Jason Mai 2/24/14

Jason Mai

2/4/14

     You don't need to be good at everything, that is something that I learned first hand recently. At the beginning of my Sophomore year I had a simple mindset, be in all honors classes and do well in all of them. I was doing pretty well in my honors classes except math, for some reason I couldn't do anything about Honors Algebra 2. I had a tutor, met with my teachers and everything but could only pull off C's. I was frustrated and I asked the question that my parents always asked me "If everybody else can do it, why can't you" My family is very traditional. As a kid I always tried to please them, always tried to impress, but I knew as a kid, I was different. I didn't want to disappoint them. I remember as a child my parents enrolled me into piano lessons and damn did I suck at piano. I burned through teacher after teacher, I must of went through 2-3 different teachers for my parents to realize it wasn't for me. My father to this day guilt trips me "3 years worth of lessons wasted".

     My family is an odd one, I am first generation meaning my parents moved from China to America but I was born in America. My father to this day is still never really around, I respect my father for all he does but I disagree with some of morals and conduct. My father is a very hard worker, I barely see him which makes our relationship very hard to maintain. I always argue with him, especially now because I'm a teenager. At the end of the day though, I love him. He is my dad, I don't always agree with his morals but I respect him, especially coming from China, working odd jobs and having to adapt and overcome in America. Because of my father I get to live in a nice town, with nice people, typing on a nice computer without having to worry about where I'll get my next meal. Because of the struggles my dad faced, I can't be too mad at him when we argue.

     I love my mom though, she's always been there for me. My mom would fight on my side, when my dad hated me. My mom supports me through everything, from my decision to quit piano to wanting to start martial arts to wanting to get into the film biz as a writer. I truly believe my mom is the anchor of the house, and why we can function as a family. She keeps me in place, and she as hell keeps my dad in place!

     Wow I get off topic easily, ummm... right, you don't need to be a good at everything, it's true. I am not good at math, I am not good at chem but guess what? That's fine. We as humans are all good at different things and school is not to get amazing at everything but to seek out what you are passionate about and what you are willing to spend your time doing. I'm pretty sure it was Albert Einstein who said this, but I'm not sure. It is something along these lines "If you judge a fish on it's ability to climb, it will grow up believing it is stupid" This year I found what I loved, and everything else just seemed not as important. I found script writing. I always knew as a kid I wasn't what my parents wanted me to be, I couldn't be a doctor, or a lawyer or a dentist. It didn't sit well with me having to conform to those standards. I was a creative child, I always enjoyed writing, I remember writing little stories on my computer and everywhere. I also knew I loved movies, I loved how a good movie could leave that feeling in your stomach, or connect you with people who aren't real. Through my years I've struggled on what I wanted to be, until I took script to screen. A class where you go through the process of making a film, from script writing, to production and camera work. When we started, I knew that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I know it will be hard, and every day I doubt myself, but there is not a day that goes by where I don't think about how amazing it would be to become a scriptwriter. At the end of the day, I truly believe I could succeed, and I am willing to lose it all for that chance.

     The point of this post is you don't need to be good at everything, I always thought the value of a person consisted on how many things they could do well, and I fought to be good at everything in life. I tried to be the smartest, I tried to be the most creative, the most funny, the most liked, the most athletic, fastest, strongest...but at the end of the day, the value of a person is the ability to find happiness and being yourself is the best way to find happiness, to find what makes you happy.

Thanks for reading.

Weekly update: Junauro

February 24, 2014

Solid week overall which began with the boys and I doing some skiing/boarding at Gunstock last Monday.  We weren’t able to get back in time to go to class but the mountain definitely gave us a good workout.  Between shoveling snow and going to work, this past week proved challenging in regards to my daily workout routine.  I was able to catchup with most of what I didn’t do this weekend and finally purchased a copy of Zen in the Martial Arts.  Very quick and interesting read with lots of great insights into finding peace within oneself through martial arts.  Read the first few chapters before Saturday’s class and focused on the first lesson, “empty your cup,” during class.  Ties into the various eastern religions I’ve dabbled with over the years.  Has anyone been able to find a copy of the second book, Mastery?  If so, please email or comment on this post with the author’s name since I haven’t been able to pin it down.  Finally, Jake and I need to raise funds for the Alabama trip and are considering doing this together.  Our plan is to do something like a Kickstarter campaign.  This will hopefully be up and running by the following week giving us a few weeks to generate interest and more importantly donations from friends and family.  That’s it for now!

The Spectacular Scar. Owen Mahoney

     This is a speech I originally wrote as a school project. The assignment was to write about a realization or epiphany that you have had. I am hoping to read it aloud at some point during the Alabama trip.
      I am posting it here for you to tell me your thoughts(if you want to) and so that some of you guys who have not been can here an example of what alabama is like.
      Enjoy!

A Spectacular Scar

Heat, beating sweltering heat, and a gashed thumb. A gummy pulp in my mouth. Glaring sun in my face. I was roasting on the cracked and buckled asphalt, sucking away a hot paste of paint, brick dust, and polyurethane, attempting to get at the deep gash and the welling blood underneath. I sucked and chewed and spat the nasty plaster from off my thumb so I could see the slice underneath. It was a good cut, and deep.  The paint scraper had done well. My first thought was that it would leave a spectacular scar.

