It's been awhile since my last entry. I was hoping to write something for this series more frequently, but things got really busy and so here we are. A number of notable things happened in between that I wanted to write about.

Starting off with... I have a new rule for this series of blog posts; all journal entries should be written impromptu or on the spot. This means not copying previously written down notes or entries from my digital or bullet journal.

This is how I originally started writing journal entries in the past by the way. I would login to write.as at night and write a journal entry based on what was in my head at that time.

More of a brain dump, versus a routine that involved going over previous journal entries, then compiling them into one big journal entry/blog post.

Over time, as I got more into bullet journaling, this practice of writing a journal entry on the spot went away. It was replaced by writing a journal entry based on entries I've written down on my bullet journal or daily logs in Obsidian.

At first it was great. I had so much material, so many thoughts and ideas to write about. But as time went by, I noticed that blogging this way became more like a job for me. I lost that excitement that you get with writing something on the spot and then immediately sharing it online. Not to mention, it was a chore having to go through and filter previous daily log entries to find something I can copy or write about.

I'm not saying this method of writing is bad. It's just that for me, it was no longer working. It was no longer keeping the spark for blogging alive that is. And so that's why I'm going back to more impromptu writing with this series.

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My eldest son joined the Sport Team at his Taekwondo school. I am of two minds about him joining.

I was hesitant about him joining, because of the financial expenses that came with joining a TKD Sport team. And yes, I can confirm that it is expensive. There's training fees, competition specific TKD gear (like the Daedo foot gear with the electronic sensor) you have to buy, competition registration fees, USATKD registration fees, etc... Not to mention, the increased transportation expenses from having to drive him back and forth to his training sessions.

On the other hand, seeing the training that he has to go through, I can only see it benefiting him as he grows up. Not just to make him better at sparring per se, but also to forge him into a person that is mentally tough and can handle anything life throws his way.

My son was so timid and shy by the way before he started doing Taekwondo. Now he's confident and willing to try out anything, well except food that is. We still need to work on that LOL.

And this is because the master he is training under is very strict. He's what I would call a “terror teacher” when I was growing up. He shouts and screams at you if you do the wrong thing. He expects the best out of his students and pushes them to their limits. He's not being unreasonable though. He is not training students to win a few local competitions here and there. No, he's training them to win competitions at the national level, with the ultimate goal of getting his students into the USA Taekwondo Olympic Team. The parents who let their kids join the Sport Team knows this. I know this although this is not the reason I let my kid join the team.

I let my son join the Sport Team because I feel like this is the best way for him to get more sparring training. They do sparring in their regular classes, but most of the sparring done there is pretty mild. I want my son to be able to handle someone coming at him aggressively, someone coming at him with the intent kick him in the head. I want him to be able to fend off an attacker like that. I don't really care about him winning national competitions, if that does happen then that would be just icing on the cake.

Now I know what most people will say. Taekwondo is not that good for self-defense. Hmm yes and no. Yes, there's a lot more to self-defense than just kicking and punching. Yes they punch in Taekwondo too. You score 1 point if you do in a sparring competition LOL. But I would dare you to take a roundhouse kick to the head from one of the more competent black belts, and then tell me if you think it is effective.

Anyway, Taekwondo as a martial art to me qualifies as one of the three self-defense skills he would need; namely striking. The other two skills being grappling and weapons training. You could substitute Taekwondo with any martial art that has striking, like Boxing, Karate, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Krav Maga, etc... It just so happens that he does Taekwondo now and he really enjoys it, so why not help him really get better at it.

By the way, if you want to see a movie that showcases Taekwondo used in a self-defense setting, check out the movie “Officer Black Belt”.

Although the trailer above shows more Judo moves than kicks, there were a number of scenes in the movie where I thought Taekwondo was put to good use. There's this scene specifically, where the protagonist faced off against a guy with a knife. He used his Taekwondo skills to fight him off and subdue him.

It must be noted that they do teach the kids takedowns in my son's Taekwondo school, but they don't focus on it as much as they do with kicking.

Judo by the way, is the other martial art that I would like my kid to learn, but he's not interested, so I won't force him. Maybe I'll try to get him into BJJ. Either one will satisfy the other self-defense skill he needs, which is grappling.

So anyway, going back to talking about his master. He's old school like that and I have no problem with how he teaches. Honestly, I think everyone should experience a “terror teacher” at least once in their life. It toughens you up. Makes you more resilient. Helps you deal with pressure at work and in life in general.

I've had a number of “terror teachers” myself growing up. And while their classes were not enjoyable at times, I credit them with helping me develop the ability to think quickly and handle pressure at work.

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Anyway, I wanted to write more but this post has gone long enough and the environment I'm in right now is no longer conducive for writing. Let me end with one pet peeve of mine: people talking loudly on their phone in speaker mode.

Talking loudly on your phone is bad enough, but in speaker mode, in a public setting, with people around you, that should be a crime. This is happening right now as I type. I can't imagine what the guy beside her is feeling right now. Must be using up all his energy to try and ignore her. Like seriously, invest in some headsets. Or you know, you could also turn off speaker mode and put the phone on your ear.

Jeez. Anyway, if you've gotten this far, I appreciate you for taking the time to read this piece. Hope you have a great year ahead of you. Peace!

#Journal #Blogging #Writing #SelfDefense #Taewondo #MartialArts #PetPeeve