UBBT Team 6

As of August 28, I have officially become part of Team 6 of the Ultimate Black Belt Test. While I continue to struggle to find the time to manage all of my personal and professional responsibilities while simultaneously running a full time school, I expect I will benefit from the self imposed structure the UBBT journey will provide.

I have been contemplating taking this challenge for a couple of years now but I have constantly deferred my enrollment to a future date in the hope that several aspects of my life would align such that the risk of failure would be zero. Well my life isn’t getting any simpler and I’m not getting any younger so Thursday was as good of a day as any to bite the bullet and jump in head first.

I haven’t finalized all my requirements but there are definitely some benefits I expect to come from the UBBT experience:

My personal training will become a higher priority in my life. Over the years I have concentrated on producing top martial artists and have not put the same effort into my own physical training. I use my words to motivate and inspire my students now I hope to take their training and focus to another level through the example I set with my actions.

The business affairs of my school will become more systemized and efficient. Lack of structure has allowed my school to drift along by the seat of its pants while I make decisions based upon my gut feeling and intuition as opposed to hard facts and statistics. I have access to a lot of expertise that I am not exploiting and I have a bunch of strong leaders in my school that I am not fully utilizing. The structure of the UBBT will definitely encourage me to get help when I can use it and delegate tasks that do not require my direct involvement.

If at a minimum I realize these two benefits, the long term effects on my students and school will be very positive. We’re already a big family at Silent River Kung Fu and there is no doubt that the UBBT will bring us even closer together.

“It's hard to lead a cavalry charge if you think you look funny on a horse.”
- Adlai Stevenson (1900 - 1965)

Olympic Value

The Olympics are finally over. While they are supposed to be about the athletes and the competition, they really haven’t served either very well for a long time. With so much money at stake for athletes, the sportsmanship of the games has taken a back seat to the quest of victory at all costs. The science of cheating has become a huge industry while so call martial artists attack officials over disputed calls. Somewhere the games have lost their way.

Remember the controversy that was raised when Beijing was picked to host the 2008 games? China’s human rights record was brought to the forefront of the news. The Olympic torch relay was constantly threatened by protest all over the planet. The plight of Tibet was all the rage and for a minute there it seemed that the world was pulling together in such a way that real, positive change was just around the corner. It is amazing how much leverage can be called into play when so much money is at stake.

Once the athletes started arriving in Beijing, the media focus shifted to them. No longer was the decades old subjection of Tibet the issue of the day, now it was the air pollution over Beijing and the negative impact it was going to have on the competitors. With the world watching, China took extraordinary measures to improve the quality of air over the city.

The Olympics are over and thus so is the leverage they afforded the world to help those in need. The games may have lost a lot of their pertinence to amateur athletes, but they offer a huge opportunity to bring the world together in the spirit of true friendship. Perhaps the lessons learned from these games will go a long way to permanently improve the air quality in Beijing. Maybe the awareness of the plight of Tibetans is immutably etched on all our minds. These are real, tangible benefits that have come out these games.

Let us not forget that China publicly guaranteed that protest demonstrations would be allowed at the games as long as the protestors had submitted the proper application and gained approval. Out of seventy seven applicants, zero were approved. Several applicants disappeared after submitting their applications while two women, Wu Dianyuan, 79, and Wang Ziuying, 77, have been sentenced to a year of “re-education through labour” after they sought a permit to demonstrate in one of the official Olympic protest areas. It is important that we take care to keep the seventy seven protest applicants in our thoughts. I can only imagine the risk they took when they trusted the world’s eyes would protect them in a system where their personal rights and freedoms are never guaranteed.

“The first principal of nonviolent action is that of noncooperation with everything humiliating.”
- Cesar Chavez (1927-1993)

Me

I spent a large portion of this week doing something different. It’s been a long time since I have done something like this and it is definitely something I need to do more often. I tend to spend most of my time trying to make a difference in so many different areas that sometimes it can be difficult to break the pattern of neglect when it comes to taking care of my own personal needs. I always make a point to remind myself that if I don’t take care of me, I will not be able to fulfill my responsibilities to others. But as with most things for me, it is easier said than done.

I met with Brian and Riki, my instructor and his wife, twice in the past week. I only stopped in for a short visit to say hi and ended up staying for hours talking with them and sharing some of my burdens. I realized how blessed I am to have people like them in my life whose unconditional support is always there if and when I need it.

Everyone has specific people that we turn to in times of need but I wonder if we tend to turn to these specific people too exclusively. I know how easy it is to feel isolated and alone when those specific people are perhaps part of my problems. Who do I turn to then? There is a lot of help available, I just need to keep that in front of me and remember to reach out and ask for it. I received some help and advice from Hal Gustin this week, Master Dave McNeill a couple of months ago, and a bunch of encouragement from so many others. The challenges I faced this week were a great reminder of the compassion and goodness that exists in the martial arts world. The willingness of so many close people like Brian and Riki and virtual strangers like Hal and Master Dave to step up and lend a hand is spectacularly encouraging.

