Family Reunion Time

One thing I love about being a martial artist and member of the UBBT is the sense of family. I just spent a week driving through Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah and Washington. Rather than sleep at hotels, I made arrangements to sleep at the homes of martial artists I know in the area. Some were good friends, others UBBT family. In each case, we sat at their table and talked story over beer and good fellowship.

The seminars I attend and especially the UBBT events feel like family reunions. Everybody hugs hello. Everybody's immediately talking like old friends. Coming from a big, loving and raucous family myownself, I find this wonderful.

I wonder if people from other hobbies/communities/lifestyles have this same experience. I hope so, for their sake. It would be a sad thing to miss out on.

Thanks for listening.

Mastery, Part Three

Many of my teammates know I do the ballroom dance thing. Well, to be honest, my wife does the ballroom dance thing. With grace, skill and style. I struggle with footwork that should come easy, considering. But I struggle often and with enthusiasm.

The other night, my wife and I went to a grange hall dance outside of our town. They'd had a dance there every Saturday night since 1956: waltz, foxtrot, drag and polka. Bev and I were the youngest folks in the room by fifteen years, and that couple was easily another fifteen younger than everybody else.

This was not only fun, but turned into a lesson in mastery. I danced with several women in their 90s...women who had been doing the foxtrot for over sixty years.

Effortless grace, kindness and patience. An understanding of give an take, of rhythm, or connection with a partner. These women taught me martial arts with every turn of the hall.

Thanks for listening.

Intermission Over

I took six months off after the October graduation for Team 5, but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy

For my own part, these past 6 months have been interesting. I am without the huge load of UBBT requirements to keep me busy, but the paradigm shift from having done the UBBT has forever altered what I consider a 'reasonable' amount of effort and accomplishment. I think I'm driving my wife a little crazy.

I'll talk a little more about such things as time goes by.

Thanks for listening.

Reflections

Thank you, all, for being part of last weekend. As a cap-off of the UBBT it was just what I had hoped it would be. Celebratory. A sense of family. The easy companionship of shared sacrifice and accomplishment.

Each and every one of us had important things to say...

• Hal told us the most important aspect of UBBT is the people who walk the journey with us.
• Susan said eery time we look outward it gives us a chance to look inward.
• Dan's energy and enthusiasm showed through when, after rolling and sparring until he was winded (and injured) he said "All right, now I'm warmed up".
• Carol told us that before, courage was just a word to her.
• Lucinda reminded us how we never stop testing.
• Jeremy's story of a crisis of faith touched us all, especially his realization that this was about far more than just him.
• Todd shared his eye-opening realization that even outsiders were members of our family.
• And Terri reminded us that every day, we're writing our life stories.

This was an inspiring, challenging, difficult year for all of us. Thank you all for the support, the push, the friendship. I look forward to keeping in touch, my friends.

I won't be enrolled in UBBT this coming year, although in many ways it will be a part of me forever. I have another aggressive set of goals to accomplish. But I plan to come to Alabama, and with luck I'll bring some backup.

Also, I'm going to continue blogging on my backup blog site. ubbtjb.blogspot.com . Stop by sometimes. And be sure to email.

Keep in touch, my friends. My family. This was a long, tough road to wind up back home.

Holy Crap! Goats!

My parents live on the border of a protected wetland. They love it. Ducks, nutria, beavers, hawks and herons are what we watch from their porch. Bats and bullfrogs keep the mosquitos in line. The green and the water keep temperatures down in the summer. It's pretty wonderful.

But it's not without cost. There are many restrictions on what they can grow on their land and how they maintain it. One particularly thorny (no pun intended) aspect is what to do with their blackberry bushes. About a third of the land is covered with blackberries, a delicous but notoriously aggressive and sharp-edged plant. Every year they threaten to overrun the property and every year my parents have to find a solution that doesn't involve chemicals, power tools or other pollutants.

This year's answer? Goats!

Apparently, you can rent goats to graze your land for a day or a week. So Nelson and Desmond, two south african goats, are spending the week at my parents' place. They don't need much to eat, just some water, and they came with a little pre-fab barn to sleep in.

I think this might be the coolest thing I've heard of in ages.

What's more, it ties in to today's empathy project.

I opted out of doing the wheelchair thing. I'd done that once in high school and have a good friend who is wheelchair bound. There's not much new there for me. So I looked for something else and settled on a day without electricity. Today was going to be that day.

As the kids say, EPIC FAIL.

