Clarence Benjamin Jones

I stumbled across an interview with Clarence Benjamin Jones on the BBC this week. Listening to him describe his experiences as Martin Luther King’s legal and personal counsel was fascinating.

Clarence Jones first met Martin Luther King when King personally visited Jones’ home in California to convince him to become part of his legal team. Surprisingly, Jones turned King down. After King left, Jones received an invitation from one of King’s aides to attend the upcoming service at a local church where Martin Luther King was to be the guest preacher.  Jones accepted the invitation and found King to be much more charismatic in that venue than he had been in his living room. Not only did King direct a big part of his sermon directly, but anonymously, at Clarence Jones, by the end of his sermon Jones was convinced to become part of Martin Luther King’s legal council.

What struck me about this Clarence Jones interview is how different his life would have been if he had not attended that sermon. He would never have become part of King’s counsel, nor would he have helped write King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. The world would be a different place.

Life is full of opportunity. Some opportunities are exploited while others are ignored. While it is easy to see what comes of opportunities taken, it is more difficult to realize the consequences of opportunities missed.

“Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open.” - Alexander Graham Bell (1847 - 1922)

Oh Canada

Training in kung fu presents certain unique challenges. Chinese hand forms tend to be fairly lengthly and they cover quite a bit of real estate. Finding a location outside your kwoon that gives you enough space to complete an entire form uninterrupted is almost impossible. Most of us break our forms down into segments for practice at home and piece them back together when we return to class. Weapon forms exasperate the issue, and in most cases, are impossible to practice indoors safely.

This brings up the unique challenges a person faces when practicing the martial arts in a northern climate. At our latitude, the climate can force us to keep our training indoors for seven months of the year. That’s a long time to be away from your weapon practice. During the deep freeze intervals when the temperature drops below -30 degrees centigrade, any outdoor cardio exertion is impossible without the cold, dry air damaging your lungs.

I do believe these unique challenges give us the opportunity to become better martial artists. Overcoming the limitations of the short daylight hours and extreme weather in the winter help us prepare for the other inevitable pitfalls that end up crossing our paths.  Like any other challenge that falls your way, it’s how you choose to react to the challenge that determines whether or not you will come out ahead for it.

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

Incremental Progression

The Sihing Class I ran on Friday reminded me of the key role incremental progression plays in mastery. There are no shortcuts, the harder you work the more you will progress. An hour of practice can produce great results but finding an interrupted hour for mindful practice can sometimes be the single most challenging aspect of mastery. Fortunately, it is almost impossible not to be able to find ten uninterrupted minutes a day over six days to apply to mastery. As I continue to tell my students - if you can’t spare ten minutes a day to kung fu, I’ll show you how to set your alarm clock to go off ten minutes earlier. Any limits to how we apply ourselves to our training are in between our ears.

My Sihing students were exposed to a sample nine minutes of the future final twelve hours of their black belt grading on Friday. It was not only an eye opening experience for them but one for me as well. These past five months I have been spending the majority of my time honing the skills of my five candidates who were promoted to black belt at our Chinese New Year Banquet. Seeing my current Sihing class mentally breaking down over those nine intense minutes brought into focus how far my last five candidates developed over their grading year. I definitely get spoiled working so closely with a group whose focus was narrowed upon achieving mastery. It is very inspiring and motivating to be reminded how far one can progress when they dedicate a portion of every day toward their goals.

Incremental progression is the key.

“Success is steady progress toward one’s personal goals.” - Jim Rohn (1930 - 2009)

Toys in Space

I find this story unbelievably inspiring because as a kid I worked on a project to put a toy into orbit. I came up with many designs and the ultimate design may or may not have ( if I was a betting man I would say not have) achieved orbit. The technology available to me back then precluded me from ever recovering my rocket or proving it’s ultimate destination.

What I find so inspiring about this story is that these two teenagers not only dared to dream, they followed through. They did the research, they invested the time, and they ultimately achieved exactly what they set out to do - first try. Just goes to show that if you take a well thought out plan and couple it with good old follow through, anything is possible.

Thank you Mathew and Asad. You guys made my year.

“We didn’t really believe we could do it until we did.”- Mathew Ho (b. 1995)

Be Bold and Proceed

This is the time of year my students tend to become inspired an motivated to refocus, retool, and begin their drive for black belt. Nothing like seeing a few of their peers get promoted to light the old fire.

I will be meeting with a few of my students this week to help them get on track to achieve their goals over the next couple of years. Any plan we come up with will still come down to their ability to follow through. Actions, not thoughts, produce results. No matter where you’re at, no matter where you want to go, the journey begins with just a single step. Overcoming the inertia of inaction can be a formidable task and anyone who takes that initial step gets my respect.

“If you’re going to do this you gotta pack your bags, kiss your wife goodbye, and go to war.”- Samuel Mockbee (1944 - 2001)

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Today is the final day of the lunar year, the Year of the Dragon begins tomorrow. Chinese New Year is an important festival for a kung fu school and the next few weeks are going to keep us busy with lion dances, demonstrations, and celebrations.

The new year brings an opportunity to begin anew. The festivities of the lunar new year are about leaving the negative behind and starting the year off right. My plans are to start the new year strong beginning with 100 push ups and sit ups at midnight. By the end of the day I will complete at least 1000 of each. The pride of this accomplishment will be tempered with limiting my caloric intake for the day to less than 1000 calories to keep me mindful and appreciative of my privileged life.

It is no coincidence that my student UBBT team, the I Ho Chuan, begin their year-long challenge tomorrow. They will be leading my school for the next year through the power of example by mindfully embracing mastery. I am looking forward to sharing this journey with them.

“Welcome every morning with a smile. Look on the new day as another special gift from your Creator, another golden opportunity to complete what you were unable to finish yesterday. Be a self-starter. Let your first hour set the theme of success and positive action that is certain to echo through your entire day. Today will never happen again. Don't waste it with a false start or no start at all. You were not born to fail.” - Og Mandino (1923 - 1996)

Psychopath Test

I am currently reading Jon Ronson’s ‘The Psychopath Test’. It is a fascinating book that ultimately explores the prevalence of psychopathy in corporate and world leadership. It is estimated that about 1% of the general population could be classified as being psychopathic. In the corporate world, the percentage of psychopaths in leadership roles is four times as high.

This finding helps explain how corporations can turn a blind eye to environmental rape and exploitive labour practices in the name of profits. In fact many, if not most, companies actually seek out CEOs who have a proven track record of being able to make decisions without remorse or guilt so that shareholder profits are always maximized.

Jon Ronson is quick to point out that while it may be a psychopath who is leading the charge, it is the rest of us that are supporting and accepting this leadership. A lot of damage is being perpetuated by our collective greed and the political intimidation that induces a fear of speaking out or going against the flow.

“Suddenly, madness was everywhere, and I was determined to learn about the impact it had on the way society evolves. I've always believed society to be a fundamentally rational thing, but what if it isn't? What if it is built on insanity?” - Jon Ronson - (b. 1967)