The other day I had a phone message left for me by one of the students that I taught last year. The message thanked me for all the encouragement, dedication, support, etc. that I had given the student over the past year. It was awesome! And humbling! You just never really know the affect you have on people unless they tell you, and too often the only ones that tell you are the negative ones.
So, to that student, if you are reading this, YOU are the awesome one! You took the time out of your day to leave a positive message for someone in a day and age when so few people (in my experience anyway) do that anymore. Thank you!
It got me thinking about the fact that I feel like I'm in a similar position as the student was except, in my case, it's in regards to IHC and the earning and maintaining of a black belt. Can I do this? I know that it's a long way from yellow belt to black belt but, can I do it? Lately it feels like the answer is "no".
You see, with black belt grading coming up for some of the students, I've been hearing more and more about the requirements. Things like
having to do 60 full pushups - I still can only barely do one after nearly three years of Kung Fu. After more than 20,000 counter/wall pushups this year my shoulder isn't happy with me.
having to be able to do a 2 km run - I was never able to do 1 km even when I was a teenager, so what are the chances that I can do that as an adult?
having to do 60 situps in a set amount of time (I forget the time limit) - at least I can do 60 situps in a row :-D
fitness test generally - while I don't get out of breath nearly as quickly as when I started Kung Fu I still can't keep going for long
So, can I do it? I really don't know, but I had a student who didn't think they could do it either and encouraged them not to give up, and they succeeded! After encouraging someone else to keep going how can I do any less?
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