From my heart

  The 5 W's of Better Daily Decisions Kaizen — 1% better every day Opening We make thousands of decisions every day. Most of them are automatic — what to eat, which route to take, how to reply to a message. But some decisions actually matter. And those are the ones we tend to rush the most. Today I want to give you a simple tool you can use immediately. It's not new — journalists have used it for over a century. But applied to decision-making, it becomes something powerful. It's the 5 W's: Why, What, Who, When, and Where.   1. Why? START HERE — EVERY TIME Not 'why' in a philosophical sense — but practically: why does this decision need to be made at all? This question alone eliminates a surprising number of decisions. You'll find that some things you're agonising over don't actually need a decision right now. Others aren't really your decision to make. Why is your compass. Without it, you're just busy — not decisive....

I practice Sonhahm Taekwondo. One of the goals of the ATA is to instill certain life skills in the students, and in so doing build their character. At the beginning of each class or event we recite a declaration or oath. To me, the declarations we make, is also about how we should conduct ourselves as people in everyday life. I have spent a long time in the Defense Force and as a young officer we were taught the skills of Courtesy, Loyalty and Respect. I just wish that we can teach these same skills to the public at large. I am seeing and experiencing the lack of courtesy, loyalty, respect, integrity and self-control that the people have around me. People of a non-profit group being outright rude, children being rude to their parents, senior (in rank but junior in age) people being rude to juniors (in rank but senior in age). What happened to common decency, courtesy, and respect? We do not have self-control, and we do not teach our children self-control and even th...

I came across this post from Bryan Ward this morning: Every day you are beaten :  Beaten by the leaky sink you keep avoiding. Beaten by the applesauce on the wall you keep not scrubbing off. Beaten by the dent in the drywall you keep putting off fixing. You long to conquer mountains, yet every day you are beaten by molehills. All these little problems… they should be so easily solved. Yet they go on defeating you, day after day, until at last you conclude that you are not a capable man: If you are this easily defeated, “surely” you do not have what it takes to win the bigger fights: to become your fittest self, to create a business empire, to create works of art that will outlast you. Hell, you can’t even fix a leaky sink: might as well f*** off and go watch TV. But you’ve misdiagnosed the problem entirely. … One summer day when I went into the workshop, I saw that the plastic gas cans by the tractor were bulging like balloons. I had left the vents closed, and the hea...

It is easy to become discouraged and depressed, when we look at the recent shootings in France, the State Capture in Southern Africa, the seemingly carefree spending and corruption of governments, Europe being over-run by demanding asylum seekers. Where is this going to end? Is it ever going to end or are we hurtling towards another war? Many doomsday preachers say that the end of the world is close. I do not know if it is, too many people have said it is through the ages. However, when we look at certain scriptures it certainly does look like it: Matthew 24   6"You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened,    for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.    7"For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in  various places there will be famines and earthquakes.… It also said in this chapter that the end will not come until the Good News has been preached...

The heresy of worshiptainment | Mike Livingstone : "More recently, David Platt has asked: “What if we take away the cool music and the cushioned chairs? What if the screens are gone and the stage is no longer decorated? What if the air conditioning is off and the comforts are removed? Would His Word still be enough for his people to come together?” (Radical)"

Christmas is the time of year when families get together and have fun. It is the time when billions are spent by consumers, succumbing to the perfect marketing strategies of the chain stores, just to bring 'joy' to the world!  Christmas is also the most lonely time for the elderly, homeless and orphaned. While we enjoy our meals and presents, please remember those that have not, and remember what the "Joy to the world" actually means.

