“Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.”
– Earl Nightingale
Welcome to the September 2013 issue of Your Warrior’s Edge. My goal is to provide you with value each month. I hope my newsletters will stimulate thought, inspire, and help you along your journey, as well as provide some fun and a good deal now and then.
Please let me know how I can make this better for you.
IN THIS ISSUE
Mastery in Martial Arts and Beyond; New Staying Safe Pages; Your Warrior’s Edge Blog; Striking Thoughts – Bruce Lee’s Wisdom for Daily Living; Safety Tips For Kids At School; Chokes and Sleeper Holds DVD; Hard-Won Wisdom From The School Of Hard Knocks; Black Belt Communicator Tip; Just For Fun – Tough Guy Wisdom; Recommended website: Loren W. Christensen; Parting Thoughts
MASTERY IN MARTIAL ARTS AND BEYOND
When you are training, I want you to ask yourself this, “Am I doing this to simply do the best that I can do, or am I doing this to do it the best it can be done?”
We must realize that although we are giving our best effort, we might not be doing the best that could be done, because we aren’t willing to change what we are doing.
The path of mastering something is the combination of not only doing the best that YOU can do at it, but also doing it the best IT can be done.
I want you to see mastery as a path you go down instead of a destination you arrive at. When you think this way, it begins to feel more accessible and attainable. Mastery is a way of thinking, a way of acting, and a journey you experience. It is the quest for the highest point of human potential. I understand that we won’t all “master” everything, and that some people will not rise to the level of others. However, we can all go down the path.
White belts know the same basic moves black belts know, but they haven’t practiced enough to be able to do them well. But even the master or grandmaster knows there is more to learn and practice. We become masters of what is behind us and apprentices for what is ahead. This is why mastery is a journey.
A problem arises when we begin the journey with excitement about what we can learn or do with our new skills, but then realize how much hard work there is ahead of us. The great danger we face is giving in to feelings of boredom, impatience, fear, and confusion. We experience these and stop observing and learning. The process, the journey toward mastery, comes to a halt.
We must manage these emotions and allow time to take its course. When we do, something remarkable begins to take shape. When we keep practicing, we gain fluency. The basic skills are mastered, allowing us to take on newer and more exciting challenges. We might not be the best there ever was or ever will be, but we are achieving the best we can be. We are striving for the best it can be done. We realize we can overcome weaknesses through sheer persistence.
When we do this with our martial art training, we learn that it can be done in all areas of our life. This is why black belt thinking, or living with the warrior’s edge, can benefit all areas, not just those involving safety and self-defense.
The person you become while striving to master your art, is a person who can master anything. Just don’t forget that it’s a path you go down, not a destination you arrive at.
No go out and continue to improve with your training and work toward mastery!
“Confidence thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, and on unselfish performance. Without them it cannot live.”
– Franklin D. Roosevelt
NEW STAYING SAFE PAGES
As a resource for staying safe, I’m continuing to add to my website. The following pages have been added to the Staying Safe section since the last newsletter:
Kids, Cars, and Heat Stroke (with video)
Teach Kids To Swim To Be Safe (with video)
Emergency Phones On Campus: Know Where They Are and Use Them (with video)
“When you are scared and need help is not the time to start thinking about where an emergency phone is located. Learn that before hand so you will know where to go if something happens.”
– Alain Burrese
YOUR WARRIOR’S EDGE BLOG
Recent blog posts you might have missed include:
Book review of “The Shogun’s Scroll” by Hanshi Stephen F. Kaufman
“Fighter’s Mindset” receives another positive review
Integrity and Character Development in the Martial Arts
Self-Defense Safety Tip with Rory Miller (with video)
A review of the Cobra-Defense Active Shooter Response Plan
A review of the Home Defense Tactics course
“I think all of us that train in martial arts, or warrior arts if you will, must also spend time thinking about and determining what we stand for. And we must stand up to injustices and do the right thing. It’s not always easy, but we are not training to take the easy way out.”
