I Am Project - An Activist

I’m angry, frustrated, and ashamed. We live in a society that is structured to exploit the planet and its citizens by promoting consumption to support an economic model that is based entirely on greed. This greed has blinded us and is not only preventing us from noticing how we are destroying our values that we wage wars to defend, but bringing our entire species to the brink of extinction.

The city of Edmonton has been annexing prime farmland to support economic growth and urban sprawl for so long that there is no longer sufficient usable farmland to produce enough food to support the city’s population. The municipality is now totally dependent upon imported food.

While Alberta has had a huge budget surplus for many years, the provincial government has not invested anything meaningful into diversifying the provincial economy to stimulate economic growth outside the oil industry. We continue to rape the environment to exploit this non renewable resource without stopping to consider the actual cost in water, wildlife, public health, and quality of life.

One of the things that spoke to me about the 100. and the UBBT was the huge potential these organizations possessed in facilitating change. If Wal-Mart can be convinced to support the organic food industry because their sales history reflects a consumer trend in that direction, the proof is there that every individual has power and influence. Can there be any doubt as to the impact a few enlightened martial arts teachers can have on the planet?

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” - Howard Thurman (1900 -1981)

I Am Project - Intrepid

I’m not much of a talker or socializer. I prefer to listen to a story than tell one of my own, and new experiences have always been a social challenge for me. Ironically, all my growth and personal successes have come about through intrepid decisions that have taken me way out of my comfort zone where I have exploited the opportunities that have presented themselves.

The biggest factor holding many of my students back is their fear of failure. So many avoid anything too far removed from familiar ground. Sure they have other excuses like “I’m too busy” or “I’m too broke”, but in almost all cases the reality is that most of us will find any excuse to avoid the stress that is associated with situations that induce anxiety.

Opportunity only knocks so many times and life is too short to let these windows close. When I look back at my past, I have more regrets for the moments I never seized than any actions I have taken. The best lesson my father ever gave me was when he advised me during a crossroads in my career. He said: “Jeff if you don’t take this chance, you will spend the rest of your life wondering what if.” I have kept his advice front and centre and it has never failed me.

When I am intrepid, I create opportunities for personal growth and open myself up to new experiences and new people. If I had never contacted Tom Callos about the 100. I would never have made my first trip to Alabama where I met Master McNeill. These two great teachers have given me so much over the past two years and their influence has fueled my resolve to challenge myself to the fullest so that I can honestly say at the end of every day that I am a different person than I was when I woke up this morning.

Whether it be a seminar in forms or chi kung, if my students are intrepid they will value the opportunities that cross their paths and become the martial artist that they want to be.

“When I look back now over my life and call to mind what I might have had simply for taking and did not take, my heart is like to break.” - William Hale White (1831 - 1913)

I Am Project - An Artist

I own an old VHS copy of Grand Master Ed Parker teaching a seminar at a martial arts school in California. The video is 80’s vintage, shot with a video camera of the same era so of course the quality is poor. There is a portion where GM Parker is explaining the force vectors associated with executing the high rising block and how it corresponds to the theory of orbital motion. His forty minute explanation is thorough, so thorough in fact that if one of my black belts were talking for that long during a class, I would have been quietly reaching for the big hook to pull them aside to tell them “less yak and more smack”. Yet when I watch this video, and I have over and over again, I find myself completely enthralled with every word GM Parker has to say and as he speaks I feel my mind opening up to his ideas and my fascination growing. Such is the power of passion.

Like any art kung fu has technical, physical, emotional, and spiritual components. Above all kung fu is an art and I am an artist. My passion will fuel my work.

“Traditionalists often study what is taught, not what there is to create.”
- Ed Parker (1931 - 1990)

I Am Project - Disciplined

A requirement of all my black belts and black belt candidates is weekly journalling. I have learned over the years that writing out my thoughts helps me organize my mind and give me insight into my faults and motivations. It is a tool that I encourage all my students to use.

Sometimes it can be difficult to concentrate or even organize my thoughts to the degree required to actually record them in some sort of comprehensible manner. At times like that it is easy to put off my journalling efforts until gumption, opportunity, and inspiration happen to intersect. Without structure and discipline it is easy to fall behind and let time slip by without even noticing I am not fulfilling my commitment to myself until it is too late. To top it off, if I do not journal I am not completely reflecting upon my motivations and actions and thus I tend to react to things in my life without truly understanding the situation that I am reacting to. Makes for hasty decisions and bad choices.

My first trip to Alabama was a real eye opener for me concerning the value of structure. It had been a long time since I had experienced a prolonged situation where my time was structured to such a degree. I really excelled with this imposed structure and I felt more focus and thus experienced more efficiency than I had for years. This gave me insight to the value of discipline in my journalling.

Since I do not have complete control of my gumption or inspiration, it is important for me to exploit the one thing I can control - opportunity. Sunday is my down time, I know that at some point during the day I will have the time and opportunity to journal. If I am disciplined and adhere to the structure of journalling every Sunday, whether or not I have anything to express (like today for instance), I will fulfill my weekly journalling goal and further imprint the discipline of journalling upon my weekly structure.

