My Dear Omega Family:
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you! I love this time of year! I love sitting down and writing this letter to all of you. This has become a tradition of mine that is dear to my heart. I get the chance to sit and reflect on you and the past year that we have had at Omega Springville. Every year brings new experiences, new students, new challenges, and new triumphs. I love reliving them and writing down my feelings about them. As I have thought about what I wanted to share with you this year, I feel impressed that this letter needs to be a little more personal than past letters. Personal in a sense of things that I have learned and experienced. I hope that is OK.
You know… when Kim and I first had Ethan I could not imagine loving another human being with such unconditional love – and I didn’t even really know him. All I knew was that I was given the stewardship to take care of him and provide for his needs. This alone allowed my shoulders to grow a little broader to take on this weight of being a father. Then we had Sydney. I was worried that my love would need to be divided amongst the two of them and for Kim, my wife. Something amazing happened, instead of my love dividing, my capacity to love grew. Then Michael and Eric came along and my heart and capacity to love kept growing.
In 2003, when I first became a Kwanjangnim and started Omega Springville, I had around 40 – 50 students that stayed on after I took over Springville Martial Arts. We now have over 300 students and instructors. The very same thing happened; my capacity grew. I have learned that when I say that I love every one of you, this is NOT a fleeting comment; it is true. You are all part of the Omega Family and my love for you comes from the sacrifice that is given each day to stand against the evil, outside forces that wish to take away the sacred and special feeling we all feel while in our Dojang. My love for you comes because with greater stewardship comes broader shoulders and a greater capacity to love. I consider this position in life one of the greatest privileges of my life and I have you all to thank for that.
An amazing lesson that I learned this year was the true definition of Courage. I have always looked at Courage as being a characteristic we show when danger is upon us or a loved one. Although this may be true, I have learned that a more applicable definition for me is: Courage is ability I have to be vulnerable and open with those I love and trust. So, let me show a bit of courage and tell you some of the feelings I have experience this year.
This past July I had the honor of being awarded a 7 th DAN Black Belt and my title changed to Shihan. This was and still is very difficult for me to accept. The reason for this hesitancy is that this is the rank and the title that my beloved mom held when she passed away 7 years ago. In my mind she was and always will be Shihan to Omega Utah. After sitting with these feelings for a little while, I learned that I am not expected to be my mom; I needed to grow into what being a Shihan meant for me and not anyone else. I was presented with fears of inadequacy and doubt in my ability to “become” and grow into the next phase of my martial art journey. I realized that it is not bad to have these feelings. I do, however, believe that we need to develop a skill which allows us to quickly move past those feelings of fear and
doubt and into feelings of hope and love (for these two opposing feelings cannot exist in the same space). One thing that allows me to move forward is thinking about YOU. You all deserve the best possible version of me that I can give. For I know, acutely, that the feeling in the Dojang starts with me and the other head instructors.
I LOVE YOU ALL! I want you all to know that I will always fight for you. I will fight for your safety, for your sacred experience here in these four walls, for your personal journey that allows you to face yourself, and for the opportunity to become the best version of yourselves. I have learned, this year more than ever, that I am not alone in this fight. There is a tremendous team of students, staff, and instructors who feel the exact same way as I do. I thank God each and every day that I have the chance to be surrounded by individuals who are invested in the sacredness and safe journey of everyone who walks in through our doors. What an amazing blessing this has been to me and for Omega as a whole.
I am so excited for this upcoming year at Omega. We are constantly thinking of new ways to improve your Omega journey. We are primed and ready to implement some pretty cool changes which will continue allowing all of us to grow and become better. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Please continue to strive to be the best version of yourselves and lift others up both inside and outside the Dojang.
With All the Love in my Heart!
Shihan Richard
