I'm asked to lead warmups many times for classes...I guess for a couple of reasons. First, I keep things moving so the heart rate gets up and stays up. Second, it's part of my Leadership training. The fact that I'm kinda loud doesn't hurt either.
Tonight was a bit different. After warmups, I also led the White Belts and an Orange Belt. We worked kicking techniques and self defense. The Orange Belt was a young lady (12 maybe?) who seemed a bit disinterested, so I turned the tables on her and had her lead me! She did pretty well and I told where she made mistakes and also let her know that she did a great job on her first time leading.
After the breakout, we padded up. I was selected to lead sparring, something new! I led everyone in speed kicking drills and then some 2-kick, 1 punch sparring. I had to keep my eyes on the "little ones" to make sure they stayed in control. At the end of class, Instructor Shanna complimented me on my Leadership...cool!
OMG!!! My Louisville Cardinals are going to the Final Four!!!
We'll hook up with Illinois on Saturday. They had better bring their best game as we've proved we can play (and beat) anybody.
No team has a bigger heart than the Cards...I can't wait to see that new NCAA Champion banner hanging in Freedom Hall!
Now have The Cards earned some respect? Doesn't the selection committee look silly not giving them a 2, or maybe a 1?
Folks, Louisville is not just winning games, they are beating the Hell out of teams. They are adjusting on the fly, playing a wicked zone defense that no one has been able to defeat...solve maybe, but not defeat. And there is no one...NO ONE playing as well as Garcia.
See you in St. Louis!
I had a long night tonight. I had to make up a Leadership test I missed because of work. For an hour and a half, I taught or performed every technique and form from White Belt to Black Tip. While I wasn't perfect, far from it, I was good enough to earn my Leadership Patch. Next stop..."T" Instructor!
So what do I get from Tae-Kwon-Do? Better shape? Confidence? Fulfillment?
All of the above...but the most important thing is...Encouragement. The "can do" attitude is like water to a plant. The instructors push you and provide an environment of motivation.
While this is all good, my conflict is getting the boys to "buy in". Their idea of a goal is beating the current video game they are playing...wheee! Actually, I like a good game and play a few with the boys but winning or finishing is not a top priority to me.
Setting a goal (Black Belt) and seeing yourself making steady progress toward that goal is very rewarding. Beating the boss at the end a particularly hard level is satisfying, I'm sure, but developing yourself over a 2 1/2 to 3 year period to achieve something special is even more so. Receiving encouragement along the way is icing on the cake. My hope is that they would take this attitude and determination to use in other aspects of their lives.
I wish everyone in our house would understand this.
Saturday was our Annual Exhibition for the WHAS Crusade for Children. We raised over $16,000 for the kids and everyone had an awesome time.
Grandmaster performed his once a year demo. This time he performed a series of Judo tosses on Instructor Gronnotte. Then he used his katana to cleave a watermelon that was resting on Instructor Gronnotte's stomach. We have some incredible photos of the entire event as Ms. Jones was everywhere with her camera. I'll try to get some copies made and post them here.
This Friday a group of us are meeting at 5am for some live demos for a local TV station. Don't what I'm going to do, but I'm sure to find out. Perhaps a multiboard power break?
One of my employees recently spent a couple of weeks in France. He spent a little time (and money) in a casino in Monaco. And he brought back a chip for me! It's a 5 Franc chip from a roulette table and it's gorgeous! I'll scan it and put it up soon and also add it to my website.
... how a team, ranked 4th in the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll, on a 9 game winning streak, who won its conference and conference tournament, who won 19 out of its last 20 games, who has a terrific road record, who beat one team at its home court and that same team beat a 2 seed twice in the last week...gets a 4 seed?
What a bunch of crap! What is wrong with the selection committee? No respect for C-USA that's for sure and yet 4 C-USA teams made it in and the best team only gets a 4 seed? BS!!!
Well, get ready because The Cards will earn respect before it's all over and we're cutting down the nets in Albuquerque and on the way to St. Louis!
GO CARDS!!!!!!!
We had belt tests on Saturday. Trevor received his Blue-Tip, Conor his Tiger, and I got my Dragon. My next test is for my temporary Black Belt. My Black Belt test will be in September and Conor will be testing at the same time...cool.
One of the perks of being a manager is that I get an extra paid weekend off each quarter. The only condition is that I notify my DM when I'm planning on taking a weekend off, fair enough.
I did what I was supposed to do and I received a confirmation this morning that there was no problem as long as I had adequate coverage. We have our big, huge exhibition this Saturday and I'll need to be off all day. Hopefully I'll have some good pics of Grandmaster doing his once-a-year demo.
Anyway, around 2pm, I get a call from the DM. He prefaces the call by saying "About your weekend off...". He then says that I need to make a deal because I'm taking off on a Saturday. He wants me to help with an Open House tonight! I tell him "no" because I have Tae-Kwon-Do with the boys on Monday nights. I offered to help another time, or conduct the New Employee Orientation but that wasn't good enough. It pissed me off for him to pull that stunt because there are no requirements for the weekend off. There are no deals that need to be made. I don't have to give a reason why I'm taking the time off, it's my weekend.
I don't anything will come of it, but if he makes an issue of it, I'm taking things over his head. I don't need this garbage and I was tempted to toss my keys on the roof. I've got 20 years with this company and I don't deserve to be treated this way. Hell, it's bad enough that they've essentially put me in a "window office". In three years I've gone from the highest volume store in town to the lowest ticket writing store in town. I'm not stupid, I know they are trying to get rid of me because I'm "stuck in my ways". Funny thing is...I still run a profitable business, even in a mall store. But I don't know what I'm doing...right. These idiots running the show wouldn't know a good business if it bit them in the ass. They talk a good game of customer service, but that still means shoving cellular phones down people's throats. I live customer service every single day. I train customer service to all my employees. Interesting that 3 current managers who trained under me are very successful and earning promotions while people trained by the former DM and current DM candidate are being fired for stealing or falsifying records and inventories.
But I don't know what I'm doing.
March 9th is my B-Day...woohoo! 43 years young...or something like that. When do I get to start acting cranky and have people just chalk it up to old age?
I don't mind getting my butt kicked in tae-kwon-do, but I hate having a cold knock me out like this last one has. Geez, I've left work early three days and took a day off with all time spent in bed and this damn thing isn't letting up.
Back to bed.