Saturday, September 7, 2013

Fearless Fitness/Martial Arts: Never , never, never forget

Fearless Fitness/Martial Arts: Never , never, never forget: The Joe Lewis Legacy The two best days of Joe's life were at age 48  the births of his son Joseph Cameron Lewis,  and two...

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Never , never, never forget



The Joe Lewis Legacy

The two best days of Joe's life were at age 48 
the births of his son Joseph Cameron Lewis,
 and two years later his daughter Kristina Ruth Lewis.

To Joe his kids were the most important accomplishment in his life.
Please suport their continuing education.



To be yourself 
in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else
 is the greatest accomplishment.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson-


I wrote this August 30, 2012.....

Tomorrow I fly to see my Friend and mentor Joe Lewis for what is probably the last time.
 His courage, integrity, wisdom and friendship will live within me forever.
 I will take him with me to every class I teach or attend.
I will continue to honor his memory all the days of my life. 


I am who I am today because of his inspiration.
 Through me he will continue to inspire the hearts and minds of all who's lives I touch.

He asked us to
 'Innovate not Immitate'.....
That's what I will do !!

My mentor and friend Grand Master Joe Lewis,
 passed away peacefully at 10:45am on Friday, August 31st,
 with his family at his side as I sat on the runway in Portland, Oregon to go see him.
Mr. Lewis fought a valiant 13 1/2 month battle with brain cancer. 

His vision will live on in the hearts and minds of all whose lives he touched.

Good Bye and God Speed Joe Lewis
we love you Rest in Peace. 


That hand is still on my shoulder.....

In the JLAKS (Joe Lewis American Karate System) ,
and NCCM (Non-Classical Combative Methodologies),
 there are no formulas, no recipes.

 In JLAKS there are a minimum of required skills,
 performed in an unlimited amount of ways.

It is conceivable that a long time ago a certain martial artist discovered some partial truth. During his lifetime, the man resisted the temptation to organizee this partial truth, although this is a common tendency in a man’s search for security and certainly in life. After his death, his students took his hypotheses, his postulates, and his method and turned them into law. Impressive creeds were then invented, solemn reinforcing ceremonies prescribed, rigid philosophy and patterns formulated, and so on, until finally an institution was erected. So, what originated as one man’s intuition of some sort or personal fluidity has been transformed into solidified, fixed knowledge, complete with organized classified responses presented in a logical order. In so doing, the well-meaning, loyal followers have not only made this knowledge a holy shrine, but also a tomb in which they have buried the founder’s wisdom.

-Bruce Lee -


We have been left with a great responsibility , let's not screw it up !!
In the mean time lets not forget.

It's said as long as the living still speak your name you continue to live.
A year and a day ago my Master, My Mentor, My Friend....

Joe Lewis lost his battle with brain cancer. 
Speak his name, do it today do it every day.......

Never, never, never forget it !!!!

Joe Lewis 
Legends are forever 



Thursday, July 18, 2013

Ode to Matthew

He teacheth my hands to war.
 I shall pursue my enemies and overtake them.

 I shall not return until I finish them off.
I shall assault them and they will not be able to stand.
 
They will wail and beg and there will be no savior for them.
  He will not answer.

I shall pulverize them like the dust upon the face of the wind
  I shall tread upon them like the mud of the street 

Psalm 144
 You're making me angry.
You wouldn't like me when I'm angry. 
-Dr. David Banner-

I've learned in my many years of sales that selling from emotion is key.
Positive or Negative they gotta feel it ! 
I choose words that convey emotion to trigger a buying response.
 Don't let anyone tell you it is unprofessional to be passionate or enthusiastic.
 Emotional words make emotional connections.
 Everyone loves a story.
People connect emotionally with the story teller.

Buyers justify their purchases with facts and figures they buy on emotion.

In relationships,
Reacting  Bad....Responding Good !

Emotions are just emotions.
They are not right or wrong, good or bad.
However, when you allow your emotions to propel reactions, problems result.
Allow yourself to have whatever emotions you have.
Acknowledge them as how you feel.
Then, decide how you want to respond.
Reactions are derived from emotions alone.
 Responses are a result of consult with your brain before taking action.

In the movie Enter the Dragon
 while teaching one of his students Bruce Lee says,
"move with emotional content." 
 The student then snaps a kick with anger.  
With emotional content, not anger!
-Bruce Lee- 
 Joe Lewis teaches us,
 we must learn to allow thoughts to simultaneously participate in our actions,
 aggressive behavior (emotional content),
 combined with
 profound strategic certainty (confidence).

With good strategy there has to be appropriate balance
 or
 we will perform passively.

A fighter needs  style and subtance and above all attitude.

