Double D (Determination & Dedication)!!!

I found myself this past weekend almost taking the easy road...

I got stuck at the Austin Airport for an additional two hours Friday because of bad weather in Dallas. Once they finally let us go I arrived in good time in Dallas only to receive texts that my fight had been canceled to Atlanta.

They rebooked me for a 730am flight but I would still have to stay the night somewhere in Dallas before leaving out that morning. My thoughts were if they just could have let me know this sooner I could have stayed home and left the next day from Austin, right??? Well I now had two choices... wait until morning and then flyer to Atlanta or take the 1250am flight that night back to Austin.

I was truly stuck on that decision. I really wanted to go train with Guro Ron (my head instructor). I had been planning and had been pumped about this seminar for a while. It was another step towards my goals for this year in my own personal training and growth. But at the same time, it had been a long Friday full of lots of private lessons and other adventures. All I really wanted to do at this point is just see my daughter and wife's face back home.

After talked with Guro Ron, I could tell he was excited to see me as well and that gave me even more drive. I also thought long and hard about some of the complaints I hear over the years from all different types of martial artists. Complaints that take over their training and allow them to quit training all together.

I think about the lack of determination and/or dedication in our society and I think WOW....

I can't be one of those numbers lost in this type of a war.

At that point I decided to stick with the program. I decided I was training this weekend no matter what. Just to make it tough on myself I decided I was sleeping in the Dallas Airport with many others that night.

This was one of those moments that I was put in to not only show my dedication to my training but also to those around that I have seen quit things in their life because of certain obstacles. Because they were not getting something they wanted in some grand vision of Totality. Heck at this point I would have been excited with five minutes of training with Guro Ron.

That's right, all that money on hotel, car, fights, food, etc. just for five minutes on the floor to train with him.

Whether you want to admit it or not, there is a war going on out there. You can either be a VC - Victim of Circumstance or you can get off your tail. Do as much as possible to be prepared and make the most of every situation. Grow from ever exchange and make the most of your time... even if it is five minutes!!!

Lets get motivated and lets get determined. Lets show our dedication to our goals!!!

Guro Larry

We often know everything, or do we???

It is often now that I travel to different schools or seminars and pay for training. It is also often that for the most part I am lucky to see something new. Now most would think of this as being some kind of negative exchange. You are hoping to learn some new technique but in the end you've failed to realize there really isn't one.

With this being said, why would you pay money to train if you might already "know it all". I say this as fun because I know I don't know it all but there are those that definitely think they do, lol.

The reason you keep training and keep going isn't for new knowledge. The reason to keep training is often to keep moving forward in your digestion of the knowledge you already know.

This is important because often enough people spend all their life in and outside the Martial Arts, looking for that one new thing that really doesn't exist. The reason is refinement. The reason is accuracy. The reason is the sharpen our strongest tool.... our brain!!!

I say open up your mind and look to the stars and heavens for the answers. You might just notice that they are the same stars you have been looking up at since you were born.

Be a white belt in everything you do for every day of your life!!!

Guro Larry

Silver/White Lining to Everything!!!

Can you believe the south got hit hard with snow this past weekend??? Well it did, which was crazy!!! I had a chance to travel to Little Rock Arkansas first which was a challenge. I then started driving two and a half hours towards Memphis through a ton of rain.

After finally missing a entire day of seminars I checked into my hotel room to relax only to finally contract the bug that had been going around. Thankfully I prepared after seeing Heidi and Lauren go through it. I had been fasting for about two days expecting it to happen sooner but it didn't.

Honestly I think the only reason I was able to make the seminars the next day and be some what there mentally was the fact that I had only been eating bread, fruit and drinking juice. If not I think I would have just been out for the count.

Bad part about it was that I couldn't finish my 10,000 squats :(

The cool thing though was just after lunch on saturday... out of the sky.... fell snow!!!! I couldn't believe it, real snow. It got so caked on the ground that I thought it was going to be time to get the snow shoes out, lol.

It was quite a sight and really amazing.

Well worth the trip and the pain in the stomach, literally.

The moral - there is always a silver or white lining :) to everything. Such a beautiful sight. Check out this quick video of it... www.martialway.net/snow.html