Hello All,

I have watched this video a number of times and everytime I watch it I am amazed by this it. Ajarn Chai and this boy are amazing. Big props to his parents and Instructors for teaching him the fundamentals, discipline and respect to have the talent level that he already shows.

This boy has better form & mechanics @ 6 than Martial Artists that I have met who have trained for 20 years. Enjoy this video clip it is awesome!!!

Hello All,

This is a question that I am asked quite often by my new students and people who have not trained. My interest level in Martial Arts began when I was around 9 years old. My Grandfather was a huge boxing fan, he and my Dad would watch boxing on TV and I would watch it with them as a way to bond with them. My Uncle was learning Tai Chi around this time and when he would visit from Connecticut he would show me some pieces of the Forms that he was working on.

As I grew up in the 1980’s Martial Arts was exploding, fueled Sijo Bruce Lee’s influence. I remember watching the Karate Kid movie and being so excited by it. We watched movies with Martial Arts movie stars like Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal and many others. The Ninja craze was also going on then as well and for my 10th birthday I got a Ninja uniform complete with authentic Ninja Tabi boots.

As I got older my interest in Martial Arts died down some but was always in the background. I had a friend in High School that trained in Tae Kwon Do and that started to refuel my interest. In 1992 I began training Karate through a Community Ed program and my interest started to take off. Though I enjoyed the training the material didn’t seem to  fit what I was looking for. What I was really looking for how to protect myself and more importantly my brother Colin. He was having some issues with a group of kids who were ganging up on kids randomly. Colin always seemed to be on their radar, though in the end thankfully they never did anything to him.

This lead me to look into other Martial Arts styles including Tai Chi, Isshin Ryu, Boxing, and Bruce Lee’s Martial Art Jeet Kune Do. I was having some trouble finding a Martial Arts School that taught one of these styles in Livingston County. By sheer chance in the summer of 1994 I met John Noonan (http://www.independentmartialarts.us) who was studying Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do and Filipino Martial Arts. I trained with John for about 1 year.

In the spring of 1995 John and I went to Sifu Dave Hatch’s (www.attributivemartialarts.com) house for a private lesson. Sifu Dave at that time was an Apprentice under Guro Dan Inosanto (www.inosanto.com). I began training with Sifu Dave in fall of 1995 and he has been my primary Instructor since.

From 1995-2000 I put in approximately 12,000 hours of training in through training with Sifu Dave, teaching Cardio Kickboxing, private and solo training and seminars. During that time my friends would ask why I trained as much as I did. I would respond ” This is what I love to do, I get to meet and train with some of the best Martial Artists in the world!!!”

Like I said in the beginning I wanted to train to learn how to protect myself and my loved ones. Today I feel that I can do that and now I teach others to do the same. During the time I have trained I have learned a lot about myself, I feel that if I had not began training Martial Arts I would not be the person I am today. Martial Arts has helped me improve my self-confidence, self-awareness and helped me relate to people better.

I train now for the love of learning my Instructors are always learning new things and it inspires me to do the same. I have met people from Indonesia, Thailand, Brazil, China, Japan, Korea, the Philipines and many other countries. From them I have learned so much about the history and culture of their home land it is amazing. This diversity in training and understanding has gone along way to teach me that we are really all just people and at the core we are all looking for the same things.

One of the other huge benefits in training is my understanding of my body. Martial Arts has taught me much about how and why I move the way that I do. When I am teaching I feel that I am not just teaching them how to protect themselves and their loved ones I am teaching them to understand and accept their bodies better.

Thank you for taking time to read this post, I would love to hear what you have gained from training Martial Arts. If you have not trained then what you would like to gain from training.

Shawn

Wishing a Très Dope Birthday to:

Caroline Kennedy-Schlossberg (1957)

Michael Vartan (1968)

Bruce Lee (1940)

Jimi Hendrix (1942)

Robin Givens (1964)

Jaleel White (1976)

What a grand thing, to be loved! What a grander thing still, to love! – Victor Hugo, 1802-1885, French Poet/Dramatist/Novelist

“One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.” - Helen Keller, famous deaf-blind American author and educator

November 27, 2009

I hope you and your loved ones had the greatest Thanksgiving holiday yesterday.

Earlier this week I facetiously remarked about one of my writing coaches saying to always include a topical reference to your messages, so I’m doing it again this morning… but not jokingly.

I honestly was very impressed with the Beyoncé Knowles “I’m Yours” special that aired on ABC last night.

She seems she’s really smart. She’s also really driven and quite the contrarian (my kind of people). She’s got an all-girl band… something I haven’t seen in a while… in one song she had two drummers and one percussionist… Now come on, when’s the last time you saw that on a stage doing her kind of music?

And she’s a practitioner of “Definiteness of Purpose” number one of Napoleon Hill’s 17 Principles of Personal Achievement, which we’ve been discussing.

In one clip she says that she’s known since age 5 that she wanted to be a singer! And there were a couple clips of her performing as a child.

She’s also very socially conscious and has no problem admitting that she’s all about empowering (young and old) women… that makes her very cool in my book.

Did you know that if he were alive today Bruce Lee would be celebrating his 67^th birthday? Would have been very interesting to see what he would’ve been like and what the state of his Jeet Kune Do would be today.