I had been carving small slabs of plaster off the dusty floor of an abandoned store, and a Tom Callos had told me my thumb was bleeding. “You alright man?” Tom asked. 

Tom Callos is the founder and leader of the One Hundred, a group of one hundred martial arts business owners who are committed to not just running their businesses ethically, but also striving to be the best teachers, martial artists, and people they can be. He has been a martial artist for over forty years. Tom is short, bald, and has an amazing talent to inspire people to do amazing things, so much so, that he was able to bring hundreds of people from around the world to Hale county Alabama.  My Sensei, Paul Castagno, had been called by Tom to come down to Alabama and help build a house for an elderly woman who lived in an old trailer without running water or electricity. 

I was currently working downtown refurbishing a deserted storefront. Standing there in the dusty sunlight, andsurrounded by the faded, peeling wallpaper of the old store, with my hands coated in a thick adhesive of brick dust and industrial strength varnish, and my pants and shirt dirty and sweaty from the hard work of helping people, I stared at Tom’s kind smiling face, and my thoughts on my thumb shifted to thoughts on my wider condition.

I began to think about how I had been sleeping on the had cement floor of a church the past few nights. And about the layer of sweat and dirt that had accumulated on my unwashed body. And about how yesterday's work had been shut down early because of a tornado. And then about the kind of person standing in front of me. It felt like I had opened my eyes and I could see. 

I saw that I was the one who should be thankful. Though other people may have an I-phone or a flat screen TV, I was the one who was wealthy. I should be thankful for the opportunity to come to an impoverished community and cut my thumb. I was the one who had had a gift bestowed upon me, because I was the one who had been given this miraculous opportunity to come to Alabama and meet one hundred high-minded and ethical people, and to be surrounded by these positive ideals. I was the one who could speak to and be surrounded by amazing and inspirational people, people who had such a wealth of knowledge for me to draw from, for me to learn from. I, the one with cuts and the malicious hand glue, was the one who is not like the person who worries about his facebook and clothes and popularity. My involvement with Tom, and Paul, and the hundred others there is why I am special, because I have the experience and the knowledge, because I would have the spectacular scar. Tom asked again, “You OK?” “Yeah, I’m good” I said. “Well, I'm not paying you to sit around.” Said Tom, “In fact, I’m not paying you at all!” I laughed and Tom walked out. “I’m good” I said again quietly to myself. I’m good.

My overlong train of thought. Owen Mahoney

     Over the past week I have been think about my last blogpost, and I wanted to add some thoughts to what I said before. 

I think that a black belt is a representation of mastery. I mean, thats what this is all about, right? The Mastery Program, based off of the The Ultimate Black Belt Test, I think that this is all about being superlative and being the best you can be. As sensei says, “You don’t get a black belt and then start acting like one”, and I don’t intend to. In my mind, a black belt is not just a measure of proficiency, but a symbol of experience. I can’t let myself come close to being a black belt who doesn’t deserve one, I just can’t let that happen. I don’t want to take this opportunity for granted, but I think that, simply put, I don’t have enough experience.

      There are so many things that a black belt should and could have to do that I have not done yet. And I feel like I can not do those things because I don’t want to just be a black belt, I want to raise the roof, to set the bar. A black belt could mean so much more than what it does today. What if to receive a black belt had to have anger management training, what if to earn a black belt you had to have initiated community service projects, and what if you had to have carried out fundraising projects. Today to an average person thinks of a journey to black belt as a year or two of a modest amount of work. So why cant that be proven wrong. I suppose that this is the thinking that got the UBBT started, but this is my reasoning for not taking this opportunity to earn a black belt. 

       This still sort of leaves the question, why am I going through the test if I am not going to get a black belt? I think that in my I didn't go into enough detail. There are several reasons that I still want to go through with the test.

        I could give several reasons for why I'm doing this test. I like to challenge myself and to work to improve, and this test is the perfect way to do this. This test allows a way to work and develop your strengths in a very personalized way. It allows me challenge myself In a way that holds me accountable.

         I could also say that I am a bit of a glory-hog, and I want to make a name as one of the first people to take the test.  Maybe thats a bit unfair but in all honesty, that is large reason, I want to be one of the first before this changes too much. It sounds none to flattering on my part, but I want to be an old timer.

        My main reason though, is the reason that I do martial arts in the first place. Its because I like it. I really, really, really love martial arts. I'm not really a belt chaser. The reason I assist classes/train for four and half hours four days a week is that this is my passion, this is something I want to spend my life doing. Basically, I'm not training for the black belt, I'm training for the training.

     So I suppose my main reason for participating in this test is that I just love martial arts and that I want to be more deeply involved with the martial arts. 

     Which I think is as good a reason as any.

The big picture. Chelsea H.

