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.

Jason Mai 9/3/13

September 3 2013

Today was the first day of school, and the first taste of my mastery program in action during the school year, so far I will wake up 15 minutes early and do all 100 of my pushups, abs and squats, 10 of my pull ups and when I come back from school I will finish with 10 more pull ups, run a mile and finish with my forms. The sparring should be fine as long as I keep perfect attendance which usually I am good at, and kindness should be covered as long as I am looking to be kind in school and at home.

I also am seeing much improvement in my aspects of my fitness. I just timed my mile and got a 5:56 (10-12 mph pace)  and I started with a 7:30. I don’t think its a lot about my fitness but also about pacing myself which I am glad I am better at now. It’s also been a lot easier to run a mile or even 2-3 and overall I enjoy running a lot more, which is something I’ve always hated. I can see improvements in my pull ups, being able to do more pullups and chinups because of the pushups I’ve been doing. I also feel like I am becoming a better runner from the squats and my form for pushups have improved because of my ab exercises. I really like how everything ties into each other. I really feel like my body is a well oiled machine all components are individual honed to work together in very great ways, the biology is fascinating.

I also recently have completed the book “Zen in the Martial Arts” and have ordered “Savor” on amazon. I really liked the book, reading it at first a lot of the concepts and ideas seemed very foreign in this day and age we live in where we think very rationally and are skeptical to new ideas but this book has given me new perspective which is amazing. A lot of the chapters I can even take into my everyday life and martial arts training. Many concepts that Sensei Paul I think has covered briefly. Some chapters that really stuck with me were:

Process Not Product, this chapter spoke about the experience and not the end result which is a lot like my black belt and I. I honestly want to get my black belt just so I can get over with it. I love the process and the daily workouts and seeing myself advance. I don’t need any belts or stripes to signify that. I can see my form on punches and kicks improve, and power, speed, flexibility and strength improve as I change. I’ve realized that I improve at a lot slower pace than I used to, not because I don’t work as hard but because it is the nature of becoming advanced at your craft. This does not hinder me however, I still crave for that extra inch of improvement.

Another chapter I liked was Lengthen Your Line, it gave me some insight on newer students that I work with, for example when I was working with Leo I saw he was trying to do some dirty tricks just to get me to tap out, pulling on fingers, stacking me on my neck etc. I am not insulting him, merely interested. Instead of lengthening his own line, he decided to cut mine, another example was working with Tanner, oh by the way all these men are much bigger than me, at least 30 pounds heavier and few inches taller. Anyways while working with Tanner, I saw him trying to muscle me off him all the time, rolling extremely hard to get me off of him and using his brawn to his advantage, thus cutting my line. Again I don’t blame him, but I find it funny how when these bigger men are pair with someone smaller and weaker, yet are still losing, use their superior strength or dirty tricks. I also find it funny how I ended up with scratches and cuts from these men and I’m untouched by my more experienced partners who are much more controlled and rely more on their technique than there brawn. I use the knowledge now to make sure I don’t cut anyones line. I make sure even if I work with someone smaller that I used proper technique and that at any given time, I am not consuming too much energy trying to force something that I can only get because of my strength, this mindset will help me better my technique because I will be using the technique and not my strength.

A simple lesson I learned from the Book was Zen Breathing, every so often - right after a workout, beginning of class or when I need to control my breathing and slow down my heart rate this really helped. Envisioning the thick fog going in and out of me, drawing energy around me, it keeps me very calm and focused. Especially because recently my mind has been wandering at the beginning of class, not being able to focus on the present. Always thinking about past events on which I wanted to change, or future ones I wanted to make where I should've focused on the present and the 2 hours to myself I had and give it my all so I’d get the best from it.

Oh and I also wanted to share a very funny first day of school story. A friend of mine who hasn’t seen my all summer on the first day of school when we saw he mentioned that I was very “Cut” and “Lean” its good to know that I am making gains even if I can’t always see them. That kind of feedback wants to make me push harder and keep moving. School, school is something else I want to push myself harder than I have before as well, studying more, spending more time studying, more time on my homework, more attentive in class, because I will push 100% in all places of my life, I will get A’s in all my classes, I will take AP classes next year and more honors this year or the next, and if I forget what I really am, I will refer back to this. If I slack and drop of my motivation and will to do great in all aspects of life mid year, I will need to refer back and think “What would the best version of me be” and pursue that. There can only be so much my parents, my friends, my elders can do for me, the rest is up to me and I won’t fail because I won’t let myself. I am tired of each year settling for the grades I get, or the classes I end up in. This year I need to change.

