Kenpo and Work and Family and.....!!!

[brianhunter]

The big balancing act!!!

I am curious as to what everyone does for a career, job etc. and how they balance it with kenpo??? I have had a hard time juggling family, work, and kenpo lately and I seem to be getting a little stressed about it!
How understanding are your spouses? What have you done when your schedule gets turned upside down at work every month? When you finally even out how have you eased back in???

I have tippy toed around the house at 1am going thru forms or gotten up at 5 am just to go thru techniques before work...how have youguys dealt with it?!?!?!?!?

 

[Michael Billings]

Kenpo is, at the core, a part of me. My family, ex-girlfriends, wife, friends, work, all know this.

I am an administrative law judge with some serious demands on my time. A very ill parent, and other life stressors. But when I do Kenpo, I just plain feel better, bruised, but better. I am nicer to everyone I am around. It helps me deal with the stress of a sick mother. I guess I just never considered it an option for Kenpo not to be part of my life.

Budgeting time is hard ... especially since we really cannot "Make" any more time. What we are alloted is what we get. "How do you want to spend it?" is the question. My answer is clear, but it is different for everyone.

-Michael
UKS-Texas

 

[jeffkyle]

It has been a BIG part of my life since I started it. I was just starting into my teen years, and I put alot of things on hold because of my training, and time spent at the studio. Friends, family, and social life were all interrupted several times by class, tournaments, and camps.

Everyone I know knows about my passion and whether they like it or not they have to deal with it.
Maybe that is why I am still single.

 

[Kirk]

Ah, the biggest thing for me in my life right now too. I have
class on mon, tues, wed, and thurs ... so I get up 30 minutes
early for workouts mon - fri, and just don't get to do much on
friday nights, saturday and sunday all day. Those days are my
wife's. I do what she wants to do, and for how long. She seems
content with that! I call it my "kenpo maintenance" days LOL.
Since my baby girl/little princess/angel/miracle girl goes to bed
at 8:30, I play with her as soon as I get home, until I need to
get ready for class. My wife sees that as family time. I spend
an hour after I get home from class with the wife, just us. So
far she's happy with it. I just watch less T.V.! LOL .. but for me,
that's totally fine. T.V's what got me fat in the first place LOL!

 

[Klondike93]

For me it's trying to find time for 2 schools. I help teach TKD at my friends school while going to another 30 miles away to learn kenpo. So my wife doesn't see me a whole lot during the week and sometimes on the weekend when I'm off attending a local tournament. So far she doesn't seem to mind a whole lot and sometimes joins in on some of the functions I have to go to.


:asian:

 

[Wertle]

I'm still a college student, and I find I have a difficult time training when I'm all wrapped up in the College Bubble. When I'm at home for the summer and for breaks, time for training is no problem >_< I actually considered waiting until I finished college to take my next test, but it was pointed out to me that real life certainly isn't any less busy than college ^_^

My goal for this year is to get someone else at my school interested. Preferably someone with a car, so that we can go to the head school of my system, which isn't terribly far away from my college town.

Even if they don't have a car, I have a much easier time motivating myself to train with someone else than on my own.

 

[tonbo]

I am a computer programmer, hopefully working my way into a DBA position. I am also going through a number of additional training courses, and spend a lot of time messing with computers. As I have mentioned before, I also have a wife and two kids (one is living in Hawaii right now, so....yeah, his life is hard).

My wife is also in the MA, so she understands my love for the stuff. Currently, I am not teaching at my studio, so that she can take the time to teach with hers. It didn't work out when *both* of us were teaching.....the kids got shuffled around too much, and didn't get a lot of time at home. Now, I come home from work and she goes off to the studio; I watch our son and cook dinner..

Lately, with work and study pressures, I haven't had all the time I want for MA. I still get in my weekly class, practice at home as much as possible, and get together with one of my classmates once a week to work on weapons. It isn't ideal, but it is tiding me through for the time being.....

One thing I will say, though.....for those people that complain that they have *no* time for MA......how much time do you spend watching TV?

That was directed at the whiners, ya know......those of you that seriously train can ignore that question.....

Peace--

 

[tarabos]

I'm a graphic/web designer...working mostly in print because of where i work. (i'd rather work in web design exclusively, but my area doesn't have as much demand for it as there is for print work). i put in pretty long hours...so i have to juggle a lot, and lose a lot of sleep. i get up around 5:30 for my pre-work workout, then i go have my class, lifting on the days i lift, and then after that i get in another workout, trying to get in sparring as much as i can.

scheduling is a real *****, and money is the biggest ***** of all. right now i'm single with no kids so i have more time than someone who does obviously, but i'm not planning on kids anytime soon. back when i was in college, my training got seriously depleted, being away from the school and always having some project to work on. plus you get out of shape if you drink too much, luckily i don't have that problem anymore.

