Phase I test

So tonight was crazy! Remember everyone to be prepared at all times - not just bringing all your equipment and your book with you - but also to be prepared for whatever your instructors throw at you at the last minute. Being a black belt means being able to face new challenges, remain flexible and positive. Attitude is everything! And don't forget to smile :-)

Special Training on the 27th

                    Hey everybody! I just logged in and all of that, so I figured I might as well write about the special training last Saturday since I have nothing better to do (except the conditioning part of the test).
                    On the drive to AHAMA, my dad and I saw that there was some slush falling from the sky, so we assumed that we wouldn't go jogging until the end of the training when it would be sunnier out.  Sure enough, we started of with...the 4 plus I believe?  We were told to actually hit each other.  When ever I took a hit to the chest, I felt as if I had some wind knocked out of my chest, but not exactly like accidentaly getting a sidekick to the guts.  But, I managed to tank my way through it.

                     After that, we did the 4.  For those of you who were there, you may have remembered that during that time, we were mainly focusing on technique, and then energy.  My partner and I recieved advice like, aim the punches to the face, not the stomach, specific places to kick, and other ways to be a good partner.  I don't know about the rest of the Forged testers, but I honestly didn't feel too tired during the training.

                     A little bit after, we finished the training and my dad and I headed back into the car.  A few items I regret not bringing were:

1) My own water bottle ( It was a bit of a pain to wait in line)
2) Trail mix (I had food, but it would have been nice to have some trail mix though)
3) A small pillow (Who wouldn't regret not bringing that!?!?! As long as you weren't driving though)
4) My iPod Nano (pretty durn good songs on that thing)
5) The book "My teachers funeral" (that's where I adopted that wierd accent in #4)

    

           Hey guys I forgot to type this to the blog but her we go. I was at my friends house then we went to SKY HIGH we did alot back and front flips and we did alot of cardio for an hour and twenty minutes then went back to my friends house and watched a movie but I did alot of walking.

2/25/12 Ingrid Skuzie

I have had a very difficult week. I am feeling that I am not good enough to pass a 2nd decree black belt test and that Emilio and everyone else is better than me.  I am taking my lack of self confidence and my frustrations out on everyone else.  My mom and dad keep asking me what is wrong but I wouldn't tell them.   My parents were about to take me out of Aim High but I finally talked to my mom and told her what was wrong.  She said not to compare myself to Emilio or anyone else that all I can do is to do my best.  If I do my best, than I will accomplish what I set out to do.  She said that Emilio's 2nd decree test was not nearly as hard as mine and that her & my dad were very proud of me.  I almost have the attitude definition memorized which is VERY difficult for me because I don't even know what some of the words mean.  She said I will accomplish my "WOW" when I get it totally memorized. 2/25/12 Ingrid Skuzie

1/28/12 Ingrid Skuzie

Today my mom helped me train.  Everyone should appreciate KJN Jeremy.  My mom made me do push-ups, Sit-ups, kicks, sparing, stretches and cardio for over two hours.  She was like a drill sargent.  I thought I was going to die but I made it through it.  She also said there was nothing I can't do if I put my mind to it and there is no such word as "can't".  I just have to keep reminding myself of that. 1/28/12 Ingrid Skuzie

2/12/12 Ingrid Skuzie

This is my first blog so I am going to back track.  For one of my requirements I went down town to feed the homeless.  My cousin, Emilio and my boyfriend went with me.  We went to the woman's & men's shelters.  I didn't like the men's shelters because I didn't feel safe.  They were all scarey.  The women's shelter felt safer.  I think everyone should see how these people live so they can appreciate the small things in life.   2/12/12 Ingrid Skuzie

4th Monday

As BSBN Sam knows all too well...this the 4th Monday of the month so I won't be joining you at BB class tomorrow night! :-( *sigh*. This is my monthly board meeting for Edwards Center and it runs from 6-8PM. Good luck with your review and remember our notes from Saturday - good energy, don't hesitate - you'll do fine! See you Wednesday for the Phase 1 test!
BSBN Jessica

Training from 7:00am-3:00pm

Today was the longest training day I have ever had! I started it out with the early Forged practice from 7:00-8:30 then went to 2 Famil kicks classes next did Olympic sparring and topped it off with about an hour of forms, self defense and escrima stick combos. Thank you every one who helped me out today, especially Girl Sam, Jonathan and  Jenalyn for your help today. I don't think I will move from my bed tomorrow but it was nice to have a long day of training with friends.

