I Ate What?

As a teacher, parents expect me to build their children’s self esteem. We all want our children to be leaders, not followers. This can be a challenge for me when parents expect leadership skills to miraculously develop exclusively through the copious amounts of kicking and punching taking place on the mats. If I am not able to utilize all the tools I have available, developing leadership skills within my students becomes a much more difficult task.

At Silent River Kung Fu commercial bottled water is not permitted within the school. The environmental and health issues associated with bottled water are well documented and in good conscience I won’t turn a blind eye while someone exasperates a serious problem. It can be frustrating when a parent challenges our policy by reducing the issue’s solution to recycling and BPA free plastic. For every person that seeks out the healthiest, least environmentally toxic bottled water available, there are dozens of people only seeing a person drinking and endorsing commercially bottled water.

There are enough problems in the world caused by the “everyman for himself” approach to life. That’s why we have greedy shareholders endorsing CEOs who collect outrageous bonuses for generating short term profits while driving their corporation into bankruptcy. If we all just worry about what we are personally doing about serious issues while ignoring our responsibility in setting an example that inspires others to follow, it is going to take forever to get everyone pulling in the same direction to implement lasting change.

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” - John Quincy Adams (1767 - 1848)

The Future Is Bright

Six long months of grading came to an end last night when six new Sifus entered the world. Each new black belt brings their experience and leadership to the collective and their examples of perseverance and mastery provide the leadership that inspires others to reach for new heights. I find the grading process exhaustive but when everything turns out like it did last night, I am left with an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment and euphoria.

I am proud of my students’ accomplishments and when I look at the community effort that went into helping these six achieve their black belts, I have no doubts about the long term future of Silent River Kung Fu. My goal has always been to make my school bigger than any one individual and last night proved that we have indeed arrived. Our school truly has its own soul that will endure well beyond the lifespan of any one individual.

What a great way to start the Year of the Tiger.

“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.” - Greg Anderson (b. 1966)

Year of the Tiger

Today is the first day of the Year of the Tiger. As always, the new year marks a new beginning rife with opportunities and possibilities. I am not one to make resolutions but the lunar new year invariably grounds my perspective. It is a time where I become mindful of where I am and what I am doing - consequently narrowing my focus and ensuring my priorities reflect my values.

“The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences.” - Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)

What’s Right Is Right. Right?

I used to think foreign aid was pretty much unequivocal. A country needs help, you send them money and that’s that. I now realize how naive I have been. It is disappointing how the world really works.

When a western country says it is sending thirty million dollars of aid to Ethiopia, for instance, the aid rarely gets there in the form of money. We send food and equipment rather than money because by sending home grown goods we stimulate our economy and everyone wins, right? Besides, if we sent actual money we couldn’t guarantee that the money would be used in a manner in which we approve. Unfortunately our culture’s imperious meddling in foreign affairs can actually exasperate the very situation we are trying to resolve.

Case in point - Malawi. The landscape of Malawi is littered with non functioning water wells that were acquired through foreign aid. There’s water underground, there’s pumps installed to bring the water up, but unfortunately there is no money or expertise to repair the pumps when they breakdown. The idealist in me says our intentions were pure and with a few adjustments we’ll get it right the next time. The cynic in me says things are going exactly as planned. The primary motivation is not to help a foreign country in need but rather subsidize the economy at home. Busted pumps? No problem, we’ll have a bunch more off to you in a jiffy as soon as they roll off the assembly line.

At Silent River Kung Fu’s annual Chinese New Year banquet, we will be presenting thousands of dollars to the Second Chance Animal Rescue Society, Malawi Girls on the Move, the Simon Poultney Foundation, the Children’s Ability Fund, and the homeless in Katmandu. We are fortunate that in every single case we have personal contact with these organizations and we understand that only they have the expertise to ensure the greatest benefit is realized by their group from our fundraising efforts.

It would be great if it were that simple at the Federal level.

“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” - Chinese Proverb