LET’S HAVE SOME FUN! FIND THE JOY!
There must be a way to have fun and still be focused and train every day.
Human nature makes us want to avoid the hard things, and those are usually the things we need to pay the most attention to. For me that is Kata. So I came up with a plan….. an old school plan. The paper chain.
All I needed was some colorful construction paper, tape and a pen (Sure I cheated a little bit and did it on my computer. It should be neat after all.)
I chose the colors of my past belts to remind me every day how far I have come then cut the paper into 90 strips.
I made a list of all the Kata I need to know. (3 Taikyoku, 5 Heian, 2 Junro, Tekki, Bassai Dai, Kanku Dai and Chinte). 6 of each Kata (plus a few extra to make the math work). 1 Kata written on each strip, then the fun part of making the chain. (Kata name on the inside)
Now every day I take a link off the chain, NO PEEKING, the kata on the link is what is worked that day! By the end of 90 days, each Kata has been worked at least 6 days.
Everyone is motivated in a different way adults and kids alike. The trick is to find the joy in every task!
Laurie Ferris
Check out Laurie’s other thoughts in Don’t Sweat it!