Sunday Story...Change is a coming

Change is coming to Relentless Martial Arts

What follows below is the letter I sent to my students and athletes yesterday. For those of you following this blog, it will continue. I may be a bit hit and miss over the next few weeks so I ask your understanding. If you have any questions feel free to call or write me.

After close to 20 years of teaching martial arts here in Fernley, I have decided to move to Dallas TX. Rather than close the doors a consortium of highly qualified teachers and students have decided to step up and continue the work this school has been doing in the community these last 2 decades. We will be moving the school to a (yet to be disclosed) new location. Wendy Tustin (soon to be 3rd degree black belt), Rick Lauk (soon to be 2nd degree black belt), Richard Lynn (soon to be 2nd degree), Scott Dalton (soon to be 1st degree)and Dennis Clark (soon to be 1st degree) will be leading the TaeKwon-Do side of the school, with Mr. Clark spearheading the After School Martial Arts Program. Matt Waipa, a Charles Gracie Team Purple Belt and Naron Antone, a Charles Gracie Team Blue Belt, will run the Brazilian JiuJitsu program. Dani Northington and Linda and Brian Pike will head up our FIT program. Working together Dani Northington and Linda Pike will also lend their years of organizational expertise in coordinating all three of these divisions and the resulting paperwork and administrative details.

I remain the overall leader of this venture. I will continue to guide the martial arts teaching, visiting several times a year to assist in the administration of tests and curriculum development. I will also be behind the scenes guiding and developing the FIT program into the premiere strength and fitness program it has already become.
I have been teaching here in Fernley for 17 years. Throughout the years, I have grown, changed, learned and formed friendships here. I have been deeply affected and I have not come to this decision lightly. As a matter of fact, it took a very unique opportunity to pull me away.

I have had thousands of children and adults who have earned belts in TaeKwon Do ranging from the basic white belt to advanced degree black belts. About 50 of you earned black belts. I couldn’t be more proud of your accomplishments.
Together, we have done many outstanding community projects ranging from the community garden (which donated over 2,000 pounds of food to our local food bank), to 15 days of kindness, to helping send care packages to our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have also produced thousands of acts of kindness over the last 7 or 8 years since we began the Acts of Kindness project. I like to think that we have made our world and Fernley a better place to live and play. None of those things would have been possible without you and your efforts.

To all of you, I hope our time together has been well spent. I have enjoyed being your teacher, coach, mentor and friend. Some of you I have known for a very long time; I have seen you learn and grow and become stronger and better with each passing day. For those of you I have not had the pleasure of spending a long time with, I apologize that our time has been too short and hope I have managed to impact your lives in a meaningful way.

If you want to shift your TaeKwon Do training, please call Grand Master Grasso at 775-813-1150 and he will welcome you at his school in Reno. For those of you interested in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, please call Gary Grate at the Reno Gracie Academy at 775-830-4279. And for you CrossFitters, I highly recommend Battle Born CrossFit. Call Alena at 775-745-5144. Every one of these organizations is top notch and will be expecting your call.

I do have remote coaching and teaching programs available and there are some openings at this time. Call me at 338-2412 to discuss with me if this option is right for you.

I apologize to any of you who feel saddened by this decision. And I ask you to continue your training and keep doing the good work you have started.

Every beginning has an ending and every ending is a new beginning.

This is true for all of us.

I welcome people to stay in touch via my weekly blog at http://sunday-stories.blogspot.com/. My email will remain utffernley@gmail.com and my phone number is 775-338-2412.
Your friend,
John Mariotti
Namaste

Sunday Story...On Being Better

Sunday Story…On Being Better

In my TaeKwon-Do classes we always talk about Indomitable Spirit. We define this concept as “facing your fear and going ahead anyway.” This is also how many people define courage. That quality within us that has us getting up when we get knocked down. This is the stuff heroes are made of…that spirit that has those heroes fighting insurmountable odds, facing unconquerable opponents and attacking life head on in the face of sure defeat.

Today a hero was born. She doesn’t know it yet but a hero entered the world today. Today I witnessed Indomitable Spirit manifest in the world. Today I saw self-esteem grow and be displayed like a peacock fanning his feathers.

