Minor, Ami - Rolling with the Punches

I am a planner, I like to know what's going to happen and when. Saturday was definitely a struggle for me, as we (the 2019 BB Candidates) embarked on our 'Secret Event'. The uncertainty and lack of knowledge was getting to me, and I'm almost positive that the 3 hours of sleep I got the night before was not helping me either.
We started off our day at the studio with a By-in of 100 Burpees as a team, luckily that broke down to 25 a piece. After our by-in, we gather up all of our belongings and headed out, all of us candidates loaded up into KJN's car and as if not knowing where we were going next wasn't enough, we were blindfolded. Now take a second to just imagine this, two adults and 2 teenagers blindfolded in the back of a car, not suspicious at all. After we were all buckled up, KJN drove us around, like a crazy person..., a sharp right turn here, a couple doughnuts in the parking lot then a drive through Gresham. I like to consider myself pretty directionaly aware. So, that made it easier for me to figure out where we were. I'm able to just close my eyes and envision the road in front and around us with that I was able to navigate and figure out the possible locations we may be going. The first stop we made was actually back at the studio, where KJN gave us Safety Cone Orange shirts, after the studio we went to the Gresham Saturday Market, where we were sent on a landmark scavenger hunt, after our scavenger hunt, we met back at Base Camp and answered some questions. What we learned from the questions: We need to brush up on our Geography and forms. After trivia, we loaded back up in the car, blindfolds on, and headed off to our next location. Again, following the road (yes, I'm still blindfolded) I was able to tell that we were headed down Eastman Pky, which was then followed by a sharp left turn. I figured we were headed to Blue Lake Park, which was correct, and from there the real craziness began. Our first assignment was to go Geo-cashing to find our next clue, once we found our Geo-cash we had to solve four different puzzles which would then provide the coordinates to our next location. After a good 30 minutes spent trying to interpret the puzzles we entered the coordinates and were off to the next location, the boat dock, at the boat dock we met up with Master Nick who lead us through a workout, which was different from what we'd done before and though not in the moment, it was fun. After finishing our workout, we were given out next clue which lead us to play a nursery rhyme, to move on, and let me tell you, for someone who is not very musically inclined, my rhyme was off key by quite a bit. Following our musical skills we were sent to an open field where we did our forms, and performed it blindfolded. After our forms it was time to load up in the car again and head off to our almost final location. After driving around, we were dropped off in a parking lot and told "See you at the studio" from there we navigate our way back to the studio for some stretching, foam rolling, and dinner. 
All in all, this 'Secret Event' wasn't as bad as I had prepared for and was definitely more fun. It's time to spend with your team, to learn more about each other and find your strengths and weaknesses. 

- Ami Minor
3rd Degree Blackbelt Candidate

Comments

  1. Lia London, authorSeptember 18, 2019 at 7:40 AM

    I'm so glad you ended up having fun! We knew it was going to be totally different from anything you'd done before, and the very quirkiness of some of the assignments was meant to be be a good mental challenge in problem-solving.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blog #14 - 30 Day Ab Challenge: A Matter of Grit - SBN Samantha

A couple months ago, we were asked to complete the 30 Day Ab Challenge by KJN Jeremy.  I started off strong, but puttered out during the final 10 days, and all the progress I made on a stronger core just kind of went out the window.  So, I'm starting again, today.  The reason I'm writing about this has to do with self-discipline and fitness; it's a constant battle.  I have this tendency to start something with fervor and zeal, and then lose my motivation somewhere along the way.  While reading Grit, I've discovered that I don't think I have that much Grit...at least not when it comes to working out. 😂  I'm just not that passionate about exercise, and I think that's why martial arts became such an important part of my life.  I am passionate about learning and developing myself, and that's what martial arts is to me; it just happens to improve fitness as well! Thinking about the 30 Day Ab Challenge with this in mind, I have decided to focus on the w...
Read more

Minor, Ami - The Interview

A couple weeks ago I received an email from the reporter of our local newspaper asking if they could do a feature on me. This caught me by surprise because a lot of the work I do is in the background/behind the scenes and not many people notice or know about what I do. Or at least I don't think they do... I don't work for the recognition, or to be commended, or for the money really, I work for the experience and the sheer fact that I enjoy what I do. My work is not your everyday Joe's work, but quite the opposite, my job consists of improvising, adapting and overcoming. I make whatever I have work, and show the clients that though I am a student, I am just as capable of getting the job done as any other person.  When it came to the actual interview, I was beyond nervous and unsure, but lucky me, the reporter was the nicest person ever and made it feel like a normal conversation not an interview. I can't wait to see the article and how it turned out.  - Ami Minor 201...
Read more

Minor, Ami - WOW's

One of the testing requirements was to perform a WOW for each Dan of the rank you are testing for. For me, that would be three. A WOW is something that simply makes someone say "WOW". At the beginning of the test, I had no clue how I was going to get one WOW done let alone three. Between wrapping up the current school year, work,  summer internships, firefighting camp, FBI camp, starting my Senior year of High School, applying for scholarships and colleges along with interviews,  I didn't think it was possible. Well, six months later, I'm here to let you know that it wasn't easy carving out the time in my very 'open' (BUSY) schedule, but I did it. It took vigilant planning but with the help of my teammates, I was able to complete my WOWs. For me, helping and serving others something I enjoy, something that comes naturally. So when it came down to my WOWs it was simply waiting and listening, listening for KJN to mention something he'd want to do but did...
Read more