Small Victories...

Recently, I ran into a former classmate from graduate school. She had just finished teaching summer school and apparently used an anecdote about me in her classroom. "The kids still can't get over why you left a job in New York City with [an haute couture designer] to become a teacher. They think you're nuts." It's not the first time I've heard this sentiment, from kids and overly superficial adults alike, but it hits me like a round kick in the stomach on every occasion. Are children and their educations viewed with such aloofness and apathy that a career in fashion is seen as more appealing and rewarding than that of an educator?

Maybe you're wondering where I'm going with this...it all ties in with my strong belief in leaving one's comfort zone and taking risks. Sure...it would have been easy to keep running a boutique where $200,000 gowns and $1,400 shoes were effortlessly sold to celebrities and socialites, but my heart and my mind were someplace else.

The same sentiment is true of my foray into the martial arts. I practice an hour of vinyasa yoga each day and hone my Muay Thai skills with Jake at Sityodtong. The seeming dichotomy that one might assume exists between a serene discipline like yoga and a faster paced punching and kicking sport like Muay Thai does not exist for me. Instead, both compliment each other. While yoga strengthens my mind and body, Muay Thai allows me to do the same through a different vehicle. The two arts meld into feelings of empowerment, strength, mindfulness, and tranquility that, for me, are essential to how well I live my life.

Had I resisted Joe's invitation to meet and train with Jake, it would have been because I was afraid of the unknown and leery of expressing myself in a way with which I was not familiar. Had I stopped to think about it, maybe I would have been imtimidated by the fact that I had never seen much less attempted the Muay Thai style of boxing and, quite often, I am the only woman in the gym. Thankfully, I jumped in with both feet. And it has been one of the best blind leaps of faith I have ever made.

Often, when we are faced with changes or opportunities that are unfamiliar, we are impeded by a lack of motivation or self-assuredness about how we will perform. Turns out that I'm pretty good at Muay Thai, really good at yoga, and aspire to be one of the teachers my kids will remember at the end of their academic careers and throughout their adult lives.

Martial arts has become one of the vehicles through which I have found confidence and purpose in my chosen pursuits. No matter what your pursuits are, should they include martial arts or not, have your own vehicles through which you can build your physical, spiritual, and emotional foundations. Have the courage and conviction to try something new. What my younger brother calls "small victories" soon add up to major achievement.

Stacia

Take your mental lumps...

If you train with any intensity, you will go through different feelings. Emotionally, these feelings can range from extreme satisfaction to a "I suck - what am I doing here." Emotions like this happen. It is normal.

One thing is for sure though, the folks that get "good" at this stuff are consistent.

Makes sense right?

So, what is the hardest thing about being consistent in training? Sometimes, it's a physical injury. Sometimes, it is life committments. However, more often than not, it's your mental attitude.

Yup, it is your mind.

For example; sometimes, it is very difficult for me to go to the Academy and know that I have to roll with a lot of guys that want to tap you like a sewing machine. The belt around my waist sometimes feels very, very heavy.

Who makes my belt feel heavy? ... Me. Where's the problem? It's in my head.

The question is how do I get around my head problem? The answer...be consistent and take your mental lumps and be consistent and go back for more.
You will never fail, unless you quit...

Eventually, the mental lumps will be farther and farther apart.

Besides, this is where you really learn about yourself.

Dana White UFC President

I like Dana White. I never met the man. However, there is a couple of things that I appreciate about him. As a Director of several different Engineering organizations, watching others practice their management/leadership styles can be very enlightening.

1. Dana White is an excellent President of his company (UFC). He has demonstrated a great understanding of what his competition is doing and he has acted in ways to crush the competition and propel his company's brand name worldwide. He's thrusted the UFC name into the average household making it a common word in everyday speech.

2. As a manager and more importantly a leader of his organization, he's taken some pretty aggressive business moves to maintain his market dominance.

3. He's originally from Boston...

While many will argue that Mr. White is not good for the sport, I would argue that his strategic moves for his company have been good for the sport.

As a management professional, I applaud his tenacity and guts to do what he thinks is right.

He has balls.

I'd like to work with him.

Don't fool yourself...

Do you know people still wearing clothing styles from the 1970's or 80's? I know some people that do wear clothing styles from the 70's and feel very comfortable doing so. This is great for them. They understand that this is what they like to wear and that the current clothing styles are different and it doesn't matter to them.

Too bad martial artists don't have the same confidence in what they do.

The martial artists I'm referring to are the same martial artists that will tell you that the clothing that they are wearing (their one dimensional traditional style) from the 70's are too stylish (deadly) for the latest clothing trend (MMA).

I think they should stop lying to themselves.

How ironic.

Name a traditional martial art and look to see how it developed and you'll see that it developed out of influences of different martial arts. What I'm saying is the old men of China and Japan crossed trained to make them better fighters.

But today, the traditionalists will state, "we don't fight because the real fight is within yourself."

While I do agree with this propaganda to a certain extent, the philosophy can only be realized after you test yourself and mix it up. One of the attributes of training in martial arts is to help make you realize how tough you really are not. You can't do that if you never mix it up. It takes balls to step up and all those butterflies in your stomach is where the fight within yourself takes place. Working hard and testing yourself only reinforces that on any given day someone can kick your ass. Training properly actually humbles you. It quiets your ego. There's no shame in winning or losing as long as you step up.

Someone go tell the traditionalists. There's too many fat ass black belts walking around with their hands in their belts, teaching little kids and speaking in languages that they don't understand to create an illusion.

If you train traditionally and understand why you do it and what it is and is not, great. Just don't fool yourself and get out of the way of the guys that want to mix it up.