Let's ride on past the morning where my alarm clock woke me up and I ate breakfast with food from the refrigerator. Or how today was my day to volunteer at my son's school and I spent an hour with a copy machine. Or how, even after walking to the grocery store (the car has a battery after all) I got around in there because of electric lights and used an electric cash register/scanner doohickey to process everything.

Man, even using the toilet required electricity (not here, but that water doesn't get pumped by goats on a treadmill).

By noon I gave in. I think I got the point. We are so blessed by the technologies surrounding us. Sometimes they are an addiction, and I often fear they make us weak (or at least lazy). But wow, we have access to some amazing stuff and it's part of our lives every moment.

My electric bill is probably the best money I spend.

I thought it was going to be easy. Heck, I like camping. I sort of like black-outs, at least for a little while. I go on 'phone and email strike' a couple days every month.

But what I learned was that electricity is such a part of our lives, I totally failed to anticipate how much I'd have to prepare to do it right.

Wow. Seriously.

Thanks for listening.

Mastery, Part Two

I wrote earlier about one aspect of my exposure to masters over this past year. Another way I've studied Mastery has been by taking in the works of masters.

My other hobby is writing. I write fiction, tech writing, ad copy and nonfiction. I've been published a few times. Even paid now and again. As I transition my life, I'm finding more time to write and to take this hobby more seriously.

So recently I've been reading fiction the way all of us watch a boxing match. Sure, it's entertaining. But it's also educational. We learn from our analysis of the match, we enjoy it on another level because of a professional understanding.

I won't bore you with the insights on how to write a detective novel or a young adult fantasy. Suffice to say, looking at the work of masters through the lens of mastery has aided my writing.

And, since I've got you, some fiction to check out when you have some time:

• Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card)
• To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
• Hatchet (Gary Paulsen)
• Love That Dog (Sharon Creech)
• Looking for Rachel Wallace (Robert B. Parker)

Thanks for listening.

Mastery, Part One

I'll take full responsibility for never really connecting with a master. Sure, there were a dozen unanswered letters and a couple missed connections. Seems the folks I wanted to chat with didn't want to chat back. Still and all, maybe one more phone call or letter or candygram might have gotten some attention.

Instead, I've spent some time thinking about the masters I've had the privilege of working with. Some are master martial artists and master teachers, like Sokei McNeil, O Sensei Phil Porter, Professor Cacoy Canete and Master Lee Sprague. Others are masters of their own profession or avocation, like my grandmother the gardener or Tom's coaching skills.

Through watching and listening, and then thinking about what I heard and saw, here is what I've learned about mastery from my time with these folks.

Unconscious Competence. Masters own what they know. They own it so well that they do amazing things without apparent effort. What's more, they own it so well that when some dumb rookie challenges their opinions, they aren't threatened. They simply answer the question as if it actually made sense to ask.

Humility. Masters spend time in the presence of other masters. They spend time contemplating their subject, which is always bigger, older and more significant than they are. This breeds humility. And humility breeds kindness and patience.

Love and Enthusiasm. Simply put, a Master loves what they study. They would have to in order to stick with it long enough to become a master. This love and enthusiasm are infectious, energizing those around them and inspiring us to learn more.

Comfort with Self. Truly owning a skill breeds confidence. This confidence becomes a part of somebody until that somebody is truly comfortable with who he/she is. This comfort is visible in how a Master treats others, accepts challenges and views the world.

I'm certain there are more, and I hope to become a Master in my own right so as to experience them all some day. But meanwhile, that's what I've perceived from the outside looking in.

Thanks for listening.

Well, this is different...

Suddenly I'm a stay at home dad.

As I've mentioned, I sold a portion of my school to another local dojo. Moved my operation to part time and put out applications with local law enforcement. Well, my move-out date was 9/1. My applications are still in process (this takes months).

So here I sit with a 10 hour work week after a whole summer pushing 80. This is what it feels like not to be exhausted.

I have to say, I could get used to this. I have time to see to those little nagging house projects. I get to cook more often. I play with my son daily, for hours. I have a chance to write more.

In a few weeks, I'll be out there serving and protecting. In a little less than a month, I'll be busting a gut in Seattle.

But for right now, halftime sure is nice.

Thanks for listening.

Did McCain Read Our Website?

There's been a lot of bad drama surrounding the Republican National Convention this year. Come to think, there's been a lot of bad drama surrounding Republicans in general lately. But, I have to hand it to John McCain on this point.