Control your Attitude or it Controls You
-Joe Lewis-


Thursday, June 13, 2013

Fearless Fitness/Martial Arts: A Matter of Perspective

Fearless Fitness/Martial Arts: A Matter of Perspective: If you don't design your own life plan,   you'll probably fall into someone else's plan.  And guess what they have planne...

Friday, June 7, 2013

A Matter of Perspective

If you don't design your own life plan,
  you'll probably fall into someone else's plan.
 And guess what they have planned for you?  
  Not much.
-Jim Rohn- 
 
 
(A letter home from an Aussie soldier)
 
 
Dear Mum & Dad,

I am well. Hope youse are  too. Tell me big brothers Doug and Phil that the Army is better than  workin' on the farm - tell them to get in bloody quick smart before the  jobs are all gone! I wuz a bit slow in settling down at first, because  ya don't hafta get outta bed until 6am. But I like sleeping in now, cuz  all ya gotta do before brekky is make ya bed and shine ya boots and  clean ya uniform. No bloody cows to milk, no calves to feed, no feed to  stack - nothin'!! Ya haz gotta shower though, but its not so bad, coz  there's lotsa hot water and even a light to see what ya doing! 

At brekky ya get cereal, fruit and eggs but there's no kangaroo  steaks or possum stew like wot Mum makes. You don't get fed again until  noon and by that time all the city boys are buggered because we've been  on a 'route march' - geez its only just like walking to the windmill in  the back paddock!!

This one will kill me brothers Doug and Phil  with laughter. I keep getting medals for shootin' - dunno why. The  bullseye is as big as a bloody possum's bum and it don't move and it's  not firing back at ya like the Johnsons did when our big scrubber bull  got into their prize cows before the Ekka last year! All ya gotta do is  make yourself comfortable and hit the target - it's a piece of piss!!  You don't even load your own cartridges, they comes in little boxes, and  ya don't have to steady yourself against the rollbar of the roo shooting  truck when you reload!



 
 
 
Some times ya gotta wrestle  with the city boys and I gotta be real careful coz they break easy -  it's not like fighting with Doug and Phil and Jack and Boori and Steve  and Muzza all at once like we do at home after the muster.
Turns out  I'm not a bad boxer either and it looks like I'm the best the platoon's  got, and I've only been beaten by this one bloke from the Engineers -  he's 6 foot 5 and 15 stone and three pick handles across the shoulders  and as ya know I'm only 5 foot 7 and eight stone wringin' wet, but I  fought him till the other blokes carried me off to the boozer.

I  can't complain about the Army - tell the boys to get in quick before  word gets around how bloody good it is.

Your loving  daughter,

Sheila

This letter made me laugh ,
 but also made me realize ....the women of Team Fearless have more
Courage, Commitment, and Consistency
 in training than any two of the men !!

 
 You must look within for value,
 but must look beyond for perspective.

-Denis Waitley-

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Fearless Fitness/Martial Arts: A Question of Influence

Fearless Fitness/Martial Arts: A Question of Influence: Funny this started of as a story about Memorial Day and reflection.....   If we miss certain events in our lives  we were meant to ex...

Thursday, May 30, 2013

A Question of Influence

Funny this started of as a story about Memorial Day and reflection..... 

If we miss certain events in our lives
 we were meant to experience
what happened instead..
-Dan Pachtman-


 Patriotism consists not in waving the flag,
 but in striving that our country shall be righteous
 as well as strong
-James Bryce-

Of the people, by the people, for the people.... starts with people.
The truest path to a strong collective is to strengthen the components.

So what does being a strong and confident individual mean ?

How do I achieve it ?
 

Lesson one you could take from my dogs Spiff and Meeka as I do.
Every day they are happy to eat, drink water and play in the sunshine.
 I think some times we get so wrapped up in our 'plan' or our schedule
that we forget the simple joy that is our life.

I don't mean become complacent and submissive......
I mean celebrate the simple things.

Lesson two comes from a little girl .
 
 She was acting in a local stage production.
She was to sing and also had several lines in the play,
 and had rehearsed tirelessly for months.

As opening night grew closer her speaking parts were taken from her
The lines were distributed among 'the older kids'.

When I  complimented her on her performance she told me about how
'local theater politics'  had caused her lines to be redistributed,

she said,
"If  I keep practicing I'll get the lines next time."

I was so proud of this little girl !!!!
I sure didn't have that confidence and perseverance at that age.

As a salesperson , teacher and a martial artist I watch people quit every day.

The first step to overcoming adversity is not to personalize it.
Peoples objections to your performance, your words or you personally;
 has to do with the noise in their own heads not with what's really going on..

A great leader sees things as they truly are, not worse.....
 then inspire others to do the same.
 
Transforming vision into reality requires strategic,
 incremental change to achieve radical results.