Last night was our Eltham Martial Arts Academy Formal Awards Night. It was a really great night with a great ‘anti bullying’ demo by the juniors and of course Award presentations , a visit from Santa, and just a great night with everyone decked out in their finest, good food, wine , drinks , dancing and even better company. It always makes me happy and feel accomplished every year to stand up in front of everyone and make a speech. For those that were there last night…thanks for listening.
Here is a copy of my speech :
Let me officially say welcome to the Eltham Martial Arts Academy Formal Awards Night 2013.
Thanks Mark Niven for the introduction and words……and let me take a second to say….” You guys scrub up alright!”
In all seriousness though, Each time we have this event and I stand up here, it really makes me feel proud to be part of such a great group of people and I am so thankful for my circle of friends. Simply by being here you are showing your support for me and EMAA, and of course each other.
So now, that being said…..without further ado……let’s get my speech cracking…..as always…..I only have a couple of things to say 😛 (winky face )
Somewhere in the world right now, there is a martial arts instructor standing in front of a class telling their students the importance of basics. Of why we must train them each and every class to establish not only technique, but an automatic action that we can rely on in times of stress. A programmed response that happens seemingly without conscious thought, much like the beating of our hearts, or our own respiration.
The fancy stuff is nice, (the back spinning kicks, the complicated joint manipulations, takedowns and the awesome jumping elbows etc) however they are what I like to consider as bonus extra’s. To the junior class, I explain this as sprinkles. It’s a simple analogy, but what is the point of sprinkles without the ice-cream to eat them with?
Nothing ends a fight quite like a simple well timed hard punch to the face – smack on the jaw, a decent kick to the groin , or a fantastic roundhouse to the head , so it makes sense to practice those and make sure the simple and effective stuff is well rehearsed and ready to go.
A famous quote by Aristotle states:
“We are that which we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.”
And thus, it makes sense that if one wishes to Excell… to establish great habits. We must develop an attitude whereby we are prepared to continue to practice the same things over and over without thinking we have perfected something. We must remain humble and open minded and honour the training and our instructors. And It’s worthwile mentioning that ‘everyone’ is your teacher. There are lessons to be learnt from everyone and everything. If one was to consider….just for a moment ….that you could learn something even from and Ant !
What you ask….well how about the fact that many hands make light work. Or to not to judge a person’s strength through size alone. You know how strong an ant is right ?! Yup….x 10 times their own body weight they can lift. Ever seen anyone do that in the gym?
But I digress. Martial arts in it’s essence is simple. There is no “secret “except that which Sosai spoke of. If there was one….it was SWEAT. Sweat and spirit. Morever I believe that on most occasions when people fall or people fail…it wasn’t their body or their technique, but their spirit.
That’s why I love Kyokushin. It may have shortfalls as I believe all the arts do but wherever it lacks technically, it makes up for threefold in terms of it’s spirit. During my martial arts journey thus far, I’ve heard well established and senior martial artists in differing styles claim such thing’s such as that you needn’t be fit to win a real fight. That you needn’t have loads of techniques under your belt or that long and arduous grading’s are a waste of time and don’t really contribute to your ability.
All those things may in fact be true in the first sense, However………That physical and moreover the mental strength you develop through forcing your body and mind through an 8 hour grading, a punishing class, or the humility and respect for both the art and others you forge through tough competition……gives you something inside that not everyone is lucky to hold within. A never say die attitude and a self knowledge that no matter what…..thy will not quit. Not now. Not ever. Osu No Seishin.
The simplicity of martial arts can be echoed in everyday life.
It’s a shame then when we get caught up in the myriad of distractions available to us nowadays. We are essentially wired in (and of this I’m guilty as charged) to our social devices and our work. We are contactable 24 /7 and we can and do work anywhere as we can access “information” at the slide of a finger or push of a button. Emails, Videos , games, music, and the money….oh the money. We can spend it on all those things we are convinced by media, companies and our peers that we apparently need…….without even leaving the house. In fact…..We can do it wherever there is online access ……and these days……you don’t even need to ‘have’ money to spend it !
But we don’t need this stuff.
We need sleep.
We need nutrition from whole food and clean fresh water
We need loving relationships
We need exercise
We need basic clothing and a place to call home that is safe.
Everything else is extra.
Everything else is sprinkles.
It’s managing what we need with what is nice to have that is our challenge.Knowing the difference is the first part. Keeping ourselves inline and in focus is the second and the difficult part.
And so…here we are again….at the pointy end of the circle.
That lesson from practicing and repeating basics so that they are automatic programmed responses.
It’s then you start to realize that we do the same thing with our lives every day. In our dealings with others, relationships, our careers and then we pass those things on to our children through our interaction with them. And that’s A-OK if those responses are positive and enhance our martial arts or our dday to day lives, but what if they don’t ?
People / or we , generally react the way we behaved last time….and we repeat those behavior’s even if they don’t produce a so called ‘desired response’.
It’s like When someone at work annoys you because every morning you walk in and the first thing they say is “ have you seen that email about whatever and it’s red hot urgent ! ” and immediately you get your back up. You are annoyed because You haven’t even sat down yet, settled in at your desk…and you are already being barked at. So then …your’e programmed response might be to get grumpy…heart rate increases….and then you start stammering some excuse why you haven’t read it yet…but will in a minute and ……oh…Ive got a headache already.
But to change that programmed response…you could simple smile at this person……throw them off guard and say “ Good Morning. How are you Today ?” And keep on smiling. Not sure why….but I think of Alan Shaw from Boston Legal when I do that. It’s so simple……but sometimes the power of distraction can change the whole mood. Try it next time.
Another example might be always picking the “ bad guy” or the “psycho girlfriend”………You need to stop and look at what attributes you are being attracted to here. That’s a hard one……..but if you look closely ….you’ll find the things to avoid next time. Pretty much….all the stuff that annoyed you is probably the thing’s you found cool at the start. And scary…
Maybe you always run out of petrol because you leave it till the light comes on……then you stress out as you run late for your next appointment because oh my gosh….you’ve run out of fuel and now you have to stop and you’ll be late and and and . If you do that….make yourself to promise to always fill up when the tank get’s down to ¼ no matter what.
There are hundreds of examples but when it all comes down to it……life is all about basics. About the thing’s we do every day, and how we do them.
I believe – To my Very Core- that Martial Arts can help you …if you let it.
See……training, can answer many things about us.
Do you quit , or do you do that one last push up ?
Do you talk positive to yourself ? like….I can’t do that or I will lose ?…….
Do you push yourself to go to class or do you find excuses not to ?……..
Are you a respectful person or do you push around the lower ranks ?…..
Sosai said that all questions can be answered through hard training. Allow yourself to hear the questions. And then honestly answer them. If you don’t like the answers – change them. It’s basics . It might not be easy. But It’s worth it !
I am sure that most of you know some of the challenges that my life has been faced with this year. It’s no secret about the changes within my personal life although I do like to keep those things low key.
What I will say is that times like these allow you to re-assess what’s important in your life. But…you don’t have to wait till something major shifts around you to make changes.
This year more than ever…I have drawn strength from the dojo and Martial Arts. Sometimes it’s been hard to show up to the dojo and teach – and keep up appearances- but I know that once Im there….and I see you guys come to class for training…I remember why I teach and why I need to push on regardless. It’s a rare occasion that I don’t always feel better after a night/ day at the dojo.
So, again let me say thankyou for your support and help during this time. Some perhaps more than others, but in your own way…by continuing to be a part of the dojo you have all played a positive role.
Osu.
Kop Kun Kaa
Now….on to the awards ………….
Wonderful, Kiley. Well done and thank you. osu.