– Alain Burrese
STRIKING THOUGHTS – BRUCE LEE’S WISDOM FOR DAILY LIVING
I have come to discover through earnest personal experience and dedicated learning that ultimately the greatest help is self-help; that there is no other help but self-help – doing one’s best, dedicating one’s self whole-heartedly to a given task, which happens to have no end but is an ongoing process.
(From the book “Striking Thoughts” published by Tuttle)
SAFETY TIPS FOR KIDS AT SCHOOL
School just started, and as a parent, I worry about my daughter and want her to be safe when I’m not there. I talk to her about safety frequently, and I hope if you have children, you do the same. To help you with this, here are a few Safety at School tips from “The Safe Zone: A Kid’s guide to Personal Safety” by Donna Chaiet and Francine Russell.
1. Report any suspicious person you see hanging around your school or playground to a teacher or the principal. Keep your distance from the person, and let the adults at your school handle the situation.
2. Don’t accept drugs or alcohol from anyone, even if they are free. You’ll probably get expelled from school, and you could be arrested. Drugs and alcohol also interfere with your ability to take care of yourself, because they slow down your responses and make you confused.
3. Be alert in bathrooms. In some schools, these are the favorite hangouts of kids dealing drugs and other types of assailants. Think about it: if an attacker locks the door, it’s difficult to hear someone inside yelling for help. Whenever possible, have a friend accompany you. If you think that something is wrong, leave immediately.
4. Have a code word between you and your parents (or caregivers), something that only they know. If your parents ever have to send someone else to pick you up (at school or anyplace), they should tell that person the code word. You should never go with someone who doesn’t know the code word.
5. Never get into a vehicle with someone you don’t know!
NEW CHOKES AND SLEEPER HOLDS DVD
The new DVD “Chokes and Sleeper Holds: Proven Techniques for Both Competition and the Street” is now available!
http://yourwarriorsedge.com/chokes-and-sleeper-holds/
HARD-WON WISDOM FROM THE SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS
This was my first book published by Paladin Press. It went out of print, and now a revised and expanded edition is being released. The paperback and kindle editions of this revised and expanded edition should be out within the next month or two. Watch the blog and facebook pages for updates.
“Read and learn from this book. It covers a much-over-looked area of the subject of fighting: the middle ground.”
– Marc “Animal” MacYoung, from the Foreword
BLACK BELT COMMUNICATOR TIP
We use words to represent our thoughts, feelings and ideas, however the meanings that we attach to these words are not always the same for each person using them. We have different educations, memories, associations, experiences, traumas, preferences etc., and all of these differences affect the meanings and interpretations we attach to our words.
To be a Black Belt Communicator, you must realize and remember this when communicating. We must continually remind ourselves that what we mean with our words might not be what another is hearing. We can prevent a large amount of the conflict that arises in our relationships just by recognizing and staying mindful of the different variations in meaning that exist within the words we use.
JUST FOR FUN – TOUGH GUY WISDOM
Who said this and from what movie:
“After I shoot you through the door, you can examine the bullet. Open up.”
Reply to this newsletter with the correct answer and you will receive a code to buy singed Tough Guy Wisdom books for 50% off.
(Also reply if you want the answer.)
RECOMMENDED WEBSITE
I’ve learned a lot from Loren W. Christensen throughout the years. In fact, there is a little bonus chapter in my new “Chokes and Sleeper Holds” DVD where I talk about him and a magazine article he wrote back in the early 1980s. He’s a friend and a mentor, and someone that I recommend without hesitation. Learn more at his website:
http://www.lorenchristensen.com/
PARTING THOUGHTS
“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”
– Dr. Seuss
As you can tell from above, I am working at adding new videos and pages to www.yourwarriorsedge.com. If you have not visited the site in a while, please stop by and take a look around. Remember, I work on this for you, so please let me know how I can help you better.
Please share this newsletter, the website and the facebook page with others that may enjoy and benefit from them. Thanks!
Wishing you all the best on your journey as you live with the Warrior’s Edge.
Take Care and Stay Safe.
Alain