Kris Wilder – Page 2

February 3, 2021February 12, 2021

Craters of Improvement

Craters of Improvement. We seek like-minded people. It feels good to get validating and to share similar ideas. We develop a tribe of sorts. But not a false tribe. As an example, your co-workers are a forced tribe.

Your co-workers are constructed of people who meet the business needs and not yours. That is what business does. This is not malevolent it is ambivalent to those needs other than the goal of the business. You are set in a situation that is not of your own – although you likely actively sought the job.

Your Neighbors, Your Choices

There is an upside to not choosing your neighbors or your coworkers. You are getting the diversification of thought and a broadening of experience.

People, when given the choice, will choose to associate with people of similar demeanor and desires. As a relative said to me one day, “It’s good to go visit the home town, you don’t need to prove anything to anybody, they know who you are.”

This comb nation of forced selection, as in work, and the choices made in community and friends can catalyze a larger experience.

The Two Big Groupings

Think of it this way. Events can be broken into two large groups, the things that happen to you and things that you choose. The way you handle the impact can define the crater of that impact. Or to extend this line of thought. Instead of a meteorite and a crater, a space capsule landing via parachute with the results of experiments. Craters of Improvement.

Change is inevitable. We cannot escape the craters of life. We can adjust, and sometimes learn from the information we get in a soft touchdown of a capsule. But the change is coming.

Choices when the can be made, yes, do that. You have to flow understanding change is not always about big breakthroughs. Simple choices often have the longest results.

The message is what tribe have you chosen; does that tribe you have chosen provide what you desire? What do you need? Or is it detrimental to the person you need to be? Does your artificially constructed work environment serve more than the purpose of providing food for your cakehole? Can it uplift!

These are questions that lead to an active choice life and not a “Life is happening to me.” Is the incoming, the impending experience, your choice, and will it be a capsule of information or a crater.

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KRIS WILDER

Kris Wilder is a martial artist based in Seattle Washington. He has authored many martial art books, including the classic, The Way of Kata. Making no apologies for his obsession of Football he can be found telling any who will listen about the nuances of the Canadian Football League.

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January 30, 2021February 12, 2021

Karate Potential v. High Performance

Karate Potential v. High Performance. The karate institution, the organization, regardless of the system is under the, “Karate Institution” umbrella. For our purposes, every system is the same. It isn’t about how you hold your fist; it is about the principle of competency. Competency is desired in every martial arts system across the planet. That is the umbrella of competency.

Engaged Instructors

Instructors are engaging with the students in their school as they are becoming the best they can be. Often establishing high expectations are establishing goals set.

The students, students strive to rise to the expectations and the goals. Learning and working to integrate the philosophy, strategy, and techniques.

The issue is the orientation of the overseer, what they see as important. That focus falls into two categories, potential versus high performance. These are not mutually exclusive, karate potential v. high-performance overlap, yet.

High-Performance Over Potential

If a group, teacher, or student focuses on one exclusively, high-performance over potential, distortion happens. The gifted athlete who can do all movements and patterns with little effort can’t help but draw the attention of the instructor. When those students are persistent the organization and others outside of the organization will take note.

Years ago, Karate Illustrated Magazine would post the names of the top Kumite fighters by region in every monthly issue. The reward system was in place. Do well, see your name in print.

And there is the basic rule; if you reward something you will get more of it. High-performance has a fast reward system. Instructors and organizations reward quickly high-performance.

Potential is not always obvious. It is all about, taking on work, observation, and more observation before an investment of time is made.

This is where the two paths are exclusive to one another. Potential is harder to measure and the prediction of the outcome is anybody’s guess. Seeing high-performance and latching oneself to the high-performance is easy lifting.

It appears I am saying potential is greater than high-performance. I am not; I am saying potential is more difficult to witness. Since karate is an individual pursuit it has a different quality. The individual potential is different than the setting of a team situation.

No Clock

Whether Karate potential v. high performance in an individual situation, as karate is, there is no timeline. Karate has no season for which to prepare. Nobody else is dependent on the abilities of the practitioner.

In a world of cruel, painful judgment, karate is different. Karate can be the place where a person can explore their potential. The person can discover their path under the guidance and supportive discovery of a good teacher.

The master teacher has been gifted this orientation from a previous master teacher. Or the teacher has worked to earn it for themselves. The master teacher sees performance and potential, not just having an eye for one over the other.

Stories bringing up emotions are stories of hidden or unobserved potential brought to the light.

Karate Potential v. High Performance, They are Different

It is incredible to be in the presence of high-performance. It is a wonderful energy. Potential is a different energy and requires injections of your energy. One is about guided energy and one is often about interjecting some of your energy as a teacher into the equation of potential.

Potential is attracting to me. Potential is more rewarding in my view. The gains appear higher and the results are diverse often veering into the unanticipated areas.

