellence in the second two parts of my testing, because I still have a long way to go.

 

As for the second two parts of my testing, the sparring portion will be held Wednesday night February 1st. This will be an open sparring workout for our teen and adult black belts. The sparring will be for a minimum of 30 minutes of fighting. Not a 30 minute class, but 30 minutes of actually fighting with a variety of rules. Yes, I will do a 4 on 1 sparring round, its tradition. Tentatively on Saturday February 11^th I will break. In my head I have all the breaks worked out; it is just a matter of logistics at this point.

 

And finally as we go into the holidays and the New Year, I want to thank everyone who has supported and helped me with my test this year. Also I want to thank all of the parents and students that have made all this possible. I always say that I guarantee that training at our school is a life changing experience, but you have to commit to it and allow it to change you. Ask yourself where you want to be 1 year from now. What kind of martial artist do you want to be? What kind of person do you want to be? What do you want in your life? Don’t just set these goals, write them down and force yourself to stare at them every single day. Force yourself to be faced with what you want and how your either working toward it or not doing anything about it. As I said in my last blog, Success is a result of your vision, effort, and determination.” Make 2012 your year! I know I will.

Time’s Up! Thoughts on Last Minute Motivation and Other Things

1 week to go… 1 week!  I have been training for the first part of my test now for over a  year and it leads to this moment.  At this point I am just trying to do anything I can to motivate myself.  Reading a lot of my favorite martial arts books, The Book of Five Rings, Hagakure, The Art of War.  At this point I think it’s about keeping my mind sharp.

I am not really a computer person.  I check my email only every few weeks.  I could not even tell you any of the popular internet sites.  I didn’t know what a “google” was for like a year, so I know I’m a little slow on this, but someone finally got me one of the comments that was left on my blog from back in September.  I have to say reading it really meant a lot to me.  Thanks Mr. Salamat.

Physically I feel good.  I have been fighting a little cough for a few weeks now, but that’s pretty normal for this time of year.  I have halted all sparring until after next week and I am only doing forms and self defense.  After the holidays I will get back into my sparring routine to prep for Feb 1^st.  On the last week I was doing at least 20 rounds per day.  Of the four days I sparred one day I did 30 and the last day I did 40.  I will admit the last day I overdid it a little and took the first two days of the weekend to really recover, but I did feel good at the time.

Since this will most likely be my last blog until after Tuesdays testing I want to thank everyone that has been helping me get ready.  All the instructors that have been coming into workout with me in the afternoon have been incredibly helpful.  I could not have done it without you guys.  Of course my wife has been very supportive and has helped me have the time to prepare properly.  I have waited for about 16 or so years to test with Mr. Damiano and he and I have been in constant communication over the past few months leading up to this event.  Many may not realize he is returning home from the U.S. Army for this event so it is very important to him as well.  I have to thank the adult students for sacrificing classes that night as well.  Thank you to everyone and I hope it meets your expectations.

“Success is a result of your vision, effort and determination.”

Down to the Wire!

With less than 2 weeks to go until the first section of my testing I am at a point where every moment counts.  I have been doubling all of my training efforts and being mindful of what I put into my body.  After this week I will slow down on training so I don’t get an “adrenaline dump” the day of the event.  I have had several conversations with my instructor, Mr. Damiano, and I feel I have a clear expectation of what I will do on the 20^th.  Mr. Damiano had allowed me to choose the patterns and weapons that I feel most highlight my technique and abilities.  I feel I have picked a mixture of forms I enjoy and forms that are technically challenging.  For self defense I have not chosen any specific defenses to use in the situations but I feel that as a higher ranking Black Belt my self defense should come organically in the moment.  I don’t know how I will defend an attack until the moment my body reacts.  I feel this is the most realistic way to test my abilities.  It may not always be pretty but I want to know if it will actually work.