Man On Wire

Man On Wire tells the story of Philippe Petit’s 1974 wire walking feat that saw him spend 45 minutes on a high wire suspended between the twin towers of the World Trade Centre. The scope of the project was astronomical and despite the odds being against his team, they pulled it off.

A very inspirational documentary that reinforces the value and power of passion.

“Life should be lived on the edge of life. You have to exercise rebellion: to refuse to tape yourself to rules, to refuse your own success, to refuse to repeat yourself, to see every day, every year, every idea as a true challenge - and then you are going to live your life on a tightrope.” - Philippe Petit (b. 1949)

Mishima's Sword

Yukio Mishima was always a fascination of mine. I never really knew much about him beyond the way he died in 1970. I guess that is not a surprise and it may even be the expectation when your death is by seppuku - ritualistic suicide.

The book ‘Mishima’s Sword’ follows Christopher Ross’s journey as he searches for the sword Mishima used to end his life. Ross reassesses Mishima’s life as he encounters those who knew the famous author. Mishima was a very complex man who, like the rest of us, had as many flaws as he had strengths.

I am not sure how I feel about the book. It was not what I had expected but in retrospect I am not surprised. I had romanticized Mishima’s death to be an altruistic act to draw attention to how he felt his country had lost its way. I realize that there was a huge narcissistic component to Mishima’s motives that fateful day also. His death was as much a planned performance to manipulate his legacy as it was to make a political statement - maybe more.

Yukio Mishima’s example is the extreme but I do believe there is a lesson there for all of us. Are not our personal legacies better defined by how we live than how we die?

“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.” - Norman Cousins (1915 - 1990)

Control

I tell all my students that a black belt has to be a control freak. I’m not talking about controlling others, just controlling yourself. If I am in control, then I am responsible. The perspective of responsibility empowers me to change what needs to be changed and achieve anything I want to achieve.

Controlling inner dialogue is Important. My thoughts are always trying to betray me. It’s not natural to stay in a horse stance until exhaustion. We’re psychologically and physiologically built to conserve energy. Instinctually it is wise to keep a little something in the gas tank just in case a predator comes over that hill. Most of us are living at the top of the food chain but the survival instinct perseveres regardless.

Staying aware of those inner thoughts and recognizing them allows me to deal with them as they come up and control them. This allows me to make positive choices. I always have an excess of excuses to take it easy and set tomorrow up as the day that I am going to really buckle down and make things happen. Whether or not I choose to succumb to allowing an excuse to dictate my course of action is an indication of my level of control.

For me structure is the key. When I have structure in place, inner dialogue has less of a voice. I don’t really have to analyze, I just have to do. Structure is self perpetuating. The more you follow it, the easier it gets.

“You can not always control circumstances, but you can control your own thoughts.” - Charles Popplestown

Pandamonium Version 2.0

On May 5th, we will be conducting our annual fundraiser called the Pandamonium. Silent River KUNG FU PANDAmonium - get it? We’re making some massive changes this year that I know will make this project more vibrant. We’re combining our intra-school tournament with our 24 hour forms marathon and our Pandamonium fundraiser into a single event under the Pandamonium banner. This will be a 24 hour sweat fest of perpetual kung fu that will help us raise funds and awareness for several charitable initiatives.

The changes we are making this year will definitely pose some challenges. Our annual fundraiser has been running every November for the past ten years. November has always been a difficult time of year to raise funds because most potential sponsor’s generosity has already been maxed out by the local elementary school fundraisers that run that time of year too. Moving our Pandamonium from November to May makes a lot of sense but we recognize that this change will present a significant perception challenge. We just finished collecting the final funds from last November’s Pandamonium less than two months ago and now we’re gearing up for our next fundraiser. It will be very difficult to get everyone to support this project if we don’t keep the purpose of the Pandamonium clearly defined.

The Pandamonium is a major component of our curriculum that helps us teach empathy. We spend hours every week in the kwoon training hard, honing our skill, and  building our strength and our self esteem. The development of empathy is crucial to ensure this newfound skill and power is tempered with compassion and control.

The purpose of the Pandamonium is to teach empathy. The fundraising aspect of the project is only a tool to help us achieve the goal of teaching empathy. Sometimes we become so focused upon the tools in front of us that we forget what the tools are actually for. Reducing a project like this to be about fundraising and forgetting its ultimate purpose makes it very difficult to commit to the project.

I recognize that the vast majority of my students may not keep the big picture in front of them. Many parents carry out the fundraising on behalf of their kids and just hand in the funds at the end of the project and that is that. They take care of the fundraising but fail to take advantage of the opportunity the project offered them to have the dialogue with their children to impart the importance of activism and community service. They are not taking advantage of this opportunity to empower their children by reminding them that they have the power to change the world by being the change they want to see.

The Pandamonium is an integral part of our curriculum. As with all aspects of my school’s curriculum, I can’t completely control how a student actually applies themselves to the lessons I am teaching,  I can only provide the tools and inspiration. Hopefully my team’s passion for this project, and the purpose it serves, will help this transition from November to May to be perceived as a positive change by my school body through the dialogue it promotes.

“A determined soul will do more with a rusty monkey wrench than a loafer will accomplish with all the tools in a machine shop.” - Robert Hughes (b. 1938)