Jason Mai 8/26/13

August 26 2013

My name is Jason Mai and I started the mastery program at the age of 15. I am a brown belt as of now and my motivation for doing the program, surprisingly isn’t that much about the black belt but about self discipline. I have always been able to push myself, mentally and physically when coaches/instructors and teachers were present, yet I was never great at motivating myself or disciplining myself to do things I knew were good for me, it almost seemed I only knew what was good for me around my mentors. During this program I will push myself to work harder by myself, and motivate myself, I will get into a habit of working out regularly alone, and pushing myself 90% of the time. I also will push myself to study more, and more frequently in my academic life. I think if I can do this it will enhance my life, I’ll make physical gains, and receive better grades.

Over a week has passed since the mastery program has started and my thoughts so far are: the physical requirements are a lot easier than I thought, yet the few things I do struggle with seem to be running, kindness and pushups. At first I thought I would have problems with the sparring requirements but after a few days I easily surpassed my schedule, now the 3 things I struggle with now seem to be those of what I mentioned above.

Running is something I have always wanted to get better at. Over the years I have learned that I specialize at explosive quick workouts. I could strike in class with a lot of intensity as long as the duration of the workout wasn’t too lengthy. So I quickly learned I have no endurance, and decided that running would help me improve. Now when I first started up running, I was running a mile a day and when I timed myself I had a 7:30 minute mile time, I was very disappointed in my performance but after consistent work I got my mile time to a 7 minutes which I am still not proud of, but is something I can work with. I am thinking of making one of my personal goals to have a 6 minute mile time by the end of the year, yet I don’t know how obtainable that is. When I was done with my mile and got a 7 minute mile time I was dying, I gave it as much as I could with no one there to motivate me (So I’m not going to say 100%).

Push Ups have always been something I prided myself at being good at, but after this week and a half I’m not so sure, with close examination I quickly found out my form is sloppy, and I’m getting tired a lot faster than I usually do. I’m not sure if thats because I’m getting weaker or if I just push myself a lot harder in class. I want to be able to be proud of my pushups again, so I will need to step up my game and make sure my form is spot on.

Kindness is something I found myself struggling on, now I don’t believe I’m an unkind person but maybe I am. I constantly find myself having to seek out kindness, and not naturally doing it. Yet this might just be a summer concept and when school starts up again I might just be fine. With the expanded social interactions I will have available to me.

Lastly my mom started making me clean my own clothes, as angry as I was, I felt ashamed that I would even be slightly angry. It makes me more angry to see how my spoiled self has made me feel. My whole life my mom has cleaned my clothes, fed me and cared for me. Having one of those things taken away made me angry for some reason. I knew that I should clean my own clothes, it is my own sweat that is in these clothes and for my mom to put her time and energy is ridiculous, she even bought those clothes. Yet I can argue that other people’s moms still clean their clothes and whatnot, but that doesn’t matter. Those kids won’t feel responsibility the way I will need to learn, and I can’t complain. I still have a roof over my head, food to fill my stomach and a bed at night. Cleaning my own clothes is one step further of bettering myself and learning responsibility.

Oh and I also just started the book “Zen in the Martial Arts” so far it seems to be very interesting and opens up something I’ve never looked into in the martial arts. Seems to be an easy read and I can just read a few pages right before I go to bed, and doesn’t seem to be a huge commitment.

Wow for a first post this is really long, I doubt I’ll have this much to say in my other posts haha, but these are the thoughts off the top of my head as of now, I doubt anyone will read this because of how long it is, and in some ways I hope not.

Chelsea Hughes blog 9

I do find it odd i am the only one blogging. Ive been thinking of ways to try to get to know my fellow mastery team mates a little better, i feel i'm not as connected as i would like to be. Maybe it is due to age differences? I'm sure theres a way.

Chelsea Hughes blog 8

A busy week ahead for me as I get back into things and finally return to my dojo. That first workout is going to be tough!

Chelsea Hughes blog 7

I,m Still recovering from being ill this past week, it has caused me to be farther behind on my physical requirements than I was hoping to be but nothing I can not make up from slowly. I,ve has a good time spending time with family and friends in Texas but look forward to returning home to my husband, dog and current dojo. Heres to a new year with new opportunities for change, growth, excitement and kindness!

Chelsea Hughes