 

[satans.barber]

I'm a student, only 20, so I don't really have to answer to anyone except myself

That means I can train as much as I like and not piss anyone off, which is nice, although all you older guys are depressing me with your 'my wife doesn't understand' comments....agh, I think I need to stay a bachelor!

Hehe, only joking guys!

It is affecting my life a bit though, I've got 1 year of my degree (Computing with AI in case anyone's interested...) left, and next year it would be advantageous for me to move somewhere so I can get a good job. I find myself wanting to stay local though so I can keep up my training, that's how important it is to me (there's other reasons too, but it's pretty near the top of the list!).

Ian.

 

[tonbo]

Heh, Satan's Barber.....

Here's one "old guy" who doesn't have that problem. I would say to not let anyone's story about "the spouse doesn't understand" slow you down on the bachelor front.....if it is an issue, you can bring up your MA during your dating. Simple solution: if your potential spouse and your MA don't get along, then one has to hit the road....you just have to make the choice...

Better still, hook up with someone that understands your passions early on. Do that, and you are set. Just don't favor the MA *too* much, or you may just come home to an empty house.

One last bit of advice: if you can get your spouse/significant other into training in a similar or the same art, well......training at home can always be pretty interesting.....*ahem*.....but we won't go there on a "family" board, no?

:rofl:

Peace--

 

[Wertle]

Man, we sure do have a lot of computery sorts around here. I'm double majoring in art and computer science myself.

Hmmm...maybe it means something... ¬_¬

 

[AvPKenpo]

Kinda funny you should ask. About a month before I got married I told my future wife my interest in martial arts. She said great I know the perfect school. That week we made an appointment, took the introductory course together, and signed a contract together. We started taking American Kenpo. Not long after we got married she got pregnant and bowed out of training, to resume later. Well 3 kids later she still hasn't made it back in . If I miss a class, she says her life is miserable because I have not got rid of manly urges:shrug:, she says when I go to class I am more calm and am more pleasent to be around. She does not like it when I miss a class.

Michael

 

[AvPKenpo]

Originally posted by Wertle

Man, we sure do have a lot of computery sorts around here. I'm double majoring in art and computer science myself.

Hmmm...maybe it means something... ¬_¬

Well you know why we are taking M.A. arts, don't you. We got tired of hitting a computer screen, throwing the mouse, and kicking the tower. We needed something that would strike back that we wouldn't have to rebuild.

Michael

 

[Kirk]

Civil Service Computer Programmer here too ... looks like
Kenpoists love their computers, or vice versa! No wonder the
kenpo forum here has more posts than any other! LOL

My wife doesn't understand my personal passion for kenpo, but
she does understand passion, and lets me go at it. So long as
I don't neglect her too much, or ONLY talk about kenpo when we
go out.

 

[Seig]

a Desktop Tech Team Lead for the evil bastards at Worldcom before they started the big layoffs. I am now a security guard. I work the night shift. So my schedule is, get off at 7 in the morning, get to bed by 9:30, get up between 4 and 5, eat supper, go to class til 9 and then go home clean up and leave for work. Luckily, TessMania loves Kenpo as much as I do

 

[tonbo]

Ya know, I have a theory as to why there are so many computer geeks here in the Kenpo forum....it goes something like this:

The IT/computer field requires a certain degree of technical skill, blended with analytical thinking. So does Kenpo. There's a lot of having to figure out *why* things work, not just *how* they work, in both areas. Seems like a natural fit.

Am I just up in the night? Anyway, that theory is based on some conversations I have had with other chip-heads who are into Kenpo, as well as my own personal views, so.....



Peace--

 

[Michael Billings]

That could also apply to engineers, accountants, anyone who likes to conceptually structure their learning. Come to think of it, I have both in my classes.

-Michael
UKS-Texas

 

[tonbo]

Actually, most of the adult students at our school are pretty technical. We have a couple of accountants, a number of engineers, a bunch of computer geeks, and so on.

Again, I think it's the level of analysis and concepts that appeal to the "detail" people.

Hey, I like it on general purpose--the detail is an added bonus!!



Peace--

 

[kenpochip]

I develop software too. There probably is some analytical attraction to kenpo. The other thing about this forum, is it will tend to attract the subset of kenpoists who are into computers, since it requires that one USE a computer to be on the forum in the first place.

Seig, did you work in Ashburn? I live near that campus.


Chip

 

[Klondike93]

It must be the hitting and weapons training that attracts us to kenpo Ya know they don't let us carry guns anymore (at least not legally )

Yup, good ole fashioned butt kickin, that's what us blue collar types like :rofl:


:asian: