My legs hurt, my arms and shoulders ache, my whole body hurts. And I feel good, damn good ! I have been running, and lifting weights for years, but re-joining tae kwon do again and training just 2-3 times per week, has really really toughened my body up, body fat is lower, abs are showing up well now ! And I have unprecedented energy levels, I hardly ever get sick now, or have sinus infections or colds. My attitude is much more positive, I have more confidence at work, I have more self esteem, my kids have more respect for me. I am so glad that I am training again. I've been the t-ball assistant coach, the soccer dad, the parent on the sidelines, I am a better participant than I am a watcher. This is my sport, no my martial art, I cannot stand to sit on the sidelines. Trying to keep up with the twenty year olds does me alot of good ! :) . I can practice on my own, in my home, in my living room, or front yard, this is my gift to myself, and it is my privilege. I can practice with my kids, friends, or just alone and by myself. I am part of the school, yet a martial art is also an individual experience. You will not find the 'playground politics' of the t-ball, baseball, football fields here. Everyone here is treated with respect, and as an equal. No race, religious, or gender preference, no select teams (with the exception that some schools have of a demo team), none of the above bullshit and favoritism that so quickly comes with traditional kids sports teams. I love Tae Kwon Do.
Our school has some of the best young black belt instructors around . They are awesome young people in their late teens, and early twenties, my kids love the instructors here ! They are funny, and make the exercises into kids games sometimes. We have classes available to us 6 days a week, the school has a very flexible schedule for us ! Still trying to get my wife to join, there are some women in the school, but the men outnumber them a little bit .In the children's classes, the instructors to students ratio is very good usually, most of the time it is about 4:1.
For those of you, that don't believe in martial arts training or think that it is for chumps, I have got some news for you. You can take that P90X, and Insanity garbage and shove it. I would challenge anyone who thinks that they are in shape, to take one of our adult classes and 'see how you fare'. In some of our toughest classes, we are doing 175 push-ups, 175 jump front snap kicks, 200 crunches, and 500 punches within the first 20 minutes of class ! (And we train to fight, we can defend ourselves, quite a nice side effect) We build our bodies to be strong, and we train our minds to be tough, and develop our self-discipline through years of training, and enduring pain, and denial. This is not for the timid or the weak. The problem I see with things like P90X or Insanity work-outs, is that people think that they can do them for 90 days and then just quit. Then what ? Everything you worked for goes to hell in 2 months. Martial Arts is a life style, a way of life. Tae Kwon Do literally translates to Tae, 'Smashing with kicking techniques', and Kwon 'Smashing with hand or fist techniques', and the last part as Do ' The Way of' .
No comments:
Post a Comment