Reflections

As I sit back and take stock of the year and my life, First, I look back and think that I am blessed to have a great wife and three awesome sons.

As I look at my life from a martial arts perspective, I also come to the same conclusion, if it was not for my wife, many things in the dojo might not get done, or be a nice as they are. My wife (Amber) is responsible for making the kyu and yudansha training manuals, I wrote them, but she designed and edited them, making them nice enough to be published. She also keeps track of the student record book and makes sure that it is up to date and she designed the menjo that we use, among many other duties she takes care of. As for my son's they are almost always on the dojo floor, training and assisting, they have picked up the slack left by the other yudansha. In fact, this year they have also taken over some of the classes, so that the students would have a more set schedule, with my work schedule, often we had a rotating class schedule. Now we have a fixed schedule. They are also on hand to assist me with seminars and are often on the receiving end, when I m working on something new.

In the dojo this year, we lost two students, that moved away, but we have also gained five new students. This makes the most students in the dojo since I closed the Carmel dojo in 2001. This year we also had a yudansha gasshuku and all but two yudansha showed up for training, some coming from thousands of miles away. My students are spreading out and opening dojo of their own, which coupled with new dojo that have joined the group, have moved us into several states and Canada. The future out look is good.

As for my personal training, I look back over the last year and feel good about it; I managed to train myself personally several hours, five days a week. I also spent a lot of time training with the boys, on our own. I was also able to train with a couple of my teachers. So I had a good year for karate.

As I look back over the last 34 years of  martial arts training, I like many others have went through many phases, there have been times, when I thought why am I doing this, why do I abuse myself in this way. Over these many years there have been ups and downs and times, I thought about hanging up my obi and packing everything away, but I persevered, trained harder, and made it through. Over all of this time, I have had the fortune to meet and share the floor with some great karate-ka; I have also met some really bad ones. I have met teachers that freely share with you and others that will charge you an arm and a leg, I have also been a part of some great association and have also found myself sucked into some really bad ones, and left holding the bag. I have had small and large dojos over the years as well. I have had students come and go, in the past, I would take it personal when I spent a lot of time with a student, and later they would quit. Now I realize that life gets in the way and karate is not for everyone. Each person will venture along the path in their own way, sometimes you will be guided and sometimes, you may find yourself alone, other times you may find that you have companions or followers. Budo is a selfish thing; you can only do it for yourself.

What I have come to realize the most, is that it is the journey and not the destination. It is the teacher and student relationship that is important. Rank is arbitrary; it only means something between teacher and student in your own dojo. I have seen Green Belts that have had more skill then 5th Dans, and 1st dans that had more knowledge then 10th dans. I have seen teachers be stingy with rank, holding on to it as if it was the Holy Grail; I have seen others hand it out like Halloween candy. While I have never handed out a rank, I have been guilty of just not testing people. Not for any reason, other then I get caught up in training and forget that someone has worn a belt or been a grade for years. I will do my best from now on, to make sure that if a student is qualified and has earned a grade that they receive it. As I get older, I understand the relationship of the teacher and student more and more, in my dojo, I will endeavor to keep that family type feeling and though I may not be qualified, I will try my best to be a good teacher.

In my personal life, there have been ups and downs as well, the financial state of things, has had its toll on my family, but we are surviving. I lost another grandfather this year, and I regret that I did not get too spent more time with him. All of my children have been hurt in sports related injuries, with some major and life changing injuries, but they are alive and I am grateful for that. My wife and I are in good health and I am grateful for that as well.

As I come to the end another year and approach the beginning of a new one, I will endeavor to be a better father and husband, I will endeavor to train harder and to be a better teacher and student.

Happy Holidays

Hello, I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

A Warrior's Training

I have trained in the martial arts since 1977, in doing so, I have had two goals to my training. 1) To be able to defend myself and survive, and 2) to preserve the traditional methods of karate. What I want to talk about today is my first goal, pleae don't confuse my comments with the new UFC craze, while it is a nice sport, it has nothing to do with what I mean.

In our lives as martial artists or Karate-Ka we do many things to grow ourselves. Much of it is presented to us by our sensei and many of us only do it when he does it again in class, or when we happen to come upon someone else who is doing the same thing. That only leaves us at the practice level. Practice is a must, but, when do we step up and train? Is there really a difference between practice and training? The answer to that question is yes. In my opinion, one must develope the mindset of a warrior and train like your life depends on it, because it may.

So how does one train like a warrior? What does it mean to be a warrior?

A warrior means many things to me. I have had the honor of knowing and working with many warriors in my life. They all share common traits. Military organizations are made up of real warriors. Police and fire organizations are full of them. I have known many  martial artists who would qualify for "warrior status".  Even though it may seem that I am only equating fighting/military/police with a warrior, I am not. Anyone regardless of profession can be one. It is a mindset.


First of all a true warrior is someone that stands by his/her principles and beliefs. It is someone that is committed to conquering his/her fears and self-limiting beliefs. It is not just about being positive but about waging the war against self-doubt and a negative mindset.


