How can we re-motivate after a period of absence from training?

There comes a time in everyone’s training when suddenly it’s a little harder to motivate oneself. Even habits that have been developing over years can suddenly be held to ransom by an injury, a need to be perfect after a long break, or a life that has become a little too hectic.

Master Chang always says that our energy flows in a certain direction until it is obstructed, then naturally it will flow the other way.

So when the inevitable happens, how can we reengage in this thing that we know we love and that makes us feel good too?

Master Chang would say that our new habit must be stronger than the old habit, and then you’ll be all right.

To me this says that it will take effort and discipline on my part; that I must take responsibility for myself; that I must act. I am reminded of one of Master Chang’s visits:

We got onto the train – suddenly Master Chang disappeared – I thought he had gone to the toilet – I turned around and he was helping a husband and wife, both half his age, to lift a heavy suitcase on to the train. There he was, carrying this huge suitcase as the couple looked on in amazement. When he returned he said to me, “Whenever I see people like that struggling I always help, I forget how old I am, I just do it”.

So maybe that is the answer – maybe to stop debating, stop thinking how can I get the motivation, how can I reengage????…. Master Chang would say, “just do it!”

I would love to hear your tales and thoughts on motivation – why not post a response? (click on "COMMENTS" below.)

The Alchemist

I get many questions:
- Have you ever had to use Hapkido?
- How often do you practice?
- What skills must you learn for the next black belt level?

Actually the more the student trains, the more he realizes that many of these types of questions are irrelevant.

The Story of the Alchemist:
In the olden days the Master Alchemist lived high up in the hills. At that time there was one young man who desperately wanted to be rich. Hearing the stories of the Master he decided to go and see for himself - he would climb the mountain and intimidate this frail old man into giving him much gold. He set out on the journey, strapping the largest stone possible to his back and climbed high up in the mountains to reach the Master.
Master “I want you to turn my rock into Gold”
That’s silly!!! – but the Master said “I will give you much gold to take with you, if you stay with me for 1 year”

What he spoke about during the year was finding inner harmony – harmony from negative emotions.

The master taught the young man to take out his garbage and cultivate the positive. This we call inner alchemy.

When we change our
- anger into kindness or
- our hatred into love,
- our fear into courage,
- our frustration into patience – that’s modern gold

Then, when we go home they make even more gold.

So when someone says to me – have you ever had to use Hapkido, I say “everyday”. Many people think I live in a bad neighborhood!

Life Viewed Through a Lens

Master Chang often talks about mind principles.
He says that we are like different colour papers – some red, some blue, some black, some white.
Take a green pen and draw on each paper and each one will show something different – each one changes the original colour – green mixed with blue, green with red etc… Each is a lens through which we view the world.

Do you remember Master Chang's story of the Rabbit running away in the forest?
The rabbit makes a noise as it tries to get away from you. Some people will scream or be immobilized by fear, because of a bad past memory. (The situation is seen through the lens they have put on their life). The expert knows that it is just a rabbit!

Through Hapkido training we must strip away the colours – so we are able to see things as they are. When the mind is still, we free things up and ki energy can flow more freely.

There is a samurai saying:
He who has mastered an art will reveal it in his every action.
-samurai maxim

Because mastering is not purely about being proficient at physical movements, but being master of your mind

You stand in front of your opponent – if you worry about getting injured, or think about doing a particular kick, or about a meeting you need to attend – how can you act?
Where your mind goes ki will follow

Growth and maturity in Hapkido is not restricted to class.

Every aspect of your life mirrors every other aspect in your life – showing good attitude in the dojang - will natuarally carry forward and help all aspects of your life.

There was a monk who asked one disciple to whenever he saw dirt to clean. Wherever this disciple would go, everything would gleam, because he’d constantly be cleaning and polishing. Through this work the disciple became enlightened. He realised that in this manner he must also cleanse his mind.

Struggling with difficulties

A student came to me last week and said, “I love Hapkido, but I think I’ve reached my peak”.
I was a little confused because that was not what I was thinking at all. “What do you mean?”, I questioned.
The student said that he didn’t think he could do the current skills, that he was finding them very difficult.
I immediately responded, “Oh, that’s wonderful!”. The student looked at me rather confused, so I had to explain:

Often we see difficulty as being something bad. They hit a difficulty in Hapkido so they leave and go to Jujitsu. Then there is a difficulty there so maybe Judo is the answer… then maybe Karate… etc….

A difficulty is an opportunity to learn – if everything was easy what would you get out of that?

If you want to be a Hapkido expert I guarantee you that you will have difficulties. Some of you will struggle to fall, others will be afraid of sparring, a few might have motivational problems, someone else might have an issue with calling their instructor “Sir”, another might start to feel anger because I don’t teach him new skills, maybe someone fails their grading or gets an injury, maybe they resent helping lower belts with skills …. Every students problem will be different.

But……If you stay committed to your practice through difficult times then you will find gold at the end… physically better, but what you learn about yourself is invaluable.

Remember Hapkido expert is not only physically proficient, but also patience, perseverance, confidence, leadership skills, humility …. All these things….

Practice – practice – practice. Don’t let a little difficulty make you quit!

There is a Zen saying,:
<< Behind each Jewel there are 3000 sweating horses” …. Don’t give up.