Here is some Bok Fu philosophy for you to start off your day! The title of this writing is, “it’s not so much where you are, but where you’re going”. It’s a perfect reading for the new year!

“The most important thing to me as your teacher is not so much where you are but in what direction you’re going. To become a black belt and a world champion requires a commitment to excellence of the highest order. No one, as I’m sure you realize, is going to achieve anything worth achieving by simply doing what is required of them. It is really what you do above and beyond the required effort that will always really determine your true level of greatness in anything you do.

When a true black belt sets his goals he sees himself as an archer. When an archer misses the mark, he turns and looks for the fault within himself. Realize that failure to hit the bull’s eye or your goal is never the fault of the target or the goal. To improve your game in anything you must simply improve yourself. Everything we do in martial arts, business, or in life, is simply a self portrait of the real person that is within us. You will always personally autograph everything that you do in my eyes. Really great achievement in this subject I assure you will never be by accident. It will always be the result of reaching to be the best that you can be – putting more into it than the next person. Having the right teacher, making a really sincere effort and, of course, reaching the right skill level with the right attitude at the right time is the key to success.

Desire, I think, is the key to being the absolute best – a desire not just to win, but to gain all of the necessary tools in the process to win in everything you do. You’ve heard me say that you have to have a dream to have a dream come true. It seems to me where most people get stuck in this subject is that they stay dreaming, but don’t think of waking up and making their dreams happen, perhaps because that might mean a lot of work. I think you can only achieve your goals in life if you have the guts and truly dare to begin. Here is how i really see it. To dream anything that you want to dream, that is the really true beauty of the black belt mind. To do anything that you want to do, that is the true strength of the black belt will. To trust yourself, to test your limits, that is the true courage you must have to succeed as a powerful black belt. But always remember, well done is always better than well said, right?

A truly great winner is someone who sets his goals, commits himself to those goals, and then pursues his goals with all the ability within himself to a successful conclusion. The price, i want you to realize, will be hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether you win or lose, you have applied the absolute best of you black belt ability to the task at hand.

Remember the three kinds of people: those that make it happen, those that let it happen, and those that ask what happened. If you don’t invest very much, then don’t worry, defeat doesn’t hurt very much. and, of course, winning is not that exciting. Choice, in my mind, in this life, and not chance, should determine your destiny. Good is not good enough where better is expected. I’ll always expect the best from you and you’ll always get the best from me. You will simply become, in this subject, as small as your controlling desire, or as great as your dominant aspiration, no more and no less. I think all men are capable of great things. I see it this way, we are sent into the world with bills of credit, but very few people draw to the full extent. The black belt knows that the difference between the impossible and possible lies in your mind and your determination. A great feeling to a black belt is doing what others say cannot be done. Black belt master thinking tells us that ingenuity plus courage plus work equals miracles, right?

The real quality of a black belt’s life is always in direct proportion to his or her commitment to excellence and doing their best in all that they do. The difference, I think, between accepting ordinary and extraordinary is maybe just a little extra discipline. It’s a funny thing about life – if you refuse to accept anything but the very best you will very often get it. The key work here is refuse.”

BOK FU FITNESS

Warm Up:
2 times:
10 Push Up Planks
10 Roll Back
10 Shooters
10 Ninja Pistols (each leg)
10 Pass through with staff

Workout:
3 Rounds for total reps
1:30 Push Ups
30 second rest
1:30 Chicken Lunges
30 second rest
1:30 Double Unders (or single jump and tuck jump)
30 second rest

Warm Down:
5 minutes belt stretching