I'm Tired

Yup , that’s right , tired.
I'm not saying my enthusiasm has waned at all, far from it, its just that work life balance is a very hard thing to come by, actually, balancing act would be a better term.
We decided halfway through this year to train “at the Dojo” once a week and try to spend a bit of time together “just breathing” (To quote Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam) on the other scheduled night.
Well, panting would be a better word than breathing because yes, I’m tired.
Funny, in the time we have had this year, we converted the garage to 20 square metres of Dojo space complete with two “Kung Fu style Wooden Men” as training aids.
So has the training stopped?, no, has it slowed down?, no, although renovations have gotten in the way a bit. 
We own a 108 year old Villa so that keeps us busy in its self. 
In our wisdom we decided to replace the kitchen, yes, by ourselves, after all , how hard can it be?
Well, that lead to re lining, re batting, re wiring, re fitting and ,pretty much re building the whole corner of the house. All of these re’s, as yet have not lead to re gretting taking this on, as the first feed from the new oven was sublime.
During this time we have balanced Children, Work, and training, and of course each other.
Whats my point here ?
Simple, Thank God for Goju !
If not for my training ( and my Wife) I would not have the patience ( yes I know, I don’t have a lot of it) to take on all of the above.
We use our Garage Dojo when we can, and its proven to be a good space, and having a good space such as this has helped us be,(yes you guessed it), in a good space.
But the fact remains, I'm Tired.
As the year draws to a close, I think as Kiwis, we all get a bit focused on Christmas, and of course the Holidays, I can’t wait ! That will cure the tiredness……or will it ?

Family first, then Work, Then Karate !

If its not that way for you, then I urge you to change it. 
You only get the one chance at life, so remember to take time to breath.
A favourite saying of a late friend of mine was, “don’t just do something, Sit there “ , wise words indeed.
 How many of us actually do this ?
In 29 years of training, I have put the Last 15 into running our Dojo here in Dunedin.
My focus has always been on my students, but hang on a minute, we are all students, and as such we all need guidance and inspiration.
But does that have to come from your training partners or your Sensei ?
No of course not, your Wife, Husband and family should be enough inspiration you  need to be the best you can be at whatever you do.

As for the Dunedin Dojo,
I am lucky to have a good crew of Black Belts who have stepped up and take the classes that I cannot.
We are away to work before 7am and often not home until 630pm, then off to Karate by 7pm……….Keep doing that and something will give ! 
As I said earlier I have done this for the last 15 years, and now I have help, I can focus a bit on my own training, at least that’s my intention anyway, lets see where that goes.

Ok that’s enough about the tired thing, I remain as enthusiastic as ever and my inspiration to continue comes from my Wife and three of the kids who train with us, so even though I say family first, we train together anyway,  so in that, I am a lucky man.

Remember Family first.

Train as best you can, Only you can decide how much you put into it.
Listen to your teachers’, hopefully they know what they are doing.
Strive to learn, but walk before you run.
Practice, then practice some more.
Don’t practice bad techniques though, you will get good at them
Don’t forget that basics are your foundation.
Be Patient. Apparently it’s a virtue.
Push your mind, maybe your body will follow. (with a bit of luck)
Remember that who you are is relevant, but be the best you can be given who you are.
Age is important, we don’t bounce like we used to.

Mike Dalton