Bar Room Brawl
Next week we will be running our bar room brawl. The session will take place in the function room of the Horse and Groom pub on Northgate and Radford Rd. You can meet us at the Dojo or at the pub, we will be leaving the Dojo at 18:30 sharp.
MEET AT THE PUB FOR 18:15, APPOLOGIES FOR THE CHANGE IN TIMES
Holiday Kamai
Time is almost up to bring your Holiday Kamai photos in. The competition closes tomorrow so if you want that prize you know what to do!
Do What You Can Do-Perfectly Pt 2
Seeking perfection without judgement
Begin anew with each class. As you enter, determine to put forth your most sincere effort in every action. Resist the desire to dwell on your mistakes or your accomplishments. The practice will move quickly. Your goal is to stay in the moment. Recognize your strengths, but correct your errors, no matter how small they might be. Move from moment to moment with the same watchfulness. But, here is the key, don’t judge. Simply correct mistakes without feeling disappointment or frustration. Practice with this attitude, and your awareness and sensitivity will increase. Be patient. Doing everything that you can do, perfectly, might be difficult in the beginning. It’s a good idea to pick five or six techniques, and perform them with this conscious intention. Although the techniques might need physical improvement, which will come through countless repetitions, your effort can always be sincere. In the process, you will be developing muscle memory, making repeated actions a habit, and soon without thinking, you will just automatically perform the technique correctly. When these become habits, pick others to work on.
Transformation not rationalization
By applying this principle every day, without a doubt, we can raise every aspect of our lives to a higher level. What if each of us decided to discard old habits of making excuses and rationalizing less than perfect behavior? Instead, we consciously determine that in each and every moment, we will do everything that we are capable of doing as perfectly as possible.
In the life of a sincere martial artist, a moment comes when he realizes that practice is actually an opportunity to be mindful, and a time to exercise accountability for his action. When this happens, martial arts practice surpasses the mere physical level of punching and kicking, throwing and grappling. It becomes a discipline of mind and body. It becomes an act in mindfulness … a lesson!
Osu
Look forward to working with you soon,
Sensei Matt Thurman, Shudokan Black Belt Academy - Aikido Nottingham
