As Promised

I was SO sure I was going to blog after Sifu Rybak’s last prompting for us to write something  over the weekend, or to even at least check when the last time we posted a blog was, but I did not do either and somehow all that time has slipped by me without my notice of how long it has actually been or how many ideas I have lost because I did not capture them, explore them, or share them.

But that’s not what this blog is going to be about, a blog about holding myself accountable, about what I have been doing wrong in my approach to blogging this whole year, and what I am going to do to fix it. That blog needs to be written, and soon, but the thought of writing that big self-critical and completely honest analysis of my year sounds daunting, and when compounded with the guilt from missing the last prompt, and having not written anything in that time, writing that blog right now would be detrimental to my progress. The pressure would stop me before I could even open my laptop. So instead I’m going to write about the book I just finished.


The story is told though a series of journal entries written by the protagonist, depicting the events of his day as he explores The House, a building composed of three floors: The First floor, contains an ocean and is filled with sea life. The Second floor contains statues and is filled with birds. The Third floor, contains a sky and is filled with clouds. The House, as far as he knows, is infinite in every direction.

 Near the beginning he explains why he keeps a journal:

“I write down what I observe in my notebooks. I do this for two reasons: The first is that writing inculcates habits of precision and carefulness, the second is to preserve the knowledge I possess for you”

This quote really stuck me because it reminded me so much of our blogging requirement, and gave me a new understanding of the spirit behind it. We talk about the value of keeping a record of our journey, in fact this is a key element in this book as well! As the story progresses the protagonist realizes there are things that he has forgotten and things from his past that he needs in order to understand his present, and because he kept such detailed and organized records of his days he was able to understand and make decisions about his future. 

To me this is the core of what the blogging requirement means to me. But the wording of this quote opened my eyes to something new I could take away from writing consistent blogs, it is not just about practicing discipline, but also creating “habits of precision and carefulness.” That the act of capturing my experiences and describing how I feel internally and externally, makes me better at precisely feeling those things in the first place; by writing about my awareness I can develop more precise awareness. Through the act of always writing, always thinking about my progress in relation to writing it down and capturing it, trying to make it last, trying to make it stick, I can develop more careful understanding of my training. 

Blogging is a skill that can be developed, not in the sense that over time my blogs will become more “well-written” but instead that I will become better through writing them. The act of writing makes me a more aware, careful, and knowledgeable martial artist, and that skill can only develop if I practice it consistently. 



Current Total

Should Be At

Push-ups

24506

28234

Sit-Ups

22399

28234

Hand Form

127

523

Weapon Form

151

523

Blogs

13

26

Sparring

71

523

AOK

426

523

Steps

1706

810

Repair Relationship

17

26

Mastery Blogs

2

13

Digital Journal

6124

Words

Jaw Exercises

228

35

1-on-1's

16

26


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