I enjoy both of these worlds and the requirements of each, I suspect you do as well. But now they are brought out into the light. Resulting in clarity at three levels, Organization, schools, and individuals as well seek to make those that are great, exceptional. And those that grid it out, better in tangible ways.

A few other topics that are inline with your interests.

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KRIS WILDER

January 27, 2021February 12, 2021

I’ll Give My Energy to This

I’ll give my energy to this. The old saying, “You get what you focus on.” That’s about thoughts, will, and intention manifesting into action. It’s true. It’s as true as the changing seasons the choice of where you put that energy is the way of your flow. It’s the way that you go.

The more you focus on something the more it’s going to manifest. It may be slight; it may be large but it will be there. The more you think about the more you ponder upon, the more you contemplate the more it will show itself.

The Choice is a Goal

The Choice is a goal. When you decide to place energy into a multi-nodal thought and action, it contacts many other parts of your life. Those parts of your life enjoy the vision, the focus the energy that you give it.

Some popular phrases people use to give their energy up are, “Some things never change,” that’s fatalism. That’s a what are you going do? Here’s another, “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” That’s the Pareto Distribution. Neither is absolute but you see that mental concrete in which you’re writing. This idea, I’ll give my energy to this. It’s about your focus you’re setting that mental concrete.

What part of your life do you leave unattended so anybody could come along and write the idea in that concrete? Are you attending to that idea, are you cleaning, sweeping, making sure that nobody trips over it?

The Destination of The Sidewalk

A sidewalk has a destination. What are you giving your energy to? Have you paused to see what truisms or even what is true?

What has been placed inside the concrete of your mind? How did the idea become part of your makeup? That’s not an easy task. That’s not an easy audit but it’s a question worth asking.

Then deciding if the idea deserves my energy is it worthy of my time, my focus, my energy? It’s my choice it is not something that somebody came along and wrote into the sidewalk of my life.

I make active choices on where I choose to spend my energy, where I choose to make things happen the way that I want. To give that focus of my energy. It’s where I give my energy. It’s where I decide. It’s where you should decide your energy is going to be given.

Here are a few other posts you may find of interest.

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KRIS WILDER

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January 20, 2021February 12, 2021

Building by Doing Your Work

Building by Doing Your Work. Recently I donated a car to a company to get a tax credit and to easily get rid of my car it seemed like a good idea. The events lead me to need to contact them to make sure that they had received the car. The response was, “Do you have a code?” I replied, “Absolutely, I have a code on my receipt right here.” “It’s not one of our numbers sorry can’t help you.” “Well I’ve got an email here it’s got your letterhead on it, in fact, it even has your name attached to it.” The voice came back over the phone, “No, not ours, we don’t have it on the lot.” “But it looks like this,” “No, no we don’t have anything like that at all.”

Building by Doing Your Work For You

“Who towed it?” she asked. I gave her the name of the towing company, the date, the time, and the address.” Her response was, “I don’t know.” Then came the greatest explanation ever, she added, “I guess it must have been stolen.” I replied, “Yeah, that’s what people are doing. They are going out spending $108,000 to buy a tow truck so they can get involved in the lucrative black market of used automobiles.” I was now doing her work for her.

This exchange was an example of not doing your work utterly unhelpful. Look, just take a moment and be thoughtful. Ask the question how can this be solved? Here is a phenomenal skill. In a comedy skit somebody comes in and says, “Boy is it cold out there.” you don’t go, “No it’s not cold.” The answer is, “Yes and I’ve never seen it so cold in my life.” You see the word, “No” can be a conversation ender. The phrase, “I don’t know.” Can often mean you are not smart enough to be in the conversation.

Lessons In Doing Your Own Work

I called the national office in they created a three-way call. And the car was on the lot, sure enough. It’s difficult but he doesn’t have to be any more difficult. Choose to do your own work go the extra mile, you are better for it.

You learn things and you get more skills. Yes, it requires some effort and some thought, but the reward is a better and more engaged life. You are learning while you’re working and you are building while doing your own work.

A few other post you may find of interest.

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KRIS WILDER

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January 15, 2021February 12, 2021

5 Things to Make Your Instructor Happy

5 Things to Make Your Martial Arts Instructor Happy (And Stand Out from the Crowd) Martial arts students, beginner and seasoned alike typically truly want to make their instructor happy. It is natural, and a lot easier than you probably think. Listed here are what I believe to be the top five things you can do to make your instructor happy.

Practice

The first item of the 5 Things to Make Your Instructor Happy is practice. This is probably the single most common thing I hear from instructors regardless of style. For every ten students who sign up, maybe one will put in any practice time away from the training hall. If you rely solely on class time for your training, your progress will be much slower than it could be.

Simply set aside some time every day that will be devoted to practice. It only takes a couple of weeks for this to transform into a habit. Eventually, you will notice the difference in how you feel when you do practice versus when you don’t practice. Even at my age, with the injuries piled up, I feel better when I practice.

