Motivational Monday: Reflection

Look inside yourself.

What keeps you going?
What is your fuel?
What do you need to thrive?
What are you after?
How will you get there?

Take a moment and think about it. You will find more fire within you than I could ever give you.

Motivational Monday: Motion

The motions are not enough.
They are merely the outline for your spirit to fill in.
They are the vessel to hold your intensity
The frame for your ferocity.
They are the streets to take you to glory
But your soul must make the journey
And your eyes must burn with fire
And each line of you must flow with intention.

The motions are not enough.
They are the foundation for the flourish
The axis around which to snap.
They are necessary and demanding,
Require craftsmanship and care,
Are the canvas on which to display your dedication,
But the colors come from passion
From fury and emotion
From clarity of thought
And purity of action.

Each movement is made of moments
Expressive and all yours
But only if you realize
The motions aren't enough.

Motivational Monday: Side Trails

Months of trying to go full speed will wear a person down, and it doesn't matter how well you're conditioned--at some point you succumb to fatigue.

Not physical fatigue, but mental fatigue. You start wondering why you are doing what you are doing, what difference it makes, and who cares. You question the validity of even dreaming you can reach your goals and worse, your goals become blurry and ill-defined.

These are the dark hours, when action is a chore and hope merely a shadow in the past. The road looms steep and never-ending before you. Simply stopping looks like the most pleasant invitation.

How do you continue? What pushes you forward?

When you are rested, the drive within you keeps you going. The fire blazes of its own accord. You can tell yourself that each step, no matter how difficult and painful, is bringing you one step closer to your goal. But when your soul aches for a rest and the motivational engine inside of you begins to sputter, do not be afraid to detour.

You are strong, and your progress shows it, but it is not a weakness to slow down to take care of yourself. Give it all you've got and then some, and when that gets you just short of where you're trying to go, look around you and refuel. Read a book. Watch a movie. Listen to music. Stand in the sunshine or in the pouring rain. Pick up a new skill. Talk to a friend. Let the universe rush into you and restore your soul, refocus your mind.

Keep your eye on the prize and always move forward, but don't discount the side trails and always remember to enjoy the view.

Motivational Monday: Stay Strong

I yell it to you towards the end of your form

When your legs start to shake
When it's hard to breathe
When your arms start to flail

At the start of the last section
At the end of each jump
At the hardest part of the ordeal


When you want to quit
When your mind goes blank
When your focus wavers

As your movements get slow
As your motions get messy
As you wish you were done

I yell it to you towards the end of your form
And say it with the hope that you will not just hear
But understand and believe

That that is all you have to do
To make it to the end in one piece

Stay strong.

Motivational Mtuesday: The Art of Practice

Sorry for the delay. Take a moment to ruminate on the art of practicing.

• Practice by living. Practicing twice a week is good. Practicing every moment is better. Find ways to incorporate what you want to practice into your everyday life. There are boundless opportunities to work on your posture, your intense gaze, your head snaps, throughout the day.
• Don't expect to be to perform at 100% if you practice at 75%. Treat every practice like a performance so that at performances you will be prepared to perform.
• Perfect practice makes perfect. You can practice all you want, but if you spend a lot of time practicing something incorrectly, you just get really good at doing whatever you're trying to do incorrectly.
• Find your weaknesses and address them. Sometimes this means being harsh, sometimes it means putting up with a little pain, but effective practice requires you to identify what you need to work on to improve and then take steps to improve.
• Find the joy. It is easy to get caught up in techniques and criticism, but take a step back every once in a while and remember why you're practicing. Remember why the work is worth it and smile. Have fun. If you're going to be spending all your time practicing, you might as well enjoy it.

I hope you had a happy Monday and that you have a wonderful rest of the week!

Motivational Monday: Goals Part 2

Somewhere in your life, written in bold letters on a sheet of paper that is taped some place you see regularly, is a single goal (you set all that up last Monday, right???). I'm sure it looks absolutely fantastic just hanging on a wall somewhere, but let's be honest, just writing down a goal and having it stare at you each morning as you brush your teeth does not guarantee anything.

Defining a goal is like picking a city to travel to. It gives you a direction to start heading in and gives you something to look forward to but, actually reaching your goal, like actually traveling to Paris, requires you to not just set your sites on the horizon, but to also make a plan and take action.

Now, take a moment and ask yourself: What do I need to do to get there? ("There," in this case, is your goal). Break it down--your big goal decomposes into smaller goals. Break those down too--those smaller goals probably breakdown into even smaller ones. Break it down as much as you need to, and at some point you will find that you have a large collection of little steps to follow. Start walking.

That is not to say that after you break your goal down into steps, that the steps will be easy, but they will be manageable. Tedious? Sure. Demanding? Quite possibly so. Sometimes discouraging? No doubt. And this is where people falter. 

"I have to do horse stance every day??? Yeah, that's not happening." 

"Running? Uh-huh..."

"I'm never going to be able to snap like head like that. Never ever. It doesn't matter how much I do it. Never ever."

And that's it. They're done. Goodbye, Goal. Goodbye, Paris. Done before they even left. And the scary part is how easy it is to just give up.

So, how badly do you want it? Because, let's be honest again, you're going to have to want it bad. Want it like it's life or death. Want it like it will define who you are for the rest of your life and beyond. And perhaps it seems overly-dramatic to put it in those terms, but that is how much you will need to want it  if you plan on traveling there by this route.

There are no guarantees. There might not be a prize. Paris could be swallowed up by the earth before you get there. The road could be twisted, lead you through the jungle, under the ocean and over the thinnest of air. Prepare yourself. Realize what you are getting into. Prepare for hardships, exhaustion and pain, and then go and experience all the hardships, exhaustion and pain. And embrace it. Find the joy in it. It takes action to reach your goal. This is action. And it's difficult, time-consuming, tiring. But it's worth it.

So, go! Do not compromise your goals. They may not be all that you are, but they are all you can be.

Happy Monday!

CMAT 21!!!

CMAT 21 has been announced and will be held on Saturday, March 30, 2013, at UC Berkeley!

Registration is not up yet, but we will keep you posted! In the meantime, feel free to check out their site and continue to train hard! Jiayou!