2024-11-06

Teaching my regular classes at the Ross Farnsworth - East Valley YMCA.

This was my first night back after an unexpected week back in Illinois. Big thanks to Barry O’Brien for teaching my classes in my absence. Interestingly, I had a parent contact me earlier in the day to ask me if I was back because his son didn’t want to come to class unless I was teaching. There was nothing wrong with the guest instructor, he just liked me.

Okay, that’s flattering, but I still talked about this with both classes tonight. I told them that I was sincerely grateful that they’d chosen to share their karate journey with me, but I need them to understand that I’m not always going to be part of that journey, and I need them to continue coming to class even if I’m not the one teaching.

Like so much of life, success is about building good habits and avoiding bad ones. Skipping class, even a couple of times, can be habit-forming, and “comfort” isn’t a habit you want to cultivate. Instead, showing up needs to be the habit. Part of karate training is about learning self-discipline, which I define as doing the right thing even when you’d really rather not. Coming to class doesn’t just help your karate training; it ensures that others have people to train with.