“After all these years, I am still involved in the process of self-discovery. It's better to explore life and make mistakes than to play it safe. Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life.”
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Angry with myself.
I really need to stop slacking. I`ve been behind on pushups/situps, journals, vid journals, and several other things. And honestly, as much as it pains me to admit this, I haven`t done 1 rep of my open form since the last phase test. Wow im stupid. And now I`m playing catch-up before the next test. Oh well, just more motivation for me to keep pushing myself.
“After all these years, I am still involved in the process of self-discovery. It's better to explore life and make mistakes than to play it safe. Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life.”
“After all these years, I am still involved in the process of self-discovery. It's better to explore life and make mistakes than to play it safe. Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life.”
lunch break
I'm on my computer during my lunch break - which is usually at my desk. Big challenge for me to eat healthy when I'm on the go. Anyway I have been thinking a lot lately about the "spiritual" aspects of the test. In particular this year I have focused on nature and how I communicate with things around me - forest, mountain, lake, sky, weather - things like that. I think I blogged earlier this year about training in nature - something I like to do.
Anyway here I am sitting inside, eating lunch, wishing I was outside, doing SOMETHING, and looking forward to class tonight. See you there!
Anyway here I am sitting inside, eating lunch, wishing I was outside, doing SOMETHING, and looking forward to class tonight. See you there!
Unity vs. The Self (reflection on the Starlight Run)
First off, I want to say how proud I was of everyone for finishing the run on Saturday--3 miles is a long way to run when you don't do it everyday. Good Job.
However, I also want to state how disappointed I was at the end of the run when I saw that the large group had broken up, especially after we had the discussion at the end of training the other night. While it is true that the Starlight Run is a race, Aim High's presence was not meant in that capacity. An unwritten, but not necessarily unstated part of our test as candidates is teamwork and unity. This year's Starlight Run was meant to test those two aspects--we failed.
Being a martial artist, and even more so, being a black belt is not all about the self. Sure, it can be about overcoming personal physical obstacles, and learning cool kicks, but that is not the only focus of what we should be doing this year. The Martial Arts have traditionally been about defending the self and others (note the combined responsibility of self and a group of people). While we don't necessarily have imminent threats to worry about in our society, we should still focus on the aspect of unity within a group of people that we choose to belong to.
At Aim High, we strive to "develop ourselves physically, mentally, spiritually, and with good character." What does good character mean? How does it involve the group as a whole? I think some of us have been focusing so much on the physical and individual aspects of this test, that the time has not been taken time to develop an understanding of social unity and responsibility--something that comes along with good character.
At OGA, we teach our students the 6 Pillars of Character: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship. If these are some of the qualities that make up the good character we're supposed to be developing at Aim High, I think we need to take some time to reflect on which qualities we have let fall to the wayside in lieu of selfish goals.
However, I also want to state how disappointed I was at the end of the run when I saw that the large group had broken up, especially after we had the discussion at the end of training the other night. While it is true that the Starlight Run is a race, Aim High's presence was not meant in that capacity. An unwritten, but not necessarily unstated part of our test as candidates is teamwork and unity. This year's Starlight Run was meant to test those two aspects--we failed.
Being a martial artist, and even more so, being a black belt is not all about the self. Sure, it can be about overcoming personal physical obstacles, and learning cool kicks, but that is not the only focus of what we should be doing this year. The Martial Arts have traditionally been about defending the self and others (note the combined responsibility of self and a group of people). While we don't necessarily have imminent threats to worry about in our society, we should still focus on the aspect of unity within a group of people that we choose to belong to.
At Aim High, we strive to "develop ourselves physically, mentally, spiritually, and with good character." What does good character mean? How does it involve the group as a whole? I think some of us have been focusing so much on the physical and individual aspects of this test, that the time has not been taken time to develop an understanding of social unity and responsibility--something that comes along with good character.
At OGA, we teach our students the 6 Pillars of Character: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship. If these are some of the qualities that make up the good character we're supposed to be developing at Aim High, I think we need to take some time to reflect on which qualities we have let fall to the wayside in lieu of selfish goals.
Music Around the World
Last night my school band's final concert of the year. It was pretty fun. We were able to have it outside because it didn't rain. We played a Turkish folk song, "When the Saints Come Marching In", a greek dancing song, "Grandfather's Clock" and a Sousa march. For a bunch of 'crazy' sixth graders, I thought we played pretty well. The seventh graders after us did well too.
It's strange to think that school is almost over. It seems the same as before except that it doesn't always rain at the bus stop. June, I guess is finally here. Summer will be a great time to catch up on my requirements. School to most kids is like a never ending learning torture, but it doesn't really have and end. Everyday we learn things and any day that you don't learn something, the day is so called 'wasted'.
See Everyone Tonight!
CGN Taylor
Courage is not the absence of fear
The Starlight Run
Last weekend was the Starlight Run. I got to run with my my dad because he was able to delay his trip to Japan and come. My running buddy was my best friend, Sarah. Everyone finished in a group of about 7-13 people. That crowd was huge- over 4,000 people! It was also really hot! But, I had fun anyway. This Saturday, I hope the team will be able to stick together better. At least we won't have all those other people running with us. And then, there is the kickathon afterwards. It's going to be a fun (interesting) day.
CGN Taylor
Saturday
Most of you know that I won’t be running with the team Saturday morning, I’ll be running the Helvetia Half marathon (13.1 miles). I run this race every year and I really enjoy the route and atmosphere. I would like to be with everyone on Saturday, but I committed to this race earlier in the year and the entry fee is not cheap, so I’m not willing to walk away from it. You should use this run to get to know your teammates outside of the studio. Run next to a teammate you normally don’t run with and spark up a conversation. If you’re a stronger runner then they are, motivate them, keep their feet moving and keep their minds from thinking about this distance.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Bike Ride
Today I rode my bike to work. What a beautiful morning for it. I am happiest when I'm able to be outside. It's about a 9mile ride one to my work, so I'm able to enjoy about a 45 minute ride. The only bummer is all the traffic and the lights. If I leave early enough and don't mind a few extra miles I can go about 1/2 the way on a trail. Today, however, I went the boring direct route; down Walker to Murray and than all the way to the end of Murray. The cool thing I discovered today is that getting over Murray isn't quite as hard as it used to be. I don't know if any of you have noticed how steep that hill is but it's been my nemesis for a couple of years now. I've been finding new ways to ride to work lately to keep the variety alive (and avoid the beast) so I hadn't done it in a while. I just wanted to say yeah me!
I had a great time on the backpacking trip. It makes me very happy to hear how much everyone else enjoyed it too. I love to backpack and it really makes it special when you can share the beauty with others.
CGN John
I had a great time on the backpacking trip. It makes me very happy to hear how much everyone else enjoyed it too. I love to backpack and it really makes it special when you can share the beauty with others.
CGN John
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