If today had been my phase test, I would not have passed

That's a hard realization, but I don't believe I gave my best effort in class tonight, and too many details of my performance were sloppy. I've let my conditioning slip in the last three weeks, and it shows in my lack of stamina.

The only consolation is that I still have some time to step up my practice outside of class, get back to exercising more often, and change my attitude.

Thank you, Bsbn Girl Sam, for the reality check tonight.

SOLVE Beach Cleanup

SOLVE Beach Cleanup - March 30

I decided to engage my entire family to go down to our favorite beach in Pacific City to help do the beach cleanup for one of my major environmental acts.

It was amazing to see how many people were down there but not cleaning up....I mean the volunteers were just a handful (probably 20 at most) while there were literally hundreds of people down there.

The surprising thing was how much dangerous items we discovered partially hidden in the sand....rusted nails, broken glass, sharp metal objects, etc.  All it takes is someone to step on that with their bare feet and it is off to the hospital you go to get a shot......

I think we felt much better cleaning up a beach that we visit regularly to help ensure that we can continue to go there.

We did get several thank you's from people which was a nice reminder that we all need to say that more often!

More Running!

After a slow day of staying at home practicing my form for Pac Jewel and the demo team form, (with the help of my little sister that kept dancing when Gangnam Style came on) at around 7:55 PM, my mom took our whole family running at the track. I ran/walked 12 (or 14 if you count the warm-up lap and the cooling down lap) which is about 2 (and 1/6) miles.
I have a new goal this year and I have to run at least 3 miles by July. Why, you ask? My dad signed me up for another run on July 31st. My mom says its about three miles, so I got to get used to running three miles, with little cool-downs in the middle and towards the end. I'm just 1 mile (or 5/6 miles) away from halfway reaching my goal. I want to be able to just run at a good speed and take baby steps to reach my goal so I can slowly improve in my running.

Did you know?: A snail would take 220 hours to crawl one mile NONSTOP.

~Serena

Patience

          The hardest thing for me to do after getting injured is the waiting as that injury heals. What's even harder is not knowing exactly how serious your injury is and not knowing how long it will take to heal. On Sunday March 30th, I injured my knee while trying a move on the floor a have never tried before. I landed with my right knee hitting the ground first. It HURT. A LOT! But I hobbled off the floor and proceeded to watch my knee start to bruise and swell. A LOT! Almost a week has past since that injury and my knee has barely gotten better. It's still numb, still slightly swollen, and tender in certain places. This makes it very difficult to teach classes for a couple of reasons. 1) I like to demonstrate as I explain drills and concepts to my students. Only having one completely functional leg becomes a problem for me and my right brain ways. 2) Standing on that leg for a long time doesn't feel good. It becomes painful and restricts my movements. 3) The wrap i use and the brace i use for my knee is uncomfortable and restricts movement. This is both good and bad. As my knee heals there are certain ways i should not be moving my leg and the brace makes sure of that. However, the brace is bulky and tight around my leg. If I make it too tight i'll cut off blood circulation and if it's too loose then it wont do it's job properly. I have yet to be successful at putting on my brace correctly the first time.

          All of these struggles bring forth many trials and many lessons (like how to teach without using your hands). But the one lesson that is consistent in every one of them is patience. I must be patient when putting on my brace for if i do it too fast i will do it in correctly. I must learn to be patient with myself while I am both on and off the floor. On the floor, I must be aware of my injury and sit down until it becomes less irritated and off the floor I mist be patient with the healing process, no matter how long it may take. My students must also be patient with me because i'm not used to teaching while being critically immobilized. I know that if I remain patient the healing process will be more enjoyable. I cannot just make my knee heal faster. It takes time. And it's going to take time whether I m patient or not. The difference is that if I am impatient and try to push my limits or if I don't take proper care of myself I will have a more negative experience and chances are I will experience more pain with a high risk of re-injuring my knee. On the other hand, if I am patient and do everything my doctor, parents, and instructors tell me to do I will have a lowered rick of re-injuring myself and  it will reduce the amount of stress that I inflict upon myself. In other words, chances are, I will have a better experience and a happier recovery if I am patient. Think of how this can be applied to other things. such as teaching a peer, or applying for jobs, or even testing for your black belt. I do not believe that patients is the key to success, but I do believe that patients is a tool that will bring you happiness in the long run.



JOKE OF THE DAY! Attending a wedding for the first time, a little girl whispered to her mother, "why is the bride dressed in white?" "Because white is the color of happiness," her mother explained. "And today is the happiest day in her life." The child thought about this for a moment. "So why is the groom wearing black?"

T-berg going to Golden Gate tournament

In the last two months I have been multitasking my time with school, Aim high poom belt fusion classes, Aim High Family Kicks classes, Demo team and tournament practices gearing up for tournaments. Many of you know I love going to tourament but not to win but to try my best to see how much I have improved my skill level and making many friends from the west coast to the east coast. For me I am reaching my personal goals by making baby steps. I like to train and work out at my own private karate studio ( my garage) and do what I like best. My mom says I am turning into a social butterfly when I travel and that is a great thing. I like making new friends and meeting up with them talking about our martial arts school, our school, our friends and our cities or small towns. Wish me luck and hope the state of California is good to me. I know there is a lot of great talents. I just want to see where I stand in this tournament. Wish me luck. I will post some videos if I can. make sure you keep training hard!! I will. See you all on Monday!!  t-berg out.

I have 2 weeks until my half marathon, 1 month until phase 2 testing, I went back to work ( I am solely responsible for cleaning a 35,000 square foot 2 story church building) and spring term for school just started. I was feeling really overwhelmed today and I just wanted to crawl into bed and pretend like I am no longer a responsible adult. I have a lot more going on this year than I did the last time that I tested. One of my goals for this test was to be better at balancing and I remembered the advice that I am always giving others which is to take it day by day and not to think about the overall goal or you will freak out and quit everything. I am so close to finishing so many things and as long as there is breath in this body I will press on. I know that I will be fine because the people who surround me won't let me quit.

Working Towards a Goal

Shamrock Run 2013 down, Helvetia Half Marathon to go. I will begin my running trials by running to and fro between AHAMA and my house, about 6 miles each. direction. Teacher Chris (I have decided to refer to myself in the third person) needs to keep the right mentality for training, reminding himself that he is NOT too tired to train. My plan is to beat BSBN Zoe`s time. Healthy competition is always good. :D