State of the Now - January
It's fairly clear to you all that I've been going through some serious upheavals over the past few months, but the exact details haven't yet be divulged. Let me correct that now.
First off, I dropped the ceramics class. Not because I lost my interest in it, but rather that I kept running into issues at the Rec Center. Very inconsistent results, personality conflicts, non-uniform firing rates, and more had convinced me that it was time to move on. One day I'll get back in to it again, but the hobby became a distateful chore and I'd rather not let this permanently affect my love for the art. It was time to let go.
On the other hand, I had noticed a different kind of fire rekindling in me. It seems that you can take the monkey out of the martial arts, but you can't take the martial arts out of the monkey. I found myself craving the feeling of being a student again; no trappings of teacher or potential business partner to distract me. Hell, it's been long enough that I've lost my fitness level and technique as a black belt that I'm looking forward to starting over in a new art to rebuild.
When I was working under he-who-shall-be-named-henceforth-as Captain Fuckwit, I was ordered to infiltrate other schools as a potential customer looking for a place to enroll my (non-existent) child so I can learn how much other schoools charge, how they do things, and any other details I could glean to compare our school to theirs. (Yes, it's underhanded, but I was assured that it was a thing that done by everyone in the industry.) This information was also used to restructure our pricing system, our contract lengths, and much more, but we can see how all that turned out in the end.
In any case, one of the schools I reconned was in Boulder where I now work, and I felt this was as good a place as any to start. It turns out that they tach a form of Shaolin Kempo, a hybrid style of Japanese and Chinese arts, that's pretty successful and has positive standing with their grand masters. It was more expensive, certainly, but it was conveniently close to work and the hours were really flexible for my schedule, so I signed up. I'll be updating my thought on the whole thing as I go along, but so far I'm having fun with it.
So, there we are. Monkey's getting his groove back on, he's enjoying his job, and things seem to be on track for the forseeable future. Here's to hoping your new year is looking as positive as mine.
First off, I dropped the ceramics class. Not because I lost my interest in it, but rather that I kept running into issues at the Rec Center. Very inconsistent results, personality conflicts, non-uniform firing rates, and more had convinced me that it was time to move on. One day I'll get back in to it again, but the hobby became a distateful chore and I'd rather not let this permanently affect my love for the art. It was time to let go.
On the other hand, I had noticed a different kind of fire rekindling in me. It seems that you can take the monkey out of the martial arts, but you can't take the martial arts out of the monkey. I found myself craving the feeling of being a student again; no trappings of teacher or potential business partner to distract me. Hell, it's been long enough that I've lost my fitness level and technique as a black belt that I'm looking forward to starting over in a new art to rebuild.
When I was working under he-who-shall-be-named-henceforth-as Captain Fuckwit, I was ordered to infiltrate other schools as a potential customer looking for a place to enroll my (non-existent) child so I can learn how much other schoools charge, how they do things, and any other details I could glean to compare our school to theirs. (Yes, it's underhanded, but I was assured that it was a thing that done by everyone in the industry.) This information was also used to restructure our pricing system, our contract lengths, and much more, but we can see how all that turned out in the end.
In any case, one of the schools I reconned was in Boulder where I now work, and I felt this was as good a place as any to start. It turns out that they tach a form of Shaolin Kempo, a hybrid style of Japanese and Chinese arts, that's pretty successful and has positive standing with their grand masters. It was more expensive, certainly, but it was conveniently close to work and the hours were really flexible for my schedule, so I signed up. I'll be updating my thought on the whole thing as I go along, but so far I'm having fun with it.
So, there we are. Monkey's getting his groove back on, he's enjoying his job, and things seem to be on track for the forseeable future. Here's to hoping your new year is looking as positive as mine.