After posting the details and rules for the upcoming Toowoomba Grappling & MMA tournament I was looking at the 2010 GMAA calendar and thinking ... WOW!  there is a whole lot of stuff there!  That might be really intimidating for our students, who might think that they are expected to all of it.

So I thought I might clear that up.  The calendar page should be considered as a page of opportunities, not as a list of tasks.  It simply represents some of the opportunities that we have identified for you to test yourself and rise above your previous limitiations.  This can be done with gradings, seminars, camps and also tournaments or competitions but these remain the personal choice of each individual.

Furthermore, they should be seen as goals for your journey this year.  Goals are an important part of your training and each of the items on the calendar page represent a possible goal for you to set.  I suggest you choose a set of core goals this year - gradings would most likely be the best place to start and maybe a tournament or two if you are keen to test your skills.  You will be amazed how much your training intensity and mental focus will improve once you have a target for your training and with increased intensity and focus comes improved skills and conditioning.  It is a win - win for you.

I am not an expert in this area by any stretch of the imagination but I can give you some tips.  Firstly don't make your goals result based ie. "I will win this tournament" because you cannot control outcomes.  Instead, focus on what you can control - you.  Set goals that relate to your own performance so that you can measure them.  For example - "I am going to keep my hands up at temple height for the whole bout" is better than "I am going to knock them out".   Make sure you goals are achieveable as well, it is no good saying you are going to be a black belt in 6 months or lose 40kg in month so set targets and time periods that you can reach.

I thought I might share some of my goals for 2010 so you can see that they don't have to be earth shattering, just worthwhile to you, achieveable and measurable.  Check mine out:

My Short Term Martial Arts Goals:

Starting January 11th, I will train consistently for one calendar month doing 30 minutes of intense cardio a minimum of 5 days a week as well as a specfic weights routine 3 times a week.  The emphasis is on consistency - no excuses. - ACHIEVED TODAY!
Starting January 11th, I will be consisten and will physically take part in each Jiu Jitsu class I teach and will roll in every class that my students do during January and February. - on my way to achieving this.
Starting February 15th, for 6 weeks I  be consistent and will do 1.5 hours of Muay Thai/MMA fundamental training 3 times a week on the days that I have free.
March 27th - Grade and Achieve my BJC Muay Thai 4th Degree Red/White Singlet at our gradings.

My Medium Term Martial Arts Goals:

September 2010 -  Grade and Achieve my Zen Do Kai Yon Dan - Ho (probationary 4th Degree Black Belt) being tested by 6th Degree Black Belt Brad Ross and 7th Degree Black Belt Jim Fris. I am currently a San Dan (3rd Degree)
November 2010 - Grade and Achieve my First Degree Blue Belt (first white stripe) in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at the Gold Coast Fight Club gradings.
November 2010 - Compete in the Pan Pacific BJJ Championships (I will have specific performance based goals for this day).
November 2010 - Have my first student grade from absolute white belt to BJJ Blue belt at the Gold Coast Fight Club Gradings.
September/October 2011 - Grade and Achieve full Zen Do Kai Yon Dan (4th Degree Black Belt) at the Toowoomba or Maryborough Senjo.
November 2011 - November - Grade and Achieve my Second Degree Blue Belt (second white stripe) in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at the Gold Coast Fight Club gradings.
November 2011 - Have my second lot of students grade from absolute white belt to BJJ Blue belt at the Gold Coast Fight Club Gradings.

My Long Term Martial Arts Goals:

June/July 2012 - Grade and Achieve my BJC Muay Thai 5th Degree Red/White Singlet at our gradings.
2013 - Grade my first ever official Zen Do Kai student/s to Black Belt
End of Year 2014 - Grade and Achieve Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Purple Belt
End of Year 2014 - Grade and Achieve Zen Do Kai Go Dan - Ho (probationary 5th Degree Black Belt)
End of Year 2015 - Grade and Achieve Zen Do Kai Go Dan (5th Degree Black Belt)

My Short Term Personal Goals:

For the whole months of February and March I will do a minimum of 20 minutes house work.


For the next 3 months (end of April) I will make the most of my time with Calin (my son) by reading with him at least 30 minutes a day, counting/writing/drawing/painting with him for at least 30 minutes a day and I will play with him physically for at least 1 hour a day.

I will avoid adding any content to my webpage that may be considered insulting, aggressive or inflamatory for the next 6 months (end of July) offering and posting only  (strictly) positive and constructive material.

My Medium Term Personal Goals:

For the whole of 2010, I will take every and all personal critisism (nice or not) and examine it for the purpose of evaluating my own behaviour and altering it if needed.  NOTE: the hard part of this goal is being objective when looking at what other people think and say about me as I find it extrememly to do so.  It seems to be human nature to automatically assume that "I" must be right and "they" are wrong but what if they aren't?  What if you have been a a-hole?  A liar? Misstreating people?  How do you identify your own bad thoughts and behaviour unless you take the feedback and examine it objectively?  It is funny isn't it, it is standard business practice to do exactly that, but on a personal level we can't seem to so it.  It is a tough ask for me, but I have made it my goal, so I just have to do it with the whole point being to make me a better person to know and be around.

Duing 2010 I will to what ever is needed to foster a positive relationship between myself and other local martial arts instructors, between my club and other martial arts clubs.  I will be objective and open minded in handling communication with any and all instructors and students from other clubs.  I will take positive steps to repair damamged relationships (where possible) and build new ones for the benefit of not only my own students, but also for the benefit of martial arts in general and all students of the past time that I love.

There you go, some of it sounds soppy I know, but I have made some very bad decisions and taken the wrong actions many times in the recent past and I honestly wish to learn from my mistakes.  Life is too short for anger, hate, mistrust, greed, fear and especailly regret and I want to live positively and make the most of my time.  I hope you set some goals as well and please feel free to post them hear if you wish, it feels good to share openly and honestly.