At thursday's mastery program class sensei Paul spoke of the potential impact that each one of us have to make by doing this year long endeavor if we really stepped it up and pushed ourselves. I agree that the program is very unique, challenging and influential to ourselves and observers but ever since the meeting I have really been questioning my effort and how I can push harder. Right now I consider myself indecisive on the matter but there have been some insights! Over the past month I have been thinking of how slow my physical progress has been and trying to figure out what is going on. One place I looked was my diet, yikes, I am starting to realize that my irregular eating patterns and that most of my ingredients come from canned sources mean I am most likely malnourished. I have a reliance on caffeine and get headaches if I do not get around 160mg a day, more than half the time this caffeine is obtained through drinking diet soda. I know I am only drinking 50-70 oz of water per day which isnt too bad but I think more would not hurt. One might say, whoa, why is she putting this all out there? Because, up until I really looked at my all this I was convinced that I was doing pretty well, that because my sodas are diet soda and because most of the dishes I cook have a good protein veggie mix that I was being healthy. I was mistaken and am now more educated and motivated to improve my life. I plan on taking more time at the grocer to pick out fresh ingredients and look forward to experimenting and learning to cook fresh stuff. I want to try to wean my caffeine intake to around 50mg a day and obtain it from teas or coffee instead of soda. This is going to be difficult but I know it will make such a big difference in my health as well as my husbands. On a different note, I started writing the note to mend my broken relationship but am finding difficulty in making a typed letter convey how sincere I really am, I plan on asking a friend to help me out. My favorite act of kindness this week was helping a friend carry a box. My favorite act of kindness done to me was a friend being overly welcoming as I explored a new social situation.

Chelsea Hughes

Jake's Blog Post Feb 20, 2014

I recently have joined/created a team with a friend of mine from out of state for flow artists that want to leave their mark on this world and spread good vibes. In this team, we were given the chance to be sponsored. Now a sponsorship is a wonderful thing, it gives the opportunity to expand much more at a faster rate, which is what we wanted to do, but it puts a label on the team for the company sponsoring us.

We turned down the sponsors, because we wanted to walk our own path and create our own success, without being labeled by a company. And hopefully we will create our own success, we could always fail completely too. However, the point is, one does not need help from a more powerful person/company to have success. One can achieve success on their own and prove that they are powerful themselves. Anyone can achieve great success on their own, they just have to work hard for it and not give up.

With that, I hope everyone's handling all of this snow okay, it's insane! As Brody said, maybe we should take the dojo and sensei and go to where the Equator and Prime Meridian meet. Hopefully it would be warmer there.

Mastery Team Blog: Junauro Landgrebe's Introductory Post

February 19, 2014

My name is Junauro Landgrebe and this is my introductory post to the mastery program blog.  I apologize for the tardiness of this post, but to be honest I just figured out how to blog haha.  I’m 45 years of age and proud to be the senior member of the 2013/2014 black belt mastery program.  I decided to accept the invitation from Sensei Paul as a way to better myself as a martial artist and person.

The invitation to join the mastery program this past August occurred 7 months after rehabilitating a ruptured achilles tendon injury sustained during a training session.  Concerns about injuring myself again created doubts about whether or not to continue with martial arts.  Ultimately giving into fear was not an option and as a result my concerns have given way to what seems to be a full recovery!

I’ve been doing martial arts at Revolution Martial Fitness for almost 5 years now.  My two boys, Jacob and Jordan, were taking martial arts classes with Sensei Paul for a couple of years before I decided to join myself.  It looked like a lot of fun and a great way to get in shape.   I’ve always been a physically active person, but prior to joining hadn’t been doing much in regards to exercise.  Furthermore, after passing a kidney stone which was the most painful experience I’ve ever had (more painful than rupturing my achilles!) decided it was time to make some changes in my life.  The training sessions are amazing and I’m in the best shape ever!  Sharing this experience with my two boys has been a lot of fun and a great way for us to stay connected.


Thus far, I’ve noticed a lot physical, mental, and personal gains as a member of the mastery program.  It is rigorous and continues to be both challenging and rewarding.  I’m keeping up with my physical requirements and have some catching up to do with some of the personal requirements.  I’ve never been much of a writer so blogging has been a challenge.  I also found that logging all the requirements became a bit cumbersome and found that ever since I stopped writing everything done the process has much easier to do regularly.  Furthermore, the requirements can sometimes be burdensome especially in the mix of keeping up with family and work responsibilities.  However, these excuses are just excuses, and after putting in the time I’ve definitely benefitted from the exercises. 

In fact, this past week I rectified an issue with my younger sister who had some grievances with me for past reasons I will keep private.  What I learned from the experience was that it’s sometimes more important to listen unconditionally, which meant listening without passing judgement or offering my opinion.  This had previously been a difficult objective, especially when dealing with my sister.  Family ties can run deep and emotions of anger and resentment can easily trigger strong reactions.  Allowing my sister to tell me her grievances without judgement and then apologizing for my part was very liberating.  I’ve been in the process of adjusting my attitude over the past few years and I give credit to martial arts training, specifically the teachings of self defense.

