You learn life lessons from many different things: the experiences you have, your friends, family but one constant source of applicable life philosophy for me comes from The Simpsons (see clip above). This leads me on nicely to the purpose of this blog and an explanation of the title.
Kaizen is a Japanese term referring to a philosophy of changing for the better. We all have areas of life we'd like to excel at and if you're serious about making improvements I'm guessing you actively seek out resources in various forms to help you achieve your goals. The internet, books, videos etc there's definitely an abundance of useful sources of information and inspiration out there to help you, but how often have you taken the time to REALLY analyse your own experiences?
We've all at one time or another criticized ourselves for messing something up but what we need to do on a regular basis is focus on ways to improve from these events so we're better prepared the next time round. For the past 4 years I've been involved in a sport called CrossFit. "Constantly varied functional movements executed a high intensity across broad time and modal domains" but to the general passer-by who shows vague interest "lifting weights and stuff."
CrossFit is something I'm very passionate about and began as just a new way to challenge myself physically. I'd played basketball to a high level prior to starting this and didn't expect to find it particularly taxing but after my first workout I was pouring with sweat and gasping for every breath of air flat on my back. The weird thing was that during time of uncharted physical pain the first thought that popped into my head was "I can't wait to do that again!" I still can't explain exactly why CrossFit has this addictive effect but if I had to hazard a guess I'd say it's the challenge. People that do CrossFit (or at least stick with it) are people who enjoy a challenge, but what will always remain invisible to a spectator is that third dimension where a physical activity reaches an intensity that creates mental and emotional distress. This is something that among CrossFitters is an unspoken understanding. We all have our own ways of dealing with this and I'd like to share with you mine through this blog. This will be in the form of tactics I've come up with, people that have inspired me and/or learnt from.
Whether your a recreational athlete or competitive, I'm hoping my reflections will help you get more out of your workouts, do better in competition and edge closer towards realizing your full potential.
Until next time,
Jay
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