This morning at approximately 9:40AM west coast time Linda Pike started her 2nd Tough Mudder. For those of you who don’t know the Tough Mudder…here it is in a nutshell…run 10 or 12 miles up a mountain, face 20 or so obstacles like crawling in mud while getting electrical shocks, humping over (and under) huge logs placed 10 or so feet above the ground, climbing up a 14 foot wall and jumping off into a pit of muddy water, carrying a large log up and down a hill, and jumping in to a trough of ice (lots of ice) water and swimming under a barrier to the other side, and a whole bunch of other torturous tests.

Tough Mudder is not a race. Tough Mudder is a challenge. A challenge to you to help your teammates get through the course. A challenge to you to face your fear and go ahead anyway. A testing ground for courage and indomitable spirit. A challenge to you to emerge with a new attitude and a fresh smile born of accomplishment.

Linda Pike became a hero today. A mere 10 months ago she ran a very similar course and walked past/avoided over ½ of the obstacles. Today she defeated each obstacle. Today she faced her fear of heights. Today she faced her fear of water and not being able to see. Today she faced self doubt and negative self-talk. Today she faced down decades of demons telling her what she couldn’t do. Today Linda Pike became a hero.

Linda Pike looked into the maw of fear and defeat and snatched her self-esteem, her self-worth out of tthe grasp of those demons and like the warriors of yore shook victory from those steely cold unfeeling hands. Today Linda Pike stepped up and got counted among the heroes. She worked hard over the last year, of that I have seen. She showed up, picked up weight, learned new skills, sweated and yes cried once or twice on the road to this morning’s victory. But all those hours in the gym were a minor contribution to the display of courage and indomitable spirit I saw over 4½ hours today. What happened today was the blossoming of a new persona…one who believes in the aristocracy of effort and vision. This hero will view any obstacle as surmountable. This hero will step up and girding her loins, strapping on her weapons will step on to that battle field of human endeavor and fight tooth and nail to achieve victory.

Linda Pike I salute you and your performance today. You are my hero.

Namaste
John
“Teaching Focus, Inspiring Transformation”
www.martialartsnevada.com

Follow me at:
Twitter --- http://m.twitter.com/jmariotti
FaceBook --- John Mariotti
Blog Spots…John Mariotti
http://sunday-stories.blogspot.com/

Sunday Story…Work First

Go get your Webster’s dictionary out. Look up three words…results, success, and work. We all know what these mean…I’m mostly interested if you notice the order in which these words appear. Results show up first, then success, and lastly work. This is the only place that this occurs.

Work always comes before success or results. If you don’t work nothing else matters. If you aren’t willing to sacrifice, plan, deal with frustration and pain then you aren’t willing to work. You need to work to get results. It really is simple.

Too many of us focus on results we want. The goal we have in mind. I want to weigh 125 pounds, I want to dead lift 500 pounds, I want to be at 12% body fat. These are all results. These are all goals, the results we want from the effort we expend. But they should not be the primary focus. The primary focus is the work.

Work is what we do to get results. Work is what is required to get the results we want work is what we do to be who we want to be. Work is the glue that puts the results together to build the life we want to live.

I often say there is no “magic pill.” Well, I am wrong…the “magic pill” is work, and work includes sacrifice. Work includes doing some things you don’t want to do. Work requires that you stay on task as you move through the cycle to get the results you want.

We can’t just show up and think the work will get done. We need to be intentional and focused on doing the work. Results and met goals are the products of focused intentional effort also known as work. Results and success follow work not the other way around.
Forget about the results. Forget about the goals. Get your laser beam focus on the right work, the correct effort and the results will be there. Most people miss this part; they are so focused on the results, the end game that they forget about the mindset that it takes to get to that part of the game. Don’t be that guy. Don’t lose sight of the work and how you do it. That focus, that intention, that single minded effort to doing the task at hand with nothing else in mind.

This doesn’t mean that results aren’t important…they are. That would be a mistaken belief but so is thinking that results are the only things that matters. Work matters and work comes first before results and before success. Laser like focus on the work at hand yields the results you crave and need. Keep your priorities in order.

The only place success comes before work in in the dictionary.

Namaste

John

“Teaching Focus, Inspiring Transformation”

www.martialartsnevada.com

Follow me at:

Twitter --- http://m.twitter.com/jmariotti

FaceBook --- John Mariotti

Blog Spots…John Mariotti

http://sunday-stories.blogspot.com/