Quite appropriately today I got this link from CLRG to a YouTube video of my Sifu Dan Inosanto talking about Bruce Lee and JKD.

As you well know, I consider Bruce Lee to be one of the greatest examples of human achievement and I always recommend that you use him whenever possible as a reference point for your own development.

We’ll return to personal achievement Principle #5, Going The Extra Mile on Monday. Enjoy your weekend!

Now go out and conquer the world,

Sifu DW for TeamUMAA
www.unifiedmartialart.com
“Using Martial Art As a vehicle for personal growth and development”
305 595-2892

P.S. Remember tomorrow’s Academy schedule… Lil’ Ds at 10a, FKB at 10.30a and PFC/Review at 11.30a.

P.P.S. You can also make orders tomorrow from the Martial Art Gifts and Supplies catalogues.

Nota Bene: If you enjoyed this, forward it on to a few of your friends and business associates.

Comments? Leave them below. Let me know what you’re thinking.

UMAA is now on Facebook! Click here to sign into your Facebook account (you do have one, don’t you?) search for Miami Jeet Kune Do and join the group.

If this message was forwarded to you and you’d like to start getting this in your Inbox, just sign up on my home page at http://www.unifiedmartialart.com

©2009 Unified Martial Art Academy
12580 SW 88^th Street
Miami, Florida 33186
305 595-2892

From b3ta user “The Great Architect,” a mash-up of two great 80s icons:

Mr. E.T.

(ToTH to Laughing Squid)

As we rifle the shelves in search of those A-Team tapes, we might spare a memorial thought for two icons of the 60s and 70s, neither of whom lived to know either of the antecedents of today’s amalgam:  Jimi Hendrix was born on this date in 1942, exactly two years after his birthday-mate, the striking– and strikingly unlucky– actor martial arts exemplar and actor, Bruce Lee.

The Fingers

The Fist

Originally posted on Blogger.

“Bruce Lee: The Immortal Dragon” is a 1996 A&E feature about Bruce Lee. It tells mostly of his time after college.

I would watch the Bruce Lee: A Warrior’s Journey instead of this.

Check out this clip from YouTube.

Happy Birthday Bruce!

This year Homage is offering $20 T-shirts until Saturday. That’s right, every single T-shirt is available for $20 each with flat rate shipping of $5. I have heard a few Homage related rumors this week. First is that Homage founder Ryan Vesler has joined the OSU Women’s basketball practice squad and the other is that Homage will have a pop-up booth inside the Schottenstein arena for all the OSU basketball home games. I hope they are both true.

Click Here for HomageClothing.com

Alive and Well

In Fist of Fury, Bruce Lee plays Chen Zhen, a young student who returns home for the funeral of his venerable sifu, Huo Yuanjia, who has died under mysterious circumstances. A rival Japanese academy are the only suspects…

Brutus BBall

Hello All,

Well it’s the Holiday Season and you know what that means… Lots of shopping, going to parties, and the hustle and bustle of the season. I don’t mean to be Scrooge but here are some very important safety tips to keep you safe for the Holiday Season.

• Being on your PHONE IS NOT SAFE!!! It is a huge distraction when you are distracted that is a great time for MR. BAD GUY to ATTACK you.
• REMEMBER where you parked your car and AVOID using your KEY LESS ENTRY to find your car. This is a great way to let Mr. Bad Guy where you are at and how to plan his attack.
• If you are out enjoying some HOLIDAY BEVERAGES keep your INTAKE LOW and remember to keep track of your drink. It is very easy for someone to slip something into your drink. Also drink lots of water and eat consistantly this will help you moderate your alcohol levels.

I hope that these help to keep you and your loved ones safe. We have ongoing Self-Defense classes on going during the holidays!!! Not only will they help you to be safe they can also help you avoid adding any extra holiday goodies to your waistline.

Happy Holidays,

Shawn

On November 27:

1703 The first Eddystone Lighthouse was destroyed in the Great Storm of 1703.

 Winstanley’s lighthouse

1849 Te Rauparaha died.

1895 Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament, setting aside his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after he died.

1874 Chaim Weizmann, 1st President of Israel, was born.

1924 the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was held in New York.

1925 Ernie Wise, British comedian, was born.

1940 The 16,712-ton New Zealand Shipping Company liner MV Rangitane was sunk by two German ‘auxiliary cruisers’ (armed merchant raiders), the Orion and Komet, 300 nautical miles off East Cape.

1942 Manolo Blahnik, Spanish shoe designer, was born.

1940  Bruce Lee, American actor and martial artist, was born.

1942  Jimi Hendrix, American guitarist, was born.

 1999  Helen Clark became Prime Minister.

2005 The first partial human face transplant was completed in Amiens, France.

2006 The Canadian House of Commons endorsed Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s motion to declare Québécois a nation within a unified Canada.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

Hello All,

In this video clip Sensei Erik Paulson (www.erikpaulson.com) is teaching defending standing guard passes. He shows how to use your feet and hips so not to get your legs controlled, how to use your knees so that the person that is standing can’t punch your head and also he shows how to use an axe kick from your guard!!!

Also don’t miss the last submission combo he does it is pretty cool!!!

Enjoy

“What distinguishes the majority of men from the few is their ability to act according to their beliefs.” - Henry Valentine Miller, American painter and writer

Just as iron rusts from disuse, even so does inaction spoil the intellect. – Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519, Italian Painter and Sculptor

November 25, 2009

I spent most of Monday developing a burning sore throat so by nighttime I was out of it.

