I Am Project - A Student

If we are truly judged by the company we keep, I rock. I just spent the entire weekend with Master Dave McNeill and it was one of my best weekends ever.

It’s funny how quickly we can lose the knack of being a student. Of course I have never stopped learning but my learning adaptability skills are definitely rusty. When you have been training with the same people for so many years, you tend to develop a mental and spiritual connection with those people that makes communication, interpretation, and comprehension effortless. I realize now that I have been taking this ease of learning for granted.

Master McNeill is one of the most genuine, engaged people I have ever met. I am not the most socially adept of people out there but the ease I feel when I am around him is amazing. Yet despite being well within my social comfort zone with him and having most of the techniques he taught completely compatible with my kung fu system, I struggled to comprehend and grasp everything he was teaching. My mind tends to work in a nonlinear fashion and is inclined to dwell in the abstract. I usually can get away with this when I am learning from my long time instructor and training mates but I found myself falling into several Spaceman Spiff moments this weekend. On one hand I feel some frustration with not making the most of my opportunity to learn from Master Dave, but on the other hand I am totally stoked about the whole experience. What a great feeling to be a student at this level again. This journal posting could have just as easily been I Am Exuberant.

I can’t express enough gratitude to Coach Tom Callos for all the opportunities and motivation he has given me over the years. None greater than this weekend I have been privileged to share with Master Dave McNeill. I owe both this men a lifetime of gratitude.

“When you love people and have the desire to make a profound, positive impact upon the world, then will you have accomplished the meaning to live.” - Sasha Azevedo (b. 1978)

I Am Project - Proactive

I have twenty student members participating in the Ultimate Black Belt Test with me. While they were free to choose their own personal requirements, there were two requirements that I made compulsory for them if they wished to be a part of the program - a weekly public journal, and the no quitting requirement.

As a team, I have been immensely proud of their journalling efforts. Their insights into themselves and their journey have inspired and motivated me throughout my own personal journey. However with any team effort there are always leaders and there are coattail riders.

I had to question certain members of my team this week as to whether or not they have chosen to quit, despite their no quitting requirement. The fact that I had to ask that question speaks volumes. The UBBT is a public journey and if your own team member can’t tell whether or not you are even participating anymore, obviously you are not keeping your test public through your physical efforts or your journalling efforts. If your teammate has asked you this question and you have not quit, you must ask yourself if your actions are matching your words.

While I have struggled with leg problems since November, I have not struggled with my motivation or passion for the UBBT. I have been very proactive in ensuring I stay engaged in my training and thus even though I am behind on certain physical requirements because of my leg issues, I am staying on track. As Coach Tom said to me last week, I am adapting.

Looking forward to the Live Like a Champion Project in 2010!

“If you're proactive, you don't have to wait for circumstances or other people to create perspective expanding experiences. You can consciously create your own. " - Stephen R. Covey (b. 1932)

I Am Project - Participating

I had a conversation with my mom earlier in the week that has really got me thinking about some things.

If governments of the past were able to run the country without income tax revenue, why does our current government feel it is so necessary to reduce social funding and implement privatization while promoting their free market model? Income tax was implemented to help pay for the war and to create social programs to assist those who had their butts kicked by the great depression. Yet today we all seem to accept these social cutbacks without questioning where all the tax revenue is going. Is it not ironic that the money temporarily collected to pay for the debts and social consequences of one war is being used to fight another war at the expense of social programs almost a century later? What about the massive spending our government justifies for private consultants to complete studies and produce white papers on behalf of the government when the majority of the Members of Parliament, whose job it is to run our government and make decisions that best reflect their constituents’ wishes, sit impotent and forced to cater to the will of their party leader? Why are we not questioning these things?

With so many people on the planet going to bed hungry each night, why are we pursuing bio fuels that affect the food supply and at the same time continue to promote environmentally unsound practices? Why does it not occur to us to reduce our consumption rather than search for alternatives that will allow us to continue our unsustainable lifestyles?

If a black belt is supposed to epitomize discipline while setting an example for others to follow, why do so many of us not honour our commitments? The UBBT is a very public endeavour and thus if we fail, our failure is very public. What value are we bringing to the world if we are not taking our own responsibilities and commitments seriously? Who are we inspiring by our public failure?

When I am participating I am truly engaged and mindful of my progress. When I am participating I not only accept my potential in promoting change but I hold myself accountable for the state of the world around me. When I am participating I become a voice of reason in a world of chaos and I provide an alternative to mediocrity and apathy. When I am participating I am a black belt.

“There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstance permit. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.” - Art Turock

I Am Project - A Leader

I have been thinking a lot lately about the concept of leadership. I’ve spent the majority of my life enabling people to become leaders through the principles of empowerment like self realization, empathy, and accountability via kung fu. As a teacher it is impossible not to have your chest swell with pride when a student is excelling in all aspects of her life because she has learned to apply excellence in all her endeavours.

Empowerment is really, well, empowering. Once you have mastered it, it can become easy to take it for granted. The most difficult task I face as a teacher is keeping my students, especially the younger ones, cognizant of everything that goes with empowerment, especially the gift of influence. While studying the martial arts empowers us in all aspects of our lives, our studies only give us the tools of leadership. To apply these tools requires you to have a voice that is heard. This is why the gift of influence is something to be cherished and should never be taken for granted.

Learning kung fu has allowed me to excel in all facets of my life and has given me the opportunity to develop my voice and my passion while instilling a sense of responsibility in me that compels me to take action wherever I can make a difference. However, teaching kung fu has given my passion a voice and has given me the opportunity of influence so that I have the insight and confidence to recognize that there is nothing, absolutely nothing, going on in this world that is immune to my influence.

“Be around the people you want to be like, because you will be like the people you are around.” - Sam Reichle (b. 1979)

I Am Project - Meditative

It is easy for me to lose sight of what is important when I become too overwhelmed with my schedule. I have been very lucky to have the UBBT to keep me grounded and engaged in my training. So much so that I have already enrolled in the Live Like a Champion Project for 2010.

I am just finishing the best week I have had for a long time. I have not accomplished anything spectacular, nor has anything overly interesting come my way. The week has been all about the important things that happen when I am meditative and appreciative of the here and now. Simple things like the beauty of the moon as seen through an open window, flying a kite in a clear blue sky, sharing a moment of clarity and innocence with a child, laughing at the funniest training mishap story I have ever heard, experiencing the serenity of my fish pond, listening to Handel’s Passacaglia, or just absorbing myself with the one I am with.

When I am meditative all is well.

“Meditation is the tongue of our soul and the language of our spirit.”
- Jeremy Taylor (1613 - 1667)