When Gustav hit, he turned the whole Convention for a day into a PBLT event. He did like coach Tom is telling us to do:

• Find a need in your community.
• Create a way to help fill that need.
• Cash in shamelessly on the resulting publicity.
  

It doesn't change my opinion on the behavior of our current administration. It won't even get me to seriously reconsider who I'll vote for come November.

But for this one thing, good on you Mr. McCain. Way to lead by example.

Goin' Camping

Just finished what's probably my favorite week of the whole year.

Every summer, I take as many of my students as want to go out camping at the Oregon Coast. We've had as few as 7 and as many a 60 takers over the years, with this year coming in at about 25.

I always love watching the kids spend endless hours just digging in the sand, jumping waves, exploring the dunes, finding sand fleas and jellyfish and starfish. This year, through the lense of having recently read Last Child in the Woods it was particularly interesting and powerful.

We really don't let kids spent enough time out doors.

Come evening, it was campfire time. Most of the kids took turns to tell campfire stories. Ghosts and farts, mostly, while we ate our s'mores. Then came my turn to tell one, which I'll share here. This is the true tale of Sifu Jason and the Japanese Gangsters.

While living in Japan, I would often stop at an all-night noodle place on the way home from whatever adventures I had that day. This particular night (my birthday), at 1 or so I stopped in. Waiting on a bench were three men in nice suits, clearly liquored up and having a great time. I smiled and placed my order.

In walks a very attractive (and distinctly mammalian) young woman. The three men glom onto her, surround her. They're talking to her suggestively, touching her. She walks away from them. When they follow, I step in between. Not looking at the men, but looking at the menu on the wall.

One guy puts his finger on my shoulder, sort of pushing me. I don't move. He starts talking to me. "Yakuza des!" He hollers, basically telling me he's Yakuza, or a member of the Japanese mafia. I have no idea to this day if he was telling the truth.

Me, I grab his hand and shake it. With a big smile, I say "Hajimemashte, Yakuza san. Jason des!" ("Good to meet you, Mr. Yakuza. I'm Jason".)

What followed was five or ten minutes (give or take an eon) where this guy threatened and insulted me. Every time he said anything to me, I answered in Japanese as though he had asked me some inncuous tourist question:

"Oh, I've been here a little more than a year."

"Yes, I love Japan. It's a little hot in the summer, though."

"I'm staying over by the Suwa Temple."

"I work at the English School."

Stuff like this, with a big dumb tourist smile on my face. Finally, this gangbanger grabbed my finger (my ring finger, not my pinky) and threatened to have some people cut it off. To which I responed "O-keikon genai" (No, I'm not married.

At this, he threw his hands in the air, shouted "Bakagaijin" (Dumbass foreigner) and stormed out of the restaraunt, his friends in tow.

I tell that story when it seems appropriate. I'm pretty proud of how I handled that. Nobody got hurt. I protected the lass. I didn't get killed by Japanese gangsters. And all it cost was a little verbal abuse.

Thanks for listening.

Hood to Coast

It's the largest relay in the world: 36 legs totalling 197 miles, running from Mount Hood to the Oregon coast in Seaside. Upwards of 12,000 runners and thousands of support personell.

This was the first time I ran, though I've been as aware as any other fitness professional in this neck of the woods. I did a total of 17 miles in three legs. This is harder than it may sounds, as I spent the hours between legs sitting in a van.

First leg was a quick 6 miles through Southeast Portland. Hot, direct afternoon sunlight, but nothing special. I did get to run past my favorite museum and through some interesting neighborhoods.

Second leg was 5 miles at 4 in the morning, run in the night through dense fog. Ten, maybe 15 feet of visibility. Runners appearing out of nowhere. Eerie.

Third leg was about as much fun as humping a cheese grater. Legs cramped from inactvity, a brutal hill followed by a hard downward slope right to the beach. It felt great to be done and to have done it.

Really, it was fun in its own weird way. Especially the team: Steve, Dave, Troy, Darcie & Patty. Much like our UBBT experience, the closeness of shared goals and common duress creates something spectacular. I think it's one of the reasons training buddies can be so close despite frequently differing opinions and experiences.

I'm probably going to do it next year. For that matter, I'm probably going to hassle some of my UBBT bretheren and sisteren to get out here and do it with me. Only takes 12 of us.

Thanks for listening.

Why the Olympics Are Extra Cool This Time

I love the Olympics. I haven't owned a television since 1991, but I always find a way to watch. One year, I even rented a TV from one of those cheezy appliance rental places.

