Newsletter
"The Source"
Enhance
Your Training
By
Rich J. Van Donk, Shihan
How
dedicated are you to your training? Do you practice once
a week? Twice a week? Daily? I highly suggest that you
create a personal goal list of the things you want to
learn from this art. List them in a sequence that is easy
for you to maintain. Put a carrot on a stick out in front
of you in the way of a reward. Treat yourself when you
have reached a goal. Most of all get a notebook.
My students who get a notebook and write out their learnings
after every class grow about 10 times as fast as students
who don't. Using a notebook will teach you to think and
to draw. Don't worry if you don't know how yet, you will
soon enough.
Let's
say you want to learn footwork. A suggestion would be
to practice walking many different ways using different
muscles in your legs to strengthen them and to stretch
them. Then maybe you would watch Ninjutsu tapes of mine
or Soke Hatsumi's and just do the legs movements and foot
work. Write out the patterns and draw diagrams of how
the feet move. Stick figures are fine. Create personal
drills to enhance your foot work, like short kicking control
of a ball against a wall. Study boxing footwork, play
soccer, watch or practice different dance steps. Then
go back to the Ninjutsu system and do the footwork again
to ground yourself into your art. You will be amazed at
how much your studies will improve your art. This kind
of study on each phase of your training will enhance it
tremendously.
Be your best,
—Shihan Van Donk
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