Always learning

This past weekend, Mr. Shields, Ms. Topping, Mr. Britain, Mrs. Bailey and I attended Senior Master Thor's Rocky Mountain Workout in Winter Park. The fun (and pain!) started Friday night with the new ATA fitness test and ended Sunday with some fun team competitions. (By the way, my team (Ms. Topping was a great team member by the way!) took second place in the over all competition!) In between was an amazing amount of things to learn!

The focus of this camp, and a focus shared by the ATA, was fitness. Mrs. Bailey played a huge role in developing the fitness physical challenges used during this camp. She did a GREAT job and definitely showed off our school and our region as a leader in achieving the ATA fitness goals. In addition to the daily physical workouts, I saw campers from six to sixty working on push ups, sit ups and jump ropes any time there was a free moment. And it wasn't just a few campers-- it was everyone! My team alone had over 2,000 sit ups, 2,000 push ups and 13,000 jump ropes! (And we came in second- imagine what the first place team did!)

Hopefully, the weekend started some new habits and thinking about physical fitness. You don't need hours to work out. A few minutes here and there can really add up. As I have talked about in my classes, "just doing taekwondo classes" won't be enough to keep you fit. It will take working out at home or in the gym as well. But again, even a few sessions of a few minutes scattered throughout the day is a great help!

Another great part of the camp was the professional development that took place. The other instructors and I learned a great deal about teaching more effectively. We also learned a great deal about our own techniques. In traveling around to different ATA schools (as well as other styles of martial arts), I know that our instructors are among the best. But, and this is what I really appreciate about our instructors, we know that we can always be learning more. Within the past month, we have had training from Chief Master M.K. Lee, Senior Master Dilegge, Senior Master Thor, Master Black, and 5th degree black belts Mr. Bass, Mr. Horn, Mr. Betts, Mr. Rogers and Mrs. Lorenz. Our instructors seek out these opportunities to better serve you-- and make us better martial artists! We are always learning! I also want to thank Mr. Shields for providing us with so many opportunities to learn from some of the best!

This should be a lesson for you as well. You should always realize that there is something more to learn about your art. Whether you are a white belt or a black belt, keep learning something new! Always set new goals for learning as you reach your previous ones!

In the meantime, make sure you ask us about our experiences at the camp. I'm sure you will see a lot of what we learned implemented into our classes.

Good luck in your journey!

Mr. Bailey