Ultimate Black Belt Test 09 is half over

I cannot believe that I have not put anything up on this journal for this length of time.  It just shows that we really are creatures ( or at least I am) one that needs to be scheduled and sometimes prodded to do what we commit to do.

The month of June was one of my best physically and we were able to get the new improved website up for our students and all of those that are following our journey.  It may not have been the best month for the student members and I realize my responsibility to keep encouraging them along.  They have been a rock for me in many ways and I really appreciate having them there to help me out with the things you cannot do by yourself and to prod me too.

So the numbers are here at this link.  Totals for the 6 month time frame is here.

June Numbers

Total Numbers

So where do we go from here?  I have a lot that I want to accomplish in the next 7 months.  I am at 5 sets of 65 with my push ups and sit ups.  That is good.  I have not started my boxing or scheduled the self defense course.  That is bad.  I want to get some Kali in and have not started that yet.  That needs to get going very soon.  I am still struggling with getting all the miles in, though June was pretty good on its own.  Acts of Kindness are not getting recorded properly and I need to set the lead in that, especially with this school year coming up and the push I want to make in the school system.

So there is a lot of work to do.  Last Child in the Woods project, teacher instruction, new database with all of our drills in them, the I am project, Living Hero’s etc…

It takes a great deal of focus and concentration to live the life of a master.  I must take one day at a time and do my best every day.  I am still working on the focus thing.  How about you?  Would you focus with me for a month on one thing that we can all do better?  That is how I shall approach the end of this year knowing that I have next year and the Live Like a Champion coming up.  I would love to have you with me on that journey.  We can do more together than we can do alone.  Join me!

Father’s Day

today is fathers day. I can hardly remember my own father. Like most men in their 50’s my dad is no longer with me. In fact he has not been with me for over 40 years. My personal memories are not that great.

I remember his bad health, not working, smoking, calling me stupid, dying. I remember his strong hands, lean body, bald head. I remember the respect others had for him for his artistic talents. I remember him in my mothers arms as he took his last breath.

Daily reflection

This weekend I took off from all physical activity, less the lawn mowing and there was that one 5 mile bike ride.  But other than that not too much.  I spent the weekend working on some writing, planning, reading and time with Karen, my wife.  This made me stop to think that I have not had much to say about the books I am reading.  The one I am reading at this time is called: Awakening the Buddhist Heart.

One of the suggestions that it makes is that we reflect on four basic thoughts

Acts of Kindness

One of the requirements of our journey this year is to do two acts of kindness for a team member anonymously.  I have wondered for quite a long time what I would do.  I have finally thought of something that I believe will be a contribution to the ones who receive it.  The cost per item is a little high, so it is not something I can do for the whole team, but i am choosing two individuals.

Now of course I cannot tell you what this will be – it is anonymous.  But this entry is to let you know that I will fulfill this requirement.

Who is on your team?

Today was a good of training starting with the adult morning class followed by some training with the team with me in the UBBT training. To see the results go to My Results for May. I have asked each person in the class to think about the team they have around them to help them achieve their goals, dreams or whatever they would like to do.

While our family is our most important team, as adults

New phase of training

This week I started weight training.  This is the first time in 5 years or so that I have done this.  The reason I stopped then was I irritated my elbow to the point that tendinitis set in and it got so bad that I could not hold a piece of paper.  Now I am tying to be smarter and more careful.

My first step was doing push ups in a controlled manner and increasing the size of the sets over the last 8 months.  I am now at 5 sets of 50 with a 10 minute break between each set.  I do these virtually everyday.  My goal is by the end of the year to be at 5 sets of 100 in that same time frame.  So far no problems with the elbows.

As you may know when you start a program you are measured in all kinds of ways.  measurements are no big deal to me.  But I am happy to report that my resting heart rate is 44 and body fat percentage is 11.9.  I may have a little way to go on that but I am pleased with the results of eating great and working out hard on a regular basis.  I will be talking more about each soon.

I am: Rational

When we make choices based on a belief that if I do A, B & C then the result will be D, we must first recognize that the conclusion we have come to may be rational or it may not be. What if I was not in possession of all the facts and did not have a complete knowledge of the subject that I was trying to make a decision on?

I use rational decision making, to the extent that I am able to think through the issue. However the problem I can run into is that despite the rationale, my emotions may get in the way as a stumbling block, so that I do not look at the issue with clarity.

I am rational in that I look at the facts as I know them, investigate more to see what it is I have missed and keep looking for new information as I prepare to make a decision. Must I say it or does everyone not already know – I am not rational all of the time.

Emotions, desires, being attached

I am: Explorer

When I think of an explorer I think of men and women going to places no one has ever traveled to before or delving into areas that no one dare go.  It is very funny that when I started teaching the martial arts I thought the way I saw teaching was going places no one had ever been.

I soon found out that in fact there is very little unexplored territory on the outside of ourselves, but there is a lot more that can be explored in the details and our deepest explorations are on our insides. When you get into the details of a physical area or of a subject you will find that there are many ways to look at any subject. I have learned

Areas to improve

It so interesting that the hardest part of me in UBBT 1 was the physical part of the test. The reason was because I did not have any teammates to work out with on a weekly basis. Now this time I have 5 individuals that I work out with on a regular basis. Who you bring with you is so important.

Now I have the other parts of the test to concentrate on. It has been more difficult at the beginning of the year as I have been dealing with allergies/ pollen type stuff that inhibits the thinking – but in reality I need to focus on this part of the journey.

So the best thing I can think of to do is to publicly state that the ‘I am’ project must be at the top of my list. I will focus on that and encourage my teammates to do the same.

Can you believe that one third of the year is passed us. That is what life does if we do not focus.

Keeping focused

I called this post keeping focus, because when you many things going on, as everyone does – sometimes it is not that easy to do that. So this month of May that is already almost half way over the group of students doing the UBBT requirements with me will focus on the physical part of the journey.

The physical part is the easy part, even though it sounds hard. The harder part is dealing with looking inside ourselves and writing about our thoughts and the journey itself. My attempt here will be to report on my progress on the whole test. For me this is my journey to 3rd degree. As I have told our students, I have no idea if I will be passed or not. I do know that I will not give up and I will play full out.