Chris Weissbach, April, 2006, vol. 1, no. 7

“ 80% of success is SHOWING UP!”
- Woody Allen

‘SHOWING UP’ is about Self-Responsibility. Showing up for your boxing classes is about taking responsibility for YOUR fitness and wellness. This is not always easy. Sometimes we have to master our thoughts and emotions before class, in order to tackle our body/mind and boxing skills in class. If an episode of ‘Stinking Thinking’ is interfering with SHOWING UP you have 2 choices:

Choice #1 : Try to fix your mindset, change your channel, think about or remember how GREAT YOU WILL FEEL after your class…

Choice #2: Suck it up. Grab your gym bag and GET YOUR ASS TO CLASS regardless of how unmotivated or uninspired you feel. Just doing it will give you the satisfaction of honoring your 8 week commitment to YOURSELF and WBK. In addition you will cultivate discipline and determination.

“The ultimate opponent is ONESELF. To actually overcome one’s own demons – is the true nature of VICTORY.”
- Deng Ming Dao

The training videos of students on our website are very motivating and inspiring! One must realize that these students have developed this high level of skill only after hours of PRACTICE - consistently ‘SHOWING UP’ week, after week, after week, for years.

Check out some of our COMMITMENT TO EXELLENCE AWARD recipients. These are students who have trained with WBK for a minimum of 5 years. They are a living, breathing and ‘walking’ example of our ‘GET YOUR ASS TO CLASS’ philosophy. It hasn’t been (and it still isn’t) any easier for them, than it is for YOU - they simply make it happen.

These students say it best! The following two quotes are taken from our Level 5’s – both are COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE AWARD recipients

PUNCHING IT UP: WOMEN DON GLOVES FOR HIGH-ENERGY BOXING KINETICS ,
Ottawa Sun, May 16 th 2004 by Denis Armstrong

“ Where else can you smack the bejesus out of something and not get arrested?” laughs Michelle Johston-Lupien. The 29-year-old has come straight from a frustrating day at work to her weekly class with Whitebrook Boxing Kinetics, a training program that combines boxing skills with cutting-edge kinetics. “ If you have a bad day at work you can work it all out here” she says.

EASTERN PHILOSPHY MEETS THE SWEET SCIENCE: THE FIGHTS WITH YOURSELF AT WHITEBROOK BOXING KINETICS
Ottawa Express, September 2004 by Chris Robinson (Level V student)

“ The physical body seeks only that which is easy, comfortable and pleasurable” says Kent Guindon who was Weissbach’s first student in 1997. “Lets face it: You and I might enjoy boxing but our bodies sure don’t. Our bodies would prefer we stay home, watch TV, drink beer and eat chips all day long. The trick is to get the body used to physical hardship. Training like this on a regular basis exercises the mind not to shrink from choosing what is difficult over what it easy. Hard physical training, in turn, creates such spiritual attributes as courage, patience, perseverance, selflessness, loyalty and compassion.”

The late Dr. Sean Egan was a contributor and mentor to WBK. Sean’s Holistic Approach to Wellness included 6 principles – the 1 st being SELF-RESPONSIBITY.

He believed that SELF-RESPONSIBILITY was at the center of wellness growth. Thus, assuming greater responsibility for one’s quality of life by making positive lifestyle decisions. Under this model, the heart of SELF-RESPONSIBILTY included 4 basic components – one of them being; CONSCIOUS COMMITMENT.

From Sean’s book ‘The Psychology of Health: In Pursuit of Wellness 3 rd Edition’

“Conscious Commitment means I have an active sense of accountability for my own wellness. Self-responsibility in wellness means active involvement, active commitment: I commit myself to do the best I can. Commitment means understanding how choices affect the daily quality of your life”

“ Individuals must realize that they themselves control 90% of the variables that influence their health, and NO DOCTOR, no matter how skilled can ‘improve’ one’s health.”

GETTING YOUR ASS TO CLASS consistently is SELF-RESPONSIBILITY in action! Your path to WBK classes and ‘improved’ fitness and wellness is literally a ‘road’ - biked, driven, bused or walked. Whether it will be a ‘road’ lots traveled or less traveled, is ultimately YOUR responsibility, no one else’s.

See you on the Gallery,

Chris “Get Your Ass to Class” Weissbach