Personal commitments vs. Others expectations

Many of you know that over the past few months there was a lot of uncertainty around the completion of my degree.
Fortunately, I now have a date to defend my thesis, August 1st, just in time to start working the week after.

Yesterday, I got a chance to meet with my professor and had a honest conversation about my commitment to deliver quality work and get insights into his expectations of me.  Since I have now fulfilled on most of the promises I had made, he was honest and shared his views. He acknowledged that he was very happy with my work and at the same time, he believed that I could have gotten much more done.

As I look back in totality, I realize that the uncertainty over the last few months mainly arose due to clash between my personal commitments, i.e. my word to my company, and the expectations of my professor. However, it was vital for me to stand by my personal commitments while being aware and trying my best to fulfill on my professor’s expectations.

In general, I believe that in life we may or may not be able to fulfill others expectations. However, the key is to be aware of what those expectations are, communicate those expectations and try our best to deliver them while being fully aware of our own personal commitments.

The invitation for this this week is to start being aware of own personal commitments and others expectation in different areas of our life, such as work, tae kwon do, or relationships. After being aware, the invitation is to be in communication with those vital people and create new promises and actions to fulfill on both personal commitments and others expectations.

Sunday: Kicks with targets, group work on new forms/techniques
Monday: High belt kicks, High belt kicking combinations, Hapkidos
Tuesday:  New forms, Lateral step exercise, Sparring
Thursday: Conditioning, Blocks, 3′s and 1′s

Thank you
Umang

Mental focus: camaraderie and teamwork. In all the group settings
you’re in this week, try and make efforts to make all members feel
included, empowered and valued.  It can really make a difference to
someone and the group.

Thank you,
Amy

Many of you know may know that I am an avid cricket fan and I have been closely following the cricket World Cup 2011 currently going on in the Indian sub-continent. To my great happiness and delight, today my favorite cricket team, India, won the world cup after 28 years.  (http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/42391769/ns/sports-other_sports/).

There were times when the team members of the team had self-doubts about their own ability and talent. But one of the outstanding things that made this team win the cup and be the champions was their belief in themselves and just believing that they can make their dreams a reality.  They always reminded themselves of this quote:

I hated every minute of training, but I said, “Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.”  -Muhammad Ali

As humans, we may have self-doubts about our abilities and what is possible in our lives. But we also have the ability to keep putting the effort to get closer to our dreams and ambitions.

In two weeks, we have the belt evaluation. Let’s all put our best effort for the next two weeks and be champions on April 16^th.

Sunday: Focus on technique. Isometric kicks. Kicks with targets, kicking combination, and new techniques/forms.

Monday: Focus on conditioning. High kicks with targets. Jump side/round house kicks, flying side/round house kicks.

Tuesday:  Focus technique. 3’s and 1s. Hand techniques with targets. Blocking combination. Group work.

Thursday: Focus on conditioning. Conditioning right after warm-up, all forms, free sparring. Group work.

Limits: Many times when we try to tell our bodies to do something, do we come up just a bit short.  But are these limits purely physical, or are they mental?  Have we convinced ourselves that we cannot perform a certain technique, or have we encountered a genuine physical limit that prevents us from moving in a certain way?  Taekwondo is about the unity of the mind and body, but often times we forget just what this unity implies.  It is not just the mind imposing itself upon the body, willing it to move.  It is also the mind taking into account what the body tells it.  What hurts or is strained or feels awkward when performing techniques.  It is up to the mind to figure out why the body responds in such a way, not just try and power through.  If we pay close attention to what our body says, it is no longer a case of “I cannot do this” to “In what we cay I do this.”

Sunday: Kicks with targets, forms, group work.
Monday: High kicks and high forms, combinations, hapkido and knife.
Tuesday: Kicking combinations, blocking combinations, free sparring.
Thursday: Conditioning, hand or kicking combinations, group work, free sparring.

Dear TKD, Sirs, and Ma’ams,

Sunday: work on new forms,  sliding kicks with targets
Monday: advanced blocking combinations, flying side kick
Tuesday: basic kicks with targets, creative kicking combinations
Thursday: lateral step work, group work (focus on new kicks)

Mental Focus:  Contrast
What role does contrast play in your life?  This has been very powerful for me in my own life. It has given me useful reference points and helped guide my thinking at times.  We experience varying degrees of contrast all the time: rest and activity, difficulty and ease, joy and pain, etc. This week, take a moment and consider this word, “contrast”, and what it means to you. Without judgment, does it change your perspective on certain situations in your life?

Sirs & Ma’ams -

Here are the themes for the week:

Sunday: Kicks with targets, forms, new techniques
Monday: Jump turn kicks, hapkido/3s & 1s, advanced blocks
Tuesday: Kicking combinations, blocks, free sparring
Thursday: 3s & 1s, forms, jumping kicks

Mental Theme: Stress and Relief

It’s certainly not hard to find stress in our lives. From preparing for that next big test, to finishing a project at work, many of us are under daily stress. In Tae Kwon Do we physically “stress” our bodies. Often, we have no choice but to let stress into our lives. However, we don’t often take the time to find an equal amount of relief. How do you relieve your mental and physical stresses, and do you take the time to do so? Think about how you can best “unwind”, and schedule yourself some time to do so, if you’re not doing so already. Find your balance.

-Ty

Hi everyone,

Sunday: 3s and 1s, Forms, Kicks with targets
Monday: Hapkido, High Forms, Hammerfist
Tuesday: Color Belt Techniques, Lateral Step Exercises
Thursday: Blocks with targets/endpoints, Free-sparring

Mental Focus: Leadership.  In Tae Kwon Do, we are each eventually called upon to lead parts of class, groupwork, or a whole class.  Outside of the Do-Chang, where have you had similar experiences in leading another person or group of people?  Without positive or negative associations, think about how you approach those situations.  Are you nervous, confident, unsure, calm, excited, joyful, focused, distracted?  Understanding what you bring to the interaction will show you what kind of example you set for others.

Thank you and have a great week!

Alexa