Self-Awareness

Tattoos, arrogance, and intimidation - oh have expectations changed. There used to be a time when the martial arts was primarily associated with mental discipline and emotional intelligence. Two thousand years in, society’s expectations of the arts have devolved so far that discipline has been replaced with aggression, and if you mention emotional intelligence in the same sentence as the martial arts, people look at you as if you are suffering from a stroke.

Politician, teacher, martial artist - no matter who you are or what you do, if you are too narcissistic to employ self-awareness, you are problem never a solution.

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” ― C.G. Jung (1875 - 1961)

Deeper

I spent the weekend removing dead trees from my yard. As the years get hotter and dryer, more pests and disease are the norm. I can’t remember when I last had a tree die but I suspect it is going to be the norm from this point on. Last summer was spent in a constant smoke haze from all the forest fires and the wildfire running rampant west of me this weekend is a harbinger of what we should expect this year as well.

My generation has definitely failed as leaders and protectors of our children. We’re busy lining our pockets while staying hell-bent on maintaining an unsustainable orgy of consumption and waste. Someone is going to have accept less. Why or how a parent can ignore the price that is going to be paid by our children boggles my mind.

 “It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment.” - Ansel Adams (1902 - 1984)

Open Eyes

I spent the last two weeks doing a lot of travelling. Nothing significant as I spent double the days travelling than I spent at my destinations. That type of schedule leaves one a little flustered at the end of the ordeal.

I haven’t been through Jasper for a few years but this weekend’s travel-through completely shocked me at the state of things. Where there was once crystal clean mountain water is now sandbars and mud. This being right after the winter melt where the water reserves are at their seasonal high. Vast groves of green pine are now turned brown from the pine beetle infestation. This past warm winter promises no relief on that front.

Climate change is happening, that is no longer debatable. Whether it is being brought about by human activity or not is totally irrelevant. We should be doing everything in our power to reduce our impact. You may not agree with that strategy now but you definitely will come around when you realize you cannot eat your money.

“By the time we see that climate change is really bad, your ability to fix it is extremely limited . . . The carbon gets top there, but the heating effect is delayed. And then the effect of that heat on the species and ecosystem is delayed. That means that even when you turn virtuous, things are actually going to get worse for quite a while.” - Bill Gates (b. 1955)

Friends

I am sitting in the Denver airport writing this after a whirlwind weekend spent with friends. Yesterday Tom Callos, my friend and mentor, was recognized by the martial arts industry for his legendary contributions over the past few decades. I attended as one of the surprise guests who flew down for this special event. To cap it all off, Tom was also awarded his BJJ Black Belt and he surprised his girlfriend with a marriage proposal. Like I said, a whirlwind.

I owe a lot to kung fu for the incredible friendships I have made over the years. My life would be so different and less vibrant if I had taken another path. I am where I need to be.

“I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. “ - Robert Frost (1874 - 1963)

Curriculum

Perfecting the curriculum for a martial arts school is a difficult endeavor. I guess that is not an accurate statement. The curriculum is pretty easy. Typically, the curriculum you teach has been handed down to you from generation to generation and is defined by your lineage. So curriculum itself is not difficult to develop as it is already in place. The difficulty comes when you try to instill the values and knowledge of the curriculum into your students. This is accomplished through the syllabus you develop to transmit your curriculum. The syllabus is where the problems start to creep in.

In my experience, martial arts instructors tend to teach syllabus and not curriculum. Techniques and applications are taught without any reference to the curriculum. If the curriculum defines the values being taught and the syllabus is the tool used to teach the curriculum, it is important for instructors to not lose sight of that fact. Syllabus is the what to the curriculum’s why.

“It is what we already know that often prevents us from learning.” - Claude Bernard (1813 - 1878)

Postmortem

The election is now behind us and the unthinkable has happened. After two years of watching Trump’s exploits unfold and feeling grateful that I live north of the forty-ninth parallel, I find Canada going down the same crazy path as the US.

We just elected a guy who committed fraud in order to ensure he took the party leadership. We all knew he did it and the vast majority of us voted for him anyway. He is already vowing to go after any organization that opposed his election by using the resources of the government to shut them down. This is what now passes as acceptable behavior of our elected officials. Gone are the days when our government worked for the people. Now they only work for their own self-interests and ideology. We have normalized this behavior by knowingly voting for a crook and liar.

I am not sure what the future holds for my daughters but I sure hope we can figure out how to eat oil as we are sacrificing everything for it.

“The angry men know that this golden age (of fossil fuels) has gone; but they cannot find the words for the constraints they hate. Clutching their copies of Atlas Shrugged, they flail around, accusing those who would impede them of communism, fascism, religiosity, misanthropy, but knowing at heart that these restrictions are driven by something far more repulsive to the unrestrained man: the decencies we owe to other human beings.” - George Monibot (b. 1963)

Election

We’re two days out from the provincial election. Canadian politics have really changed since the Harper years introduced divisive and fear-based strategies to hold on to power. There is always something at stake in an election and it is important that people decide exactly what is important to them before they mindlessly cast their vote based upon sound bites or partisan habits.

Normalizing electoral fraud is a danger for the future of democracy. I am shocked at how much people are willing to ignore or justify as long as they get their guy voted in. These are the same people that are going to be shocked and outraged when the next guy uses the same tactics to form a government they do not want.

Protect democracy by voting for what is right.

“A politician thinks of the next election; a statesman thinks of the next generation.” — James Freeman Clarke (1810 - 1888)