A Month in the Life... "April Showers"

In sales it is often difficult to discern where the lies stop and the truth begins.

 I have the unpleasant task of dealing with unscrupulous developers,

owners and marketing companies.

Fortunately along the way I had the pleasure of meeting great young salespeople,

 bright and infinite in their potential.

 Forging friendships is paramount to success whether its on the table or in training .

A moment with Linda Thorson  (The Avengers TV)

The will to win,

the desire to succeed,

the urge to reach for your full potential...

These are the keys that will unlock 

the door to personal excellence.

-Confucius-

Its too bad martial arts and the occasional movie, 

T.V. show or commercial doesn't pay the bills.

I'm relegated to continuing to deal with the umbrageous characters

that own and run these stores and 'road shows'.

 It leaves me with the feeling that I need a shower.

Thank goodness for 'April Showers'.

April was a great month for martial arts conferences and seminars.

Usually the beach brings to mind sun and sand.

Surf, bikinis and the occasional individual who should stay clothed year round.

This years Martial Arts Symposium weekend.....

 I had a sidekick,

 Bostons own Molly MacPhail tried to take on two days in the life of the 'Beast'.

It proved to be a busy weekend.

The Symposium is expertly engineered by Master Terry Dow

 and his lovely wife Christina.

 The annual 'Supercamp' is held here in the Northeast every Spring.

My Ninja ...Brent Crisci

The camp features such notable Grand Masters as

 Michael DePasquale Jr, Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace, Walt Lysak, Brent Crisci

and may more.....

Soke Michael DePasquale Jr "Jujitsu at it's best !!

As always the Symposium proved to be a great weekend of fellowship and fun !

Another of my Friends and Mentors Grand Master Buzz Durkin and his lovely wife Judy Durkin celebrated the 40th anniversary of there amazing martial arts journey.

Grand Masters George Mattson, James Thompson,

 and Canadian Uechi Ryu founder Jim Maloney and a host of others were honored

 at this Butokukai graduation ceremony. I am always humbled by the quality of great martial artists and the overwhelming sense of community displayed by this great family of practitioners.

GM George Mattson

                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

GM Buzz Durkin                                                                      Gm Jim Maloney

The next morning I emerged from my bedroom at the 'Bat Cave' 

to find 'the lovely and talented Molly MacPhail' in a 'pup pile' on my couch.

After much needed coffee we were off to shoot a scene for

 Terry Traynors' Narrow Street Films. 

https://www.facebook.com/NarrowStreetFilms?ref=br_tf

https://www.youtube.com/user/NarrowStreetFilms

You'll have to look for that one on Facebook or you tube in the near future.

 It's still in post production !!!!

The Vision

When we come close to those things that break us down,
we touch those things that also break us open.
In that breaking open, we uncover our true nature.

-Wayne Muller-

I'm American. I'm eclectic. I'm going to follow my passions.
 If people don't like it, and it hurts my legacy, I'm not going to worry about that.
We can never die as long as someone still speaks our name.

 We have given up on the family dojo.
We train fighters/instructors.
It is individually paced.
I only tone it down for groups that include other kinds of students.

 

We are about undoing learned helplessness.

A student must overcome their fear in order to truly become what they desire.
I think this covers all categories that they enter into training for.
Inclusive of their preconceived notions.......
 as a foundation to work with and develop from.

 Robb Buckland / Ian Marshall

  There are still many levels of wolves (or Gorillas).
Some will be ferocious and able to protect the pack (troop),
others will be strong/clever/skilled enough to be part of the team.

We will provide opportunity for all but exceptions for none.

  

A wreath in Loving Memory of our friend & mentor Joe Lewis

In a recent conversation with Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace, Danny Dring,
Terry Dow and Anthony Albanese;
 we dicussed necessary adjustments that would enhance
students skill sets...............

 The lay of the land is fluid, moving, changing.
 Stop trying to dam the river,
  you could use its tremendous power to deliver you downstream.

Efficiency isn’t about wrestling the world to its knees by domination and control;
 it is about being exactly, precisely who you are.
 The straightest paths will then arise.
 You won’t have to choose them for they will choose you.

Life and nature have their own paths
From our viewpoint they might be taking the long way,
but we don’t see everything.

It’s a serious error to think that our perspective is “the truth.”