What Would Chuck Norris Do?

A couple of weeks ago, as I was preparing to participate in a kickboxing "gauntlet" class for returning students, I asked Ryan if I should go for speed or slow down a bit and focus on my form.  "Speed," he barked, "you don't have any form."

Ouch!  While I bent down to pick up the tattered pieces of my ego that now lay scattered on the floor I could only think, "What would Chuck Norris do?"

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we kickbox.  I LOVE kickboxing.  There is something so primal, so liberating, so satisfying about punching, hitting and kicking an inanimate object. But like most everything in life, it is harder than it looks.  There are elbows to tuck in or level out; knees to bend, hips to turn, toes to point, weight to shift and fists to position.

But while it is true that on the outside I'm a kickboxer who is very much in training, who is working hard to get the elbows, hands, feet, hips and power working correctly, on the inside, I am the star of my own action adventure, fearlessly defending good, efficiently conquering evil, and heroically saving the day.  I AM CHUCK NORRIS!

I don't know a single person who doesn't love Chuck Norris.  We love his moves and we love his movies.  But let's be honest...Chuck Norris can't act.  And you know what...not only do WE know Chuck Norris can't act, CHUCK NORRIS knows he can't act!  But does that stop Chuck Norris?  Does it stop us from appreciating what he does or what he's trying to do?  Absolutely not.  In fact, it just makes him more endearing.  We love Chuck Norris as much as we love say...William Shatner!( another actor who can't act and KNOWS he can't act)!  How is it possible that Chuck Norris, who has not a shred of acting talent, can be one of the most globally recognized cultural icons of the 21st century?  And what can any of this possibly have to do with kickboxing and NLXF. Well frankly, everything.

I believe we love Chuck because he gives himself permission to not be perfect. Through his willingness to share what he does so well (martial arts) within a venue that he doesn't do well (acting on screen), he unwittingly gives each and every single one of us permission to do the same...to not only do something we aren't very good at and want to get better at, but to embrace that very process.  And in doing so we expand ourselves not only in terms of what we CAN do, but by what we BELIEVE we can do!

I am a teacher.  I teach drama and theatre to young people throughout the Cedar Valley and at UNI.  My students are often as young as four; they are very often college age or older.  I work very hard to instill within them this same philosophy....they have my permission to "play" with a process; to learn by doing.  They are encouraged and supported as they attempt, reflect on the attempt, adjust their approach to the attempt, and attempt again.  I believe this to be at the heart of my teaching.  And  I believe it is also very much at the heart and soul of the NLXF experience.

What I think we love; what I believe has captured the energy and passion and imagination of the 500+ people that work out at NLXF five days a week is the fact that Ryan and his team have GIVEN us permission to not be perfect.  They allow us the chance to do the jab or the hook or the roundhouse or the burpee or the whatever BADLY. (and trust me, I've done them ALL badly).  We are allowed to do them "imperfectly" as part of the process of developing the skill to do them better, to do them right., to get them perfect.   And allowing us to do them wrong in the spirit of learning to do them right is different from failing at doing them.  Ryan and company never allow us to fail; they set us up to improve.  They correct our mistakes at the same time they continue to challenge us.   And we love this because underneath it all their support has helped us understand and believe that we CAN do it right or faster or better or more frequently than we could when we first started...eventually...especially if we are willing to put in the time, the work,  and the practice.  The staff's collective faith in us generates faith in ourselves.  And because we aren't being "graded;" because they never compare what we can do to what they can do or to what someone else in the class can do, they motivate us to expand ourselves because they only demand that we compete with ourselves.  At NLXF my triumph at being able to do 10 pushups from my toes is celebrated, not because 10 pushups is perfect, but because those 10 pushups are perfect for me...they are 10 more than I could do four weeks ago.  And it is the very celebration of that triumph that inspires me to immediately work towards doing 20.

So the next time you find yourself facing what at that moment may seem like an impossible task consider asking yourself, "What would Chuck Norris do?'  And then jump right in.