Jen will be checking in twice per week with updates on her 50 day MuayThai challenge. Follow her posts to join Jen on her journey and cheer her on along the way!
Friday March 25 – You can’t stop progress
It feels like I just started doing this and I’m finally starting to hit my stride, but in fact, today marks the half way point of my challenge! 3 Cheers! To wrap this week I don’t want to report what every class entailed and how I felt but rather I want to talk to you about this process as a whole. Last week when I was going through my 4000, I was forced to focus on the technique of every single kick, which kept me alert and receptive to learning as well as helped to keep the repetitions more interesting. Before I threw each kick I thought to myself, “ok Jen, turn your hip over, turn the shoulder, keep my hands up, get up on the ball of my foot, keep my leg straight and hit the pad as hard as you can”. So many things to remember for one single kick. But when you get that solid kick where it all comes together perfectly you strive to repeat it again and again until the bad ones are pushed out of the equation. This week Kelly had me focusing on my punching technique, and although I can’t get good power yet I’m doing them properly and I’m getting one step closer to my best. I’m certain that once I get used to all the adjustments my power will come back to me. Re-learning technique feels sort of like learning to write with your other hand, it’s uncomfortable and awkward. Using good technique definitely makes this process more challenging but much more exciting. When we keep up with all the little things, big changes will happen, you can’t stop progress.
Aside from the benefit of developing my skills, I’ve also started seeing the changes to my body. We took my measurements and weight this week to see where I stood at my halfway point and although the numbers haven’t changed much, my body looks leaner, feels stronger and my clothes are starting to fit differently. Changes don’t happen overnight, but in time we start to see the effects of all our hard work. For some the goal of exercise is to lose weight/build muscle and we want results right away but that isn’t always the case and it’s easy to be discouraged and give up when the results you expect aren’t what you’re seeing. Change happens slowly but keep working at it and it will come.
“There are only two types of students, continuers and quitters. After you have been a beginner and by your second semester, you have made a conscious decision to continue. After that you are either a continuer or a quitter.”
Continuers come back. Once a day, once a week or something in between. They come regularly. They have an open mind and want to learn. They continue.
Quitters quit. They give up. They have excuses that, if we hear them, we can see through them as being a (more or less) lame way to not come back. So they quit.
Quitters quit when it is starting to get tough and rough.
Quitters quit when they get in touch with things that are uncomfortable.
Quitters quit when the laziness in them takes over.
It doesn’t matter for how long you have been a student, you are still a continuer. Some more experienced, others less. Continuers continue what so ever… After a tough day, an uncomfortable feeling and through the hard work… Day after day after day.
The only way to stop your progress is to quit and so I come back to class every day. So far I am a continuer and I want to continue to be a continuer with this challenge. Looking forward to the best of the rest!