As I looked around the room I was excited to see the National coaches from Canada and the States, head instructors, school owners from all over, and other competitors that I met in New Zealand or at other competitions over the years. We all came for the same reason….to get the best and most current TKD knowledge from Grand Master Lan. You could feel the excitement. For some people it was the first time meeting him so they had no idea what a treat they were going to get and for those of us who know him, we couldn’t wait to get started.
I think of Grand Master Lan not only as the Guru of Taekwon-Do but also a Life Coach. I wish so badly that all my friends and team mates from other sports that I play could spend time with him since everything he teaches can be applied in all areas of life or any other sport. The sport psychology aspect is amazing.
The morning session focused on the finer details of patterns. He always emphasises the importance of your breathing. No matter what level you are in TKD you can ALWAYS improve your patterns. That is what makes it so challenging and rewarding. Charisma is another huge important part of patterns. I think some people just naturally have more charisma than others but you can certainly work on improving certain things like eye contact, body language, breathing and sign wave. Confidence and charisma are almost the same thing.
While everyone had a lunch break I had to leave for a very important soccer game. I know some of my soccer team mates didn’t like me at the training session in the morning since they thought that I might be too tired or not focussing on the game but nothing could be further from the truth. To put it in perspective for them…training with Grand Master Lan is like training with David Beckham or Rinaldo 🙂
I left the seminar so motivated and energized.
We ended up losing the game 1-0. It was such a hard loss since it meant that our chances of staying up at the Ontario Youth Soccer League were extremely low. I felt so disappointed and upset since there were so many consequences of the loss. We still have another game tomorrow so it depends on that game and how the other teams do now.
It was hard to pull myself together to go back to the seminar for the rest of the afternoon but it was probably the best thing for me. I played my hardest for the full 90 minutes and there wasn’t anything more I feel I could have done. It was hard to lose by only one goal but we had to win this game to stay up at the Ontario level, not just tie.
The afternoon session was all about sparring and it felt amazing. Grand Master Lan says there are 5 things you can’t have to spar properly:
1. nerves
2. anger
3. not prepared well enough
4. fear
5. over-determination
The seminar didn’t finish until almost 6:00 and then it was off for a fun night out with everyone for dinner.