A firefighter or police officer will go into a burning building, save a family, and then say "it was nothing". A police officer will put his/her life on the line everyday without giving it a second thought. The combat soldiers that I have known have that mindset. They may feel fear but it does not consume them or stop them from accomplishing their mission. We take these people for granted, unless we share the same mindset. That is a warrior. Seems like no big deal? Well there are plenty of people who run the other way.


Training like a warrior means taking on the challenge of working hard. Of pushing yourself to the limits. The methods should be integrated, functional and in many aspects, primitive.


Military and Police type training is designed for that. It is brilliant in its simplicity and in it's functionality (for obvious reasons). Anyone that ever goes through any type of basic training starts to develop those qualities. It happens by overcoming challenges that seemed insurmountable at the onset. When you accomplish something that seemed impossible it changes you. The more you do that the "stronger" you become inside and out. You develop the habit. There is nothing like obstacle course training without sleep or  being blinded by peper spray and being made to efend yourself or fight, for making a person tough.


Traditional martial arts training can also develope these qualities. The work is hard, the attention to detail is exacting and the inherent danger keeps you focused. I can't recommend martial arts training enough for anyone looking for a great workout and greater self-confidence. It is said that a man learns his true nature in combat.


Another question is whether or not warriors are born or made. I am not totally sure. Most people never see their true potential and are not willing to put themselves in situations that would force these qualities to emerge. I think that their is a warrior in all of us. The trick is in finding the motivation to find it, dust it off and put a shine on it.


This is why I have so much respect for anyone that serves others, thereby putting the greater good ahead of their own needs. Whether you are a pacifist or at the other end of the spectrum, we all owe so much to the brave men and women that serve their country in the military or in police or fire services. They deserve our thanks and gratitude, and I am not saying that just because I am one of those people.

Now I understand that most people will not train hard, most people just want the new pretty belt handed to them and don't want to work for it. Most people will never even need the tools or knowledge provided in karate, because they will never be attacked. I have read the averages and the statistics, but do you want to take the bet that you will be one of those people? I don't, I know everyday when I walk out the door and leave for work, that it might be the last, my job is inhearently dangerous. I train on a daily basis, albeit, some days harder then others, but  always train with the mindset, that today will be the day that I have trained for all of my life.
Many of the training techniques and concepts that I am known for are based on traitional martial arts training and are great whether you are a cop,an athlete or a stay at home mom. They will develop the mindset, the warrior spirit and the physical conditioning needed to survive the chaos of combat and the unpredictability of life. Everyone that has experienced this training has found something that "spoke"' to their inner warrior.

Many of my students (and even police cadets) have heard me say that practice is for the body and training is for the spirit. That is an easy statement, that is very hard to fulfill even though many athletes do it all of the time. When you see athletes accomplishing amazing fetes that is the spirit at work. Martial artists can accomplish amazing fetes just as anyone else once they have transcended that level. So, it is that we must push ourselves to the limit, to step out of practice and into training. Are you willing to do that? How good do you want to be? Answer that not for me but for yoursef, but before you do remember, that you will fight like you train!


So are you a warrior? Are you ready to walk through life like a warrior? Are you ready to go through the tough training that it takes? If so, I wish you luck and success on your journey. It will afford you a life time of happiness and pride.

Please also remember that as you train your body and spirit, you must also train your mind, pay head to the dojo kun. Just because you train hard, and may have developed superior skills, to that of your dojo mates, there is no need for ego, or rudeness.

If you enjoyed my article, please feel free to leave a comment and please read this excellent article http://www.killology.com/sheep_dog.htm Lt. Col. Grossman expands on what I have said here and has some interesting view points.

Warrior Perception

A warrior, while engaged in a conversation, perpetually scans the area. The eyes
subtly shift, taking notice of the surroundings. This attribute is
hardly noticeable and appears to be a half-hearted disinterested glance here and
there. The peripheral vision concept is the Gan precept, and the primary tool of
any military, police officer, martial artist or warrior. It is a lifesaving
mechanism without which the warrior would be useless to himself and others. It
also must be utilized on an almost sub-conscious level, allowing the warrior to
key in on hundreds of indicators simultaneously without dwelling on one or two.
Then, when something unusual triggers a response the warrior acts immediately
with whatever action is needed to do the job. Gan is the most important survival
technique for people performing dangerous jobs.

We put aside the etiquette of what is considered proper conduct between people
engaged in conversation. Looking into someone's eyes is secondary to seeing
everything at once. The true warrior understands when another person does not
constantly keep his eyes fixed on his or her eyes during a conversation. This is
especially important in a fighting situation. During a battle, you should not
keep your eyes fixed on your opponent's eyes. There is too much to see in the
eyes: fear, anger, emotion, which are all irrelevant to you at the moment of
battle. Your main concern should be to attack the opponent if necessary. Block
or shift from his attacks and ultimately win, as quickly as possible, without
dwelling on your subject or his emotions. He is, at that moment of battle, an
object rather than a human being. You must also put aside your own feelings
during the heat of the fight, even a fraction of a second is too much time to
waste on emotional thoughts.