Tuesday, January 15, 2013
2013 Is Looking Fabulous
We're only halfway into January and 2013 is already looking fabulous for Scholar and Warrior Kenpo Academy. Our school has nearly quadrupled the number of students that it had this time last year and we couldn't be more excited. It's such a blessing to be doing something that you love; but I think it's an even greater blessing when it turns into something that other people love too.
Last night I was speaking with one of our adult students after class, and our conversation that we shared brought me to tears. Happy tears though, no worries! I knew when Gene and I opened this school that it was always going to be important to us. Whether we had six students or sixty; sharing Mr. Parker's Art was the only thing that was really important to us. I never expected to have our students love the Art, the school, us even as much as they have. Last night our adult student told me that Kenpo saved her, that she's in a place in her life right now where she doesn't have that much going on for her. She has Kenpo though; and she loves it! She told me that when she runs into people that she knows and they ask her what she's been up to the first thing that she says is; "well I'm doing karate now." This particular student and myself attended college together and she thanked me, for encouraging her to come check it out, and she was thankful to Gene too. She wasn't looking for a place where she'd have the crap beaten out of her, she was just looking for a place where she could learn self defense. She said she never felt comfortable doing any sort of physical activity, but that she does here at our school. About then is when the tear or two started falling.
I love hearing things like that, I love when kids say that they had fun in class. I love it when parents bring their kids early because they can't wait to get there. It's such an exciting blessing. I love the incredible group of people that this school has brought into our lives, not just the students, but even the parents. We have some of the most supportive parents ever, they're just wonderful.
I look forward to our family continuing to grow and coming closer and closer together. I look forward to our school getting better and our training getting harder. I look forward to American Kenpo making a positive impact in our lives, our students lives, and our future students lives. I look forward to the bruises, the laughs, the sweat, and the rank that 2013 holds.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Does It Get Easier?
Tonight during adult class one of our students who is preparing for her Yellow Belt Exam asked me; "does it get easier the higher up in rank you get?"
I stopped and thought about it for a good 30 seconds before I answered. And this is what I said to her; "No, it'll never be easier, not as long as it is important to you. In fact it seems the higher the belt rank the more nerve racking it is right before you test. I do believe that once you're out there on the mat and you are half an hour into your test I think you have better control of your nerves though."
I can only speak from personal experience obviously, but I remember being disgustingly nervous right before my Yellow Belt exam. I had never done anything like karate before, I had no idea how it was going to go. Orange and Purple were equally as nerve wracking and I remember flubbing a bit on my Purple material. (Short Form 2 was NOT pretty.)
Blue Belt was the first belt that I tested in front of someone besides my instructor at the time. He threw basics and terms at me that I had never even heard of before. It was in the middle of my Blue Belt exam that I was told there was not only a 45 degree Cat Stance but also a 90 degree Cat Stance.
Green Belt was hard! Probably my hardest exam so far, I was so so nervous the entire time.
3rd Brown Belt was absolute HELL leading up to it. I think I stopped eating 2 days before that exam. My first Advanced rank exam, I must have ran those techniques 200 times everyday. At work, in my car, in bed at night because I couldn't sleep. I thought I was going to throw up before my 3rd Brown test. That was my best test thus far though. I remember absolutely blasting through the material, I didn't have to stop and redo a single technique that entire exam. Everything flowed seamlessly. But, here's the catch, I didn't know that I was being tested, I thought I was being evaluated during regular class time and then there was going to be a formal test after class ended. Had I been under the full pressure of a legitimate exam, I honestly think that nerves would have gotten the better of me.
2nd Brown isn't that far in my future now, and I already get nervous about it. I've spent the past year and a half relearning every single thing in the EPAK curriculum because what I knew wasn't right. It was rushed, and ill timed and I didn't even know what principles and concepts were until AFTER I was a 3rd Brown Belt. 2nd Brown is my first exam as Gene's student, that scares the hell out of me, because I know him. I know exactly how picky he is and he knows exactly what I suck at.
Does it get easier? No, no I really don't think so, but I think it get easier to overcome that fear. I believe through your training you gain the self confidence you need to conquer yourself. Because in the end, it's really up to you whether or not you pass. How bad do you want it?
I stopped and thought about it for a good 30 seconds before I answered. And this is what I said to her; "No, it'll never be easier, not as long as it is important to you. In fact it seems the higher the belt rank the more nerve racking it is right before you test. I do believe that once you're out there on the mat and you are half an hour into your test I think you have better control of your nerves though."
I can only speak from personal experience obviously, but I remember being disgustingly nervous right before my Yellow Belt exam. I had never done anything like karate before, I had no idea how it was going to go. Orange and Purple were equally as nerve wracking and I remember flubbing a bit on my Purple material. (Short Form 2 was NOT pretty.)
Blue Belt was the first belt that I tested in front of someone besides my instructor at the time. He threw basics and terms at me that I had never even heard of before. It was in the middle of my Blue Belt exam that I was told there was not only a 45 degree Cat Stance but also a 90 degree Cat Stance.
Green Belt was hard! Probably my hardest exam so far, I was so so nervous the entire time.
3rd Brown Belt was absolute HELL leading up to it. I think I stopped eating 2 days before that exam. My first Advanced rank exam, I must have ran those techniques 200 times everyday. At work, in my car, in bed at night because I couldn't sleep. I thought I was going to throw up before my 3rd Brown test. That was my best test thus far though. I remember absolutely blasting through the material, I didn't have to stop and redo a single technique that entire exam. Everything flowed seamlessly. But, here's the catch, I didn't know that I was being tested, I thought I was being evaluated during regular class time and then there was going to be a formal test after class ended. Had I been under the full pressure of a legitimate exam, I honestly think that nerves would have gotten the better of me.
2nd Brown isn't that far in my future now, and I already get nervous about it. I've spent the past year and a half relearning every single thing in the EPAK curriculum because what I knew wasn't right. It was rushed, and ill timed and I didn't even know what principles and concepts were until AFTER I was a 3rd Brown Belt. 2nd Brown is my first exam as Gene's student, that scares the hell out of me, because I know him. I know exactly how picky he is and he knows exactly what I suck at.
Does it get easier? No, no I really don't think so, but I think it get easier to overcome that fear. I believe through your training you gain the self confidence you need to conquer yourself. Because in the end, it's really up to you whether or not you pass. How bad do you want it?
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