the spirit of a fighter
Posts tagged Kaizen
Been a long time gone, part deux.
0Now that I have that song stuck in my head, let’s get back to business.
Ok, last time I covered foot injuries, going back to school, and how much fun all that was. What else is there to tell? Umm, well. I’m back on my feet, which is good. So what am I doing while I’m back on my feet? Well, this ol’ thing called Taekwondo, of course. And where? At the place where I started. Let me back up.
I’m not going to dredge up more than I need to, but let me review: I left my tkd school in the midst of some crazy political disagreements, some of which I was a part of, some not. I did what I could to make the situation better, but in the end I was getting so stressed by all the drama that I had to get away from it. I missed the tkd part of things a lot, but I didn’t miss the drama at all.
A couple months ago, I dropped by the school – I guess I missed it too much to stay away, and I had been gone long enough that the drama seemed less important than it had before. I had a long talk with my old instructor, and we discovered that there was a whole lot of misinformation being told to him and to me, by a couple people who apparently like drama way too much. We’re talking bad, manipulative, crazy stuff. Fortunately we got the chance to patch things up, and make things right. ProTip: always, always get your information from the source, pay attention when people are perpetually surrounded by drama (and run the other way), and avoid chronically unhappy people like the plague. I almost lost my sport, my school, and my instructor because of a couple people who decided to drag everyone else into their unhappiness. I should have been smarter, but such is life. I get the chance to fix things and move on, and I’m thankful.
So that’s my object lesson for the day, and probably the last I will say on that subject.
And with that, I think you’re all caught up. From here on out, I plan to (hopefully) write about training, trying to get back into shape, what’s going on with teaching and life, and how ye olde foote is healing up. I may even post a video or two, if I can find time when I’m home and my roommates aren’t sleeping (Crap, I lied! I moved, I now live in a house with two roommates and three dogs, one of which is mine, and my cat. And some fish, which are definitely NOT mine. NOW you’re all caught up. At least until I remember something else).
Kaizen: Better Every Day
0Ever wish that you could take back the last thing you said to someone? I don’t know how I have such a talent for saying the wrong thing at the wrong moment, but I do…It’s an area where I am constantly thankful for my great friends who usually roll with it, and they tell me I’m not as bad as I think I am. But I’m still thankful that every day gives me a chance to start over – to start being a better friend, a better listener, or to start repairing a friendship I’ve damaged.
I picked the name Kaizen because it taps into a philosophy that I already try to live by – that small changes make a huge difference over time. I can’t fix my temper overnight, but I’ve come leaps and bounds over the last few years. Kaizen also, to me, connects with the idea that nothing is fixed – not just in physical skills, but in every aspect of life. Just because I took offense too easily and trusted too slowly when I was younger, doesn’t mean that I had to stay that way. Character traits are a lot harder to change and perfect than a front kick, to be sure – most things I improve on are still struggles for me on a regular basis. But they can be changed, with small changes, determination, and constant renewal. The key is trying to live every day better than the one before. If I screwed up today I can get up tomorrow and do better, and even if I fail, then do better the day after that. It’s never the end of the battle, and there’s always hope. It applies to life, just as much as Taekwondo. Does anyone else feel this way? How do you remind yourself to stay on track?
