Updated:  04/10/10

Learning something about motivation:

Motivation is sometimes a tricky emotion.  Often we want to be motivated to do something, but simply choose to ignore an obligation or commitment.  It’s easier to come up with an excuse why we shouldn’t do something or maybe postpone it until another time.  I don’t like thinking about how many times I’ve said to myself “I’ll work out hard tomorrow”.  Yet, when I tell myself to get out there and get started, I find I often have a really great workout.  This scenario played out in our school over the past few weeks.  It was time to get started and I was struggling finding the energy.

We had a “Kick-a-thon” scheduled for April 10th.  We posted signs, sent out reminder e-mails and the interest level in the school seemed high.  On the day of the event,  students and parents showed up early to help get the school ready.  We started on time and had a great turn out.  So where is the motivation problem ?  Well, it was with me.  I’ve been recovering from a foot injury and frankly frustrated that I couldn’t train.  Prior to the foot problem, I had a broken nose (note:  My Dr. recently commented that my medical chart looks like a 10 yr old boy --- broken this, sprained that, broken something else).    As the event continued, I felt an excitement growing in the room.  My students were working very hard.  Parents were having fun helping count the kicks.  Evening class students and After-School students were forming new friendships.  The event was going great.  I was kicking in several of the sessions and enjoying my first good workout in a while (note:  Dr. Warren --- I was kicking only on one side !!!).  I had set the objective several weeks ago that the total number of kicks for the Kickathon would hit 50,000.    About half way through the event, I told the Black Belts that at the end we would total up the kicks and they would have to makeup the difference to reach 50,000.   As we approached the end of the kicking sessions, color belt students kept coming up to me asking if they could kick with the Black Belts.  I was so pleased to see their excitement and energy.  With lots of screaming and shouting, we finished up the Kickathon and started adding up the “kick sheets”.  We had a grand total of 33,200 kicks.  We were short by a lot more than I expected.  I looked around the room and saw some amazing determination on the faces of my Black Belts (which numbered 7 !!!!).  I found myself surrounded by color belts that wanted to kick.  We lined up in the do jang by rank and counted students.  We had 20.  That meant we needed 840 MORE kicks out of each student (many of these students had already done over 1,000 kicks).  We had all done two different “2 minute kick fests”.  We were all tired.  I pointed to the 10 Articles of Faith….”Always finish what you start”.  We went to “fighting stance”.

This chronology sets the stage for the “motivation” lesson.  As I started kicking with my students, I saw 7 year old Orange Belts kicking with everything they had.  I had red belts that had been kicking all day finding the energy to go even longer.  The Black Belts had their “visors down” and were doing their very best.  After each round of 100 kicks, the do jang was even louder.  The parents and friends were clapping and cheering.  The first few hundred kicks were really hard, but then something amazing happened.  The group of 20 students realized, “We can do this !!!!”. We finished 8 blocks of 100 kicks.  Instead of getting quitter and slower, the sessions were harder and louder.  We did the last 40 kicks by the count as a group.  We then went around the room one student at a time and executed a single jump kick.

The total for the Kickathon was 50,209 kicks !!!!!!!   That is an AMAZING number.   Those 20 students, literally a cross section of my entire school (age, gender, rank, program, etc.), motivated and inspired me to kick harder.  We were united in a determination to finish the task at hand.  No one was thinking about rank or seniority.  We were thinking about getting the job done.

If you missed this event, no need to worry or feel bad.  Just come to class and get ready for the next event in the life of our school.  This school is headed down a road that will bring many more events just like the one we had last weekend.  I know there are many more students out there just waiting for an opportunity to “step up and get the job done”.

TANG SOO !!!!!!!

Sa Bom Nim

Previous Reflections Columns:

March 2010:  Accepting the Discipline of the Achievable

November 2009:  Testing for 5th Dan

October 2009:  Nothing Replaces Hard Work

July 2009:  If It’s Worth Doing, It’s Worth Doing Poorly

June 2009:  I Met a Great Teacher Today

April 2009:  Avoiding the Entitlement Trap

February 2009:  Being Sa Bom Nim

January 2009:  Adjusting Your Sails

Novermber 2008:  Teaching White Belt Students

October 2008:  Discipline

August 2008:  What Does It Mean to be a Black Belt

June 2008:  Different Roads Our Students Follow

May 2008:  Simple Joys of Childhood

April 2008:  You Never Know Your Impact