Freedom Writers

Yesterday was a good day of training. Regular class in the morning and a four hour workshop in the afternoon. I watched the UFC with some friends last night. Some good fights. I was happy to see Forrest win over Tito. I would have liked to see him submit Ortiz, but it went to decision.

So, it's Sunday morning and I am watching Freedom Writers. It is such a great movie. It touches me in a lot of ways. If you haven't seen it I highly recommend it. Talk about teaching Universal Values.

The main character Erin Gruwell teaches at risk teens whose lives are torn by a war zone in the inner cities where they live. The real war zone isn't in our cities, it's not in the countries, it's not in our relationships, it's not in our religion, our race or in our families...It's in ourselves. It begins in the way we see ourselves and then those around us. It's in the way we treat those who we perceive to be different than ourselves. In the way we teach ourselves and others how to engage, interact and experience each other and the world around us. In the way that we externalize those fears onto other people, things, situations, countries, relationships, religions, races, ethnicity's, or anything else we can conceive to distract us from our own inner demons.

It starts small. We rationalize the behavior. We justify our actions. We create an environment that validates its self and the actions necessary to survive, saying the ends justify the means... How Machiavellian. We make it about us and them, this group vs. that group. This color vs. that color. This country vs. that country. This religion vs. that religion. This culture vs. that culture. This neighborhood vs. that neighborhood. This gang vs. that gang. This person vs. that person. etc.

It seems to be easier to take our internal struggle, externalize it, give it a name, a face, anything other than seeing the struggle for what and where it truly is. It's easy to validate this fear, there is enough evidence out there to support your perspective. You've heard it: Blacks are all criminals, Muslims are all terrorists, poor people are stupid and lazy, rich people are insensitive, self centered and exploit the poor, Germans were all Nazi's, our economic struggles are because of the Jews, or the Mexicans, or the Chinese... you get the idea.

Does this really happen? Yup, it does, every day. Some black people ARE criminals... and others like President Barrack Obama are leaders of nations; some Muslims ARE terrorists and some like Pakistani Ansar Burney have fought for peace and human rights their entire lives; some poor people ARE lazy and some like Oprah Winfrey overcome great odds to become successful and influential; some rich people DO exploit those less fortunate and others like billionaires Dick DeVos and Jay VanAndel have donated millions of dollars to build schools, medical facilities and research organizations, some Germans WERE Nazi's and others like Oskar Schindler helped hundreds of Jewish people escape from the Nazi Holocaust during WWII.

Different cultures have customs unique to themselves. Different races may have different skin color or facial features. Different religions may worship differently and call god by a different name. Different ethnicity's may eat different food listen to different music. But aren't all of these things what makes life so interesting? Aren't these the things that make our world so rich in culture and discovery? Our strength comes from our diversity.

But some say: "Let's face it we weren't all created equal in what we can do, what we have and where we were born." Its true, people have talents and skills in different area's. Everyone is not equally good at everything that's what makes this world so diverse and each of us so unique. Although we may not have been created equal in all the things that we can do, where we were born, etc. But we WERE all created equal in Who We ARE as living beings. Which not only gives us basic human rights regarding dignity and respect as a living being; I believe it also gives us the right to have equal opportunity to explore what we might be good at, what we have to contribute to ourselves and others and yes even the right, especially the right to fail as we set out on that journey.

Try to see beyond what your fears and stereotypes are telling you. Look for the similarities. See that others hurt just like you. They have families and friends that they love and care about just like you. They have hopes and dreams just like you. They can learn just like you. They have struggles that are just as important to them as yours are to you. They want dignity and respect just like you.

Our beliefs create the lives we live as an individual, a family, a neighborhood, a society and a global community. When we change our beliefs we will change how we live over time not over night for good or bad.

What belief are you going to embrace and spread?

All the best,

~Craig

The Dash

Hello all~

Here is a little video clip I shot at a place where I go to get perspective when I need to. This goes hand in hand with the poem called "The Dash" by Linda Ellis. I like the poem and thought you might too.

The Dash

by Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak

At the funeral of a friend.

He referred to the dates on her tombstone

From the beginning to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth

And spoke of the following date with tears,

But he said what mattered most of all

Was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time

That she spent alive on earth

And now only those who loved her

Know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own,

The cars, the house, the cash,

What matters is how we live and love

And how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard;

Are there things you’d like to change?