From the Autism Speaks site This guest post is by Mara Fineshriber a mother, official water bottle bringer, head cheerleader, chauffeur, chief bandage applier, financier, head of complaint department, and homework enforcer.   How my son with autism became a martial arts champion My son, Ethan, was diagnosed with autism at age three. I remember thinking he was more behind on his infant and toddler milestones than his older sister was, but I didn't think too much of it because we are often told that each child is different and the range of "normal" is pretty wide. He didn't begin walking until almost two. He could speak a lot of words at 12 months but they were never his own. He would simply mimic back what others said to him. Communication got much easier when he got to a place where he could answer yes or no, but it wasn't until we completed a lot of therapy before he could answer anything open ended. He is as literal as the day is long and sarcasm,...

At times I place posts from other people, posts that show that Taekwondo is not just about kicking and punching, but Taekwondo is about changing people, about changing lives.  Here is one such post, the life story of Debro van Wyngaard. She wrote this as part of her Black Belt assignment. She is practicing Taekwondo at  TTA Pretoria . Debro is married with two children (a boy of 11 years and a girl of 5 years).  For the past 17 years she has been working as a social worker, working with children in alternative care (specifically children in children’s homes).  She has been doing Taekwondo since 2009 and started to introduce Taekwondo to the children of Jakaranda Children’s home in June 2012.  The Journey of the Bonsai My journey as bonsai started in the wide expanse of rural South Africa, there where time seem to stand still and one's soul is set free. Never in my wildest dreams did I think, that I, a humble fig tree, w...

It is never too old to start. I came across this  Video  the other day on a Facebook Group. I know it seem illogical but Martial Arts (Taekwondo) can be for every age. You do not have to take part in sparring or forms, but the complex movements of the Martial Arts stimulates the brain and rejuvenates the person. Have a look and enjoy. Video

Well, there you have it, I have started doing Taekwondo, at 53! I suppose it is about time. With my wife and son doing it, I did not realy have a choice to get involved.  I was thoroughly challenged when I posted photos of myself running the Comrades maraton back in 1993. But it was also a warning from my body to stop being a couch potato and get fit.  For the first time in my life I am doing a sport that involves coordination. I played tennis at school but 75% of the time I missed the ball. I tried rugby once or twice at school, but the notion that I have to run after an egg shaped ball that most of the time I cant even catch, did not appeal to me at all. I resigned myself to the fact that I have no ball sence and left it at that. However, after I started working I kept fit, being in the military did not really gave me a choice and I enjoyed it, I especially enjoyed running, because it tested my endurance and stamina. I enjoyed it so much that I started running marathon...

Well, they trained, they cried, they shouted, they travelled 40 hours via Hong Kong to the USA, arrived in Little Rock, Arkansas, and they conquered!   The full ATA SA Team at the ATA Headquarters in  Little Rock Arkansas ATA SA performed exceedingly well for a small federation (ATA SA compares to some clubs in member total, so I heard).   There were about 20,000 participants and supporters from about 26 countries, and South Africa brought back 17 medals! It was a difficult road to the Worlds 2015 for all. There were financial concerns (attending members had to fund themselves, and I must say, it brought out entrepreneurial  skills in some), Visas had to be obtained, vehicles rented, rooms booked in hotels and inns, and then of course the administration issues had to be dealt with by ATA SA administrators, oh yes, in between it all, they had to train as well. But in the end they arrived in Little Rock, acclimatised, (the team ...

I did a post some time ago about Taekwondo achievement, something that someone achieved against the odds. I believe that we need more of those stories, the kind of stories that brings hope and inspiration. Being involved as a supporter and spectator of Taekwondo brought me into contact with some of the  students and supporters of ATA South Africa.  On Easter Sunday I had the privilege to attend the  prize giving ceremony of the ATA SA Masters Camp.  Two of the presentations stood out to me that day,  the one was the Masters Award to CJ for his contribution to Taekwondo and the other was the  Grand Master Crystal presented to Anecke Viljoen, from the Traditional Taekwondo Academy. This post will be about CJ Engelbrecht from Iblackbelt Academy. Like I said before, not everyone are equal in sport, some excel as a result of natural talent,  some buy into it (unfortunately true in today's world, especially high profi...