“That’s why we seize the moment try to freeze it and own it, squeeze it and hold it, cause we consider these minutes golden.” – Eminem, “Sing for the Moment”
Happy New Year! I returned late last night from an amazing trip back to California. My family and I made some incredible memories together. And while I cherish these times for the spirit of reunion, I am thankful for how amazed and inspired I am by each and every one of these individuals. My Tita (Aunt) Edna has in the period of two years lost 40 pounds and dropped countless dress sizes. My cousin moved to New York and is now the Vice President of his company. And another cousin ran EVERY DAY in 2013, in addition to running several marathons and raising $35,000 for the typhoon relief efforts in the Philippines. Every. Day.
Guro Rick Faye talks about how its what you do every day that makes a difference. Coach Kelley Starrett has spoken on our baseline activity, and that how no matter how much you exercise, living a sedentary lifestyle negates it. In his words, like running marathons and smoking cigarettes. The sedentary lifestyle kills us. For many of us, it has become our baseline activity. But it doesn’t have to be. Tita Edna told my wife that she simply watched her diet and walked every day. Walked. We would all love to have the motivation and energy to train for hours on end, but the fact of the matter is we do not always. But we can do something.
I came back home at 2am and woke up three hours later for work this morning. It would have been very difficult to squeeze a morning run in. But I decided to do something. Mr. Matt Cerbas challenged the eskrimadors at Kick Connection to do 15 burpees a day, and more if able. Just 15. Less than five minutes. So with only a few hours of sleep, groggy and ready to jump in the shower I did my 15 burpees. Was it hard? Yes! But it’s better than nothing. And it aligns with my New Year’s Resolutions. Be the best version of myself that I can be, step up in everything I do, and do something every day. Something. Tonight I will be exhausted, or more accurately more exhausted than I am today. But I will do something, whether it be working out my back on a foam roller, Majapahit Silat floor movements, Sayoc Royal Guard or Doce Pares forms. Something.
So I challenge this to you. Do something every day. Start today. Start now if you can. Do 10 pushups. Swing a stick for 10 minutes (or an hour as Guro Dan used to do everyday!). Do something. It’s not how hard you train once a week, but what you do every day that makes a difference. It’s raising that base activity level. It’s consistency and it’s repetition. It’s 2014.
See you in class.
“Repetition is the mother of skill.” – Guro Dan Inosanto
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