Boot Camp 2013

Yesterday was one of my favourite days of the year - Boot Camp day. It is a day of challenge, opportunity, and inspiration. There is nowhere else you could find a better bunch of people gathered together with such positive intent than Keephills yesterday.

Certain circumstances prevented me from attending every seminar but I could tell that everyone had a great time. My students are extremely fortunate that we have such a strong base of skilled, dedicated black belts to allow us to put this event together every year.

The real value of the boot camp is realized when the students are able to take the vast variety of knowledge they were exposed to and apply it, over the long term, to their training.

“Many of life's failures are experienced by people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” - Thomas Edison (1847 - 1931)

Spirit Versus Letter

Summer is almost half over. It is amazing how quickly the time slips by. There is a lot going on and when you get into only putting out fires, mindful living becomes difficult.

SRKF's annual Black Belt Grading is coming up fast and I am thankful for the great group of black belts that make up our grading board. We have a total of 28 degrees between the seven of us and I value the unique insights that each one brings to the table. Our grading process continues to evolve and improve each year but the last three years have seen the biggest improvement to the process because of the infusion of the fresh perspectives of three new members.

Grading someone for their black belt is not an easy process. Every requirement from white belt to black belt serves a purpose. Each requirement's purpose is that of a tool – a tool to be used to build the skill and experience necessary to create a quality black belt. The grading becomes a challenge when the requirements are approached as hoops for measuring achievement as opposed to the tools for which they were intended. The most limiting approach anyone can take is that of striving for the letter of the requirement as opposed to the spirit of the requirement.

What creates confusion for the student is when what is considered a pass for one student may not be a pass for another student. It is easy to think that way when you ignore the hoop versus tool and letter versus spirit approaches. Once you recognize and achieve the correct perspective in your training, comparisons lose their relevance.

In a nutshell, every requirement is a tool to achieve the six harmonies. It is the job of the grading board to help each student utilize every tool at their disposal to develop the correct skill that produces the necessary results.

"He kept explaining to us reasons why things can’t get done. It infuriates me." - Steve Jobs (1955 - 2011)

Form Versus Application

Form is an integral part of the martial arts, in fact form is the one thing that makes a martial art an art. There are the forms we learn, Kempo, Lao Gar, Da Mu Hsing — their practice give us the base upon which our style is built. But form is also found in the way we teach applications. The subtle movements of an application, along with the theory and thought process that supports the movement, make up the form of the application. This form is the base upon which every variation of the applied application is based.

Ego is a major interfering factor when it comes to approaching a martial art as an art. It is our ego that limits our understanding and limits our receptiveness to higher level learning. Ego-based practitioners focus on application first and form second.

An application is only an application for a very specific list of parameters. Opponent grabs me here, I shift my weight, turn their arm, and take them down. Voila, it works. Now if my opponent grabs me over there then I learn another application to respond. I keep learning new applications to address specific scenarios. If someone attacks me outside my learned defences, I am on my own.

Form is the idea and logic behind the application. Motions are exaggerated to reinforce the subtleties of the application so that it is technique and not brute strength that addresses the situation. A person who learns form is actually learning an infinite number of applications where they just have to adapt their core knowledge to the specific situation. Their defence is not based upon a set number of memorized responses but rather a single fundamental idea. Their response is a continually in flux as the parameters of the attack change.  A person who only learns application is very limited in their response because the natural flow from one application to another is not supported by a cohesive base.

Form versus application? The ego decides.

"A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at." - Bruce Lee (1940 - 1973)

Perspective Revisited

As a kung fu teacher, I recognize that perspective is important when it comes to maintaining momentum toward achieving your goals. It is easy to fall into a motivation trap if your perspective begins to warp.

The biggest issue I see students struggle with is recognizing the different between an investment and a sacrifice. If you only see the time you spend training as a sacrifice to other aspects of your life it is pretty hard to remain committed to your training. However if you recognize the overall payoff that will come from the training, that investment becomes something easier to commit to.

Another issue that students struggle with is clarity of purpose. Sometimes the reason why we are working so hard gets distorted to such a degree that the value becomes lost. Staying mindful of the why behind the activity helps validate the time and sweat that goes into it.

Proper perspective feeds proper perspective. With clarity of purpose, it is much easier to recognize the value of an investment. Once mindful of that value, everything that used to be a responsibility now becomes an opportunity. It is a lot easier to motivate yourself to cease an opportunity than it is to execute a responsibility. It is all a matter of perspective.

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” - Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)

Misery Loves Company`

Fear of failure can be crippling. I remind all of my students that there is always growth and benefit from effort. We learn from our attempts and refine our approach accordingly. Every attempt is one more step closer to our ultimate goal. The only true failure is when you fail to even try.

Insecurities can be alleviated or reinforced depending upon what one is trying to accomplish. Unfortunately one of the most common reactions to insecurity is to seek validation. There is logic behind whom we choose to share our insecurities with. Our choice depends upon whether we want help to overcome our insecurities or whether we want another passenger on our pity bandwagon. It is more often the latter than the former as misery loves company.

The solution to insecurities ultimately lies within. There are a lot of strategies that can be employed to empower ourselves to take responsibility and, ultimately, control over our situation.

• Ask yourself how your words and actions serve you? This one act of mindfulness can change a situation rather than drag someone else down into it.

• The solution lies within so talk about your insecurities. Share with someone who can help as opposed to searching out like-minded people to validate your feelings.

• When listening to others, don't just listen to what they are saying, listen to why they are saying it. It is easy to get get your back arched when you are not hearing what you want to hear. If you consider why someone is saying what they are saying it is always easier to recognize the benevolent heart behind their words.

• Become a resource for others. Help them through their insecurities and you will develop solid strategies for dealing with your own.

“If men as individuals surrender to the call of their elementary instincts, avoiding pain and seeking satisfaction only for their own selves, the result for them all taken together must be a state of insecurity, of fear, and of promiscuous misery.” - Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

Germany

I have been in Germany for the past week with little or no internet access. The Germans don't seem to sweat their lack of connectivity as much as we do in Canada. Hotel wifi tends to be very problematic but everyone seems to just go with the flow. Immersing myself in a foreign culture has identified some things I am not proud of in my own.

We take resources for granted in Canada. The towns in Germany are spectacularly clean and they take reducing and recycling very seriously. The supplies in a German hotel room are spartan compared to Canadian hotels. Litter is almost non existent and I would estimate 30% of residences in some communities utilize solar power.

There is a lot we can learn from the German example. They equate the quality of their environment with the quality of their lives.

'The frog does not drink up the pond in which it lives." - Chinese Proverb

Green Business Certification

I have been incorporating Environmental Self Defence into my curriculum for a few years now through various projects and initiatives. I am a firm believer that respect for the environment is an integral component of developing respect for oneself.

It is not easy to always do what is right for the environment, let alone encourage that responsible behaviour in my students. I continue to butt heads with students and parents concerning issues like the banning of bottled water products from Silent River Kung Fu. I do my best to lead by example and I am slowly making progress along the environmental responsibility front.

I am proud to say that as of June 14, 2013, Silent River Kung Fu became the first martial arts school in Canada to be Certified as a Green Business. When I began pursuing this certification a year ago, my intention was to set a strong example for my students and community but my achievement paid dividends beyond my original goal through the additional knowledge I acquired during the certification process.

I am reminded that no effort expended toward self improvement is ever wasted.

“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” - Earnest Hemingway (1899 - 1961)