For you never know how much time is left

That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough

To consider what’s true and real

And always try to understand

The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger

And show appreciation more

And love the people in our lives

Like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect

And more often wear a smile,

Remembering that this special dash

Might only last a little while.

So when your eulogy is being read

With your life’s actions to rehash

Would you be proud of the things they say

About how you spent your dash?

© 1996 Linda Ellis

Be here NOW, don't waste a minute because we all know it goes fast. We don't know when or how our time is going to end, only that it will. As Mel Gibson so eloquently said in the movie Braveheart, "Every Man Dies, but Not Every Man Really Lives!" Sad, but often too true.

Keep going,

~Craig

Frontlines of Freedom Military - Veteren Talk Radio

Hello all~

I was just asked by Lt. Col. (Ret.) Denny Gillem and to be the Official Personal Defense Subject Matter Expert for his Military - Veteran Talk Radio Show called Frontlines of freedom - AM 1260 - It is currently airs in Michigan and Florida and is being recommended for national syndication. In the West Michigan area it airs Saturday nights 7pm EST and is Podcast at www.frontlinesoffreedom.com.

You can hear my first segment here:


www.frontlinesoffreedom.com/podcasts.html


Click on the segment labeled - 09 Oct 29th part 3 - to listen.

I am honored to be a part of this program and to be able to contribute to a larger community through the show's reach. Thanks for the opportunity Denny. I appreciate your confidence in my perspective and experience and insights regarding Personal Defense!

Take care all. Talk to you soon!

~Craig

Purpose

If you have any brothers or sisters you may remember when you would fight as kids; once your parents finally got wind of your shenanigans and began their interrogation of the guilty parties you always seemed to get in more trouble if you did the named offense "on purpose." My punishment would be much worse if they thought that whatever I did was "on purpose," rather than it being "random and accidental." Like that time I was grounded because I "accidentally" (ha ha) hit my brother in the head with my sneaker that just happened to fly off from my foot while he was in front of me! Ahhhh the memories!

As we grow up and become adults many of us hold this same fear; the fear of doing things On Purpose! So, as American writer and philosopher David Thoreau said the result is that many people begin to "live lives of quiet desperation."

What is YOUR purpose? If you don't know your purpose is it is difficult to choose your direction. If you don't have a direction then any direction you take can't be wrong. Right? If you can never be accused of doing something On Purpose, you won't have to take any responsibility for what you do, thus you'll never get in trouble for it. It's all an accident right?! Your decisions, your career, your training, your relationships, your life! Nothing On Purpose...

This is all fine and dandy I guess. As J.R.R. Tolkien said "All that wander are not lost..." right?! Maybe, except if for whatever reason you are not happy, fulfilled or passionate about your decisions, your relationships or your life.

You've all heard it, the complaining, the whining, the talk of always being the victim of circumstance. Granted life rarely works out exactly the way we want it to, but that doesn't mean that we are victims. It means that we have to learn to let go of our attachment, have faith, embrace change, learn how to be tenacious, persevere, survive and keep going!

Finding the balance to be able to go full throttle toward something, giving it your best shot yet not being overly attached to the outcome is something that is not easy to do. It takes constant practice. It is so easy to externalize our problems; to blame things that happen to us on events, people, circumstances, whatever we can to avoid the one thing that is constant in all of our lives... US!

Ok, now back to Purpose.

What is your purpose? If you know what it is, prioritizing and keeping focus is much easier. It doesn't have to be complicated, just clear.

Let me share with you what my purpose (take a seat, fasten your safety belts and hold on!)

Here it is (drum roll please):

My purpose in life is to:


Love

Be loved

Experience life authentically

& never stop learning


That's it.


Tim Ferris wrote in his book "The 4 Hour Work Week" that his purpose was to love, be loved and to never stop learning it rang true with me and seemed to get directly to the point, so I added the authentic part and adopted it as my own! Oh, and by the way you should read "The 4 Hour Work Week" if you haven't it is a great book! In the upper right hand side of this blog site is an Amazon link if you want to check it out!


