I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them. –Kurt Vonnegut My son spent a lot of time in speech therapy as a young child for Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). You wouldn’t know it now,…
Growth comes at the point of resistance (Josh Waitzkin)
Skills come from struggle.” Steve Magniss and Brad Stulberg, In their book Peak Performance, Magniss and Stulberg explain “just-manageable challenges” as ways to push limits and expand a comfort zone, and constantly to improve. “Just-manageable challenges manifest when you take on something that makes you feel a little out of control but not quite anxious or overly aroused. What you’re after is the sweet spot, when the challenge at hand…
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the ancient health secrets of martial artists
How can it help me? Why would an athlete with an injury, a runner dealing with runner’s knee, your Grandpa with a bad back, your Aunt with shoulder pain, care about all this martial arts remedy mumbo jumbo? Because they spent CENTURIES developing ways to: Strengthen themselves for training Prevent injuries Treat new injuries Care for chronic issues and ongoing pain Martial arts are ancient. Sources suggest that…
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An L of an uphill climb
When I walk into class I’m the biggest one in there. When I go to tournaments, I’m the chubby one. It seems like everyone else in Taekwondo is already awesomely athletic and in shape. Even when I meet other white and yellow belts, so many have previous athletic training and often martial arts experience. (Intimidating!) In sparring gear, they print the size on the outside. (I know, right? Is…
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are you ever too old for test anxiety?
It’s been almost a week since the test and I’m just now writing about it because, well, it was a lot to process. I had some crazy test anxiety, didn’t sleep well the night before, got woken up super early by the rumbling of snowplows… I had so much test anxiety I could barely eat, and that was good because… I threw up through about a half hour into…
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Next up: Sparring. Wait, sparring? you mean, fighting?!?
Sparring for the first time last night was so far out of my comfort zone, so far outside my bubble of life as usual. It was unlike any situation I’ve ever been in. Mr. Ninja gave some basic instructions, but being out of my comfort zone and my brain and ears covered in the puffy vinyl head gear, I’m not sure it went in. Okay…brain trying to wrap around this…I’m…
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Jump!
The first part of class is always discouraging for me–here I am, trying to keep up with jumping jacks, push-ups, sit-ups. And jumping jacks are the hardest for me. Last night I was huffing and puffing and struggling and wondering if I even belonged in class. Who was I kidding? Here I am with all these fit upper belts who’ve been doing these workouts for literally years. Can I keep…
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martial arts–at my age?
I needed something different. We’d just moved from Florida to Colorado and I was invigorated by the dry mountain air. Around here yoga seems to be something you do to complement your climbing/biking/running, and I didn’t find my usual gang of yoga peoples to have class with. Years in the humid, flat swamps had left me sluggish, hesitant to exercise, especially if it meant leaving the A/C). Now living…
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