This year the Olympics are extra special. I'm not just talking about Michael Phelps surpassing what I consider the greatest athletic achievement in history. Or about how Jamaica appears to have brought the whoopass to the track this year. Or even about how nifty it must be for China, a perennial gymnastics powerhouse, to be performing well in their own house.

For me, what I'm enjoying is the level of civility, sportsmanship and kindness the athletes are showing this year. These aren't your Nike-sponsored felons like we see in our headlines and (sadly) in the ad campaigns. These are folks who speak intelligently, treat one another with respect. They accept responsibility when they fail on the mat/track/pool/road. They show immense courage by trying again when they fall on their face on the highest pressure stage in the world.

These are role models. They've got me thinking about how we could turn the Olympics into a character education curriculum the likes of which the world has never seen. I'm impressed.

On the other hand, the color commentator for women's gymnastics is an ***hole. He snorted and mocked the chinese competitor when she faltered on the horse. Didn't have a nice word for any of them. Him, I'd like to punch in the neck. But everybody else, even the other reporters, is showing a touch of class this year. Good on 'em.

Thanks for listening.

Whew!

This is a roller coaster set of weeks. Some highlights:

• Family reunion in Lake Tahoe.
• Friend, fellow martial artist and brother from another Kelly Dodge's wedding.
• My brother from the same mother coming home from Iraq on leave.
• Detailing the final aspects of transitioning my after school program.
• Finding a new home for my evening martial arts classes.
• Figuring out what I'm gonna do next.
• Upcoming black belt test.
  
• Visit to Master McNeill's studio in Minden, NV.

I may have a chance to blog about these things in coming days.

Thanks for listening.

Big Smile

This was a good weekend.

Four of my students tested for black belt over Thurs, Fri & Sat. They did us proud. I mean, really proud. Sharp motion, deep understanding. Put on a good show. Simply put a smile on my face and a mist in my eyes.

Cheyenne Alexander, age 11, never let another candidate present a thing without being sure to congratulate them and give a high five the second they left the deck.

Dawna Graham (a grownup) broke a finger during the grappling and finished the test. This wasn't a macho thing...she'd broken fingers before, intelligently assessed the situation, and decided she could continue.

Paul Catanzaro (another grownup) has struggled all year with memorizing the >150 techniques in our system. When time came, though....flawless victory.

Jamie Rivers (grownup) moved with power and grace rare in a 1st degree black belt. She even kicked a 200 pound athletic man several feet backwards (and, incidentally, into her mother in law).

I'm proud to have had the privilege of working with these fine athletes, warriors and human beings. Thank you Chey, Dawna, Jamie & Mr. Catanzaro.

The Grind

So here's where the UBBT is greatly pushing my personal growth.

I'm athletic, smart, reasonably good looking, well educated and pretty good socially. Most things in life have come to me pretty easily. Even my black belt, of which I am very proud, was more a matter of doing the time and checking things off a list than of pushing myself hard.

One thing that's stood in the way of my success is a phenomenon I've noticed in lots of people with pretty solid raw talent. When it gets hard, we move on. Most things come so easily, when a challenge rears its ugly head we're just not used to it. This is especially true when the challenge is long-term and unglamorous. Not only is it hard, but it's uninteresting.

I often fail in The Grind.

So here I am, in the middle of a hard summer. Most of my staff has other jobs (see previous entry about closing up shop), so I'm here 7am to close most days. I'm playing catch-up on some of my accumulation goals. I've got a dozen events planned for the summer...zero weekends off through September.

I'm in the middle of The Grind. Five weeks in of 1800 pushups a week, dawn to dusk work hours, and family when I get home. Historically, right about now is when I'd find a video game to beat or a stack of novels to re-read. But life, and the UBBT are keeping me on task.

Now if I can just find somebody to help staff my school so I can do a weekday blind....

Thanks for listening.

Ego Has its Good Moments, Too

Some day I'll be risen enough that this won't mean much to me.

The UBBT physical requirements are bordering on insane. But we keep plugging, partially because it's the sort of thing we're used to after years of training. Partially because it's some of the easiest stuff to mark progress on -- can't argue with 500 pushups in a day, or a marathon worth of running in a week.

So anyway, this morning I'm jogging to work. It's a little under 4 miles and if I do it to and from 3 times a week I'm in good shape for the requirements.

You know that guy? The one you always hate when you drive by him while he's jogging? The one with the solid muscle tone, the good arms, the one cruising along like running's no big deal at all? That smug SOB?

