Mental Focus: Reaction and Motive

When we see someone in trouble, do we go help them?  Why do we help or not help?  Do we feel inconvenienced somehow, it would take too long a diversion from our previous objective?  Do we feel shameful if we do not offer our hand?  In our daily lives we encounter situations that require a reaction of some sort, even if that reaction is inaction.  But perhaps even more important to keep in mind is why we reacted a certain way.  Was our reaction due to pure shock, our minds unable to grapple with a situation?  A belief that we are expected to react a certain way by others?  Or do we know ourselves well enough to be able to determine a reason for our chosen path?

Sunday: Kicks with targets, kicking combinations, and new technique for old and new students.
Monday: High kicks with targets, going for height and distance, group work.
Tuesday: 3s and 1s, hand techniques with targets, blocking combinations.
Thursday: Conditioning, forms, free sparring.

Sunday’s class will be in Chamberlain 2112.

Mental Focus: Beginning/End

For some of us, this week may be the end of holidays and beginning of a new semester. For others, it may be beginning of new friendships, location or projects. The invitation for this week is to start from where we left off. If we ended something on a high or even a low, let’s ask how we can take it to the next level. Our club is one place to do that. While going through the process, let’s bring fun and a beginner’s mind.

“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.”

T.S. Eliot

Monday: Advanced kicks, Color belt techniques, New Advanced techniques
Tuesday:  Partner stretches, new blocks, Sparring
Thursday: New forms, New 3′s and 1′s
Thank You,
Umang

Theme: Reflection both ways.  The year is almost over and much has happened.  Each of us faced successes and failures over the past year, learning, growing, and even falling.  But even as we look back at the past, there is a future ahead of us.  We stand in the present looking both ways and this time is as good as any to consider the decisions that led us to where we are, the decisions we are going to make, and ultimately what brought us to make these decisions, past and future.  For even though we mark a specific time as a beginning or an end, life itself does not stop.  We are everything that has happened to us, not just the the events that occurred during a period of time we call a year.  More will happen to us and a solid grounding in who we are and how we reached this point will help see us through whatever may come.

Sunday: Conditioning to burn through the holiday meal, free sparring.
Monday: High kicks, high forms, and new technique as needed.
Tuesday: Kicks with targets, hand techniques, and group work.
Thursday: Conditioning to prepare for the next round of feasting, new technique, free sparring.

Hello,

Mental Focus: Celebration

This week may be a time for celebration both inside and outside the club. Inside the club, you may be celebrating your achievements. Outside the club, you may be celebrating being with your friends and family.

Celebrations often come with gifts. However, we often forget that that greatest gift we have is life. It gives us access to achieve and contribute. Bring happiness and share sadness.

The invitation for this week is to celebrate life and remind ourselves that everyday can be a holiday, bringing joy and celebrations around us.

Celebrate the happiness that friends are always giving, make every day a holiday and celebrate just living!
-Amanda Bradley

Sunday: new techniques, isometric kicks
Monday: advanced kicks, color belt techniques, full gear sparring
Tuesday: new forms, new blocks, sparring
Thursday: conditioning, new 3′s and 1′s

Thank You,
Umang

Sunday: color belt techniques, kicks with targets, balance exercises
Monday: advanced kicks, hammerfist, full gear sparring
Tuesday: forms, blocks, sparring
Thursday: conditioning, 3′s and 1′s, groupwork

Mental Focus: Forgiveness – Find something this week to forgive. Something that makes you angry or hurt. Practice the act of letting go of that pain and notice what changes for you.

Reminders for the upcoming belt test: polish off those favorite techniques! And for those testing, please bring $10 with you to help cover the cost of boards/supplies. If you have any questions, touch base with a higher belt. Looking forward to Saturday!

Alexa

Hi Everyone,

Apologies for getting this out late. I switched weeks and then forgot.

Monday: Advanced kicks with targets, hapkido, and hammerfist
Tuesday: Color belt technique, forms, group work
Thursday: Thanksgiving, no class, practice on your own to make room for more pie.

Remember: The Winter Belt Test is Saturday Dec. 4. A mere week from this Saturday. Check in with your instructors to be sure you have everything you need (some of you might also need to write belt-level reflections) and it’s never too early to start working on your favorite technique.

Mental focus: Mindfulness. Thanksgiving traditionally marks the beginning of the holiday season and all its attendant celebrations, commitments, and stress. The tendency to get caught up in the swirl of all that we “have to do” or dwell on how the holidays “always go” is, perhaps, a well-worn path in most of our minds. It’s a current of expectations: what we expect of ourselves, of others, what we feel is expected of us and how we expect things to unfold based on past experiences. Instead of allowing ourselves to be swept away by this current, let’s all try to stay grounded in the moment. Let’s create space for ourselves there so we can fully appreciate this Thanksgiving, this week, and the rest of this season.

See you in class!

Sarah Rob

P.S.–The Union should be open the Sunday after Thanksgiving so stay tuned for more info about this weekend’s class

Sunday: Work on 3′s and 1′s; group work
Monday: Jump kicks with emphasis on technique, color belt combinations
Tuesday: Forms; blocks; working with low stances; free sparring
Thursday: Kicks with targets; group work for test

Buddha said “Seek to understand and then to be understood.” The depth and beauty of this quote is something that we should all strive for so that we can become better leaders. People oftentimes dwell on their own internal conflicts that they forget the bigger picture in life. If we take the opportunity to understand others and the world around us, we start to realize that our internal struggles are very minute or at least we make peace with it. After that, we should take the opportunity to teach others from our experiences to that we add to the bigger picture in life.

Sirs & Ma’ams -

Here are the themes for the week:

Sunday: Kicks with targets, forms, group work
Monday: Advanced kicks with targets, 3s & 1s and/or hapkido, forms
Tuesday: Blocks with targets, jumping kicks, forms
Thursday: 3s & 1s, isometric kicks, lateral step exercises

Mental Theme: Loss

In many cultures and religions, October is a time to reflect on those who have passed away. Death is a normal part of life, yet it is very difficult to accept and deal with. What losses have you felt in your life? How did you deal with them? How can you approach loss with an open heart?

Hope everyone has a great week!

-Ty

Mental focus: Enjoying both Certainty and Uncertainty

In life, we may have both certainty and uncertainty. Certainty may give us peace and calm, but may make us feel bored. Uncertainty may give us excitement and passion, but may make us afraid about the future. If we take a moment to think, uncertainty is always about the future. Although we may think that things are certain in the future, we wont know them to be certain till that moment arrives.
The invitation for this week is to embrace uncertainty and be open to anything happen. As the moments or occasions come, lets embrace them, enjoy them and lets give ourselves to life fully.

“Uncertainty and mystery are energies of life. Don’t let them scare you unduly, for they keep boredom at bay and spark creativity.”
-R. I. Fitzhenry

Sunday: Instructor choice
Monday: High kicks, high forms, advanced kicking combination, hammer fist.
Tuesday: Blocks, kicking combos, group work for new forms/kicks
Thursday: 3′s and 1′s, jump kicks with target, group work

Thank you
Umang

Sunday: Black belt promotion class.
Monday: High belt class. Forms, high kicks, and new technique for the upcoming test.
Tuesday: Blocking combinations with emphasis on preparations, isometric kicks, and free sparring with emphasis on heads being up.
Thursday: Kicking combinations, conditioning, and group work.

Theme: Consider what happens when you do something and you aren’t satisfied with the outcome. Perhaps you did not do as well as you wanted, or not as well as you thought you could do. What next? Is it time to give up and just make do, or do you retry? And if you do try again, what will you be doing different in preparation and at the main event?

See you all next week.