Getting started today, makes it a habit. Your instructor will not even need to be told; they will see the difference. And it will make them happy.

Give us your 100% best effort

Everyone has good and bad days. Everyone has days where they have more energy than others. Maybe on a given day, you will show up and only be 70% of your normal energy. Give us 100% of that 70%! This attitude will go a long way in developing your mental toughness. If the day ever comes where you need to rely on your training to defend yourself, the ability to give all that you have will make a tremendous difference.

Predators don’t attack you when you are at your best. They are not looking for a fight. If you are ever targeted by a predator, you will assuredly not be at your best. That is when you need the ability to dig down and find that spark that will drive you to give your all.

As an instructor I can tell you, I find great joy in seeing those students who really, honestly give it all that they have.

Remember that we are human too

Bob Ross is a personal hero of mine. His show, The Joy of Painting, is so peaceful to watch, and his manner of teaching is something I hope to one day have and a constant. I fall short, but I always try.

Maybe due to the way so many of the martial arts masters in the movies were picture perfect in how they lived, we sometimes think that our instructors must be perfect human beings.

Nobody is perfect.

I remember the shock I had when I found out that my Instructor…drank alcohol. Gasp! It took some time getting over it. As a teenager raised on Kwai Chang Caine, there was a bit of adjustment time needed.

Your instructor is human. They may shout, or drink, or cuss, or any other number of things that might surprise you. Don’t expect them to be a saint. It is one of the finer points to 5 Things to Make Your Instructor Happy

Enjoy the ride

You have to have a goal, and martial arts a well equipped with short- and long-term goals built right into the handy-dandy colored belt systems. Many students focus so strongly on the end result that they forget that the journey is where you will find meaning. The journey is where you will build the memories. If it were all about Black Belt, the best martial artist would be the ones who got there fastest, and we know that isn’t the case.

Enjoy the ride. Look around. Take in the feeling of working with, learning with, and sweating with those around you. Pause when you have those moments where, after a ton of hard work and failure, you finally got something right! It is a great feeling! It will be going quickly. Savor it when it happens.

Never forget; the door is always open

You will eventually stop showing up. There are as many reasons why students stop training as there are students who start training. And most of the time it boils down to life getting in the way.

Your instructor, if they have been an instructor for any length of time, already knows this. There are always students that we do not want to see go, but we never believe they will stay. When you quit training, do not lead yourself to believe that your instructor is mad, or would let you start again, even years down the road.

The door is always open. You will be greeted with a smile and probably great joy. You will possibly have forgotten some things, but it will all still be there, waiting to be rediscovered. And your instructor will be happy to help!

About the Guest Author Wallace Smedley

Wallace Smedley describes himself as “a life-long martial artist, so far”. With a background in westerns arts of boxing and wrestling and training in eastern arts including Chinese Hung Gar (Tiger and Crane kung fu) and Korean Taekwondo, he has a range of experiences. He has been a bricklayer and a bouncer, a security guard and a teacher, a professional wrestler and a manager.

You can connect with Wallace at his website or Amazon Author Page by clicking the links below.

Some other links that may be of interest to you

Organizing People — Organization Changes Everything

Road Sign to Forget — Organization Changes Everything

Let’s Connect

KRIS WILDER

January 13, 2021February 12, 2021

The Robert’s Rule of News

The Robert’s Rule of News is about the speed of news. Recently the actress Tanya Roberts died and she died twice. That is a case of fast reporting, and being the 1st to have the hot take in play here.

The story is the actress Tanya Roberts died. Then it came out that she wasn’t dead and then it came out that she died a few days later.

Needing to be 1st is buried deep in the human race. If you’re 1st with the information you can save the tribe from attackers. You can save the tribe from poison, from the dangers of a regime change. All these things are important, like the king is dead, that changes everything. Whoever gets that information 1st has the upper hand. This is a defense mechanism and it works.

Tanya Roberts was an actress who was a Bond girl and, in that role, she had the role of sex appeal, coolness. She was also on Charlie’s Angels and that 70’s show and she died 2 times. Her death was announced, and retracted. Later she reported again as dead. Who reported her death? A publicist, a family member? I don’t know but the press took it and didn’t double check it. Why would you check on an obituary or announcement somebody’s passing? But they ran with it. We are not concerned about the mechanics of the error, that’s not too important for us. it’s about the reaction.

Here is the Tanya Roberts Rule or The Robert’s Rule.

If you hear news that doesn’t directly affect you, it doesn’t threaten you, give it 24 hours, let it breathe. Let it be what it is without comment and see upon reviewing the story. Is the reporting of story still in fact what was reported 24 hours ago. Feel free to apply the Robert’s Rule of News and see the results in what impacts you and what doesn’t.

And to Tanya Roberts thanks for the years of entertainment. And thank you for the Robert’s rule of 24 hours of letting it cool. Unless of course the news threatens my family or friends.

Some related links you may find of interest

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KRIS WILDER

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