My concept of self defense is much different now compared to when I started martial arts a few years ago.  In the beginning, I almost wished that an altercation would occur to provide an opportunity to use my skills.  I want to emphasize the word almost.  It’s not that I wanted to fight and hurt somebody, but in a way I wanted to see how I would do.  Fortunately, I have not been required to defend myself and more importantly my attitude about martial arts and self defense has changed.  At this time I think of self defense as a way of avoiding conflicts.  Doing so requires a very mindful, observant, and egoless approach to dealing with challenging people and situations.  I’ve definitely noticed a sense of calm that I didn’t have previously.  For example, I had to break suddenly while driving home from work last week on an icy road and found myself rapidly approaching the bumper of the car in front of me.  Instead of panicking and swerving into the car to my right or the guardrail to my left, I stayed perfectly calm as I slid towards the car in front of me not knowing whether or not the impact would occur.  My cool nerves paid off and fortunately there was enough room to avoid the collision.  I also hope that if and when the time comes when someones attitude towards me has the potential to turn violent that I’ll be able to use words instead of fists to defend myself.  More importantly I hope to be observant enough to avoid that situation in the first place.  However, if someone does attack,  there are number of things that have become automatic reactions to defend myself.

Well that’s it for now!  I plan on updating my blog on a weekly basis from here on out.  Before I sign off, I’d also like to say how much I enjoy studying with Sensei Paul and all the students at the dojo!!  What a wonderful culture we have.  I feel blessed to be part of it and look forward to all the great challenges to come!

Peace,
Junauro

We're all mad here. Olivia Eburne 2/18/14

As you can see, I am simultaneously answering Master Dwire's challenge for doing forms in the snow, and conditioning myself for when I get lost in the Alps with only my survival skills to keep me alive. And I 'm practicing that thing where you do tasks that you SUPER DO NOT WANT TO DO!

Also, my brother had a helping hand in this madness today:

“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.

"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, or you wouldn’t have come here.” 
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Jason Mai 2/18/14

Jason Mai
2/18/14


     Wrestling is finally over! Yes! I can finally relax and focus on my script to screen class and focus more on the mastery program. Last few days of wrestling was pretty relaxing because I didn't end up going to sectionals, Coach chase decided it would be a better idea to put in another 132 who had a hurt shoulder this whole season, and had just healed up. Well he became a sectional champ so I suppose it was a good call. Once wrestling was done I was so relieved. Such a feeling. It isn't that I disliked the experience, I actually loved the experience but it had to end haha, everyone needs a break. That is why I won't be back at the dojo until the first of March, plus my parents are cheap so what can you do? I further mended a relationship Monday and this person that I haven't really sat down and talk to in a while had changed a lot, we both had. Noticing this was very odd and we talked for hours about that and much more.

     I used to talk to this girl back in elementary school and middle school. We became great friends and at the time I had a little crush on her. I'm not going to go into too much detail in this post because it is personal. Anyway as time went on, our friendship became to deteriorate and we didn't talk as much. She started hanging around with the wrong crowd, and got into bad situations. I wasn't a very good friend to her when all this turmoil started to unfold. I judged her, shunned her for her decisions instead of helping her, and trying to understand what she was going through. That drove us apart even more. We ended hating each other and I stopped talking to her completely. The things she did I never agreed with, I never approved of, but it was her life, and I shouldn't of bullied her (basically). We ended up not talking to each other for a couple years, I would avoid her, just so it didn't bring up old memories. I only really started to mend our relationship this year. My sophomore year, and it wasn't because of the Mastery Program, because I started to mend our relationship before I started the Mastery Program, in my late freshman year. However when I realized what I was doing I thought, "This is what I need to do for the Mastery Program!." So it started when she was in my English class, I couldn't avoid her anymore, and I was mature enough to realize I was being immature for trying to avoid her. That was the first time I really got to see what she was now. It was weird, but I began to accept her. She was unique, and I respected her for standing for what she believed in so strongly. To paint a picture shes a classic hippy girl, or "Child of the earth" as she likes to be called. She wears thrift shop clothes, and rings, 2 watches that both don't work, and a toe ring. Yeah...she's one hell of a character all right. We began to talk a lot more because we were in the same classes, English and wellness. We started with small talk but I started seeing her more, and with time we became more comfortable with who were are now, and not what we were before.

     2 days ago it was her birthday and I texted her happy birthday and "you want to hang out?" She was busy that day so she hit me up on Monday, called me and asked if I wanted to hang out. I said yes, we met at the park and walked around for a while. Started with small talk, but not long after we talked about everything. We were getting to know our new selves, through the other person. It was... nice. "If you had to lose one sense, what would it be?" "Uhhh.....not sure, feel?" "Whaaat but you would never be able to feel a cat again" "Yeah true...you always make me change my mind". Because we knew each other for so long, we talked about how people have changed, and how we ourselves have changed drastically. We gossiped about how so many people we once knew became someone else, and took a path we never thought. Then I commented, "You have changed a lot too" She wasn't any more..."perfect" but I accepted her, I didn't know why, but she said to me "You have too, you have become more comfortable with yourself and others" she was right, sometimes it takes others to see the change in yourself. I was telling her how, we don't notice chance in people we are close to, because we are with them every second of their lives, we see them change, but so slow that when they have made such a drastic change, it seems like nothing at all. We talked for hours, we walked around town, stopped to get pizza. I remember one moment we stopped to just watch the sun go down, it was serene. I could never share a moment like that with any of my guy friends. Shes so open to the world, and her view of the world was the same as mine. Yet I could never express that with anyone else but her. About people, family, friends, life.

     I almost felt like I didn't mend the relationship but we mended it, and that us growing up, and maturing is what really mended the relationship. The person I once knew 5 years ago isn't the one I talked to that day, and hopefully it's the same with her.

