A New Outlook for 2026! The Year of the Fire Horse

I love the holidays and I love the way we all embrace the magic of the season. Then I really

get a kick out of the mad dash we all make to get back to training in January. We seem to

give each other a pass on overeating and over spending and then its January and the pass

expires. It’s all part of the American way and I do love it.

It helps to have a plan and it really helps to stick to it. I saw a you tube where a man said we

have to get addicted to discipline. At first I scoffed at that but the idea didn’t leave my

thoughts for a few weeks. I thought of the white belt years when we set our minds to a

regular training schedule and we boosted it by doing exercises at home like sit up and push

ups. We did it because we were sick of being folded up by green belts in sparring classes. We

didn’t want to be the one who couldn’t do the warm ups. Push-ups were never my strong

suit. I detested them and then I decided to beat them and then love them. I tried it all.

Never learned to beat them. But I loved time I took every night to stretch and sit up and

practice the leg stretches. By the time I approached my yellow belt test I felt stronger and

had learned how to practice. It was a discipline that serves me still. I worked my way

through the ranks and added more and more to my non dojo time to upgrade the stretches

and added weight training. Discipline was my friend and my drill sergeant but it worked. I

guess I was addicted to discipline after all.

Now I’m older and retired so I don’t have the schedule I had when I worked and trainings and

taught classes 4 days a week. And now I can talk myself out of a walk or stretching hour

pretty easily! But I also noticed that Im not getting my daily Qigong practice in and im not

getting everything done around the house. I feel like Im behind all the time! So starting

tomorrow the discipline is back and the routines will be developed. The holiday slump will

not hit me as hard because I will discipline myself around the wonderful food and the binging

tv shows I love. But most of all I will double my Qigong training so that I can stay healthy and

keep my shine polished! I love to shine when I walk into a room full of people and watch the

vibrational frequency of health and happiness make its way through the room. I love talking

about Qigong and Reiki and a daily meditation practice. Then I tell them the Qigong is

considered to be the strongest Martial Art on the planet. Yes it is! But it takes a lot of

discipline to keep shining and I am determined to enter the year of the Fire Horse like Lady

Godiva in a gi! 

My teacher always said the greatest gift we can give our teacher is to

practice. Think about the power of that statement! All of you Set Vr users can use this

game to become stronger and more aware of your talents and your surroundings. 

Get addicted to the discipline of a daily practice that encompasses all the tools available to you.

Let 2026 be the year of your new attitude toward training.

           -  Karen Schlachter