Today is a milestone. 10% of this journey is complete. As part of the requirements, there are several books I have to read. The one I’m reading right now is about the beginnings of Songahm Taewkondo. One of the most significant things is the lack of written history before 1955. The way knowledge was passed from instructor to students was through speech and training. Only through disciplined repetition and proper guidance can one honor the traditions. I have a new appreciation for holding myself accountable to train with maximum purpose.
Today I am dwelling on some things we heard at black belt camp. Grandmaster M.K. Lee spoke at length about how as masters we should train even harder. He also said we should be competing, and we should tell our students we are competing. He said, “You should decide to compete, and then you should tell your students, because then there is no way out. It does not matter if you win or lose, but you must challenge yourself to compete.”
Well, here goes. I have decided that in 142 days, I will be competing at Worlds. (WHATHAVE I DONE!!!!)
Today’s motivation comes from a couple of students in class tonight. I saw these two individuals training like champions. I saw determination in their eyes. I saw them push themselves beyond what they thought they had in them. Whether or not they truly thought they were champions is irrelevant. To anyone watching in the crowd, they were champions. I am so proud of their drive, and that inspires me to train like a champion.
Today was a teaching day, and I got some sparring in with several students.
Back at it today. Getting up in the morning is becoming better and better as I go.
Today’s inspiration is from a challenging part of my new form. I found myself getting frustrated yesterday working on it, so I decided today to get some quality reps. This form has many of the more basic moves in it, however they are from very different stances and there are so many turns and balancing to do that will make this form a challenge. Guess I’m going to have to do it 10,000 times. :)
Things felt pretty good today after the long training weekend. Time to get back into the routine with things and set some new goals. Tonight was a teaching night, so was able to work on the basics and spar some to work on footwork and timing
Today’s inspiration is something I’ve been pondering a long time. What drives certain people to try achieving things that were previously thought impossible? What makes them believe when no others believe? What pushes them to do things no one else dares to? They say a black belt is a white belt that didn’t quit. I think it is more than that. At the end of a testing a few years ago, the question was asked, “Who is going to train just as hard as they did to earn their current rank?” All the student’s hands went up. The response they got was “If you only work as hard as you did to get to this milestone, you will fail. You must work harder to reach that next step than you did to get to where you are now.” Each step in the journey gets progressively harder, and only those that apply that extraordinary determination will succeed.
Today’s workout
Theme of the day – Discipline
Training qualities – Stance/starting position/direction/rotation/ending position