By far the most cheesiest stuff I've ever written, yikes. I should punch a hole in the wall to regain manliness.

Olivia Eburne 2/17/14

One of the three personal goals that I have set for myself is to do more cardio work outside of the dojo. I have chosen this goal because I feel that I am sorely lacking in the cardio department, and I want to become better at it. Also, if there was a zombie apocalypse, I just know that I wouldn’t be able to outrun them for long. So I’ve challenged myself to find good cardio that I can do in the house or in our neighborhood and try to build it into my schedule. I already do a bit of cardio. When I can, I ride my bike to and from school, although that’s not the whole way because of Morses pond being in the way. We  keep our bikes at a friends house and go to and from there, so I can’t just go biking any time that I want. 

I like to work with what the season gives me, so this time of year it’s either skating or skiing.  We had an awesome rink earlier in the year and there were a few days when the whole pond was skatable. I also had a couple days where I skated to school, which really involves skating across the pond and being picked up on the other side for the rest of the ride to school.

The other thing about pond skating is that you can get good exercise two ways: Skating, and clearing the rink.  This makes it more interesting than other cardio, where you have to do only one thing for forever.

We had to bag on maintaining the rink because we couldn’t clear it fast enough to avoid the dreaded water-seeping-into-snow-slush-bumpy-ice factor.  So now I’m doing cross-country skiing. I try to keep a ski loop maintained on the cove in our backyard, but we also go out around the pond too. It’s really good whole-body exercise. I want to cross-country ski to school as well, and unlike skating I could probably ski the whole way. In fact, I have a goal where I want to get to school without using a car 30 days out of the year, which involves a combination of exercise—either boating across and then biking, or skiing the whole way, or skating. I think I’m at about 10 right now.

So what do you guys do for cardio?  And how do you make yourself do it when you don’t feel like it?

Also, when Maisy was running workout programs, that was good, because we were doing things as a team, and it was more the point of the mastery program--Working together towards one common goal. How can we get back to that?

Owen Mahoney Introduction

Hello my name is Owen Mahoney, and I am currently going through the ultimate black belt test.

      I'm not sure how many of the other bloggers know this, but I am not going for my black belt through this test. Though I definitely could, I feel that there is not only a physical age requirement for black belt, but also a certain training requirement for black belt, and also a requirement of experience.

       Let me explain. 

      Maybe I'm an idealist, but I think that a black belt should have a certain mental maturity. This Should mean different things for different people, for instance for some it might mean focus, for some it might mean calmness, for some it might mean discipline. For me it means not getting hyper-focused. For those of you who don't know me, I'm a pretty forgetful person. I don't always forget the big things, but some times I let the little things slide. For instance, I was going to post this on Wednesday, but instead I wrote it and forgot about it until now. Now this isn't always the case, and it doesn't have that great of an effect on who I am, but Its just like a small handicap I have to live with. I'm pretty sure that this comes out of my tendency to get hyper focused. I just get very wrapped up in what I'm doing, and the smaller things tend to fall by the wayside. It's like when you're grappling and you miss the opportunity for a kimura because you really want to triangle a person. If I could learn to see the big picture as well as the small, then I could be a better person, student, employee, and grappler. This is something I have to improve before I could get my Black Belt. And I think that this is a quality that age would bring.

      For another thing, I don't want to be a person who is looked on as one who got his whizzed through the ranks easily and was given a black belt. Not that any person who knew our dojo would think that someone here was given a black belt, but I wouldn't want another martial artist to think it. I think that there is a certain connotation that comes with getting a black belt at a young age. I also think that A black belt should have experience, both in and out of the martial arts. I don't want to be a black belt who cant represent his rank. There are so many things a black bet should represent other than proficiency in material and physical strength. A black belt should (in my opinion) have years of experience and years worth of knowledge.

       So now I've told you all the reasons I don’t want my black belt yet. which begs the question, Why am I participating in this test? There are several reasons I want to be in this test, the fact that I want to be the best martial artist I can, the fact that I want to be part of the first time this program runs, and also that I want to challenge myself.

       In short, I want to be the best person l can before I get my black belt, but as sensei like to say, you don’t get a black belt and then start acting like one.

I figured it out!! Personal victory #1?? ;) Anyway. I'm Scotia. This is my Mastery Team Blog. I am currently a brown belt, and I have been at Revolution Martial Fitness since 2009. I decided to do the Mastery Program because I knew I wanted to get my Black Belt someday, so I seized the opportunity. Now that I'm halfway through, I am noticing some definite changes. Physically, my capabilities are much better than when I started. I noticed this especially about a month or so ago when I forgot my belt. I had to do 90 pushups anyway, so I decided to get it done before class. Some of my classmates (thanks guys!) decided to do some with me, so we started pushing away. After a few minutes, I took a break and one of them asked me how many I had done. 40! Never before had I done 40 pushups right after the other without resting. I was really proud for a minute, and then I went back and finished my pushups. Other things have been better too: pre-Mastery Program, I couldn't do a single pull-up and I can now do 7 without putting my feet on the ground. My grappling has improved. My attitude towards hard workouts has also changed. Before the Mastery Program, I would not look forward to tough workouts and would complain about my sore appendages for days. Now, when Sensei says "Your arms are gonna hurt tomorrow!" I am glad, because I know I am getting extra time to fulfill my requirements. Imagine my surprise when I noticed I had developed arm muscle! :) In school, I am one of the only kids doing the pushups on my toes, but I think that's just laziness on the part of my peers. My homeroom teacher is the Wellness (gym) teacher, so I was telling him about the Mastery Program, and we ending up getting my whole homeroom to do 25 morning pushups. I definitely got some glares for that! :) As for my goals, I now have almost $600 towards my goal of $1000 to pay my part for sleepaway camp. I'm not sure if this will get in my way for funding for Alabama, but I'm going to try to balance them the best that I can. I already have some ideas. Right now, it's a blizzard out and I'm about to go do some pushups. Life is good. :)

