The Year of the Rabbit

 What a night!  What a year!!  

Tonight was filled with interesting emotions for me, I can only imagine how it must have felt for some of my teammates.  There were laughs (Jordan wins that prize), and tears (Dammit, Michelle!) and so many faces beaming with pride.  

For me, thinking of last year's banquet, which was my first, and the beginning of my first year in the I Ho Chuan team.  Not really knowing what the year would bring, but being pretty hopeful that it would bring some positive effects.

Well, my expectations are blown away.


My numbers, while not perfect, are a very good start.  I think back to a conversation I had with Todai Ferris when I was thinking of joining the team:

She said something along the lines of: "It's not so important that you actually achieve 50,000 push ups and sit ups, but that you don't give up.  And if you only do 20,000 in the year, then that's 20,000 more than you did the year before." (Sorry if I grossly mis-stated you, Malinda!)

So, I didn't do 50,000 push ups and sit ups, but I did 24,000, which is 24,000 more than I did last year.

"Take results and improve upon them.  Correct, don't protect"

So, this year, I will do better.


Also, tonight, like last year, I felt the team come together to achieve something great.  We worked together to make the banquet happen.  And we did really good.  I felt that tonight went as well as it could and I'm proud of all the effort that everyone put in.  

I've felt and seen the bonds between all of us grow this past year, and that's freaking awesome.  And I'm so proud to be part of a team that puts it's talents to the use of good.  To make the world a better place.

"Surround yourself with people who ask more of you than you do."


One final thing that filled me with wonder, was when all the black belts went up on stage to welcome their 2 newest members.  I now knew most of the people up there, but there were some people I didn't recognize, from years past.  But it put it into perspective, especially having seen the black belt graduation from last year: This is a living organism.  It's not static.  The numbers will swell and dwindle and the faces will change as the knowledge is passed down from person to person.  But the heritage is a great honor to become a part of.  These are people who have made martial arts their lifestyle, and it has not only made their lives richer because of it, but the world richer.

So, I'm pretty thankful to be a part of that.







Song of the Day: (because now it's stuck in my head, but it's a bangin' song)

DISCIPLE by the Warning

https://open.spotify.com/track/5wvsoPecGLpTFCFg8qhM2a?si=70483f7bbd7d4a0b

Comments

  1. Don BjorkquistFebruary 11, 2024 at 9:38 AM

    And a huge thanks to all the work YOU did last night, awesome!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. KhonaFebruary 11, 2024 at 7:46 PM

    I wait for the day that you’re up there with us. Thanks for being so awesome.

    ReplyDelete

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