As far as martial arts go many people train for different reasons: Sport, competition, self defense, survival, preserving history, health, because it's fun, to meet people, to experience another culture, etc. The problem is if the purpose doesn't match the practice. For instance training in an art that is based on strict tradition in attempt to preserve a particular historical cultural experience and thinking that it is tactical street defense. Be open and honest with yourself.

My purpose in martial arts is the following:

~To help stay healthy mentally, physically and spiritually throughout my life.

~To train tactically to protect the life of myself and others. What others? All others!

~To share what I know with individuals who want to live more empowered lives and contribute to an enlightened local and global community.

My question to you is simply this:

What is YOUR Purpose?


Be well,
~Craig

Paradox, Humor and change

*I chose this picture of Jack Hoban because he often inspires me to train and live my life On Purpose! Thanks Jack!

Controlling the Playing Field pt.2 - Elements of the Game

Events rarely happen randomly, there are typically recognizable patterns and dynamics that set up and follow the event through. This is what we call “the game.” Although combat and survival is not a game, we have found it to be very successful to break down the elements of what typically happens using terminology that is less threatening, thus easier to talk about, recognize and define. “The Game” is a metaphoric term used to describe any situation that may present a challenge in life. If you can learn to recognize the patterns and how everything comes together you will have a better chance at making more empowered decisions. Being able to recognize, assess and deal with these dynamics will dramatically increase the odds of survival and success in whatever challenge you may face.

Elements of The Game

The Players – Characteristics of Predators and Prey.
The Objective – What the Predators want.
The Board – The environment needed for Predators to get what they want (primary & secondary locations)
The Rules of Conduct – Behavior profiles of both Predator & Prey. How both parts are played.
The Rules of Engagement – How predators and prey interact & play their roles together.
The Playing Field – How all of these elements come together & how to stack the odds in your favor.

If you can control the playing field you can better control your chances of success in anything you have to tackle in life!

Like I said before, think like the general, not the soldier!

Keep going!

~Craig

P.S. I'm heading out to train at the Bujinkan Buyu Camp this weekend! I'm looking forward to training with Jack Hoban and everyone again. I am honored once again to be asked by Jack to teach a session! I look forward to sharing also.

Controlling the Playing Field (part 1)

I received an e-mail the other day regarding a person who was wondering about Krav Maga and the viability of the techniques in a real situation. He, as many of us was very concerned about the effectiveness of the system. Although I feel it is a legit concern to make sure the tactics that you learn are going to be there for you in a pinch, as I read the e-mail further it seemed that this person had a perspective that many hold: 1) Always being prepared for any circumstance 2) Basically looking for a system that would give him the ability to be able to take out anyone no matter the person, situation or conditions. He described a circumstance where he was facing 6 guys at least one of whom who had a weapon. From his description he did make it out alive, hurt, but alive. He admitted that he was very lucky because they were probably drunk and he got the jump on them so to speak. I would agree that he got VERY lucky!

I don’t know of any system that would protect you from this if you were hoping to pull a Steven Segal and want to take all of them out via empty handed. It seems like it is the age old quest, to be invincible. We all would like it to go down like in Bruce Lee’s “Enter the Dragon” or most any other action flick, where the hero is surrounded by numerous bad guys where upon he systematically takes out everyone of them because… well, because he is clearly waaaaaaaay cooler and can kick some major booty! That should show everyone who’s the “big boss” (The Big Boss aka Fists of Fury) right? We all know what the real answer to that is don’t we? Yes, we would like for it to be different somehow, especially for us, but alas it is the same answer: We are merely human like everyone else and although some people are more athletic and may have more legitimate skill we all have limitations.
In light of this I believe that if you look at things from a slightly different perspective you can increase your odds of survival in situations that are stacked against you.

1) Identify what game is being played
2) Don’t play their game
3) Think outside of the box
4) Control the engagement
5) Control the playing field

So what do I mean control the playing field and not playing the adversaries game? Let me use an example:

The 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center was a tragic, but good example of controlling the playing field. If the terrorists would have gone toe to toe with the United States military forces in conventional warfare they would have been utterly destroyed, they wouldn’t have stood a chance. However they knew our game; didn’t play it and were able to unknowingly make us play theirs by using civilian aircraft as weapons. The result was the most devastating attack on American soil ever in our history from a foreign threat. It was a tragic day for the US; but a tactical success on the part of the terrorists. They were able to do what otherwise would have been impossible had they fought toe to toe with us. They really followed the above five principles. They identified what game the US was playing both militarily and socially, they didn’t play our game militarily and they also thought outside of the box to used our civilian freedom and trust against us by creating a tactical advantage through the use of domestic civilian aircraft as weapons to execute a devastating strike; they controlled the where, when and how of the engagement and we didn’t know what game they were playing so we weren’t able to successfully adapt and defend. By utilizing all of these strategies they ultimately controlled the playing field and the game forcing us to play the way they wanted.