MV then required me to stay home so I wouldn’t infect anyone at the Academy. So please excuse my absence yesterday and my late start this morning.

It’s the Nyquil… it surely packs a knock-you-on-your-back kinda wallop like a punch from a pro heavyweight boxer!

Moving on to Principle #4 of Napoleon Hill’s Keys to Success, we come to “Use Applied Faith” and its subcategories of “understanding infinite intelligence, overcoming disbelief, overcoming fear, replacing fear with hope and demonstrating the power of your faith”.

Doubtlessly you’ve heard and read numerous definitions of faith, many of which involve religious convictions. And while that’s certainly a part of it, here we are talking about faith as a state of mind.

And we’re also talking about an active faith NOT a passive one. Active faith, as Hill describes it, is “the process of relating yourself to the vital forces of the world”, which he calls Infinite Intelligence.

You will only experience the gift of infinite intelligence if you condition your mind to accept it. This requires not only searching within the external universe but also searching within yourself.

Evidence of infinite intelligence in the external world lies in the structure of natural law. For example, the sun rising in the east every day, not just today and then in the west tomorrow.

Evidence of infinite intelligence in the internal world lies in the realisation that while our five senses allow us to evaluate the external world, we possess also other senses which connect us to another reality.

Hill says conscience, for example, is a tool which puts you in touch with these forces.  The spiritual conviction of someone like the Mahatma, Mohandas Gandhi, affected not only India but brought about social and political change across the globe.

“This ability of the human mind to discover, embrace and disseminate fundamental ideas and concepts is further proof of our ability to enter into a definite, positive relationship with Infinite Intelligence”.

Man, if that’s not what Jeet Kune Do is, then I don’t know!

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Now go out and conquer the world,

Sifu DW for TeamUMAA
www.unifiedmartialart.com
“Using Martial Art As a vehicle for personal growth and development”
305 595-2892

P.S. Remember the Academy is closed Thursday and Friday for the Thanksgiving Holiday but we’ll have regular class schedule on Saturday, Lil’ Dragons BBC at 10, FKB at 10.30 and a combined adult and junior JKD Phase Four/Review at 11.30, okay?

Nota Bene: If you enjoyed this, forward it on to a few of your friends and business associates.

Comments? Leave them below. Let me know what you’re thinking.

UMAA is now on Facebook! Click here to sign into your Facebook account (you do have one, don’t you?) search for Miami Jeet Kune Do and join the group.

If this message was forwarded to you and you’d like to start getting this in your Inbox, just sign up on my home page at http://www.unifiedmartialart.com

©2009 Unified Martial Art Academy
12580 SW 88^th Street
Miami, Florida 33186
305 595-2892

(tak, to będzie trochę odnośnie pewnego spamu)

Pewnych rzeczy nie da się nauczyć na warsztatach, fotografia, muzyka, czy inne przejawy twórczości okoliczno (nie mylić z okolicznościowej) artystycznej, do nich się zaliczają. Może nie same w sobie, ale pewne poczucie estetyki i wyobraźnia, o których często zwykłem powtarzać – to już jest coś obok wiedzy. Warsztaty w takich dziedzinach są trochę jak matematyka względem mądrości życiowej. To nie mechanika samochodowa, ani obsługa kasy fiskalnej.

A po dłuższym zastanowieniu, uwierzyłbym może w coś takiego jak uczeń i jego mistrz, niczym historie rodem z filmów karate z lat 80 i 90-tych. Ale i tak zawsze pozostanie duże pole rzeczy, do których trzeba dojść samemu. I tak nigdy nie będzie nam dane dojść do nich wszystkich.

(WordPress mówi: Szkic został zapisany o 4:55. W rzeczywistości 3:55.)

G’night.

Bruce Lee: o primeiro grande ator de filmes de açao e lutas e porradas e homens que voam e que socam e que chutam e que fazem caretas, etc…

mas, o que ele fazia na infancia?

nao sabe?

esse video mostra:

Thanks:

Treta

So I had trouble sleeping again (thanks Tahlia!), and the following occurred to me:

1. Even Bruce Lee agrees with my “BE & DO” philosophy! Now some of you know I lurrrve my Bruce Lee stuff (as I glance around the study at my 20th anniversary edition movie poster of “Enter the Dragon“, and all my miniature figurines sitting on the shelf). In the aforementioned movie, one of his famous lines is “Don’t think! Feeeeeeel“. Check it out yourself on Youtube! It’s not every day your life philosophy is backed up by a famous person who will kung fu your ass.

2. I omitted a number of points in my “Hello World!” posting. D’oh. I’m going to add the below items to the topic list:

• arty type stuff. I’m into the modern stuff (stencil/street art particularly, graphical illustrations), photography - but I have an appreciation for the kinda stuff you’d see in NGV too
• thoughts on whatever I’m reading at that point in time – books, mags, stuff with words 
• interior decorating/Martha Stewart type stuff. They say when you’re “with child”, you go through a nesting phase – cleaning, clearing out, redecorating. Ok, I had mine 7 months ago – and I’m STILL nesting. It doesn’t help (or does?) that when my monthly issue of Real Living comes in, I suddenly get inspired and go nuts redecorating.

