Jason Mai 2/24/14

Jason Mai

2/4/14

     You don't need to be good at everything, that is something that I learned first hand recently. At the beginning of my Sophomore year I had a simple mindset, be in all honors classes and do well in all of them. I was doing pretty well in my honors classes except math, for some reason I couldn't do anything about Honors Algebra 2. I had a tutor, met with my teachers and everything but could only pull off C's. I was frustrated and I asked the question that my parents always asked me "If everybody else can do it, why can't you" My family is very traditional. As a kid I always tried to please them, always tried to impress, but I knew as a kid, I was different. I didn't want to disappoint them. I remember as a child my parents enrolled me into piano lessons and damn did I suck at piano. I burned through teacher after teacher, I must of went through 2-3 different teachers for my parents to realize it wasn't for me. My father to this day guilt trips me "3 years worth of lessons wasted".

     My family is an odd one, I am first generation meaning my parents moved from China to America but I was born in America. My father to this day is still never really around, I respect my father for all he does but I disagree with some of morals and conduct. My father is a very hard worker, I barely see him which makes our relationship very hard to maintain. I always argue with him, especially now because I'm a teenager. At the end of the day though, I love him. He is my dad, I don't always agree with his morals but I respect him, especially coming from China, working odd jobs and having to adapt and overcome in America. Because of my father I get to live in a nice town, with nice people, typing on a nice computer without having to worry about where I'll get my next meal. Because of the struggles my dad faced, I can't be too mad at him when we argue.

     I love my mom though, she's always been there for me. My mom would fight on my side, when my dad hated me. My mom supports me through everything, from my decision to quit piano to wanting to start martial arts to wanting to get into the film biz as a writer. I truly believe my mom is the anchor of the house, and why we can function as a family. She keeps me in place, and she as hell keeps my dad in place!

     Wow I get off topic easily, ummm... right, you don't need to be a good at everything, it's true. I am not good at math, I am not good at chem but guess what? That's fine. We as humans are all good at different things and school is not to get amazing at everything but to seek out what you are passionate about and what you are willing to spend your time doing. I'm pretty sure it was Albert Einstein who said this, but I'm not sure. It is something along these lines "If you judge a fish on it's ability to climb, it will grow up believing it is stupid" This year I found what I loved, and everything else just seemed not as important. I found script writing. I always knew as a kid I wasn't what my parents wanted me to be, I couldn't be a doctor, or a lawyer or a dentist. It didn't sit well with me having to conform to those standards. I was a creative child, I always enjoyed writing, I remember writing little stories on my computer and everywhere. I also knew I loved movies, I loved how a good movie could leave that feeling in your stomach, or connect you with people who aren't real. Through my years I've struggled on what I wanted to be, until I took script to screen. A class where you go through the process of making a film, from script writing, to production and camera work. When we started, I knew that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I know it will be hard, and every day I doubt myself, but there is not a day that goes by where I don't think about how amazing it would be to become a scriptwriter. At the end of the day, I truly believe I could succeed, and I am willing to lose it all for that chance.

     The point of this post is you don't need to be good at everything, I always thought the value of a person consisted on how many things they could do well, and I fought to be good at everything in life. I tried to be the smartest, I tried to be the most creative, the most funny, the most liked, the most athletic, fastest, strongest...but at the end of the day, the value of a person is the ability to find happiness and being yourself is the best way to find happiness, to find what makes you happy.

Thanks for reading.

Weekly update: Junauro

February 24, 2014

Solid week overall which began with the boys and I doing some skiing/boarding at Gunstock last Monday.  We weren’t able to get back in time to go to class but the mountain definitely gave us a good workout.  Between shoveling snow and going to work, this past week proved challenging in regards to my daily workout routine.  I was able to catchup with most of what I didn’t do this weekend and finally purchased a copy of Zen in the Martial Arts.  Very quick and interesting read with lots of great insights into finding peace within oneself through martial arts.  Read the first few chapters before Saturday’s class and focused on the first lesson, “empty your cup,” during class.  Ties into the various eastern religions I’ve dabbled with over the years.  Has anyone been able to find a copy of the second book, Mastery?  If so, please email or comment on this post with the author’s name since I haven’t been able to pin it down.  Finally, Jake and I need to raise funds for the Alabama trip and are considering doing this together.  Our plan is to do something like a Kickstarter campaign.  This will hopefully be up and running by the following week giving us a few weeks to generate interest and more importantly donations from friends and family.  That’s it for now!

