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I have known Rob Naumoski for quite a number of years who is a close friend of mine.  Last Wednesday night, he was surprised with his Black Belt in BJJ by Jorge Pereira (a Black Belt 6th Degree from Brazil) who is currently here in Australia. 

Rob is a senior Black Belt in Ninjitsu and he now has his Black Belt in BJJ after 12 hard years of training, the hardest rank to get in any martial art.  He runs his full time school in Bexley in which I regularly attend and wrestle with his guys. 

I, like many others, am very proud of Robert because I know how hard he has worked and waited for this very day.  I feel the same contentment as any one of my students receiving their Black Belts because I would also consider them a friend.

Rob is truly a great Instructor but he also has a great fight record to his name which includes:

• 5 x NSW Champion
• 3 x Australian Champion
• 4 x Pan Pacific Champion

Many of you may have noticed Rob dropping in at our schools and seminars in which he is always welcome.  I was sorry to not be there at the presentation due to injury but  none of us knew this was going to happen anyway.  I cannot wait to actually see him wearing the Black Belt.
GA

If you walk into a posh restaurant and pay $90 for a meal, you may be forgiven if you feel a little bit of pain from departing of some of your hard earned dollars but you might console yourself by commenting on the good service, great wine and lovely meal.  You walk into McDonald's the next day and and splurge yourself with $15 (yikes, more pain).  The funny thing about it is that the $15 Mac meal might hurt more than the $90 one.  Eveything is relative and based on your perception of what is value for money.    

For many of us who had to sell something, such as a car, will have probably reduced the price by as much as $2,500 to make a sale and I bet that wouldn't have caused us any concern.  Try gambling $2,500 away and see how that feels.

When it was announced the infamous Rickson Gracie was coming to Sydney for one seminar only, 200 people pre-paid $440 each for the weekend but he is taken for granted back home!   In Australia, we have our own legends whom can taken for granted because they live on our turf and we know we can get hold of them anytime if we really want to.  Imagine Richard Norton and John Will popping up for one seminar only within the next 5 years!  Every hotel in Sydney will be booked out with interstate travellers.  Those who take it for granted are no different to people living near the Sydney Opera House and have never visited it.    

Perception takes on many forms such as walking into Gloria Jeans and having to think about buying a Friand but you couldn't care less how many doughnuts you gulped down at Krispy Kreme's the night before.  What about the days of the $1 per minute calls to the USA; I was spending almost a $1,000 per month.  Now, it costs next to nothing and I hardly make any international calls.  

I participate as much as 30 seminars a year; maybe this has something to do with the particle accelerator but I better leave that for another blog.
GA

The main fascination of the martial arts is about the many things and techniques we come up with.  Realistically, we are not going to be able to use everything we learn nor would they be useful in most street situations but we like to indulge in our arts by training our minds and bodies to achieve the wonderful moves we might think not possible. 

When we see martial artists perform a fantastic kata or others putting on a good wrestling bout, it gives us reasons to continue what we do.  None of this is achievable without the hard work.  It is interesting to note that we try to attain these results in the best achievable manner and everybody has a different way of doing that which is what makes it all that interesting. 

Sometimes, we need to separate ourselves from the practical stuff and accept the many things we do in the martial arts are purely for personal pleasure.  Martial arts is a clock and moments are ticking away.  If you miss classes or opportunities it is not possible to recover those moments.  One student told me yesterday, 'I wish I had started training with you 10 years ago.'  I said, 'What about me?  I wish had started some of the things I am doing now at 37 and not 47.  At least it is better to start later than not at all.'  He liked that answer.  Unfortunately, there's re rewind button.

The quitters who return are usually those who will quit again.  They've done it once before and they will do it again.  Remember, 'a Black Belt is a White Belt who never gave up' and 'a Black Belt who gives up is still a White Belt.'

Time out!
GA

There is not a single person on this earth who would not have heard the famous cliche, Wax on, Wax off – straight out of the original Karate Kid movie.  It got me thinking in class yesterday whilst teaching Richard Norton’s Black Belt Complexes to my students.  I passed a comment that the moves might not make much sense or be useful to them at this stage.  One student drew an analogy and said, ‘this is a bit like wax on, wax off.’  The Karate Kid had no idea what and why he was waxing cars and whether he was going to learn martial arts at all but, at long last (as the movie goes), he knew enough, just in time, to beat up the bad guys at the tournament.

The Black Belt Complexes need persistence and commitment and, within time, students will understand them and they will become useful.   These techniques look impressive and there are many Black Belts who are willing to try them but none that I have seen, have made the committment  They can be ‘painful’ and complex (pardon the pun) but once you are over the 50 per cent mark, they are really gratifying which will take you to another level in the martial arts.  It is even better when you finish them! 

I get a natural ‘high’ moving at speed with those moves.  It has certainly changed the way I train and think in the martial arts.  When others make the decision not to do them because they are too hard to learn only makes me feel more determined.  There is something easier for those who don't like to indulge – take your jacket off, hang it up, put it on the ground and then pick it up.  Enjoy!
GA

We have our good days and we have our bad days.  It all depends how you feel on the day.  Human beings, in all other living things, have a biological clock which tells us when to eat, sleep and wake up.  

If you unwantingly wake up early on weekends or have ever suffered from jet lag, it's probably due the effeffects of your biological clock in your body. The understanding of these clocks can be very helpful to you, for by doing so you may be able to learn to "set" them to wake up at a prearranged time, remind you of appointments or even help you to return to your car before the time expires on your parking meter.

If someone's daily biological clock runs fast, the person will tend to get sleepy early in the evening, but will be able to wake up in the morning with little difficulty. Exposure to the day/night cycle of the outside world will help him or her to reset his biological clock each day- humans being able to do this more easily than animals- otherwise he would go to bed earlier and get up earlier and earlier each day. Because of this need to readjust his internal clock, he is continually under pressure from the external world.