I think that rounds out the list.

Now I should warn you I have a tendency to be afflicted by excess mental energy, so there may be a number of new blogs coming your way very very quickly. Consider subscribing so I don’t spam you on Facebook

November 2009
H I G H  &  L O W
Bruce Lee im West Germany

H I G H  &  L O W
Bruce Lee im West Germany
26. und 27. 11. 2009
Skalitzer Straße 133
10999 Berlin
www.nurr.net/bruce

Eröffnung am Donnerstag, den 26.11.2009 um 19 Uhr
DJs: Oliver Pietsch & Andreas Hartmann

Geöffnet am Freitag, den 27.11.2009 von 17 – 23 Uhr
20:00 Vortrag und Performance von Navid Thürauf:
»Eine Revolte – Bruce Lee und der Kampf gegen die Orthodoxie«
DJ: Frederik Foert

Mit Beiträgen von Matias Bechtold & Dorothea Etzler, Bewegung Nurr, Marc Bijl, Tina Born, Christine Lohr, Damien Deroubaix, Jörn Gerstenberg, Lukas Feireiss, Frederik Foert, Peter Funken, Alekos Hofstetter, Ins A Kromminga, Joep van Liefland, R.J. Kirsch, Joe Neave, Assan Smati, Spunk, Volker Stein, Robert Sokol, Navid Thürauf und Christine Weber.

Ein Projekt der Bewegung Nurr und R.J. Kirsch in Kooperation mit dem Sport-Club Lurich 02 e.V., Berlin-Kreuzberg. Mit freundlicher Unterstützung von ABEL Neue Kunst, Berlin.

“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing”. - George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright, 1925 Nobel Prize winner for Literature, 1938 Academy Award winner for screenplay for Pygmalion

“Without change, something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken.” ~ Frank Herbert, author of the SF classic, Dune

November 23, 2009

Many writing coaches recommend that when you write your messages you tie them into what’s topical and current… so here goes… did you see all those “attractive” personalities on the American Music Awards last night like the Black-Eyed Peas and Lady Gaga?

There. Mission accomplished. Now we can move on to Principle #3 of Napoleon Hill’s 17 Principles of Personal Achievement, Assemble An Attractive Personality.

I’ve always explained to new and/or prospective Academy students that Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do is a martial art philosophy and that one of the principles JKD practises is the development of well-roundedness… well-roundedness as a martial artist as well as a human being.

So you can imagine how satisfied I felt when I read this “a pleasant personality is a well-rounded one”. Enough said, huh?

And here are the 25 different but closely related aspects of your personality that you must strive to perfect. And always remember that working on one aspect will help you develop the others:

(a)Positive mental attitude (b) flexibility (c) sincerity of purpose (d) promptness of decision (e) courtesy (f) tact (g) tone of voice (h) the habit of smiling (i) facial expression (j) tolerance (k) frankness of manner and speech (l)  a keen sense of humour (m) faith in infinite intelligence (n) a keen sense of justice (o) the appropriate use of words (p) effective speech (q) emotional control (r) alertness of interest (s) versatility (t) fondness for people (u) humility (v) effective showmanship (w) clean sportsmanship (x) a good handshake (y) personal magnetism

Now go out and conquer the world,

Sifu DW for TeamUMAA
www.unifiedmartialart.com
“Using Martial Art As a vehicle for personal growth and development”
305 595-2892

P.S. After an encouraging response on Friday and Saturday, I’ve extended the Martial Arts Supplies and Gift Sales Event until Wednesday the 25^th. The Academy website has been updated to show several suggestions for our different programs.

Nota Bene: If you enjoyed this, forward it on to a few of your friends and business associates.

Comments? Leave them below. Let me know what you’re thinking.

UMAA is now on Facebook! Click here to sign into your Facebook account (you do have one, don’t you?) search for Miami Jeet Kune Do and join the group.

If this message was forwarded to you and you’d like to start getting this in your Inbox, just sign up on my home page at http://www.unifiedmartialart.com

©2009 Unified Martial Art Academy
12580 SW 88^th Street
Miami, Florida 33186
305 595-2892

]]> http://martialartsmoviemayhem.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/martial-arts-movies/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:30:31 +0000 Maxwell Destree http://martialartsmoviemayhem.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/martial-arts-movies/

Here is a work in progress list of Martial Arts Movies (note that many of these movies have different names in other countries, I have chosen the most common US names for the movies).  I have highlighted the ones that I have seen already.

Above the Law     (Steven Seagal)

Battle Creek Brawl     (Jackie Chan)

Big Trouble in Little China     (Kurt Russell)

(The) Black Mask     (Jet Li)

Bloodsport     (Jean-Claude Van Damme)

(The) Chinese Connection     (Bruce Lee)

Cradle 2 the Grave     (Jet Li)

(The) Enforcer     (Jet Li)

Enter the Dragon     (Bruce Lee)

Firewalker     (Chuck Norris)

First Strike     (Jackie Chan)

Fist of Legend     (Jet Li)

Fists of Fury     (Bruce Lee)

(The) Forbidden Kingdom     (Jackie Chan, Jet Li)

Game of Death     (Bruce Lee)

Good Guys Wear Black     (Chuck Norris)

Gorgeous     (Jackie Chan)

