Black Belt Success Cycle

1. Have a goal. Simple enough – you have something that you wish to attain. For example 3000 front thrust kicks in a month, both legs.

2. Have a plan (and a success coach) – Basically, you need to set up a schedule that you can consistently follow. A success coach is someone In the background who has already done that and can give you the tools and shortcuts you need to achieve your goal.

3. Take Consistent Action! This is the most important one! I don’t think this one requires explaining, however it’s just following your plan exactly as you laid it out.

4. Review your progress – is your plan working? Is it too difficult to maintain your consistent action? Maybe 5 sets of 50 kicks per leg each day is proving to be very hard to do? (perhaps 25 per leg per day will keep you from getting overwhelmed). You may need to adjust your plan so that you have a better chance of success.

5. Review your goal. Maybe your goal is no longer getting to a big number. Maybe your goal needs to be geared to perfecting the technique, or even maybe just changing to say a goal of x number of minutes of crane stance (you have lost your crane stances on your kicks – that’s bad!)

 

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Away

I was away last week on a course, and it is amazing how fast I felt disconnected from the school and kung fu. All that said though, it really feels great to be back. Kudos to those of you that work out of town or shift work - it's certainly a challenge and well, you guys rock!

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A Sense of Purpose

I've been thinking about this lately, and how it relates to everything we do. It's something that I struggle with at times, as my brain gets in the way. Ithink that when I am trying to apply a technique, instead of focusing on where my body parts are and what they should be doing, I should instead look at my sense of purpose. What outcome am I trying to achieve? I think that by staying in the moment, and looking at the outcome, things will come together. Of course I have to put in the effort and work on this before I see results.

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Positives and negatives...and stuff

 

The title brings me way back to high school when a chemistry teacher did a funny little dance to explain positive and negative charges. Funny how that sticks with you.

 

Anyway, with the right frame of mind, you can take your negative thoughts and turn them around. Or perhaps take that failure, and make it a bridge for your next success. But the ugly truth is that it is really hard sometimes. It's something I struggle with - have for as long as I can remember and while I think I am improving, I know I have a long ways to go.

 

I was really excited today as I was thinking of a new Kung Fu thing, and it actually turns out that it was already out there. So my little "aha" moment was sadly deflated. It sucked the wind out of my sails, and while I could stew over it, I am just going to have to push harder and further to have my next "aha" moment.

 

And now for my own little dance...

 

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It's in my head

 

Visions are in my head. Well, not the kind of visions that would immediately set off alarms. Visualizing your training is a great way to mentally train. I have found that by going over a slow form allows for a calming type of meditation, as when I need to de-stress, I can't just bang out a form. It forces me to breathe and to come back into the moment.

And going over a faster form in my head allows me to purposely occupy my mind in a good way when I am going for a power walk. Visualizing can help to prepare ourself mentally when you are to perform an event. I look back at my board breaking for my black belt test. On the drive to the Canada Day demo, I went over my breaks in my head, and each time, they broke. It helped to push aside the anxiety I had for both the public performance and for the breaks themselves.

Visualizing your Kung Fu can also help to stay engaged in your training when you are unable to train. It's not for everyone, but it has been a great tool for me.

 

 

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Time

Time passes fast. I had full intentions of blogging last week, and put it off. Well it's now a week later and I recognize how easy it is to procrastinate. It's easy to put off our training, and it is the little things that help to keep us engaged. Got to keep that in front of me as the approaching new I Ho Chuan year looms.

Blogging is huge when it comes to engagement. It forces us to reflect and to stay in the moment with our training. And that's why, even when I miss a week, I will continue to blog.

Now for next year. I have been working on my requirement list and refining it so that it isn't overwhelming later. Technically the next I Ho Chuan year isn't for 4 months, but time goes by fast. The tiger challenge is almost upon us, and then we will begin to prepare for our New Years banquet. It will be upon us in no time. And there is no time like the present to start prepping.

 

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I should know better by now

 

 

For whatever reason, sometimes the lessons are hard to keep in front of me. The tendinitis in my wrists have been quiet for about a month now, so yesterday I pulled out my kwan dao and played for a while. But by last night I was paying the price. I should've wrapped my wrists regardless of how they were feeling. I'm a twit. At this point in my training, and with all the injuries and limitations I have built over the years, I should know better than to tempt fate by ignoring the obvious.

On a positive note though, I feel like I am making progress with my push-ups. They still suck, but not as much, so I think a little high five is deserved there. :-p

 

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