If I hope to stay healthy over the long haul, I need to make a concerted effort to recognize when I need help and then take the time and initiative to seek it out. I need to take care of me.

“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
Isaac Newton (1643 - 1727)

Excuses

This week has been a week wrought with excuses. It seems we all, myself included, find excuses to explain the mediocrity which permeates our lives. Leo Tolstoy once said: “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” Amen to that brother.

The three issues that drive me, that fuel my passion for change, are peace education, environmental self defense, and mental health awareness. Thich Nhat Hanh advises us that if we want peace, we must become peace. I am a long way from this ideal. Here I am outraged that yet another Canadian has been killed in Afghanistan and yet I continue to live my life while carrying several wrongs that need forgiving and many relationships that require healing. If I truly want peace for this world, I need to first make peace with myself and commit to righting these wrongs and resolving these relationships. While not all relationship issues can be healed, they can be resolved so they are no longer an anvil of stress weighing me down.

Sometimes doing the right thing for the earth is only a matter of being aware of our actions. Connecting with nature promotes this awareness but how many times have I made bonehead mistakes that have contributed to the massive damage being caused by mankind? By living in the present moment I will ensure my actions are mindful and that I set an example by living simple. Breathe in, breathe out.

How can I continue to campaign for mental health awareness if I am not taking care of my own needs? I have always been able to accommodate more stress than the average person but as time marches on, my constitution will begin to weaken. If I want society to become more aware of this issue, I need to stay aware myself and take care of my personal needs. It’s not selfish, it is necessary.

I have more excuses than the average person when it comes to mediocrity in my training. Five knee surgeries, three motorcycle crashes, a spectacular car accident, dozens of separated shoulders coupled with chronic tendonitis, personal problems, family problems, my dog ate my homework, she got special treatment, someone planted that in my locker, my alarm didn’t go off, I thought it was due tomorrow, it was the dog not me, everyone was doing it, he stepped into it, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.....

Yup, not much is going to change if I don’t stop the cycle and become the change I want to see. My personal training commitment is a reflection of my character and an expression of my dedication to my ideals. The example I set will make a difference in the lives of others.

Time to step it up a notch or two. Okay maybe fifty. Fifty one is right out because I still have knee swelling.

“If you don't want to do something, one excuse is as good as another.”
-Yiddish Proverb

Setting An Example

One of my black belts asked me this week what specifically I felt we were meant to do. She asked this in response to my statement that we have come together for a reason. I’m thinking all my students may benefit from the perspective so I am posting my response in my journal. I responded to her with the following:

Ah, the big why. That is the question isn't it? I know the answer to that is 42 but of course it is much more complicated than that. The way I see it, every moment is an opportunity. What we do with these moments will define our lives and ultimately at the end of the day it will be how we lived our lives that will be valued by others. The way we live our lives is our legacy.

I don't know of anybody who hasn't wanted a career where they feel they can make a difference. So many people feel nothing but frustration with their impotence when it comes to having a say in what is going on in their world. We black belts have an opportunity here to use our kung fu to influence and promote the change we want to see in our world. We don't need to reach everybody, we just need to reach one person. The right person.

I don't want my children's values, and thus their world, to be defined by materialism and some self serving definition of freedom and security. We have people seeking out Silent River Kung Fu, traveling great distances even though they have access to a school near their own home, to learn from us. They don't come to learn kung fu, they come to learn from us. Why? Ultimately they respect our values and they trust us to instill those values in our students. This is our work, and make no mistake about it, this is our responsibility.

We have the power of great influence. It is ours to use or ignore. My personal take on this is that it is almost as bad to do a bad deed as it is to not do something to try and make a difference. What is making this difference? It is the self realization, the discipline, the progress, the confidence - all these fantastic things that come from putting yourself out there and striving toward your goal. They come from the lifestyle change that occurs from the moment you step into your first horse stance to the time you execute that perfect hip throw. These intangibles are what mould us into black belts, into leaders, into people with the power of influence.

Why indeed have we come together? Why after over twenty years of Silent River Kung Fu, and thousands of students, are there only twenty of us or so standing hand in hand in the forefront of the organization? I think it is because we few have answered a higher calling and have the guts, and perhaps the naiveness to want to take responsibility for the state of our world.

So what specific differences? I can think of only one that really, truly matters. We show people that we care. We don't stand around waiting for things to happen, we make them happen. We care about them and that is reflected in how we care about ourselves and our kung fu. We set an example of excellence that serves as a tool of influence.

Be the change you want to see.

“Children are more influenced by sermons you act than by sermons you preach.”
- David McKay (1873 - 1970)