I Am Project - Educated

The current political situation in Canada has got me thinking a lot more about the problems we are encountering with our system. The parliamentary system makes sense and allows for democratic representation on paper but the way the system has evolved in Canada has left each of us with very little say in the affairs of state.

I continue to think about why we allow our political leaders to force our elected representatives to vote according to party guidelines as opposed to their constituent’s wishes. I have come to the conclusion that it is because most of us do not understand how our system works. However when I think about it, most major problems we face are due to lack of understanding.

How many people are jumping on the biofuel bandwagon who do not realize the damage being inflicted on the world’s already critically short food supply by diverting food for fuel? Are we all aware of the environmental impact of clear cutting rainforest to make way for crops to produce more ethanol based fuel? Without properly educating ourselves we may be creating two or three global crises for every one we think we are addressing.

What about the fertile farmland that is destroyed each year to support urban development. Would these projects go ahead if people completely understood the global food crisis?

Most of the environmental and socioeconomic issues facing the world can be solved through nonpartisan education. Once the majority properly educate themselves we can force our political leaders to govern our countries such that we all can live a life worth living without compromising our values.

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
- Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)

I Am Project - Blessed

I am at my all time busiest for the year. Chinese New Year festivities last for a couple of weeks and we will be hitting our peak next Saturday at our annual banquet. It has been a difficult time for me to stay focused on my UBBT commitments while I organize and prepare for our big event but somehow I have managed to stay on track. Things always seem to work out for me.

All my life I have felt blessed. From a very young age I developed the habit of ending my days with a quiet reflection of the day’s events. I would give a silent thanks for everything I experienced during the day and I found that when I implemented this practice, everything could be construed as a positive experience. Perhaps that is due to me being an optimist or perhaps I am an optimist due to this technique.

While a lot of things have not gone as planned, things that first appeared to have the potential of being setbacks have almost always turned out to be stepping stones to greater things. From injuries to demos gone horribly wrong, they have all contributed to personal growth in areas that were previously hidden from me.

Because I am blessed I am able to transform negatives into positives and evolve on a daily basis and live a life worth living.

“Blessed is he who has learned to admire but not envy, to follow but not imitate, to praise but not flatter, and to lead but not manipulate”
- William Arthur Ward (1921 - 1994)

Gung Hay Fat Choy

Chinese New Year is the busiest time of year for a kung fu school. The next few weeks are filled with lion dance bookings and celebrations while the previous couple of months have been spent preparing for aforementioned lion dances and celebrations. At this hectic time it is easy to get caught up in the grind and forget the significance of the season.

Every new year is an opportunity to reflect upon the year that just passed. The people I have met, the friendships I have fostered, the victories I have achieved, and yes, the mistakes I have made, the regrets I have accumulated, and the friends I have lost.

This is my time to reflect upon where exactly I stand today. I am the net sum of my achievements and my failures. Only by keeping both in front of me am I able to correct my faults and understand the true value of my accomplishments. Very few achievements do not include collateral damage.

The Year of the Ox begins tomorrow and I intend to enter the year with a clean slate. All my demons have been exorcised and my closet dwelling skeletons have been evicted. Perhaps this is the year that I finally recognize materialistic goals for the dead end they are and replace them with achievements of spirit and soul.

One of his students asked Buddha, "Are you the messiah?" 
"No", answered Buddha. 
"Then are you a healer?"
 "No", Buddha replied. 
"Then are you a teacher?" the student persisted. 
"No, I am not a teacher." 
"Then what are you?" asked the student, exasperated. 
 "I am awake", Buddha replied.

I Am Project - Discerning

I have been studying the martial arts for over twenty five years now and despite the fact that I still consider myself a student who has a lot to learn, I know beyond a doubt that my success in the arts and business has been due to influence.

I often wonder where I would be today if I hadn’t been blessed with so many positive influences in my life. When I say blessed I am not saying lucky. I have always been very discerning when choosing my friends and mentors and because of this, I am reaping in the benefits made possible by my choices. When I think about it, I don’t really understand why I have always been so careful and discriminating over who I have associated with. I have seen so many others ruin their lives with bad choices so perhaps I really am just lucky. But we make our own luck, right?

A point that I continually drive home with my students is - nothing is for free. There are consequences to our actions and there are consequences to our inactions. The email we send, the comments we make in line at the grocery store, our silent acceptance of a racial slur - anything and everything can affect our future. Imagine walking into a job interview and discovering that the person making the decision whether or not to hire you is the same guy you flipped off in traffic the day before. The choices we make today can set events into motion that can affect us for the rest of our lives.

Because I am discerning with my friendship, I find myself surrounded by people who are committed to personal growth and whose actions and exploits reflect my own values. Consequently I have evolved as a person committed to excellence. I believe this commitment is evident when I teach my kung fu and it has allowed me to inspire others to follow my path and has given me a strong sense of purpose in my life. Who could ask for anything more?