Hard Target     (Jean-Claude Van Damme)

Hard to Kill     (Steven Seagal)

(The) Karate Kid

(The) Karate Kid 2

(The) Karate Kid 3

Kung Fu     (David Carradine)

Kiss of the Dragon     (Jet Li)

(The) Legend of the Drunken Master     (Jackie Chan)

Lethal Weapon 4     (Jet Li)

Lone Wolf McQuade     (Chuck Norris)

Meltdown     (Jet Li)

(The) Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor     (Jet Li)

(The) Next Karate Kid

(The) Octagon     (Chuck Norris)

Once Upon a Time in China     (Jet Li)

Once Upon A Time in China 2     (Jet Li)

Once Upon a Time in China 3     (Jet Li)

(The) One     (Jet Li)

Only the Strong     (Mark Dacascos)

Operation Condor     (Jackie Chan)

Out for Justice     (Steven Seagal)

(The) Quest     (Jean-Claude Van Damme)

Return of the Dragon     (Bruce Lee)

Romeo Must Die     (Jet Li)

Rumble in the Bronx     (Jackie Chan)

Rush Hour     (Jackie Chan)

Rush Hour 2     (Jackie Chan)

Rush Hour 3     (Jackie Chan)

Shanghai Noon     (Jackie Chan)

Shanghai Knights     (Jackie Chan)

Sidekicks     (Chuck Norris)

Street Fighter     (Jean-Claude Van Damme)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Secret of the Ooze

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3

Timecop     (Jean-Claude Van Damme)

(The) Tuxedo     (Jackie Chan)

Under Siege     (Steven Seagal)

Universal Soldier     (Jean-Claude Van Damme)

Unleashed     (Jet Li)

War     (Jet Li, Jason Statham)

Quiet morning…up way too early waiting for the next snow report in the morning to confirm there’s another foot or two of fresh snow.  I am losing count but the opening week has gone something like this: Saturday 70cm, Sunday 70cm, Monday 30cm, Tuesday 40cm, Wednesday 56cm and now Thursday another 53cm, Friday don’t remember…you do the math…it’s deep!  Can’t sleep…

Heard a gentle ‘hwump’ the other morning and thought for a moment it was an avi bomb echoing down the valley but looked out to see a small dark bird twitching on its side in my son’s sled beneath the window, wings folded tight to her chest, struggling to catch her breath and then still.  My wife and I watched silent, I turned to her and shook my head with my eyes and we finished getting our little boy ready for school.  Later that morning I returned, picked up the motionless little body and took her to a hollow in the rocky bank next to our home after holding her long enough to be certain she was not coming back.

I am reverent in these early days in the snow and of our friends who are not here to laugh and smile and tell us tales of just how deep it was or about the stupid trick they pulled or line they skied.  Only a week after Remembrance day and here we are heading up the mountains with that same anticipation we had when we were kids and this year (once again) there are fewer returning after their lives were cut short so suddenly…but if we listen closely between the turns and windswept lines we will hear their voices beneath the snow.

The first 70cm day was epic (what else do you call those days?)…dropping into the same lines I had just skied the last two days that had vanished.  The next 70cm day was beyond…literally too deep to turn on any of the terrain that was open and the usual trees and rocks my size were gone beneath the surface, the cliffs on top of Rat Fink, gone in two days…enough, stop thinking…sleep.

In the dream this opening week in Whistler has become, each day repeats like it did for Bill Murray in, ‘Ground Hog Day’…I get off the gondi goggles, gloves and zips all set, click the buckles on my boots and slide unnoticed past the crowds with that silent nod that says ‘Here we go…’ (aka ‘I’m local, trust me, you don’t want to follow me’)…but more than that it says, ‘I’m home’.  I slide past Green, right, a little left of right, nearly out of sight and slip between the markers without a second thought…like slipping into my favorite pair of jeans ‘that fit like  an old lover come back for more’ (Max Blagg).  A short hike over the roll, west wind at my back pushing, driving me to that bottomless familiar escape into the white…and beneath the snow echo the ageless muses of younger days like the soundtrack of my life.

The low base of “Love me two times…” sinks in and the voice of Jim Morrison reciting the Graveyard Poems of a forgotten era before my time…and, “the voices of singing women are calling from the far shore and they are saying, forget the night and live with us in forests of azure.  Meagre food or souls forgot.”  The constant sting of the wind numbs and the blur of white that suddenly surrounds is calling me home. ‘A little more right son, you know the way.’  Alone, together, like an old friend pouring one more drink for the drive home.  Punch drunk love-sick ramblings…like it’s the first time all over again. 

Higher right, roll, straight line, wind lip…pass a huge bomb hole the size of my body with a moments glance that snaps me back, awake.  No results from the blast, just a perfect round hole like a meteor evaporated on impact and left nothing to show but the crater…safe for now, game on, here we go.  There’s a small group of struggling searchers to my right too close to the tree line, too flat over there for today, and I instinctively cut left, air between the trees, drop weightless, land, and drop again when the ghostly cushion beneath the K2 Kahuna’s says, “yes, now”.  I run straight exhaling through the chest deep compression while the group stands still in time watching as the flash of red disappears into the glade at the bottom of the second pitch. Pine branches loaded with snow brush by and windows between the heavy trunks appear from my dreams and open one after another and I’m certain they close behind me as I pass…but I can’t look back.  I am ‘one’ with the forest, nearing unconsciousness, like Bruce Lee and, “the art of fighting without fighting…it is like a finger pointing to the moon.  Do not focus on the finger or you will miss all the heavenly brilliance.”  I let go, I release the inner turmoil to the wind and deny the inevitable collision of man and earth and focus beyond the trees, beyond the forest, until the voice fades and I am conscious again for a moment on top of a giant log.  I slide up and drop over the hollow gap below and find the muses waiting on the other side.