Good morning everyone! Just getting ready for special training this morning and had a few minutes before I need to leave. Last night I did my first eating like a blackbelt video with Bsbn Girl Sam. It was so much fun! She has been such a great coach so far. We are so lucky to have such amazing support from our instructors and support team. As we get nearer to the phase 1 test I am really trying to focus on controlling my stress and anxiety. I am thankful that we will be getting some review time today and Monday. I have struggled a bit to get into a routine with my pushups, sit ups and rows but I have worked out the numbers and am close to being on track now. Have a great work out this morning!

Wednesday Workout, Teams, and leadership

I had lots of fun on Wednesday in the MMA workout.  As usual with BKJN Dan we made efficient use of our time for maximum results.

Also I have selected my inspirational quote.

"Leadership:  The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it."  By Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Over the past couple of weeks I have been watching everyone on the Forged team and taking note of how all the different personalities motivate and influence others in different ways.

I am reminded of a personality profile scheme a company I worked for used to put effective teams together for projects.

It is called DISC (D=Dominate I=influential S=Steadiness C=Conscientious).  The idea is you want to put teams together that have varied personalities to maximize efficiency and results on projects.

Dominate people are take charge type of folks who push their ideas hard and want to take immediate action.
Influential people are not as aggressive as D's but tend to pull groups together and steer them towards their goals.
Steadiness people are more centered around family and friends.  Not so likely to move away from a secure area etc.
Conscientious people are typically engineers and like to have everything figured out before moving forward.

Just so you know my personality profile is a C with an I backer.  Under pressure the C becomes a D.

To this day I use this to decide how to put teams together at work and so on.

Also the leader of a group is not necessarily in charge of the group.  To me leadership is a subtle thing.

Forms

Just learened Palgwe 7! two down, three to go.

Forms

I just learned Koryo! I know it's not perfect but im just happy I got the movements down. So that's one down, four more to go.

Last night's class

I just wanted to comment on how impressed I was last night with the NHB work. Great questions in the school circle - great show of effort and energy. It looked like everyone was having fun AND working technique! See you Saturday morning at 7AM - please bring everything with you but more than likely it will be a review to help you prep for the Phase test. However, you never know what BSBN Brandy has planned! :-)

Hello bloggers and instructors,

This is my first time to ever blog. So my first topic ill share with you is how I am going to change my diet for this years forged testing. For example, I am limiting my dairy product intake such as using almond milk insted of regular milk. I think that by the end of the year i will be eating much healthier and losing fat. Anyways I am very excited for this years black belt testing. My motto has not been made up yet but maybe during events this year i'll find my true motto. Going a little off topic did you guys like my smiley face picture :) ?

Phase testing and other thoughts

   This is my first post, and I'm still getting used to this, so I will be switching topics a lot.

   

   The phase testing is coming up, and it will be our first time to show what we've got.  I'm very excited for this opportunity because I know everyone will give it their all.  It will be fun to see everyone at their best. During the Collective Synergy test, we didn't have phase testing.  It was really hard to keep up with everything without those checkpoints.  I feel like these checkpoints will help us grow stronger, and will sharpen our technique.

    

   After looking through some old papers, I came across a good quote I first saw in 8th grade.  It was from one of my band teachers, and it says, 

     "I hereby promise to begin today to manifest the personal greatness that lies inside of me to improve the quality of my life: to learn more, to laugh more, to share more and to risk more.  I control my personal destiny and recognize that if it is to be, it's up to me.  Today's the day I summon the courage to face my fears, and turn them into the stepping stones of my success.  I will be the prisoner of nothing, because I am someone special.  And I will live my life at level 10 every day, every time, without fail, no exceptions."

