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see Mark's previous Archived Motivator
Articles
The Aquatic Exercise Association (AEA) blasted off into
cyberspace and made their debut on the internet in 2000.
As AEA prepares to launch a new and improved
website, my thoughts return to five years ago when I
made my debut on AEA’s very first website with one of
the very first articles I ever wrote.
In the summer of 2000, I interviewed Angie
Proctor, AEA Executive Director, for an article I was
writing about the trials and tribulations of teaching my
first aquatic fitness class, specifically an aquatic
kickboxing class. The article, Aqua Kickboxing
– Get ready for this, was submitted to another
fitness publication but failed to get published.
In the meantime, I sent a copy to Angie Proctor
and she loved it and asked if she could post the article
on their new website.
Fortunately for me – I agreed!
Even better, the article was well received and
instructors seemed to enjoy reading about all the goofy
mistakes I made as I learned how to teach an aquatic
kickboxing class. With
lots of space available on the new website, Angie asked
if I wanted to write more articles.
Despite the fact there really was no pay
involved, I eagerly volunteered to write more articles
and Angie became my defacto editor.
Unbeknownst to me at the time, this
decision to write for AEA, coupled with my cross over
into aquatic fitness would literally transform my entire
fitness career.
With great pleasure - I look back on five years
of Light Hearted Leadership
and five years of teaching aquatic fitness.
At the time I wrote Aqua
Kickboxing, I had been teaching land classes for
five years and was fully immersed in the dark
era of my fitness career.
Somewhere along the line, I had forgotten that I
was supposed to be teaching fitness and instead became
more vested in creating killer choreography, hoping for
a coronation as the “King of Tapless Step.”
Thankfully, my rampant ego trip was
somewhat tempered by an emerging spiritual awareness.
The resulting conflict created a guilty conscious
which inspired me to write an article about my shameful
transformation from naïve rookie instructor into
ego-crazed choreographer.
I tweaked the article to create aquatic relevance
by confessing my fears of carrying over bad habits from
land into my new aqua class.
I sent Angie a copy of this very personal
article, Confessions
of a Choreography Monster (December 2000), and to my
surprise she posted it.
The “dark stories” revealed in Confessions
were a hit with readers and I got a ton of emails from
instructors who appreciated my honesty and related to my
struggles. The
success of Confessions
gave way to the idea of creating an on-going column on
the website. I
think it was Angie who decided to call it Light Hearted Leadership with Mark, which was later shortened to Light
Hearted Leadership.
In April 2001, I confessed even more fears and
dysfunctions in Small Class Phobia, an article which laid bare my obsession for
wanting to be a popular and well-liked instructor. Apparently, insecurity loves company because I received more
feedback on this article than on any other article I
have written for Light
Hearted Leadership.
Obviously, instructors enjoyed reading about
someone who was more neurotic than themselves.
Without doubt, Music
Freak (June 2001), was my most controversial
article.
In this angry missive, I took aim
at the major suppliers of fitness music and griped about
everything from out of control beats per minute to the
tantrums I threw grappling with the impenetrable
cellophane wrapper on the CD’s.
The controversy over this article was fueled by
the close ties that AEA had with some of the
industry’s leading music suppliers.
Angie was reluctant to post it without putting it
before a “review board” for political sensitivity
reasons. Given
the fact that the article would be in a personal opinion column format, approval was eventually granted.
As for the music, I’m still a freak but I have
developed a closer relationship with some of the major
music suppliers and I am well aware of the challenges of
creating legal
and licensed music. However,
I still wish they would put a pull tab on the
cellophane!
Of all my articles, I had the most fun writing, My
Most Embarrassing Moment in Class,
(September 2001). The
article revealed a collection of red-faced bloopers from
some of the industry’s top presenters, including
Pauline Ivens, Laura Ribbins, and more.
Ironically, my most light hearted and humorous
column, (Embarrassing
Moments) was posted just prior to one of the most
tragic events in the history of the United States of
America. Feeling
anything but light hearted, I asked Angie for permission
to post an article that reflected the somber mood of the
country after the terrorist attacks.
Teaching through a National Tragedy,
(October 200l), was a reflective compilation of stories
from instructors around the country, recounting the
various ways they handled the tragedy in their classes
during the days after the September 11 attacks.
Along the way – there was plenty of
aquatic controversy to write about.
How can you not write about the sizzling debate
over deck instruction?
In Darwinism
and the Deck, (November 2001), I
came out swinging hard and heavy in favor of deck
instruction, even referring to water instructors in
Jurassic terms by calling them sauropods. You
can imagine how well that went over with some readers!
I hereby now officially offer an apology for
calling some of my peers a sauropod.
In my next article, I offended even more
instructors by taking on the subject of arm flailing, or
in politically correct terms: The
felonious act of abusing non-aquatic arms.
Solving the Mystery of the Shrinking Upper Body, (April 2002),
addressed the issue of instructors cueing a majority of
their arm movements out of the water.
Apparently, I was still in a phase where I was
obsessed with dinosaurs because I wrote, “The mighty
pterodactyls still flapping their wings above the
pools…...”
Since I was on a roll with controversy, I decided
to tackle the subject of instructor pay, or better yet -
lack of pay. After
interviewing some industry experts, I wrote Negotiating
a Fair Wage (September 2002), an article that
provided instructors with some insight into a topic that
is normally taboo in workshops and conferences.
Naturally, I got some self-righteous e-mails from
instructors chastising me that we do it for passion not
for money.
An old cliché states the only thing worse than
having to say, “I can’t believe I did that,” is to
have to say “I can’t believe I did that AGAIN.” The article, Relapse of
a Choreography Addict, (July 2003), exposed my
struggles in recovery and revealed my recurrent
temptation for turning an innocent Rocking Horse into a
triple axle side aerial with a half gainer twist.
Looking back, it is obvious that the
articles I wrote after 2003 display a more constrained
and mature tone. In
autumn 2002, I became a continuing education provider
for AEA, AFAA, and ACE, and started presenting workshops
for instructors. As
I interacted more with instructors and listened to their
questions, concerns, and hopes, I developed a much
greater respect for their immense diversity. Above all, I learned that we all have one thing in common:
We want our classes to mean something and we want
to make a difference for our students.
Seasoned, softer, and wiser, I wrote The
Perfect Class (November 2003), an article reflecting
lessons I have learned on the journey; lessons inspired
by my own desire to make a difference.
Shortly thereafter, I followed up with The
Perfect Class II, (March 2004), an article based on
a survey of what students really want from a class and
from an instructor.
Supposedly more spiritually aware and touchy
feely, I was starting to feel guilty about slamming
instructors in my articles so I decided to bash the
students instead. In
September 2004, Mean
Students was posted and readers everywhere were
relieved to find out that they weren’t the only
instructors cursed with students from Salem’s Lot.
In retrospect, I can honestly
say that I have had a great time writing these articles.
The articles were always meant to be light
hearted and I apologize if I ever truly offended anyone.
More than anything, it has been my honor and
great civic duty to share my “dark stories” with
readers.
After all, it is common
knowledge that we always feel better about ourselves in
the presence of a dysfunctional friend!
COMING SOON!
Light
Hearted Leadership makes a one-time appearance in
AKWA!!
The touchy feely
honeymoon is over and the gloves come off in this
instructor bash!
SUPER
SIZED EGOS
When instructors fall from grace.
AKWA,
August/September 2005
Stay Fit and Motivated!
Mark
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