Five minutes to midnight or 3:28am, I don’t know which, and I am there throughout time with all the dead poets, friends and heroes who left before their time…James Dean, Jim Morrison, Bruce Lee, Trevor Peterson, Craig Kelly, Alex Loewe, Goran Kropp, Denis Fontaine, Heath Ledger, Shane McConkey…my cousin David at 16…and more.  In a world of exceptional people there are precious few who truly inspire and as they fall, each one in turn reminds me of the next.  It is so sad to say, ‘in turn’, like it was meant to be, by design.  The names and voices call us from the snow, and at home, far from the empty dreams we walk the halls as years pass and find our wives asleep and little boys and girls who woke up and crawled into our beds after a bad dream.  It is an all too true reminder that we take them with us when we do these things.  Like Shane said, there was a time when I too wrote I might never see 30 or 40 and yet here I am with their voices.

I imagine I see in those stolen moments what they saw and taste ‘the search’ at the tip of my tongue.  Unless you have fallen from a plane (a perfectly good one) and touched that awakening moment that commands you alive, or better commands that you question your life in a flash of white not knowing if you will surface from a wave or be forever one with the white light of an avalanche or slide down the pavement or dirt until the friction of the impact and the bone crushing clash of gravity and normal force make you stop breathing, you can’t imagine what they felt the instant before the inevitable.  It is like they say, your life flashes past in the blink of an eye, no, faster, and I mean your whole life before and beyond the chaos of disaster…the loves, the triumphs, the failures, the regrets, loved ones laughing, the dreams of your own seemingly inevitable funeral, that first ride on the Honda 50 motorcycle that had you hooked on speed, the children you have yet to hold, the dream of growing old with the one you love…all time and place and spirit combine and before you are lost, you are whole, and you know the truth in that fleeting moment before death and then, god willing, you are alive, thanking god (or whatever other divinity  you denied you implore the moment before) that you are alive.

My heart races…and then, at the open light at the end of the glade I slide to a stop and breathe…it’s nearly morning now.  I look up at the clock, check for daylight through the blinds, see the new day has arrived, and know if I listen closely the voices will be with me.

Do was originally written as a required component for my third degree black belt test in Master Hong Kong Kim’s Taekwando school.

I found that a prose description of my training experiences did not convey the depth and breath, the uniqueness,   universality  and even the charm I found in the Dojang and decided to commit my thoughts to a style of verse the ancient teachers might have used.

My sister Diane Sykes, a free thinking warrior artist from her own

side added the visual  dimension.

She studied and contemplated on each verse I presented and she wielding  the ink and brush like  a sword. The results speak for themselves.  Her renderings captured  the spirit of martial arts perfectly.

All fighting  styles express the Way or Do in practice and performance.   How the warrior expresses himself reflects his or her grasp of  the Do.

I am not a fighter but I could fight if needed but would rather imitate  General Sun than George Patton.

I didn’t began training in TaeKwanDo until 39 and by 48 passed the second degree black belt test.  Unfortunately I no longer train formally mainly because of the time required to write.  I may return to martial arts training but in the mean time I will rejoice the training I have had. Do is a record of my experiences and an invitation to you celebrate the art of fighting with me.

Art reflects or projects a vision of the world and and  states in aesthetic style the personal perception and experiences of a human being.  Art couches experiences in an intelligible and  recognizable form that taken as a whole ultimately fills the total framework of the ideal world (paraphrased  from The Tao of Jeet Kune Do by Bruce Lee, Ohara Publications , Inc.).

Therefore martial arts  projects an inner vision of the martial artist  his or her potential for the aesthetic creation through  movement involving the deep psychic  experiences of  humans in conflict.

The martial artist expresses the art  through the kind of movement featured by power and efficiency and effectiveness.

Do is the Way of defining the self through conflict. Do enhances  health and longevity. Do is the Way to control and channel certain energies.  Do is a way to develop confidence.  Do can be a Way to raise social consciousness by confronting false beliefs.  Do is a Way to teach the young about the true nature of conflict.  And Do is an excellent  Way to understand that  the mind and body are not separate.

Since, we acknowledge the punch, kick,  block, take down, evasion or a hold can be  an artistic expression it is no more than black ink brushed on white paper. Diane’s art is called  Sumi-e ( brush stroke art in Japanese ).

I believe poetry expresses cognition’s that prose cannot.  Poetry reflects simplicity, clarity, intuitiveness and must  be generally recognized within the framework of the ideal world.  Further, the poetic form is particularly suited to expressing the intention, meaning, and energy similar to  martial arts and Sumi-e.

The  way of language would be poetry-do.

Do transcend all conflicts so that a dedicated practitioner of any art understood suffering and the human condition.  From understanding solutions become obvious.