     I feel that this quote can apply to many things, but I think that this black belt journey is a good example.  One of the main parts of the quote was, "I control my personal destiny... it's up to me."  The black belt test is what you make of it.  It's like the poem Attitude by Charles Swindoll.  You are in charge of your attitude.  You are in charge of what you make of this test.

   My affirmation this year is from this quote.  It is "Stepping Stones."  I chose this because I know that the journey does not end after this test.  Each black belt test is not the mark of the end of a journey; it is the mark of the completion of a small portion.  Stepping stones are like these tests.  It takes one to get you in the river, but many to get you out.  Once you take that first step, you must keep going.  These small steps will help you reach your goals.  I joined the Forged testing team in order to continue my journey.  I hopped onto the first stepping stone.  Now I must continue on in order to succeed.

   The last part of the quote explains the expectation of a Level 10 performance every day.  I know that as a team, we are capable of putting in that energy, putting in the intensity and hard work, every day.  I feel that this phase testing will be a great one, and everyone will show up with a Level 10 performance.

   Hello everyone,

I have been reading the blogs that you have posted and some of them were very intresting.
I have been counting alot of push ups in recess. It is just a daily object to count for my black belt training before I do some sports with friends. Todays black belt training was awsome! But the hardest part was doing th 50 push ups and 50 sit ups but they were still fun.
  

"Success is steady progress towards one's personal goals"

I wrote that down today but forgot the author, oops! As you saw I was playing catch up with my posts before but now that I am caught up I have a story related to that quote. I joined 24 hour fitness last week to do some swimming and yoga for cardio and stretching hours and yesterday I had the initial meeting with a trainer.  It was an eye opener and now I have lots of ideas for gaining some awesome upper body strength. One of my goals is to be able to do a good handstand against the wall push up by October. My small success yesterday was to have my feet up on the wall in a handstand like position and be able to move slightly downward towards the floor without crashing face first. As I not so gracefully got down from this position the trainer looked at me and said, "You've got a lot of work to do." I stood up and smiled and was very excited. When I was an orange belt and going to fit blast class, Cgn Guy asked us to do these push ups. I had a hard time getting my feet up on the wall at that point and had to ask KJN for help. When KJN helped me get my feet up my arms immediately collapsed and I fell face first into the mat. I was so excited yesterday that my arms held me up it did not matter that the trainer thought I had failed. I was reminded yesterday that my goal needs to be to do MY BEST and not compare my best to someone elses. Celebrate the small successes because they are what will lead to the completion of the goal!

2/5/12 Poom belt test

I am very nervous for the poom belt test tomorrow. I am trying very hard not to over think things, which will be one of my biggest challenges throughout the coming months. Trying to have a balence of not being too nervous or too confident seems to be difficult. A middle ground is needed. I realize that I have practiced a lot and I know the material but there is always room for improvement. As long as I can be focused and in the zone I will be okay.....now if only I felt as confident as that sounded :)

1/17/2012

I am working on figuring out my eating and sleeping routine so I can give my body the time and energy to catch up with training. I got in a discussion with my cousin regarding people and their capability to change and it brought up many interesting thoughts. Working on yourself emotionally is like working on yourself physically. There must be a conscious decision to change, excercising and training your brain to think and react differently. I have been thinking about the qualities in myself that I would like to work on throughout this experience. I am determined to be more like the people I admire and respect in my life and am dedicated to changing some of the qualities in myself that need improving. This is yet another reminder to myself that this will be a physical AND mental journey.

1/8/2012

This one is back from the very first saturday am training in January.

