Black Belt Instructor was Mr. Flynn, IV Dan from Rock Springs. He taught a great class, working on everything from patterns to step-sparring, and he had some sage advice on the mental side of our training, just how powerful it is...how even a small amount of contact with a student can leave a lasting effect.

Mr. Flynn spoke on the tenets, asking students to define each one, then noted that even as we work on the most basic of techniques or patterns, they should always be executed to the best of our abilities.
We played a little 'foot tag', knowing ahead of time that the losing team would be doing pushups. When all was said and done, Mr. Flynn reminded us of something the General said - that in battle one person lives and one dies; there are no winners. In that spirit everyone did pushups.

He also talked about the fact that how we react to any given situation is our choice, no one else's. While you might be unhappy about something somebody else did or said, no one can make you mad...your reaction to the situation is entirely up to you.

Mr Flynn had the Black Belts doing some dallyon drills as well. He spoke of the need for forging and how important it is to do some dallyon training every day. It's not something that can be 'made up' at a later date. While forging will strengthen the surface of your tools, direct pressure will build up the structure behind the tool, also very important.

Wyoming Black Belt Class, December 2, 2007

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