Do: Celebrating the Art of Martial Arts is  seventy-one four-line verses and  drawings intended to guide  the reader to a path of  wisdom and  truths for everyone.

This work is  part of my attempt to understand my experience with “Do.” There are unique philosophy for each individual.  One only needs to look and we should look because when we stop learning we die in viability if not physically.  A healthy life style requires challenges. The moral challenges can be summarized as a list of Tenant’s, motivations and  dedication to the teacher.

Five Supreme Tenants

May courtesy be the model for my behavior.

May  integrity be the foundation of my self worth.

May perseverance be the beacon for all my actions.

May self control support my quest.

May indomitable spirit be the champion for my struggles.

The Benefit of Martial Arts for all.

I will be courteous for the enhancement of grace and compassion for all.

I will maintain impeccable integrity for the safety, respect and longevity of my art.

I will persevere so that others may follow my example.

I will always be in control of my mind, body and spirit so that the martial arts can be understood simply by knowing me.

I will continuously expand my determination so that the fullest capacity of my powers are always clear.

Dedication to the Teacher

My teacher embodies the purest devotion and spirit of the Martial Arts. It is through his or her dedication, lineage, and teaching that I can aspire to and learn the meaning of the Black Belt.

ENEMIES TEACH BEST AND ARE FRIENDS FOR THE PREPARATION AND DEFENSE. THE TEACH THE RIGHT WAY BY EXPOSING WEAK TECHNIQUE AND VEILED IGNORANCE.

Learning the Martial Arts  is  like a boat in  a  river orginating with a trickle and ending in a sea of countless drops of practice .

City back yard, hotel room  or country farm estate or or barn, where you are is where you train.

Life is the teacher and true teachers are rare but the Dojang is where students can teach and teachers are clear .

The Value of our young cannot be fathomed we are never more than than children in class.

Ancient ways never grow old. New ways are never the beginning. The moment has always been here. This now cannot go.

Families rally for their hero who rise to meet the challenge strengthening the bonds so the family is also  strong.

The promotion test honors the teacher by the students good deeds. The student honors the school through the success of the deed.

The  lineage of the teacher is the  foundation on which students grow.  The teacher’s worth is measured by the  the students progressing in power and restraint.  Hense, the Master

The student lends piety The master furnishes discipline and kindness. The warrior opens spirit and direction. The Do flows to completion.

Skill distinguishes rank. The advancing student is like a sword in the making forged and shaped by practice and hardened by the fire of determination.

Respect is earned for the rank which is the result of respect and privilege as it reflects the belt which humbly holds up the pants

White is the belt and the journey of not yet knowing except for pure desire and the warriors dream

Yellow belt follows  the courage the bite of the tiger, the taste of sweat and the  step of commitment.

THE DO IS IN THE MOMENT.  THE MOMENT IS IN THE DO.          MOVING WITHOUT MIND.  FREE OF INHERENT EXISTENCE

GREEN BELT MUST ENDURE THE BRUISES OF COMBAT FOR THE STRONG HEART TO KNOW PERSISTENCE.

THE RANK OF ORANGE SPARS BY COPY GREAT FIGHTERS GONE BEFORE TO EASY FORGETS THE VICTORY IS IN THE VOYAGE

BLUE IS THE BELT DARKER BY WEAR TRUST WITHOUT QUESTION AVAILABLE  TO LEARN REAL FRIENDS  GIVE NO ROOM

The first battle is the Poomse or Kata. As if beyond  death the warrior does best The last battle is the Poomse  or Kata.

THE PURPLE BELT FROM BASIC SKILLS LEARNS POOR TECHNIQUE DISGUISED AS  LEGITIMATE PERSONAL EXPRESSION

AFTER PURPLE IS RED, THE COLOR OF BLOOD, THE BEAT OF THE HEART,  THE SURGE OF INTENSITY.

THE BLACK BELT IS THE END OF INNOCENCE AND THE BEGINNING OF AUTHENTICITY.

THE  POOMSE OR KATA PERFORMED  BY A CLASS OF MOTIVATED  STUDENTS IS  LIKE A LIVING MACHINE,  AN ENTITY OF POWER, WONDER AND PURPOSE.

The worst student with the best effort is the best student

MEDITATION  CENTERS THE MIND. THE MIND CENTERS ATTENTION.  FROM THE MIND COMES THE BEST. FROM THE BEST COMES GOOD REBIRTH.

I’M OLD, I’M WEAK. I CAN’T ARE THE POISONS . MARTIAL ARTS IS THE ANTIDOTE. THE DANGER DWELLS WITHIN. THE CURE IS IN THE DOING.

THE YELL,  THE UNIVERSAL  BREATH,   THE SOUND OF EXISTENCE,  THE PROJECTED SELF, THE AWAKENING, THE ORIGIN OF POWER

IN IMACULATE FOCUS  THE SOFT BECOMES HARD.  THE BLOWS BECOME ONE ONE .  YOU ARE THE WEAPON TO BREAK THE HOLD

THE TRUE WARRIER WALKS THE EARTH ATTACHED TO THE THE AIR, CHANGING LIKE  WATER AND INTENSE AS FIRE

FAR IS CLOSE. HERE IS THERE. SMALL IS BIG. WEAK IS STRONG. THEN IS NOW. DECEPTION IS THE WINNING WAY.

