PARTICIPANT CASE STUDY:
Peter Brooke
Peter Brooke is an independent project management consultant who has been training with Paul Perry at Jin Sei Kai Corporate Services International for over seven years.
Peter has worked with a range of companies and individuals in the public and private sectors, including London Underground, Transport for London, English Nature, Thomas Cook, Claridges, The Savoy Group and Hilton International. He is a former Project Manger of the Year, elected by the Association for Project Management.
Here he talks about his training with Jin Sei Kai and the positive impact it has had on his personal and professional life.
Balancing work and life stress
“My work was – and often still is – very stressful. Until recently I regularly found myself in a situation where my executive clients would expect a high level of performance and output from me, but their staff, who I relied on to fulfil project objectives and expectations, were often committed to other jobs.”
“I also absorbed a great deal of personal pressure, including a demanding family, long working hours and travelling for over three hours a day. I was exhausted. I had been on the work treadmill for over 30 years and I needed to better manage myself, my attitude and my behaviours. It got to the point when my personal and professional lives were blurred and I needed a release from both of them.”
A chance connection
“I trained regularly with another karate association as a way to keep myself physically fit and try to instil a certain level of work and life balance. I felt this training was going well, but just before my black belt grading I started to suffer back, neck and shoulder problems. My instructor informed me that this discomfort was simply my body changing and that I should train harder: I knew this was the wrong advice and felt that I needed to find an alternative diagnosis and solution.”
“While travelling to work I spoke with another commuter about a karate book he was reading. The commuter recommended Paul Perry at Jin Sei Kai to help me with the discomfort I was experiencing. I took Paul’s number and made contact straight away.”
“I think that Paul was unimpressed with the quality of my technique and karate teaching that I had experienced to that point,” admits Peter. “He gave me a number of exercises to help to undo the ‘bad’ habits I had formed. I was so impressed with Paul’s knowledge, manner and style that I enrolled with Jin Sei Kai and haven’t looked back since.”
Rebalancing and moving on
“I now train once a week with Paul, and failing this, as often as possible. He really has had a profound influence on my personal and professional life and Jin Sei Kai has enabled me to learn how to manage stress and monitor the physical impact that work, colleagues, clients and day to day life can have. The training really has significantly improved my performance at work and my leadership capability,” says Peter.
“Paul identifies life issues that gnaw at you, but which you deny or are unaware of. He helps you to work through them physically and emotionally and explore opportunities that you otherwise might not consider or confront. Jin Sei Kai definitely gives you strength and courage to identify areas in your life where you need to consider and reassess your own perception and take the appropriate action.”
“I think it is very easy to seek help to talk through your thoughts and emotions, but until you learn to unlock these things at a physical level, you retain much of your deeper emotional stress and physical imbalances which need to be ‘let go’ to enable you to embark on a new route,” says Peter.
Jin Sei Kai in the workplace
“I always try to take elements of Jin Sei Kai into the workplace: obviously not the physical movements, but the more spiritual aspects or breathing techniques and attitudes that are a core part of its philosophy.”
“Jin Sei Kai helps me to manage confrontation and conflict in the workplace, both managing my physical reaction to it, as well as using the lessons from Jin Sei Kai to monitor my breathing and stay in control. By managing my physical reaction to a conflict situation I am able to stay in control and I can ensure that the situation is resolved in a calm and mutually beneficial way. To be in control without being controlling is important in the busy working environment,” comments Peter.
“The training has also enabled me to retain a genuine concentration and focus in my professional priorities, rather than constantly shifting from one task or issue to another. In this way, the training has given me the skills to do less and achieve more. I am now able to relax and focus on the most important assets – which are, more often than not my colleagues – as well as confront myself about my own beliefs and behaviour.”
“I have also been able to use the teaching and lessons of Jin Sei Kai in my work with teams, both as a team member and a leader. I think that Jin Sei Kai can help to create harmony and common understanding within a team and Paul’s experience of observing and coaching teams means he is able to assess team dynamics and introduce strategies for working through issues that might otherwise lead to conflict.”
“In short, the application of the philosophies of a carefully applied martial art has significantly improved my performance on the battlefields of modern life,” he concludes.
Notes & information
> This case study was prepared in April 2006.
> Further information on Jin Sei Kai’s work is available from Liz Burt on 07734 543 825 or by email at liz@lizburt.co.uk
