Mastery Team Blog: Junauro Landgrebe's Introductory Post

February 19, 2014

My name is Junauro Landgrebe and this is my introductory post to the mastery program blog.  I apologize for the tardiness of this post, but to be honest I just figured out how to blog haha.  I’m 45 years of age and proud to be the senior member of the 2013/2014 black belt mastery program.  I decided to accept the invitation from Sensei Paul as a way to better myself as a martial artist and person.

The invitation to join the mastery program this past August occurred 7 months after rehabilitating a ruptured achilles tendon injury sustained during a training session.  Concerns about injuring myself again created doubts about whether or not to continue with martial arts.  Ultimately giving into fear was not an option and as a result my concerns have given way to what seems to be a full recovery!

I’ve been doing martial arts at Revolution Martial Fitness for almost 5 years now.  My two boys, Jacob and Jordan, were taking martial arts classes with Sensei Paul for a couple of years before I decided to join myself.  It looked like a lot of fun and a great way to get in shape.   I’ve always been a physically active person, but prior to joining hadn’t been doing much in regards to exercise.  Furthermore, after passing a kidney stone which was the most painful experience I’ve ever had (more painful than rupturing my achilles!) decided it was time to make some changes in my life.  The training sessions are amazing and I’m in the best shape ever!  Sharing this experience with my two boys has been a lot of fun and a great way for us to stay connected.


Thus far, I’ve noticed a lot physical, mental, and personal gains as a member of the mastery program.  It is rigorous and continues to be both challenging and rewarding.  I’m keeping up with my physical requirements and have some catching up to do with some of the personal requirements.  I’ve never been much of a writer so blogging has been a challenge.  I also found that logging all the requirements became a bit cumbersome and found that ever since I stopped writing everything done the process has much easier to do regularly.  Furthermore, the requirements can sometimes be burdensome especially in the mix of keeping up with family and work responsibilities.  However, these excuses are just excuses, and after putting in the time I’ve definitely benefitted from the exercises. 

In fact, this past week I rectified an issue with my younger sister who had some grievances with me for past reasons I will keep private.  What I learned from the experience was that it’s sometimes more important to listen unconditionally, which meant listening without passing judgement or offering my opinion.  This had previously been a difficult objective, especially when dealing with my sister.  Family ties can run deep and emotions of anger and resentment can easily trigger strong reactions.  Allowing my sister to tell me her grievances without judgement and then apologizing for my part was very liberating.  I’ve been in the process of adjusting my attitude over the past few years and I give credit to martial arts training, specifically the teachings of self defense.

My concept of self defense is much different now compared to when I started martial arts a few years ago.  In the beginning, I almost wished that an altercation would occur to provide an opportunity to use my skills.  I want to emphasize the word almost.  It’s not that I wanted to fight and hurt somebody, but in a way I wanted to see how I would do.  Fortunately, I have not been required to defend myself and more importantly my attitude about martial arts and self defense has changed.  At this time I think of self defense as a way of avoiding conflicts.  Doing so requires a very mindful, observant, and egoless approach to dealing with challenging people and situations.  I’ve definitely noticed a sense of calm that I didn’t have previously.  For example, I had to break suddenly while driving home from work last week on an icy road and found myself rapidly approaching the bumper of the car in front of me.  Instead of panicking and swerving into the car to my right or the guardrail to my left, I stayed perfectly calm as I slid towards the car in front of me not knowing whether or not the impact would occur.  My cool nerves paid off and fortunately there was enough room to avoid the collision.  I also hope that if and when the time comes when someones attitude towards me has the potential to turn violent that I’ll be able to use words instead of fists to defend myself.  More importantly I hope to be observant enough to avoid that situation in the first place.  However, if someone does attack,  there are number of things that have become automatic reactions to defend myself.

Well that’s it for now!  I plan on updating my blog on a weekly basis from here on out.  Before I sign off, I’d also like to say how much I enjoy studying with Sensei Paul and all the students at the dojo!!  What a wonderful culture we have.  I feel blessed to be part of it and look forward to all the great challenges to come!

Peace,
Junauro