This morning, running by the tinted windows of Intel, I realized...holy crap! I'm that guy!

Some day I'll be risen enough that this won't mean much to me.

But today is not that day.

Thanks for listening.

What Exactly Are We Doing Wrong?

Wednesday I received a near-fatal overdose of rock & roll. The Mayhem Festival in Seattle Washington was a 12-hour onslaught of metal. Featured bands like Disturbed, Airborne, Dragonforce. Great show. Good pit. I went with my brother, an added bonus.

Much as I love my heavy metal, I have to say it got me thinking.

The festival drew at least 10,000 people. My tickets (in the cheap seats) were $40. Expensive floor admission was much higher. That right there is half a million dollars. Ad concessions (including $8 beers), tshirts, etc and that's gotta be a million dollars in one day. And the tour has 30 dates. Even assuming the Seattle gig was average (and it's probably low), you're looking at 30 million dollars and 300,000 people.

That's for a freakin' rock & roll concert. A good time (a great time -- good concerts were my first and still my favorite experience with satori). But still, 30 million bucks and 300,000 people to watch some guys in leather play their guitars and sing about angst for a few hours?

Meanwhile, karate schools are experiencing a brutal year and poor coach Tom is having kittens over how hard it is to get martial artists motivated.

Our message is more affirming. Our product is better for you. And yet nobody's gonna drop $50 and wait in line for an hour to come play with us. What exactly are we doing wrong?

Thanks for listening.

Scholar Warrior Citizen Day 4

Today we learned about poverty. About the three rules for avoiding poverty. About the difference between involuntary poverty and poverty that results from poor choices. About organizations and safety nets that exist to help people get up out of poverty.

In particular, we learned about Goodwill Industries. Over the course of the week, we gathered literally 200 cubic feet of donations. Today we piled them into the van and drove out to regional headquarters for a tour.

Goodwill is a great operation. They buy things cheap (free) and sell them at a good value, then use the profit to employ people who have trouble getting employment elsewhere. What I hadn't realized was how extensive their job training program was, or how quickly they work to transition the unemployable (whether due to disability, language barriers or lack of skills) into the work force.

I have to say I was impressed. This is how capitalism is supposed to work.

Scholar Warrior Citizen Day 3

Today we learned about the energy crisis....high oil costs, pollution, alternative energy. Many of our students were already pretty well informed. Up here in the Pacific Northwest, we already use a lot of hydro, wind & geothermal.

Still, we did our 'warrior' class on possible solutions to the energy problem. We learned how a turbine works, how different sorts of generation turn turbines (windmills can turn one, as do the chutes in a hydro dam; geothermal, nuclear and coal boil water for steam...). Then we broke into groups to think about possible new ways to turn a turbine. Some solutions:

• Put turbines inside of old tires and roll them down a mountain.
• Make inmates walk on treadmills (I rather liked this one).
• Burn trash to boil water for steam (remarkably close to something we're already doing).
• Well, first you get a million gerbils and a million gerbil wheels....

In the afternoon, we toured a local plant (thanks Solaicx) that manufactures the silicon wafers that go into solar panels. They have a new technology that looks like they can drastically reduce the cost of solar energy (high cost being the major barrier to widely adopted solar right now). We learned how they are made, how they work, and how hard it is to properly mix silicone (melting point 2000 degrees) in a vat made of stainless steel (melting point 1800 degrees).

The kids did us proud and asked a lot of questions. Who knows? Maybe one will grow up thinking about it and be the one who cracks the code...

Thanks for listening.

Scholar Warrior Citizen Day 2

Tuesday was in many ways the hardest of our Scholar Warrior Citizen days. Tuesday was the day we looked at medical care. Our students learned how many people, whether due to poverty, isolation or disaster (including war) have no access to medical care.

What makes this hard is...they get it. These kiddoes, most in 2nd-4th grade, understand how awful that must be. A few of them have experienced it first hand, but all of them have the empathy to feel it for a moment or two.

We wrapped it up with a tour of the Medical Teams International world headquarters. MTI is a group that sends teams of doctors, nurses and paramedics to disaster areas, war zones and refugee camps. If Master McNeil hadn't already used the 'organization as hero' idea, I'd put these folks on my list of heroes in a heartbeat. They give up a lot to make a real difference in the world.

Define victory. They have a display in their museum that used to say 'a child dies of a preventable illness every 3 seconds'. Sometime recently, somebody crossed out the 3 with a sharpie pen and wrote in 3.6.

It's a start, I guess.