Leaves in a river C. Hughes

At the dojo after we slap out in the beginning we have the chance to sit and breathe, taking time to focus on the class ahead, mentally preparing and leaving what may hinder progression at the door. Depending on how my day or week has been can make that time difficult thus leaving me distracted in class. Because of this I have recently begun to do small sessions of meditation on my own during the day. While searching the internet about random thoughts that pop up during meditation i found an article that spoke of  a Buddhist metaphor about the thoughts being like a leaf in the river and to just let it float by and away. So this past week during our meditation time at the beginning of class i have found it helpful for myself to imagine all of my random and burdened thoughts from the day or week as leaves and i toss them into the river letting them float away leaving me with a clearer, lighter mind ready to learn. Outside of the dojo I have been making steady progress on 2 of my goals with my goal of the novel having some difficulty progressing due to writers block. On the requirement of mending a broken relationship I have done much searching and finally found the address,hopefully it is right, of my old college roomate. We had a pretty big argument at the end of a semester when we lived in the dorms together and after I moved out we never spoke again. Before the argument we got along pretty well and I regret losing my temper with her, especially because what she did was the right thing to do and I was the one in the wrong yelling at her like I did. After all these years it still bothers me and am ashamed about it. I plan on writing her a letter soon and mailing it to the address I found hoping it is the right one. I will update on it if any resolution is made. Something new I will be adding to my blog is my favorite act of kindness from the week. This week my favorite act of kindness was shoveling out the car next to mine while I was shoveling mine out too.

Thanks for reading
Chelsea Hughes

Olivia Eburne Introductory Blog

Hello, and Welcome to my blog. My name is Olivia Eburne, and I am the controller and author of these paragraphs.
These excerpts from my life will help me catalogue my journey through the Mastery Program, a yearlong test in which I train every day, week in and week out, in order to both learn about myself and progress in the martial arts.  I am training with a bunch of other people, some going for their black belts and some doing the program just to challenge themselves. It should be really fun and exciting and hard work, and I can't wait to see how far we will have come by the end of the year.
     During this Mastery Program  I hope to learn perseverance, flexibility in my mind and way of thinking, and I also hope to learn more about me as a person and who I am. Even though I am only in middle school, and will most likely change very much, I feel that understanding myself now will help me learn and understand myself later on in life, when there is a lot more pressure on me. And when  I have to make decisions that will affect my future, I hope that what I learn now will help me.
    I have been training in martial arts since I was six. I started out at Dragon Phoenix Martial Arts, which then changed its name to Revolution Martial Fitness. I began karate after attending a friend's birthday party at Dragon Phoenix. I found it interesting and so my mom signed me up, and now here I am.
   One of the best things I feel martial arts has done for me is to calm me down and teach me self control. I am very ADHD, and have a seriously difficult time focusing my attention on things that don't interest me for long periods of time. Martial arts has taught me how to calm down and get control of myself so that I can finish whatever I have started without going, "Look, a cat, let's pet it! Yes, aren't you a beautiful creature!"

Jason Mai 2/9/14

Jason Mai
2/9/14

    Yesterday we went to a state tournament and came in 2nd which is crazy. My throat still kind of hurts from screaming. That victory means that we are the 2nd best wrestling team in the state. Ridiculous. I'm so tired and done with wrestling, but I know I need to push it out. For one more real week, after this upcoming week there will be sectionals. However the week before sectionals will be horrible. Hard practices and 3 wrestle offs. Brendan will want to steal my spot, and I don't know what to do. For one, I know I could defend my spot, and beat him, but do I want to? I'm tired and I've worked hard this whole season, but if I let Brendan win then everyone will think of me less than what I am. I know the right thing to do, I need to work hard this week. Defend my varsity spot. Go to sectionals. Do alright. Finished. After the season is over the whole team goes to play paintball which will be fun. I've really bonded with my team and made a lot of friends this season, and overall it's been a learning experience.