The Spectacular Scar. Owen Mahoney

     This is a speech I originally wrote as a school project. The assignment was to write about a realization or epiphany that you have had. I am hoping to read it aloud at some point during the Alabama trip.
      I am posting it here for you to tell me your thoughts(if you want to) and so that some of you guys who have not been can here an example of what alabama is like.
      Enjoy!

A Spectacular Scar

Heat, beating sweltering heat, and a gashed thumb. A gummy pulp in my mouth. Glaring sun in my face. I was roasting on the cracked and buckled asphalt, sucking away a hot paste of paint, brick dust, and polyurethane, attempting to get at the deep gash and the welling blood underneath. I sucked and chewed and spat the nasty plaster from off my thumb so I could see the slice underneath. It was a good cut, and deep.  The paint scraper had done well. My first thought was that it would leave a spectacular scar.

I had been carving small slabs of plaster off the dusty floor of an abandoned store, and a Tom Callos had told me my thumb was bleeding. “You alright man?” Tom asked. 

Tom Callos is the founder and leader of the One Hundred, a group of one hundred martial arts business owners who are committed to not just running their businesses ethically, but also striving to be the best teachers, martial artists, and people they can be. He has been a martial artist for over forty years. Tom is short, bald, and has an amazing talent to inspire people to do amazing things, so much so, that he was able to bring hundreds of people from around the world to Hale county Alabama.  My Sensei, Paul Castagno, had been called by Tom to come down to Alabama and help build a house for an elderly woman who lived in an old trailer without running water or electricity. 

I was currently working downtown refurbishing a deserted storefront. Standing there in the dusty sunlight, andsurrounded by the faded, peeling wallpaper of the old store, with my hands coated in a thick adhesive of brick dust and industrial strength varnish, and my pants and shirt dirty and sweaty from the hard work of helping people, I stared at Tom’s kind smiling face, and my thoughts on my thumb shifted to thoughts on my wider condition.

I began to think about how I had been sleeping on the had cement floor of a church the past few nights. And about the layer of sweat and dirt that had accumulated on my unwashed body. And about how yesterday's work had been shut down early because of a tornado. And then about the kind of person standing in front of me. It felt like I had opened my eyes and I could see. 

I saw that I was the one who should be thankful. Though other people may have an I-phone or a flat screen TV, I was the one who was wealthy. I should be thankful for the opportunity to come to an impoverished community and cut my thumb. I was the one who had had a gift bestowed upon me, because I was the one who had been given this miraculous opportunity to come to Alabama and meet one hundred high-minded and ethical people, and to be surrounded by these positive ideals. I was the one who could speak to and be surrounded by amazing and inspirational people, people who had such a wealth of knowledge for me to draw from, for me to learn from. I, the one with cuts and the malicious hand glue, was the one who is not like the person who worries about his facebook and clothes and popularity. My involvement with Tom, and Paul, and the hundred others there is why I am special, because I have the experience and the knowledge, because I would have the spectacular scar. Tom asked again, “You OK?” “Yeah, I’m good” I said. “Well, I'm not paying you to sit around.” Said Tom, “In fact, I’m not paying you at all!” I laughed and Tom walked out. “I’m good” I said again quietly to myself. I’m good.

My overlong train of thought. Owen Mahoney

     Over the past week I have been think about my last blogpost, and I wanted to add some thoughts to what I said before. 

I think that a black belt is a representation of mastery. I mean, thats what this is all about, right? The Mastery Program, based off of the The Ultimate Black Belt Test, I think that this is all about being superlative and being the best you can be. As sensei says, “You don’t get a black belt and then start acting like one”, and I don’t intend to. In my mind, a black belt is not just a measure of proficiency, but a symbol of experience. I can’t let myself come close to being a black belt who doesn’t deserve one, I just can’t let that happen. I don’t want to take this opportunity for granted, but I think that, simply put, I don’t have enough experience.

