Boot Camp

My new year resolution was to do things that I really want to do- sincerely from my heart. To make my resolution a reality, I begin the very first day that marks 2007 with something that I have been wanting to do for a few months. I begin my boot camp in White Mountain and Sedona, Arizona.

These are the pictures of the place where my boot camp a.k.a. training was conducted. Altitude: almost 6000 feet. Weather: almost 10 degree Fahrenheit every single day.

I was living at these mountains for 14 weeks. No smoking, no drinking, and workout everyday. In a summary I will tell you how it went.

Day 1: Arrival- 9 hours of flight plus delay from Indianapolis-Dallas to Phoenix, Arizona. Continues with 4 hours drive to Overgaard, White Mountains. Uniform and room keys were given. Two hours later, the pre-test was conducted. The training room was 15 minutes from my room, and I was running out of breath- because of the high altitude combined with my smoker lungs. After a one hour warm up- every trained counted how much I can do push up, sit up, and hold all the over stretched yoga and martial art posture. My feet was swollen from the plane and bus ride, I haven't eaten anything except one bar of snickers and a can of coke. I thought I almost fainted- but I wanted to push my limitations- I want to do this- and I know I can do it.

My pre-test result was not bad, though it falls in the median- 25 push ups and 40 sit ups in each 5 minutes that was given. The pre test ended at 11 pm.

Day 2: 6.30 am, near the lake. I was only wearing one sweater with a jacket- because I didn't bring my gloves and hat- I didn't check the weather in Arizona, because I thought it would be warm there. Little did I know that the training will be on the mountain. It was snowing. The snow was hitting my face so hard- my lips was dried and bleeding- and I can't feel my hands anymore, and this is only from 15 inutes of doing warm up. The instructor told us to run. Shit! I can't run- the snow hits my face harder and harder, I can't breathe, everything is dark, I decided to slow down and one by one each participant passed me, because I wasn't even running anymore- I was barely walking. Then Ricardo shouted from behind me. Ricardo is this big bearded Mexican guy from Illinois, Chicago. He is my team leader. He yelled and ran beside me.."You can do it!".."Move...!".."Run!". So I ran and ran and ran until I can only hear the wheezing sound from my lungs, and my heart was about to explode. After the run, we did the training in the training room- then came breakfast.

Day 3: Punching and Boxing training. Punch..punch harder. Aim higher, aim lower, kneel down, find your center, tiwst your waist. First punching style: 3000 times- and there was 10 punching style- which meant only one thing- I have to do 30000 punching in 4 hours. Left hand with right feet- Right hand with left feet, now right feet with right hand. Darn Lord..I can't even tell the difference between left and right. I remember how I was never chosen to be on stage during my childhood because I can't tell the difference between left and right. I remembered all the wrong turns I took in my life- but I am here to disconnect myself from previous judgment.

Day 4: Better confidence. I am just as capable as everybody else. I can do anything that I want, as long as I focus and work hard. Kicking lessons. Back side kicking. 360 degrees turning. Pivot kicking. I feel I want to vomit from all the jumping. Kick higher- as high as your chest, as high as your chest, higher than your head...AAArght..I fell down once, twice, and a lot more times..but it didn't stop me...

Day 5: "F@7k oFFF!, stop waking me up! I want to sleep-- " , I was bitter, angry and tired, and I just wanted to curl up in my bed and cry- but six people came and was banging my door. They finally left me alone- after I yelled on the top of my lungs to them. I went out to smoke. Two hours later, I joined them. Still with my frowning face- yet these people seems to trust me more than I trust myself. So, i learn to trust myself again. I learned the cool Bruce Lee style of martial art-and mastered it quite well. I felt so light because I know that I am in a safe place. A place where I can be myself, where I can be bitter, angry and lazy, where I can do whatever I want, and ain't no one is telling me what to do- yet still loves me.

Day 10: We were given sword. While everyone slept with their sword, I hate my sword- I don't want any extra baggage to carry, another responsibility to bear with. Especially because it is compulsory to carry it everywhere, including to bathroom and bed. I did it anyway. Everytime I think I can't do something, I will take another step. Because in the end, it is always proven that I can do it- but my mind keeps on stopping me by feeding all these negative comments from past experience.

Day 13: I fell in love with my sword. I grew to love it, since we were always together. We were almost inseparable. I stayed at the training room to practice until 1 am. Tomorrow is my TEST day.

Day 14: Test day. Graded both based on team and individual performance. I PASSED!!!