Yesterday we had our first saturday morning training, it was hard but awesome. I struggled to keep up after being sick and in bed the entire week, but I made it through. Bsbn's Jessica and Sarah were very helpful with watching me and making sure I took a break when I was really having a hard time. Today I can feel muscles that haven't been used in a while :) and I'm loving every minute of it. I am looking forward to the challenges that I will face this year and am looking forward to growing from this experience in ways that would have not otherwise happened in my life. Martial arts and Aim High have already been a life changing experience for me. Not only have I gotten into shape, made some amazing friends, and had some once in a life time experiences, I have also come to grow as a person. Although I still struggle with insecurities I try my very best to stand up for what I believe, stay strong in who I am and believe in myself. I am looking forward to developing physically, mentally, spiritually and with good character :) So here it goes.....bring on the challenge!

Getting used to posting

Hello everyone,
 I was reading some of the posts that everyone has been  put up and I realized I don't know what or how to really use a blog. Same thing with other things like Facebook, I never post on my own profile... So this is gonna take some getting used to.
  Since I'm not used to this I'm just gonna steal ideas from you guys. Two weeks ago was possibley one of the most intresting workouts I have had.When ever I do workouts for Football with my father or for football or martial arts we usually workout the whole body. So working out mainly legs was a nice change... except for not being able to sit down the next day. So far working out with all of the Forged team members has been a blast. I have only been to a few training sessions and I can already see the camaraderie between everyone and it's really cool to see. I look forward to more fun and hard training sessions with you guys.

Simplicity

"When there is freedom from mechanical conditioning, there is simplicity. The classical man is just a bundle of routine, ideas and tradition. If you follow the classical pattern, you are understanding the routine, the tradition, the shadow - you are not understanding yourself." -Bruce Lee

My greatest fear in martial arts, as it always has been, is not giving it the attention and respect it deserves. To me, it is the art of optimization. It's a form of self-defense, of self-awareness. It's not something you only train in, but in fact live. It's lifestyle that teaches mastery over the mind and body, and thus mastery over oneself.

When the time comes for me to clock out at work, to say goodbye to my fellow volunteers, or turn in a big project, I don't get nearly the same satisfaction I do as when I train here, at Aim High. This test, out of all of my current undertakings, has my greatest respect, and it's about time I started posting on here to show it.

Wednesday night last week, I broke two boards (one with a round house, one with a tornado kick). I'll be honest, seeing as I've never actually broken a board with those kicks, the power I threw into them was a bit out of control. The goal that time was to just make sure my roundhouse could break them, and I really have no doubt of that anymore! Almost took off John's jaw in the process...

The phase 1 test is almost a week away, so to all my fellow tester's, let's make sure we give the time and attention necessary to showing mastery and discipline where it needs to be showed. I look forward to testing with you all!

-Alexander Mason

A new group, a new style..

Over the years I've come to notice a different 'flavor' in the type of test we hold. From Cgn Natalie in 2005, to Collective Synergy, one of our biggest tests, to the old school Kjn Ernie Reyes tests of 200+ people (I have my opinion here if that/this is a good idea or not, but that's for another blog) - to a private test of a taekwondo school in Hamburg Germany with three testers lasting 2hours.. I've seen belts handed and belts earned, but the unique thing I've noticed about the Aim High testers and testing method is that each group as it's own 'style' it's own 'flavor'. The people make the home, and the testers make the test. The personalities and needs of the students make the test. A Blackbelt test will never be the same twice in a row, and it shows in this one.

We have a lot of younger testers, and powerwithin setting the bar high, as to not award junior belts and requiring the young ones to do the same expectations at the adults, all while dealing with the fall season of back to school, and their 'outside' lives.. (although I'm a firm believer that the outside life should scream martial arts in all that one does.. but that's for another blog..)

The biggest barrier I see in this group is mental negative thought. They NEED a strong support team, and I've hear chatter from their support team in the light that perhaps this isn't the testers year, now if I was testing for my first degree and mentally I wasn't there, and my support team thought maybe I should wait a year, then that screams failure. I'm worried for them. As a coach and instructor I will be the voice of positive, and action of 'yes you can' even when the tester thinks that they might not be ready. I believe that each poom belt will make it, earn it, and deserve it but it's going to be a bumpy road.

