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The Martial Arts Spirit
Just thought I would share this wonderful message I received on Facebook from a good friend and great colleague who recently left the Police Force. I believe people do notice and respect people who dedicate themselves to the martial arts and it is something like this which makes it all worthwhile doing what I do. They say a good Martial Arts Instructor will have a positive and profound influence on students' lives but how good is it when that also extends to people outside of martial arts:
Robert H. September 3, 2010 at 5:21pm
Subject: Thanks Mate
Hey George….
Well mate …., I'm out of the Cops …., as of the 19th of Aug, 2010…, thought the day would never come. I just wanted to say to you that it was both a pleasure and experience to know you over the years I did as we were cops. You are one of those people that come into peoples lives to enrich and better them. You have made me realise how strong some people can be ….., obviously you are one of those people. You are a master at `life'…., not just being a cop, or an international defence expert ….., you're simply a person that most learn from …, whether we know it at the time or some time later ….
I have been busy and getting through all my own stuff with my marriage break up and the `job' etc …, but wanted to make sure you know that I always held and still do, you in the highest esteem.
Thanks George for teaching me about life and never giving up ….
As you always say mate …, there's too much muuuuuunchaussen !!!… lol
Cheers Mate
Bob H.
P.S. Keep on keeping on George …., love ya style …, always will.
And to top it off, I got another message from another work colleague just making sure I turn up to his wedding this Sunday:
Hi George !
This is Sam T. Just a reminder my wedding is on Sunday. I hope to see you and your lovely wife on the day. Paul M, Col T, Brian D & Eddy A are all coming as well. George you have always been good to me.
I met Sam when he was 15 years old with two of his mates riding an unregistered trail bike which I chased down whilst on a police motorcycle. That was 25 years ago! I thought I would give them a break which I thought was a good idea at the time to see if I could do any good with these young persons. Several years later a young rookie was sitting next to me in a Highway Patrol vehicle and he said, "You don't remember me? But I remember you. It's because of you I joined the Police Force." Sam said that my attitude is what inspired him to become a cop. People do remember things.
These are great memories! The training I do now with prominent people and students in the martial arts will also be great memories.
GA
Kimuras, Crucifixes, 300 Kms
Quite a few hours of training and a lot of travelling with John Will last Saturday with only a very short moment, between destinations, for a cup of coffee.
Imagine working in an office or any other job where everything becomes routine and nothing new happens. Your mind switches off and and that’s when you start to feel bored. The great thing about the martial arts is about mind stimulation ie gets it thinking again. John Will injected a little more stimulation into my mind when I was half way through this blog. If the martial arts were just simple and routine then the same boredom can creep in. Checkers is far easier to learn than Chess but it’s the Chess people who we give credit to because of the complexity of the game. It’s the same in martial arts – we need complexity otherwise it can become boring like playing checkers. The self defence component of the martial arts is only a small integral part of our training but what keeps us there is the exploration and acquisition of new techniques and skills.
The seminar at our school was truly remarkable with a couple of guest Black Belts, Sean Kirkwood and Simon Farnsworth, also attending. It is not only the new techniques and ideas that made it a great seminar but also the approach and understanding of them. John Will's motivational talks gives us reasons why we love to train the martial arts. Many thanks to the students that came along for the support and share my passion for the martial arts. Although, they may not remember all the techniques in their entirety but there was so much they learnt ie the little steps in between the start and end of each technique. It was also great revisiting some of the basic moves because it was like re-igniting the flame. No excuse in the world will patch things up for missing out on a seminar because the exact presentation can never be repeated. When John and Richard Norton put these things on, they are injecting over 20 years of their experience into these seminars.
To turn some of our students' faces red, Darren Grieve, our Qld Head Instructor, had come down for the weekend to train with John Will. On Friday night we trained at the PCYC and Darren was spellbound with some of the variations. But that’s what happens in BJJ – where things seem to constantly evolve. Credit must go to Darren for flying down here for the seminar. I guess not everybody can be like him.
GA
Long Time, No See
Hello everybody. I know it's a been a long time between blogs but I make no apologies if there is nothing to write about. I usually blog on a hot topic or an idea that might pop up and, lately, time has been an issue because of countless hours with Microsoft trying to resolve computer issues.
There's so much to do and you wonder how we fit it all in but that is with everything we do, whether it be work, time at home etc. But what would you do with the spare time if you gave up your training? The
answer would probably be 'nothing'. That sounds good at the beginning but you will soon get bored. Then you start looking for something to do and you end up committing to something only to find out down the track, it was a bad idea. Perhaps, 'nothing' might be OK for some people but not for me, thanks!
We are always seeking to better ourselves, and the martial arts creates a channel for us to harness our skills and express our personalities through a challenging environment whilst interacting with each other in a common interest. I have stepped out of our school's circle by teaching BJJ to outsiders at the PCYC. Most of these students are already martial artists (some being brown belts) of Karate, Classical Jiu Jitsu.
Continue your training my friends and enjoy the fruits of life in the martial arts. There is nothing to gain by doing nothing. Your computer will still be there when you get home, Facebook will not shut down during training and you don't have to miss any of your TV shows (record them, like I do). Make your life worthwhile and don't come up with excuses which may make you feel better at the time, only to find out later, you have made a bad decision!
Interesting time with John Will last weekend. It gave me the chance to catch up and train with him, including Steve Perceval and Richard Sargeant. An interesting thing I share with John is he is constantly doing things to improve himself in the martial arts so he can be better at the age of 60. Great philosophy!
GA