    I am also working on a movie, I know...crazy stuff. I'm in a class called script to screen and that is also another reason I want wrestling to end, so I have more time cleared up. This class is a full on movie making class. We wrote a script, mine was 33 pages. We do storyboards, shot lists, learn how to operate the cameras, learn to work with actors. Use actors from the dramatic art's classes and literally make a movie. These movies are short movies 20-30 mins however it will still be very hard. A lot of factors go into a movie, and a lot can go wrong. However I am pumped. This is one of the first things I've ever done that has been really fun, yet I could make a career out of. More specifically script writing. I've always been passionate of writing, more specifically creative writing, and I've always loved film, and wanted to be in the industry. So when I discovered script writing, I was hooked. I know if I want my dream job, I will have to work for it, and it might not come, but it's not impossible either. The plan is simple. I will drop Spanish next year and take extra writing/film classes and retake script to screen. I will really focus on this. I will write scripts over the summer and during the school year. Senior year, I will do the same. By the time I am applying to colleges, if I have a ton of scripts to show them, and for them to see I am legit, then I have a better chance of getting into those colleges. Colleges that I've looked at and might want to go to are, USC, UCLA etc. I want to be in the L.A area so I can make connections and make it easier to sell my scripts and get into the industry. After college I will try to get a job working for someone who has connections. I will be a errand boy, nothing big. Through this connections I will build my way up and be able to make money off the scripts once I get discovered. I know...its very ambitious, and I question myself everyday, but at the end of the day. I think I could do it.

    Last thing I see in the nearby future is going to Peru with the loose change team during the summer. One of my former teachers named Mr. Fernandez has always done this program every year. It's called the loose change project. He collects loose change from all the schools and nearby shops, local stores and brings school supplies to remote villages in Peru, he even builds schools there as well. This is one of my personal victories, and it will be a blast, but extremely difficult as well. I will need to be in very very good shape. You are basically hiking 10 miles a day, uphill in bad terrain and low oxygen.

   The mastery program so far is doing pretty well for me. I am meeting most of the physical requirements but it is nothing to be worried about. I think I might be behind 30 abs, yeah nothing to be worried about. The things I need to worry about are the long term requirements. Mending a broken relationship, is done, and I will be writing a journal entry next week. Raising money for Alabama is one I am worried about, I don't know how I will do that requirement, I could start a project...probably the best idea. Profile 3 living heros, I will probably do that in my next blog post as well. I have a few in mind already. Achieve 3 personal victories, will be done once I go to Peru and finish it. My 3 are cross-train in wrestling to have some kind of wrestling background. Find a career I am passionate about and start to pursue it. Last one is to go out of country to help others. I have read Zen in the Martial Arts and started Savor, but I need to get back into Savor. I have ready Mastery by Stewart Emery, but I would like to read it a few more times over to really understand it. Overall it's been doing well but there are a few I will never be able to make up. During wrestling it's way too hard to do wrestling and martial arts at the same time. So I won't make my 2 days a week requirement, also I've missed countless black belt classes because of wrestling as well. I don't want my black belt unless I really did what I was suppose to, so I will hold off getting my black belt until next year. I am not quitting, I will make every other requirement besides those, it was out my hand however I was the one to choose to wrestle. Next year will be a brand new start and I will get my black belt that year. I might even hold off another year, depending if I believe I am mature enough.

Wow all my journal entries have been very long winded, I doubt anyone reads these massive walls of texts haha I will try to shorted them up next week to make sure they are reader friendly. To the people who do read this, I love you.

-Jason Mai

Jason Mai 2/5/14

February 5 2014

   It's been a while since I've been at the Dojo, and I miss everybody and everything. Wrestling is coming to an end soon, the sectional tournament will be in a couple weeks and then wrestling will be over. Wrestling has been a tough and fun experience. Wrestling has humbled me, challenged me, taught me and sharpened me up. We have had a good season, and I have made a lot of good friends. Ones I will hold forever. Going into wrestling I thought I would be very good, I thought I would dominate, and be able to beat other wrestlers. However that was not the case. The transition from BJJ to wrestling was a big one. The first habit that caught me every time was: not turning on your back. In BJJ turning on your back is a good thing, you can fight from there, defend. From your stomach in BJJ you get choked, but in wrestling. Back = Pinned and stomach = win. So that was a hard thing to get use to, not turning on your back and stuff.

    I remember my first match ever. The coach bumped one of our wrestlers away from a state finalist. Now you might not get what bumping means, so think of it as running away from a wrestler so that you can you can use a good wrestler to win a match, because a wrestler can only wrestle a match a meet. It's hard to explain...anyways. I got paired up with a state finalist, and I got pinned in less than a minute. It was horrible and degrading, but I went back to the drawing board and kept on going. A couple weeks later Brendan and I had a wrestle off because we were both in the same weight class (132lb) and only one could be varsity. A wrestle off is basically a grappling match and whoever wins gets the varsity spot. So we went at it, and I felt like I was winning, after a bit I was called for locking hands. Because in wrestling, you can't lock your hands, but in BJJ you can. So the coach gave him a point for my mistake, and it kept going and I kept locking my hands, it wasn't something I was trying to do...It just happened. So after the 4th or 5th time, I was disqualified, and Brendan had won the varsity spot. I felt frustrated, because I felt I had more control and I was winning, Brendan after the match agreed with my statement. After the match he said "You should've won". At this point of the season I started meeting with Coach Garelick, a first year coach who was a state finalist and sectional champion. I was tired of losing, so I trained. When others would be done with practice I would stay a bit after to train with Garelick. Garelick taught me a lot, he worked with me, he made me understand. With time, I became a better wrestler. However I was still loosing matches, but I also barely got matches because I was a JV wrestler. When I lost JV matches...that pissed me off even more. Losing to people who are supposedly "bad". Those were the matches that humbled me, showed me what I wasn't but what I could be. So I kept going at it, with Garelick. Day after day. When the team had Fun Runs (3 mile runs on our day off, sunday) I would go. Whenever I went on fun runs, I never saw Brendan, When I trained with Garelick, I never saw Brendan. That's what is different between Brendan and I. Nothing against Brendan, he's a great guy. 3 to 4 years of wrestling experience and a freshman. He was always very nice, even though we were always competing with each other. Before each wrestle off he would say "good luck" and end it with a "good match"