My 2nd degrees, I see two of them working their rears off, and they won't have a problem, but i'm worried for the rest. I think i'm going to come up with an individual plan, outline what is a 2nd degree, and develop a 'road map' (intel term) on their success..

set a goal, take action, change if it's not working, pay attention to deal, practice or in this case DO, DO , DO and then our goals will be had, mastery..

I'm excited for this year, but I also think it might be one of our biggest mentally developmental tests to date.. awesome.. challenge accepted.. let's do this..
-bkjn

First entry

Okay so I have officially realized how technologically challenged I am, it took a significant amount of time for me to figure out how to post even though I have been reading this since the beginning. I have been handwriting journal entries so I will eventually go back and type them into here. I think I have started to realize over the last couple weeks how this test will affect my life not only with the time spent training, but the energy it is taking to recover from training as well. After special training and kickboxing last week it took a few days for me to walk and sit down normally. This made me think of how awesome and in shape we will all be by October :)  I realized how important it is going to be for me to take care of myself; getting enough sleep, eating well, and staying hydrated are things that will become a major focus for me during this journey. I decided to do some of my cardio hours swimming and have started taking yoga so that I can have a balence with the high impact training that we are doing. Any recovery tips would be helpful too! I am so excited about this journey and am looking forward to getting to know our Forged team members better throughout this test!

Forged Breaking Week

This week we had breaking week at AH.  This gave me an opportunity to try a couple of techniques I had always wanted to do.

The first is the Ox Jaw which I had seen CGN Cyrus do a couple of years ago.  I was tickled with this one because I succeeded although I have to admit the back of my hand tingled for about 15 minutes after performing the break.  KJN Jeremy thanks for the support and instruction on this one.

The second was performing a break with an upper block.  My technique just wasn't there for this one so I have to go back to the drawing board on it for a bit.  But I will perform the break at some point in time.  I would like to thank BKJN Dan and CGN Bo for helping me analyze proper technique for this after class was dismissed.  Much appreciated.

My final break was a Palm Strike (two boards) on Thursday evening after adult class.  This one went well and I would like to thank BSBN Boy Sam and Teacher Eric for doing such a good job holding for me.

 One of my main goals for the breaking week was to start developing the showman ship aspect of these performances which is why I was being so vocal on the breaks.  I find this is partly to psych myself up and also to wake the audience up and have them notice something is happening on the floor.


All in all I had a good week at AH.

I'll be nipping at your heels....

Hey Forged team,

I'm on the 5th day on a row with almost zero pain in my back for the first time in a couple years....what does this have to do with you? I will tell you :) It means I am back in the gym busting butt to get back into a shape that I feel is appropriate for my level....3 days in a row at the gym, lead by 3 weeks of clean eating and about 8 weeks of painful chiropractic visits! As I get older, and hopefully wiser, I see the importance of understanding my limits and taking control of the factors in my life I have direct control over. So, even if I can't train at 110%, I will maintain stricter discipline in other areas, such as diet and stretching.

I urge you, the testers, past, present, and future, to take stock of where you have been, where you are now, and where you want to be in the future and use this awareness to ensure you are taking the necessary steps to adjust your training routine in a way that allows you to sustain it into the distant future!

Train smarter, not harder!!

-KJN Jeremy

Don't know what to write about?

Hi Everyone,

I know it is early in the Forged test, but I wanted to encourage you to start putting your thoughts and feelings into these blogs sooner, rather than later. This journey is difficult. You will be challenged. You will feel exhausted. Most of all, you will be put in a position that forces you to take a good look at yourself and measure how much effort, thought, dedication, desire, etc. you are really putting into this test.

You are going to be told that you need to improve on many things--whether it be forms, kicking technique, or the way you hold your sticks and strike during the sinwali patterns. You are going to have questions about whether you are doing something correctly, or which leg you're supposed to kick with. You are going to get yelled at, pushed hard, and told to do it again, and again, and again.

You might get mad or cry, and you're definitely going to have moments where you are so completely elated that you want to tell everyone in the world what you just accomplished.

