Blog
The Good Old Days?
It’s amazing when friends used to tell me if I would open a school near their home they’d sign up immediately (that's how Olympic champions are born, ha, ha)! One student ran into friends when we were setting
up the new school. They were excited about the place about what it had to offer and were even more excited the fact they were living across the road. Needless to say, we did not hear from them. That resembles some of the people who have been living, all their lives, below the famous historical landmark of Greece (Parthenon) and have never visited it! I feel sorry for these people.
Sacrificing a little time, effort and travel is an indication of how much you really want something. It makes it more challenging because of the little sacrifices you have to make.
The martial arts are constantly growing because of the many of the many valuable components associated with them. Parents have become aware their children should, at some stage, train in the martial arts. The kids today are lucky because the parents support them. My time as a kid was difficult because our parents did not know much about the martial arts so the support was not there. Each time I got graded I had to run out and buy dye to change the colour of my belt because that was the best I could do at the time.
I had to sacrifice a lot of time, travel and effort in order to get I wanted. Travel involved 2 buses and a 2 kilometre walk, which took about 1.5 hours each way just to do one training session. Nowadays, people complain they might get wet from the carpark to the school only a few metres away. It is hard for me to understand that when I think of the 'good old days'.
GA
Assumption is the mother of all stuff-ups!
How true is this phrase (although edited)! I have talked, in many different ways, about how we all need to be reminded after learning a technique not to assume we know it all. Thus, when instructors, go back to the beginning, people can often go into auto pilot mode and just seem to go through the motions, whereas, they should be looking for more detail and improving on it.
There is a good way of getting my point across; there can be literally 100’s of little steps that make up a move, especially in Jiu Jitsu. Assuming there are 100 steps from start to finish in a technique, then it is probable to assume you may pick up 5 steps; that means you have 95 more to go.
What makes one person better than the other is the amount of extra little steps they know. So we need to refocus when our minds start to wander off when you see repeats. Take note especially when somebody else shows it because everyone has a different way of presenting it so you will always pick up something you did not before with the other instructor/person.
Never make assumptions!
GA
The Choice is Clear
While the combined figures of various ball games (soccer, volleyball, football) may make them the most popular sport in the world, it is only for a short time because kids grow out of it and adults seem to lose interest because of no further use fo the game, apart from fitness. What they don’t tell you is the average life span in football is far less than in the martial arts!
Team ball sports (with no disrespect) are always competing with the martial arts because organisers and coaches are always pushing youngsters with their own personal interests and agenda. As some parents have told me they would rather have their children doing the martial arts because of the many life skills being taught. One classic example is the ‘bullying’ aspect. Martial arts instructors are best equipped in this area so I cannot see anybody trying to grass cut us in this area because it would be foolish if they tried.
It is amazing to see the kids in the martial arts grow into good role models. Adults seem to pick up new skills and confidence making them feel better both mentally and physically. In my opinion, when it comes to a decision between ball games and martial arts, the choice is clear.
GA