I know it provides comfort to me when I read my UBBT teammates’ journals. What they write is not as important to me as the fact that they did take the time to write. There is something soothing about knowing they’re out there and traveling on the same path as me.

“He that cannot obey, cannot command.” - Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790)

I Am Project - Exuberant

I had big plans for the Exuberant portion of the I Am Project. I had envisioned a video entry that opened on an open field. Off in the horizon a figure would appear running toward the camera (picture Michael Palin’s “It’s” man in the opening credits of Monty Python’s Flying Circus). The figure would turn out to me me and basically I was going to be jumping and screaming in front of the camera in an exuberant fashion. Thought it would be an easy, fun entry but then the leg issues hit. Hard to look exuberant when you move like Quasimodo.

The longer I absorb myself in my training and the challenges of the UBBT, the more excited I get about the journey. I have run into so many roadblocks and obstacles in the first six months of the test and yet my personal growth has been exponential. I know that I probably will not complete everything I set out to do when I started this but at the same time I would be questioning how high I set the bar for myself if come February 2010 I had achieved everything. Kind of like asking $5000 for the car you are selling while hoping you will get $3500 only to find the first guy to look at it gives you the $5000. You’re definitely going to wonder if you were asking enough. It seems like I have been moving on my requirements at light speed with my cape billowing in my wake and yet it is going to take something miraculous to happen for me to complete everything I set out to accomplish. Hence why I’ve already enrolled for next year too.

My twenty student members have been a real asset to me on this journey. Their involvement has kept my accountability factor high and their excitement has fueled my own. I had not noticed how much of my time is spent keeping them on track and motivated, and the mental toll it takes on me, until I received a surprise letter from England this week. The letter, arriving after he had already returned, was from one of my black belt students. You never really know how much a positive word can affect you and your outlook. The fact that he took the time in his travels to write me this note really fueled my soul. It’s funny how those close to you can sometimes do or say exactly what you need when you aren’t even aware that you need it. I am definitely exuberant.

“Nothing ever succeeds which exuberant spirits have not helped to produce.” - Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)

I Am Project - An Institution

Over the past twenty two years that I have been teaching, I have promoted sixty six people to black belt and out of that number forty two are still active students. It is always difficult to keep people engaged in their training after they endure the ordeal of their black belt grading. It seems that the final six month push where they eat and sleep kung fu twenty four hours a day almost always induces a self imposed sabbatical where the newly promoted black belts wish to reclaim some spare time. It’s unfortunate because it can be very difficult to get back into the swing of things after any length of disengagement from training. So I guess forty two out of sixty six after twenty two years isn’t such a bad number.

A lesson, or philosophical outlook, I give every black belt candidate on the day of their grading is the hierarchical priority of the student, the school, and the art. I try to instill a perspective within them that stresses the importance of the school over the student and the art. For without the school we would not have the student and without the student the art will become extinct.

It is always a risk when I send one of my black belts off to train in another art. You hope you have established yourself and your school as an institution of such importance that their perspective for the significance of their original school is never questioned. It can be so easy to take your old art and training mates for granted when the new art you are studying is providing new stimulus every class that you share with a whole new batch of training mates who have the same infective enthusiasm of beginners. This is why most schools I know do not permit their black belts to cross train despite the benefits this extra training would provide.

I have worked hard to establish my school and myself as an institution of excellence with a reputation of community activism and compassion. In my school we consider each other as family, and as Master Dave says: “family comes first”, so my students should never forget their loyalty to their original school, no matter where they are currently training. I trust them completely to continue to make decisions that reflect a passion for what their family stands for.

“When you leave here, don’t forget why you came” - Adlai E. Stevenson (1900 - 1965)

I Am Project - A Beacon

There is something that crosses my mind ever so often has really been resonating with me since Master McNeill’s visit last weekend. We are only given so many opportunities in our lifetime and it is important that we seize these opportunities and make the most of them.

When you consider the mathematical improbability of meeting a specific individual on a vast planet of six billion souls, this improbability borders on impossibility when you factor in our short lifespan. If you take that one step further and consider how few of our species are truly evolved human beings, the importance of each meeting and the opportunities it provides is accentuated.

The thought that consumes me at times is: Who is in the wings to replace these evolved individuals when they pass on? The leadership and inspiration of a Thich Nhat Hanh, a Dave McNeill, a Pamela Dorr, a Tom Callos, a David Suzuki is priceless. If we are not developing people of quality and character who can fill the shoes of the leaders of today, our society will surely suffer a massive loss.

I know I am blessed to have the opportunities that kung fu has given me. I exploited one such opportunity this past weekend and spent three days with Master McNeill. This experience has caused me to ponder every single student that has crossed my path over the years. How many have I failed to inspire to pursue their training? Perhaps they were potential leaders who may not fulfill their full potential because I failed to reach them. I recognize that my kung fu has made me a beacon that can draw many people, and thus many opportunities, to me and my influence. This is an awesome responsibility.

If I keep my experience of last weekend in front of me, I know I will not forget my role as a beacon and I will make the most of the opportunities that come my way through the people I meet.

“He who influences the thoughts of his times, influences all the times that follow. He has made his impress on eternity.” - Anonymous