spective is so retro nowadays

Strangely, I didn't really think about UBBT 6 ending. I saw it more as the next step in my training, a permanent change in the way I think about the martial arts: a stage rather than a test. Even this ending is just a gateway into the beginning of UBBT 7: so it's appropriate I should talk about the past year in light of the next.

Especially since we began in September, it seems like ages since the test began. While these 16 months have flown by in a certain respect, I've experienced so much I get dizzy thinking about it. I graduated university, moved to China, even joined a band. Every day was full and exciting. Oh sure, I sometimes had trouble getting out of bed or going to class, just like anyone. On the whole, though, I managed to stay engaged with each day. This, in fact, has been the best year of my life because I worked so hard and so mindfully.

But the fun part is, things are just going to keep getting better.

I'm looking forward to more time in China, then moving to Vancouver. Hanging out with my amazing friends in that city, starting my master's, and trying to take my training in new and exciting directions. All good things.

There will be problems, of course. I'll be stressed, broke and there will be many days where I'll have trouble getting the motivation to do my pushups, let alone train. But that's ok. Stress means I'm challenging myself. No money means I don't have to care about it: enjoying the true pleasures of life instead of the consumerist wasteland. And no matter how much I don't want to train, I can and will--making it mean all the more.

The UBBT this year was a means of focus. A lens that has started to turn me into a laser beam. But that focus isn't obsession. Taking my training into the world has taught me that being alive takes work. Putting everything I have into my training has let me put everything into daily life.

I think the best thing I can say about UBBT 6 is it wasn't the race. It was the starter's pistol. Instead of winding down after a long and difficult journey, I'm amped to go further and harder this time.

So bring it on, because this year I'm going to get more out of myself and my life: more training, more positivity, more engagement and even more tattoos.

(ps- sorry about that last thing mom)