IF THE FIGHT IS FOR HONOR FIGHT HOR HUMILITY. THE ART OF THE FIGHT EQUALS THE DIFFERENCE. WINNING WITHOUT BLOOD IS HONOR.

THE BODY IS CENTERED. THE FEET AND HANDS ARE QUICK. SUPPLE IS THE MIND. HARMONIUS IS THE SPIRIT.

THE HERO PATH IS NOT ILLUSION. THE NOBLE QUEST MAY BE ATTAINED THROUGH WORTHY SACRIFICE AND A WORTHWHILE GOAL.

THE GOALS ARE VALID. THE EXPECTED IS DONE. THE RESULTS ARE TANGEABLE. THERE IS NO ART WITHOUT INTEGRTY

COURTESY WILL FOLLOW INTEGRITY. INTEGRITY WILL FOLLOW SELF CONTROL. SELF CONTROL WILL FOLLOW PERSEVERANCE. THERE IS NO PERSEVERENCE WITHOUT INDOMITABLE SPIRIT.

DEEDS ARE NOBLE ONLY WHEN DIFFICULT.  FAILURE IS THE SUREST TEACHER.

PUBLIC TOURNAMENTS SHOW SPEED AND SKILL WHERE  FIGHTERS TEST THE OTHERS  ART: BLOCK THE UNQUICK AND STRIKE WITH SPEED.

PRACTICE THROUGH REPETITION  MUST SMOOTH ROUGH TECHNIQUE. THUS PRACTICE IMITATES LIFE BECAUSE THE WORLD WILL GIVE THE FINAL INSTRUCTION.

KNOWING WITH THE BODY AND KNOWING WITH THE MIND  IS  KNOWING THAT DUALISM IS FALSE  FEW CAN TRULY REALIZE THIS TRUTH OF THE  DO

UTILIZE ALL RESOURCES BY LOOKING AT ALL PERSPECTIVES AND  SEE THE WHOLE AS VARIOUS PARTS. MEDITATE ON CAUSE AND EFFECT.  STRIVE TO KNOW THE TRUE NATURE OF THINGS

MARTIAL ARTS TRAINING BUILDS RIGHT PRIDE BUT FIGHTING SKILLS ARE NOT FOR SHOW OR BRAGGING, NOT FOR THE ARTIST TO ADMIRE.  HUMILITY IS BORN FROM THE GRAVE OF INADEQUACY.

THE GOAL AND JOURNEY ARE COMBINED IN THE FOCUS ON PERSEVERANCE, MOTIVATION FOR SUCCESS, AND REWARD IN THE SPIRIT.

THOSE WHO FAIL TO KNOW THAT ANGER BLINDS THE DIRECTION OF AGGRESSION WANDERS TO DESTRUCTION

HOW ONE PUNCHES IS HOW ONE LIVES. HOW ONE TRAINS REFLECTS ONES QUALITY IF LIFE. THE QUALITY OF TRAINING REFLECTS ONES VALUES. ONES VALUES DETERMINES SUCCESS.

LIFE OCCURS IN RYTHMS AND CYCLES. ONE WHO PERCIEVES THE RYTHMS OF THE BATTLE AND THE DANCE OF CONFLICTS ARE PREPARED

THERE ARE FATAL DANGERS OF NEGATIVE THINKING THAT RESULT IN FAILURE AND DEFEAT.  MARTIAL ARTS TRAINING FOR ALL AGES, ALL CONDITIONS  QUELL DEFEATISM.

LEARN SELF CONTROL IS THE NEED. POWER IS THE MEASURE. FOCUS IS THE MEANS. INTENTION PROVIDES MEANING.

FEAR MOTIVATES  PARTIALLY. SKILL CANNOT GROW WITHOUT FEAR AND CANNOT BRING SUCCESS WITHOUT REWARD.               THERE IS NO SKILL WITHOUT SACRIFICE.  PAIN FOLLOWED BY THE PLEASURE OF SUCCESS IS NOT PAIN.

SAMURI, HWARANG, AND SHAOLIN PREPARED FOR  DEATH WITHOUT DYING. THE ANCIENT WARRIORS UNDERSTOOD LIFE.

Hello All,

In the last month we have had 3 really big events @ Synergy Martial Arts (SMA) so here is the update on all the happenings.

• On 10-12-09 we moved into our new location Hamburg Fitness Center (www.hamburgfitness.com) and since we have moved in we have had 6 new students join SMA.
• On 11-12-09 Synergy Martial Arts Instructors Shawn Kitzman, Jeffery Lopes and Jerry Whiting taught a 2 hour Clinch Workshop @ Gladiator MMA (www.gladiator-mma.com). We had a blast the guys @ Gladiator were eager to learn and worked really hard on the material.
• The feedback was tremendous and we were approached to teach @ Gladiator. So beginning on 12-10-09 Synergy Martial Arts Instructors Shawn Kitzman and Jeffery Lopes will be teaching from 7-9pm @ Gladiator.

For our regular students Jerry will continue to teach the Thursday night 6-8pm classes.

I would like to thank Jerry and Lopes for all of their hardwork and dedication. SMA would not be where we are at without them and my skill level as a Martial Artist and Instructor would not have grown the way that it has. Thanks guys : )

So there is all the news for now. Check back soon there is gonna be another big announcement soon.

Shawn