   A few weeks later another wrestle off was to occur. Coach did wrestle offs right before big tournaments, it was just how they ran things. So this wrestle off was for a tournament called the Lowell Tournament. The Lowell Tournament is supposedly the hardest and biggest tournament in all of New England. All the best teams were there. But lets go back. So I wrestle off Brendan, and I win...by one point. At one point of the match I was giving up back points without my knowledge. Then I was down 1 point in the last 10 seconds of the last period. We were both up on our feet, and if I got a takedown, I would win. Because a take down is 2 points, that was my only option. I charged in with everything I had left. I won. It was amazing, it was progress. I got up, thanked Garelick and shook his hand. He smiled back and said "Jason's going to Lowell!"

   So a few days later...we went to Lowell. Biggest wrestling stadium I had ever seen

This is Lowell

8 Mats with all its glory and 70+ teams there. We woke up early like every wrestling meet ever. After what seemed like hours of waiting, I had my first match. The guy started off strong, he was aggressive and strong. I was scared. I knew I was at Lowell, 72 Teams all having their best wrestlers. Yet I still went. It was hard, but I kept scoring points. By the middle of 2nd period the guy was gassed. I knew I was in better shape than he was. I put in my hours, which won me this match. At the end of the match I beat him 11-3 with a pin. That was a huge confidence booster. I was happy as can be. I was hopeful, hopeful I could maybe stand a chance. 2nd match was no good. The guy was what wrestlers refer to as a "stud" he was all over me, doing crazy moves. I was pinned very quickly. I came out of that match demoralized, but ready for my next. That next one was no better. The guy wasn't as good, but my BJJ habits came back, I turned onto my back when I wasn't suppose to. I went home with that 2-1 record at Lowell. I was still happy though. Winning at least one match in the hardest new England Tournament

    So I went back, back on the mat, and back with Garelick. Drilling and drilling and drilling. I asked many questions, and got many answers. The next match was coming up. It was a quad meet. meaning 4 teams would be there, and we would wrestle all 3. I packed my backs, set my alarm, packed the food. With no prevail. I slept through my alarm, through my calls. I woke up, panicking, yet relieved at the same time. I hated matches, they were too much pressure, and I was extenuated. So I assumed, whatever, Brendan will take care of it. Oh and boy did he, he took care of it and the next few matches. Coach had kicked me off the varsity spot because of my absents, and my "lack" of commitment. I was annoyed. I earned that spot, I fought for that spot. Now I lost it, just like that. Brendan wrestled, and wrestled matches. I sat, and sat.

    Shortly after I got ringworm, I had no idea where it came from, but I assumed it was Lowell. Because other kids who came from Lowell also had ringworm. So I was out of the room, and did not wrestle for a bit. I still worked out, but I couldn't drill or touch anyone. Later the team was going to Boston Latin for another quad meet. I didn't bring anything because I assumed I wouldn't wrestle. So I went but I didn't weight in, and boy was coach pissed off yet again. He said I could wrestle because I had the doctor's note in, and he would give me varsity matches. I was surprised, but then I realized I had nothing to wrestle with or my note. At this point I started hating Coach Chase, the head Coach. I hated how he ran things, his decisions, everything. I hated how he treated JV's like nothing and praised varsity guys for everything. So I wanted to prove him wrong, I wanted to show him I wasn't worthless, and that I am a good wrestler. So like always, back to drilling with Garelick

    In fact, I hated Coach Chase so much, I wrote him a strongly worded email. To no surprise, he wasn't happy haha. I called him out on his unfairness. How I was kicked off varsity for missing a match when Charlie nor Javier were kicked off for their tardiness. That was a stupid decision, I shouldn't have spoken where I had no idea. Charlie was screamed at, and scolded behind close doors, and Javier was in the ER. I felt stupid, that I every questioned the head coach Chase.

   A few days later was the JV tournament, I didn't want to go, because I didn't want to lose to JV's because people would think less of me. If I lost a varsity match, people would understand. But not a JV match. I know...I was a egotistical idiot. Yet I went, and I won. I was the 132 champion! It was a huge confidence booster and I was ready for my wrestle off later.

   A week later, I got my wrestle off, to get my varsity spot back. It was an easy match this time around, for one, I had gotten a lot better, and two, Brendan was sickly. I beat him 6-0. Every since I have been wrestling varsity

Not too many exciting things happened from there to now but the sectional tournament will be in a few weeks and our team so far is undefeated and we are DCL champs. I can't say I contributed that much in those accomplishments, with me being varsity then JV then varsity. Yet I have learned a lot this season and I also need to cut this short because it is 10 PM at night on a Wednesday and I still have homework. 

Hopefully I will be back at the dojo soon. Wrestling has been a crazy, hard, frustrating, fun experience, and I can't wait to go back and share all that I've learned.