So how can we utilize this same strategy? First by not looking at an engagement as you would a duel (a sporting match is in effect a duel). Rather think of it as more a chess match regarding controlling the playing field (game board, tactical space etc.). It is not whether or not the pawn is tougher than the king, or the queen tougher than the bishop. It is about how you use tools, tactics, tricks and environment to give yourself the best strategic advantage to survive or conquer the situation. Only a portion of it is fighting. Unfortunately too many people are thinking about it as a duel and being able to beat the other guy. Although many great things come from sport training and it is absolutely necessary to become proficient at fighting there is so much more to it than that. If you only train in the physical aspects of a sport mentality you will only view situations as you being able to “beat” the other guy. Be a general not a soldier. There is more to the encounter than just the fight! You can be a world class BJJ athlete but if the goon has a knife and isn’t playing the sport bjj game you could be in for a big surprise: If you are a knife or stick guru and can balisong your way through even the toughest Dog Brother; that may not do you any good if the other guy has a .40 caliber, 20 feet and is a crack shot: You could be great with your pistol but find yourself in the crosshairs of a sniper 200 yds away: You could be a UFC champion and think you are going to walk straight through this goob who you want a piece of and you could, but it might be harder once you realize he has three mean and ugly brothers w/tire irons. The situations are limitless but the principle is the same. There is always a “what if.” Someone can always be younger, stronger, meaner, more aggressive, more skilled…and their all uglier! Don’t fight and if you have to don’t fight toe to toe. It is not a duel / sporting match. Simply put, your ego can kill you.

There is a good video on Hock Hocheim’s site that shows a scuffle in a convenience store where one guy clearly knows some grappling. He puts the other guy in a closed guard and guillotine choke just before getting stabbed numerous times with some sharp pointy object that was found on the ground. The guy who got stabbed was clearly a better grappler and had the advantage …well up until he realized he was in a knife fight without a knife. His ego got him into trouble because he thought it was a duel/fight and he didn’t respond tactically he tried to “beat” his opponent. Incidentally he died from his wounds at the scene.

Don’t let your ego get you in trouble. It is not just about the fight; control the playing field by whatever means possible using strategy which may or may not involve fighting. It is better if it doesn’t! And if you do have to go to blows; the more you control the how, where and when of the engagement the better off you’ll be. Think outside of the box, be creative. Once again be the general not the soldier.


Keep going,
~Craig

Fighter vs. Warrior

What is the difference between a fighter and a warrior?

A fighter trains to fight and sometimes they learn to live. A warrior trains to live and sometimes they have to fight protecting themselves and others. What others? All others.

Yes the warrior does train to fight, but the fighting is not the focus of the training.

A warrior fights because he has to.
A fighter fights because he wants to.
A warrior fights to protect others.
A fighter fights for himself.

I have trained with both fighters and warriors. I have fought for myself and to protect others. I prefer warriorship over fighting. I feel it is a richer, deeper, more fulfilling path although it is more challenging. Your steps along this journey are sometime difficult to see clearly. The greatest obstacle has always been yourself. Giving and sacrifice to others over seeking self gratification is tough because we are all human and none of us are perfect.

Being a warrior isn't about some belt, trophy, title, job (solder, officer, bodyguard, gladiator, etc)or any goal that we achieve, we don't ever really master it really, it is just a choice that we make every step that we take. Sometime we stumble and sometimes we fall, but warriors get up, brush themselves off and "Keep Going!" It is our actions, what we DO and our intentions behind those actions. If we ever really think we are "there" or that we "got it" we are fooling ourselves. It isn't something we get it is something that we do over and over again. You are either walking the path or you are not. It isn't a journey with an end. Only one step after the next. It is really about the practice and EVERYTHING, everyday, every moment is practice.

All the best,
~Craig