My journey is long and will not end till the day I die.
In one of my courses in the army, my officer gave me a score that was not 100% and told me: "You did great but there is always room for improvement.".
No matter how good I am, there is always more to learn. Whenever I'm entering the kwoon, I'm setting myself to be ready to study, ready to absorb. Even when I am teaching a class, I know I'm going to learn and grow.
Sometimes growth is slow and sometimes it is fast, but there is always growth - new techniques, improved techniques, techniques with better understanding. We are constantly evolving and growing. I am ready to grow more!
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Sunday, April 23, 2017
Lessons from the horses
It is fascinating what you can learn from a horse. How dots between different aspects of training are connected and so many life lessons are surfacing in such a short time.
During the horsemanship session we did with Tony, we were talking about the hierarchy within the horses herd. What was truly exciting for me was to hear was that when the leader of the pack wants to go out to the field, it is not pushing all the other horses but is leading the way. All the other horses are following him. This is a behavior that I experienced in the army were the commanders were first to charge knowing that the rest of the troops will follow behind them. This is also true at the work place were true leaders are who they are because they inspire others to follow them not because of a hierarchical chart. This is also true in Kung Fu were if you want to lead, you need to be doing it yourself. If you are asking anything of your students, you should be doing it as well.
Another aspect that I wanted to cover in this blog is comfort zone. I've been challenged recently to get out of my comfort zone. I've been doing the same thing for the last 6 years at work. Sure, I got more responsibilities, I enlarged my clients list, I increased the size of my team and the size of the projects I've been doing. But at the end I was still doing the same thing. I was in my comfort zone. Making it a little bigger but still in it. In the last few weeks I've been listening to more and more leadership audio books and podcasts and I've been noticing that many of the ideas and suggestions these books have are to do with change, trying new things, taking changes, allowing yourself to fail, getting out of your comfort zone. Walking into the horses arena, I knew I was getting out of my comfort zone. I never rode a horse before and I am afraid of these big animals. I did decide that I need to get out of my comfort zone (outside of the arena) and just do it. Now I have to say that I felt nervous the whole time I was on the horse. I thought I was going to fall many times and I was careful not to get behind the horse when walking around it. But I did it. I decided that a change is good and that the worse thing that can happen is that I will fail and then try again. Now taking it out of the horsemanship seminar, I know it applies to everything in my life - work, kung-fu. There are major changes happening at work and I'm ready. Ready to embrace the change and to make the most out of it.
During the horsemanship session we did with Tony, we were talking about the hierarchy within the horses herd. What was truly exciting for me was to hear was that when the leader of the pack wants to go out to the field, it is not pushing all the other horses but is leading the way. All the other horses are following him. This is a behavior that I experienced in the army were the commanders were first to charge knowing that the rest of the troops will follow behind them. This is also true at the work place were true leaders are who they are because they inspire others to follow them not because of a hierarchical chart. This is also true in Kung Fu were if you want to lead, you need to be doing it yourself. If you are asking anything of your students, you should be doing it as well.
Another aspect that I wanted to cover in this blog is comfort zone. I've been challenged recently to get out of my comfort zone. I've been doing the same thing for the last 6 years at work. Sure, I got more responsibilities, I enlarged my clients list, I increased the size of my team and the size of the projects I've been doing. But at the end I was still doing the same thing. I was in my comfort zone. Making it a little bigger but still in it. In the last few weeks I've been listening to more and more leadership audio books and podcasts and I've been noticing that many of the ideas and suggestions these books have are to do with change, trying new things, taking changes, allowing yourself to fail, getting out of your comfort zone. Walking into the horses arena, I knew I was getting out of my comfort zone. I never rode a horse before and I am afraid of these big animals. I did decide that I need to get out of my comfort zone (outside of the arena) and just do it. Now I have to say that I felt nervous the whole time I was on the horse. I thought I was going to fall many times and I was careful not to get behind the horse when walking around it. But I did it. I decided that a change is good and that the worse thing that can happen is that I will fail and then try again. Now taking it out of the horsemanship seminar, I know it applies to everything in my life - work, kung-fu. There are major changes happening at work and I'm ready. Ready to embrace the change and to make the most out of it.
Sunday, April 16, 2017
Learning a form
Learning a new form is always exciting. It is not an easy process for me. I need to repeat each step many times until I get the sequence and then there is lots of work to perfect it. This year's form is Kobe's sword form from his grading year. It is a very flowing form much like Lao-Gar which makes it harder for me as I'm having difficulties making this form look good. I now know all the moves and I need to practice the form many more times to memorize it.
During open training I was thinking about the form and about how lucky I am that I can learn this form from Kobe. I'm amazed of what this kid has achieved so far. He is only 13 and he learnt, experienced and done more (way more) than I did when I was his age. I feel so privileged to be able to learn from him. Thanks!
During open training I was thinking about the form and about how lucky I am that I can learn this form from Kobe. I'm amazed of what this kid has achieved so far. He is only 13 and he learnt, experienced and done more (way more) than I did when I was his age. I feel so privileged to be able to learn from him. Thanks!
Sunday, April 9, 2017
What part of "erfitt að vinna" don't you understand?
3 weeks of vacation are over. It was very hectic and I think we managed to see lots and to spend valuable time with our family in Israel. The weather did not cooperate with us all the time but we managed to enjoy our time despite the rain. We will have family memories that are priceless.
I had lots of time to also think what I want to be when I grow up. At the end, it doesn't really matter as long as - I'm having fun, I am able to spend time with my family, I'm trying my best in everything I do. Sounds like hard work...
(It is VERY hard to pronounce the Icelandic language. Kobe bought a T-Shirt in Iceland that says "What part of Eyjafjallajökull don't you understand". Eyjafjallajökull is a volcano in Iceland. Now figure out what "erfitt að vinna" means...)
I had lots of time to also think what I want to be when I grow up. At the end, it doesn't really matter as long as - I'm having fun, I am able to spend time with my family, I'm trying my best in everything I do. Sounds like hard work...
(It is VERY hard to pronounce the Icelandic language. Kobe bought a T-Shirt in Iceland that says "What part of Eyjafjallajökull don't you understand". Eyjafjallajökull is a volcano in Iceland. Now figure out what "erfitt að vinna" means...)
Sunday, April 2, 2017
Rules
Rules. Sometimes rules can be annoying, restricting. Ok. Most of the time they are restricting.
Not allowed to get into the water. Not allowed to climb up, not allowed to feed the animals, not allowed to smoke, not allowed to litter...
All these rules have a reason behind. Either for our safety or the safety of others. To keep the place intact for next week, for future generations.
Going on a hike in a nature reserve yesterday, I witnessed few of these rules broken. And then enforced. It felt so good to see the park ranger stopping the ones who were littering and passing the "do not pass" sign.
On another note in regards to littering - I find that if an area is clean people will think twice before littering. If it is already dirty, they will not hesitate to throw their garbage.
Not allowed to get into the water. Not allowed to climb up, not allowed to feed the animals, not allowed to smoke, not allowed to litter...
All these rules have a reason behind. Either for our safety or the safety of others. To keep the place intact for next week, for future generations.
Going on a hike in a nature reserve yesterday, I witnessed few of these rules broken. And then enforced. It felt so good to see the park ranger stopping the ones who were littering and passing the "do not pass" sign.
On another note in regards to littering - I find that if an area is clean people will think twice before littering. If it is already dirty, they will not hesitate to throw their garbage.
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