Here's my point: pick something and write! There is so much in store over the next few months. Reflect on it through this blog and share your journey. Ask questions and get answers. Vent about things you're frustrated with, but also make sure you end that vent with a plan to change the situation and create a solution.

If you read this and are still unsure of what to write about, come see me and I'll give you some topics.

~BSBN Samantha

P.S. Make sure you also read the blogs of your fellow testers. Encouragement and teamwork are part of what makes the Aim High Black Belt Tests so life-changing and unique.

Saturday Special Training

Had a blast working out with all of you yesterday thanks! It was my first full workout and it felt good (even if I'm paying for it today). You guys are a great group and I'm looking forward to training with you over the next 10 months. There are couple of sleepers in this group - those of you who seem quiet but can light it up when you want. Hope I'm there to see it!
BSBN Jessica

Forged Poom Test

I was given the honor to partner up with the Poom candidates on Monday to help with the testing.  I am impressed with how hard everyone worked and everyone looked great.  I can tell we have great group of folks to work with and we will all have lots of fun together over the next 9 months.

At the end of the day I have to admit the hardest thing I had to do was recite Attitude in unison with my team mates.  I know the quote but for me it is similar to executing a form in synch with other folks a bit more difficult to have an even tempo across the group.

Jan 7 Work Out

I wrapped my foot up and hobbled in to the opening work out for Forged.  I was embarrassed because I wouldn’t be able to run that day.  It looked like everyone was rubbing the sleepy out of their eyes when I got there.  I disconnected my insulin pump because I figured I wouldn’t need any extra insulin during these workouts.  My diabetes strategy was to eat an English muffin around 4:30 am figuring I would be good to do hard physical activity by 7 or so with no gastric complications after a couple of hours.  Just wanted to see how it would work.

I also picked up a good tip from CGN Bo for stretching he showed me a stretch in which you loop your belt over your foot and pull down holding the leg straight stretching the Ham String.  Nice to know, I have incorporated that into my daily stretches.  Thanks Bo.

Forged First Week

I have always joked around at home about how many folks get injured here at Aim High and I have always told myself not me.  Then on our second workout with the Forged team it happened I rolled and twisted my foot while grappling.  I went in to work the next day and they guys were joking with me cause I was limping quite a bit.  I was so disappointed that this happened so early in the program I decided to stop by Aim High after work and let KJN and BKJN know I was injured and what they recommended I do for it.

I hooked up with BKJN Dan and told him what happened.  And as usual I got some good advice from him.  He recommended I take it easy and step out of training for a week or so until my foot healed.

Anyways after a week or so I decided to go to Dr. Bindahl and have it checked out.  She looked at it and says tissue damage you’ll be okay in a week.

All in all I am feeling pretty good now and will be able to continue with the group.

Thanks Dan.

Why I'm Here

When you guys get a chance, I would recommend that you take the time to read the Dare to Dream letters to the testers of 2012. What we are going through right now, they’ve been through before and they have some really good advice on how to prepare and perform on this test. One thing that stood out from these letters was that they ask the question of why I even train in the first place, why I feel the need to go for my second degree.
On the days leading up to orientation I was still indecisive as to whether I not I wanted to complete this test. I know how time consuming this test could be, and it being my senior year of high school and then college I wasn’t sure if I was ready for that. But my friend showed me a quote that got me thinking.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” –Mark Twain

I know I would regret it and always wonder about the “what if”, if I didn’t go through this test. I’ve would have missed the opportunity to grow and learn. I would've missed the chance to not only improve my martial arts, but learning how to be a better person at home and at school and wherever I go. This is why am I back. I know that everyone is constantly evolving, and everyone has the potential for greatness, we just need to find the willpower within ourselves to accomplish this.

On another note, today was the official start to conditioning on Saturday mornings. I’m sore, but it was a great workout. Everyone had fantastic energy for it being so early in the morning and you all motivated me to keep going. Good job everyone!

Congrats to the candidates and the testers for forged. Blog and journal everyday. You will be so amazed when you look back on it:)

Testing..

Does this work?!:)