      There are so many things that a black belt should and could have to do that I have not done yet. And I feel like I can not do those things because I don’t want to just be a black belt, I want to raise the roof, to set the bar. A black belt could mean so much more than what it does today. What if to receive a black belt had to have anger management training, what if to earn a black belt you had to have initiated community service projects, and what if you had to have carried out fundraising projects. Today to an average person thinks of a journey to black belt as a year or two of a modest amount of work. So why cant that be proven wrong. I suppose that this is the thinking that got the UBBT started, but this is my reasoning for not taking this opportunity to earn a black belt. 

       This still sort of leaves the question, why am I going through the test if I am not going to get a black belt? I think that in my I didn't go into enough detail. There are several reasons that I still want to go through with the test.

        I could give several reasons for why I'm doing this test. I like to challenge myself and to work to improve, and this test is the perfect way to do this. This test allows a way to work and develop your strengths in a very personalized way. It allows me challenge myself In a way that holds me accountable.

         I could also say that I am a bit of a glory-hog, and I want to make a name as one of the first people to take the test.  Maybe thats a bit unfair but in all honesty, that is large reason, I want to be one of the first before this changes too much. It sounds none to flattering on my part, but I want to be an old timer.

        My main reason though, is the reason that I do martial arts in the first place. Its because I like it. I really, really, really love martial arts. I'm not really a belt chaser. The reason I assist classes/train for four and half hours four days a week is that this is my passion, this is something I want to spend my life doing. Basically, I'm not training for the black belt, I'm training for the training.

     So I suppose my main reason for participating in this test is that I just love martial arts and that I want to be more deeply involved with the martial arts. 

     Which I think is as good a reason as any.

The big picture. Chelsea H.

At thursday's mastery program class sensei Paul spoke of the potential impact that each one of us have to make by doing this year long endeavor if we really stepped it up and pushed ourselves. I agree that the program is very unique, challenging and influential to ourselves and observers but ever since the meeting I have really been questioning my effort and how I can push harder. Right now I consider myself indecisive on the matter but there have been some insights! Over the past month I have been thinking of how slow my physical progress has been and trying to figure out what is going on. One place I looked was my diet, yikes, I am starting to realize that my irregular eating patterns and that most of my ingredients come from canned sources mean I am most likely malnourished. I have a reliance on caffeine and get headaches if I do not get around 160mg a day, more than half the time this caffeine is obtained through drinking diet soda. I know I am only drinking 50-70 oz of water per day which isnt too bad but I think more would not hurt. One might say, whoa, why is she putting this all out there? Because, up until I really looked at my all this I was convinced that I was doing pretty well, that because my sodas are diet soda and because most of the dishes I cook have a good protein veggie mix that I was being healthy. I was mistaken and am now more educated and motivated to improve my life. I plan on taking more time at the grocer to pick out fresh ingredients and look forward to experimenting and learning to cook fresh stuff. I want to try to wean my caffeine intake to around 50mg a day and obtain it from teas or coffee instead of soda. This is going to be difficult but I know it will make such a big difference in my health as well as my husbands. On a different note, I started writing the note to mend my broken relationship but am finding difficulty in making a typed letter convey how sincere I really am, I plan on asking a friend to help me out. My favorite act of kindness this week was helping a friend carry a box. My favorite act of kindness done to me was a friend being overly welcoming as I explored a new social situation.

Chelsea Hughes

Jake's Blog Post Feb 20, 2014

I recently have joined/created a team with a friend of mine from out of state for flow artists that want to leave their mark on this world and spread good vibes. In this team, we were given the chance to be sponsored. Now a sponsorship is a wonderful thing, it gives the opportunity to expand much more at a faster rate, which is what we wanted to do, but it puts a label on the team for the company sponsoring us.

We turned down the sponsors, because we wanted to walk our own path and create our own success, without being labeled by a company. And hopefully we will create our own success, we could always fail completely too. However, the point is, one does not need help from a more powerful person/company to have success. One can achieve success on their own and prove that they are powerful themselves. Anyone can achieve great success on their own, they just have to work hard for it and not give up.

With that, I hope everyone's handling all of this snow okay, it's insane! As Brody said, maybe we should take the dojo and sensei and go to where the Equator and Prime Meridian meet. Hopefully it would be warmer there.

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