ucsd the giant

it seems that the ball is finally rolling now. ucsd has been "approved" for club status and we've been allowed, even encouraged, to start flyering and recruiting. so apparently sei and steve and paul and some others went out today and managed to hand out 600 fliers on library walk in two hours. it may have helped that there was another event on library walk around the same time - a vigil for the virginia tech victims. (i wasn't there, i don't know if they were in the same location.)

and practice has consistently had three lines of four or five people. that means around 15 people have been coming to class. sure, they're still almost all "blackbelts" but i'm just glad to see the same faces returning. it's true what sabumnim used to say - if you can come to class consistently it helps everyone, including the instructor.

how soon will ucsd become a giant in taekwondo like mit did? will it ever go down the same path? or are the two leagues and schools too different, and will ucsd find its own way, with or without me? i feel that maybe the whole attitude is changing. people who have been here realize it's more than just a hobby for some people, and that is slowly catching on. people who come to classes have different reactions now i think - maybe because things are better organized and new people can feel comfortable joining. i'm learning to teach better, and lead more interesting classes, and talk with more people so that they stay. overall it's all a learning experience, for the club members, for me, for everybody.

leadership will be crucial for the survival of this club. mit had master chuang, and christina park for a few years, and consistently had people like richard to be a role model in its fledgling years. who will be around for ucsd? will we (me, paul, steve, sei, mike) have enough time to create a structure and framework stable enough for the club to grow on even when we've left? or will it tumble down like a matchstick house, when the marshmallows holding everything together either melt off or are carried away by ants? (imagine sei being carried away by giant ants. hehehe)



ugh...this weekend will be tough. starting tomorrow - hard ucsd workout. friday - hard oceanside workout. sat - hard tkd workout at LA. sun - hard tkd workout at kti studio. no time to drink!!!