editorial / Greg Ryman A Little Help through the Doldrums

Mr. Ryman is a fifth degree black belt under the instruction of Grand Master Chung Kim and the former editor in chief of Tae Kwon Do Times magazine.

 Have you ever felt that you are in a rut, and not able to see any improvement in your art? I
would like to offer a few theories, which have always worked for me, to help get through these
times.

 "The Two Week Return on Investment"
  I have noticed that I can eat anything I want and will not notice any change in my weight the
next day. I have also found that I can work out for several hours with heavy weights and the next
day I can see no change in the size of my muscles. Oh, the next day and perhaps the second one
after may be filled with discomfort but my body is not noticeably changed. 

  Of course I am not unique. My students have noticed the same phenomenon when practicing a form,
an advanced technique or when sparring. They can train very hard one day but alas, the next day
they notice little change in there overall speed and abilities. It can be quite disappointing. I
have seen many people quit because they could not see the subtle changes that take place day by
day. This is where my theory, "the Two Week ROI," comes into play. I have calculated that the 
time it takes for today's actions to manifest themselves (as a bodily change) is exactly two weeks
seven hours and 34 minutes ( I have rounded it back to two weeks for simplicity). That means that
if you overeat today, you may not notice it tomorrow but just you wait two weeks! On the bright
side, that hard work you are putting in at the gym is going to pay off. You just have to be patient
enough to wait for the results without becoming discouraged.

  You also must take into account "Ryman's Special Theory of Relativity." Einstein's theory of the
same name explains, among other things, that if you are on a train moving at a constant velocity on 
a smooth track, you can play catch or drop an object and to an observer on the train, it would look 
the same as if you were not moving at all. The idea of my theory is that you are on that 
proverbial train. As you improve from white belt to black and beyond, you are constantly in a state
of change and improvement yet because you are on the train that is changing, you cannot observe these
changes yourself. There are ways around this. You could videotape your promotion tests or tournament
participation, measure the number of boards you can break or the height of your jump-reverse side
kick; however, I have found that the best way to get an accurate reading on your improvement is to go
see your mom who lives in another state once or twice a year. Why your mom? Because she will always
tell you how great you are.

  So remember: 1) Keep training. 2) Don't be to quick to judge your results. 3) Go visit your mom
once in a while.  Pil Sung!