When I am discerning in my actions, I make choices that reflect the product I am peddling to my students and allow me to aspire to Ghandi’s ideal by being the change I want to see in the world.

"It has been said that the gate of history turns on small hinges, and so do people's lives. The choices we make determine our destiny." - Thomas S. Monson (b. 1927)

I Am Project - Humble

Master Brinker. It is what my students call me. The title has always made me uncomfortable but after years of hearing the term applied to me, it eventually just became the norm and I accepted it. Now that many of my students are publicly journaling and for the first time I am seeing the term “Master Brinker” in print, those uneasy feelings have returned.

In my style of kung fu, one is given the title of Master when they achieve the rank of fifth degree. I remember that the first impetuous thought that crossed my mind when my instructor surprised me with the promotion was one of morose acceptance. Fifth degree is the highest rank one achieves physically, all future ranks awarded are only honourary. I felt at the time, and I continue to feel today, that I still have the potential of growth and improvement in my future. Had I just not worked hard enough and thus convinced Sigung Macdonald that I had already reached my pinnacle? Or was it just his way of getting back at me for all those years I insisted, despite all his wincing, that my students address him as Master? Either way I have never felt I deserved the title. I know I can train for another forty years and will probably feel the same way - I still have so much more to learn.

When I am humble I am open to new ideas and thus my potential is infinite. Some of my most valuable lessons have arrived at the hands of my students, not my teachers.

When I am humble I stay appreciative and cognizant that the affluent, peaceful life I have is primarily due to my birthright, not my mettle. So many of the countless opportunities I have exploited, and yes ignored, would not have even been a possibility had my birth not been so geographically blessed.

When I am humble I recognize my place in this world. Nature is to be nurtured, not exploited and the quality of my life is determined by how seamlessly I integrate my existence within this sacred balance.

When I am humble I am reminded to not lead with my intent but with my actions. Everyday is an opportunity to evolve such that the man laying down in bed tonight is a different man that woke up this morning - only if he takes action.

If I am humble I can live a life that is free of distortions and at the end of the day perhaps the legacy I leave behind for my children will be something of which I can be proud.

“All streams flow to the sea because it is lower than they are. Humility gives it its power.” - Lau Tzu

Hello UBBT Team 6

My journal today is directed specifically toward my Team 6 teammates of the Ultimate Black Belt Test. We officially began our challenge January 1, 2009 and will be on this journey together for the next thirteen months. Since one of my UBBT goals is to communicate more through video, I figured that I would start by introducing myself to my teammates with the attached video.

“Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are.” - Bernice Johnson Reagon (b. 1942)

Cognizant Engagement

I have been following the UBBT for a couple of years now and as a member of the 100 I have worked alongside the team members for a while. I have been pretty aware of the level of commitment that is required as a UBBT member and so I had no doubts that everything I have going on in my personal, professional, and kung fu life dictated quite decisively that tackling something like the UBBT was not a reasonable nor sane ambition.

For some reason August saw me contemplating the insane. I contacted Coach Tom and laid out the million and one reasons I had for not tackling this project at this time. I had expected him to either confirm my suspicions that my insane schedule would guarantee my failure or at the opposite end of the spectrum, for him to try and talk me into making the commitment. He did neither. He firmly put the responsibility for the decision in my lap. “There will never be the perfect time to take on something like this” and “The UBBT is not for everyone” were the two statements he made that had the biggest impact on me. Especially the second one, I guess I am more competitive and ego driven than I thought.

After consulting with Hal Gustin and much soul searching, I decided that Coach Tom was absolutely correct. There really is not a perfect time to take on something like the UBBT. Thirteen months is a long time to keep life from interfering with your well laid out plans. Of course something is going to go wrong in that time, why would I expect next year to be any different? The only difference next year will be that I will have another year of mediocrity under my belt and my age will have toggled up by one.

I am now two months into my requirements and anything that could go wrong probably has. My personal and professional lives have become more stressful than I thought possible and I have developed an undiagnosed problem with my legs that pretty much makes grappling, forms, and sparring an impossibility for the foreseeable future. If I could have seen this coming, I definitely would not have enrolled at this time and that would have been the biggest mistake of my life.

What I see now is that the more stressful my life is and the more insane the UBBT requirements are, the more I need this challenge. I have had injuries and setbacks throughout my martial arts career and every physical setback brings with it a correlating mental challenge and vice versa. However my current physical setback has had zero effect on my mental state and rather than pulling me back from my training, it has me even more engaged and cognizant of my progress. Despite the monkey wrenches, I have never been more excited about my kung fu and never more sure of the course that my life is on.

Ironically this has turned out to be the perfect time for me to tackle the UBBT. Luckily for me I happened to stumble into it for all the wrong reasons. Funny how things always work out.

“We choose to go not because it is easy, but because it is hard, because that goal will serve to measure and organize the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.” - John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917 - 1963)