Fellowship of Valor

Fellowship of Valor

I am fascinated by friendships.

Not the acquaintances you see occasionally or Facebook friends who wouldn’t recognize you on the street.

I’m talking about your real people.

The people who know and love the deepest parts of you.

 Their soul sees yours.

They’re the kind of people you can talk to about how hard it’s been to meditate lately or what’s really going on in your marriage. They’re the kind of people you call for a ride when you get a flat tire and they’re the ones who affirm and support all the “weird” things about you that make other people uncomfortable.

They’re your inner circle people. The heart of your life.

To me they are my brothers and sisters in the J.L.F.S., my REAL people !!

Worry looks around, fear looks back,

 faith looks up, guilt looks down,

but we look forward.

The only ‘official’ Joe Lewis Fighting Organization has the daunting task of carrying on the legacy of our fallen mentor, friend and instructor. In order to carry a positive action we must develop a positive vision.

There is no chance, destiny or fate that can circumvent, hinder or control the resolve of a determined soul.

Education is the passport to the future,

for tomorrow belongs to those who
 prepare for it today.
-Malcom X-

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains.

The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.

Let’s honor our inspirational teachers from this years JLFS conference.

    Renzo Gracie                 Bill "Superfoot" Wallace            Michael Jai White
 Dr. Roger Greene                     Phil Maldonato                       Danny Dring

Bob Mauro                           John Maynard                       Tom Updegrove

    Jim Graden                            Kevin Hudson                       Ronnie Copeland

John Graham                           Mark Graden                            Terry Dow

The will to win, the desire to succeed,

the urge to reach your full potential... These are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.
-Confucius-

Joe Lewis inspired us to be the the yardstick of quality.

 Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected.

We at JLFS reward it, this years award winners are….

Gallantry Award - Robb Buckland

Promoter of the Year - Craig Smith

Instructor Of the year - Steve Snyder

Pound for Pound Fighter Of the Year -  Leagh Rogers

Pound for Pound Fight Trainer of the Year –  Bob Mauro ( 2 time winner)

Bob Mauro was nominated for Instructor of the year and  promoter of the year.

In contrast to the "black belt as master" stereotype, a black belt commonly indicates the wearer is competent in a style's basic technique and principles.

Since in many styles a black belt takes approximately three to six years of training to achieve, a good intuitive analogy would be a bachelor's degree: the student has a good understanding of concepts and ability to use them but has not yet perfected their skills. In this analogy a master's degree and a doctorate would represent advancement past the first degree.

Rank is earned not given

Congratulations to:

       JLFS BlackBelts                     Superfoot BlackBelts

Ken Smith 1st Degree                                             Jack Whitley 1st Degree

Kevin Hudson 7th Degree                                       Steven Taylor 1st Degree

William Calhoun 1st Degree                                     Jay Taylor 1st Degree

Shannon Stevenson 1st Degree                             Shannon Stevens 1st Degree

Justin Hailey 2nd Degree                                       Michael Jai White 1st Degree

Jordan Bunch 1st degree                                          Grant Campbell 1^st Degree

                                                                                            Maria Snyder 2nd Degree

                                                                                               Rob Payne 1^st Degree

The greatest way to live with honor in this world

is to be what we pretend to be.

-Socrates-

Referrals, Refrences and Testimonials

Opinions are like body parts some stink some don't.

In today's business,  and the world of love and relationships, references are key.

Identify what other people are saying or feeling about you or your business,

 and take steps to ensure that the general consensus is in line with your goals.


I just want the money and the fame and the adoration, and I don't want any of the other stuff.
-Mathew Broderick-

Each day you have a choice to create references as you reinforce,

 inspire or create positive change in others.

How would you like to inspire others to.........

• Take greater initiative at home and school?
• Take more responsibility for their actions?
• Value togetherness as a family?
• Consistently treat peers, adults and themselves with respect?
• Be honest even when the truth is difficult to share?
• Courageously face fears and persist through challenges?
• Be less influenced by negative peer pressure 
• Be more able to stand up for what they believe in?

In relationships 'he said she said' is not uncommon .

It's even more common when one side feels scorned !

Expect conflicting reports from two or more parties on most issues
between men and women when there are no other witnesses. 

Celebrate Those Who Inspire

Echo of greatness

I made an oath to Joe Lewis that his profound influence on my life,
training and personal development would echo in eternity.

Mr. Lewis,
 beyond being the greatest fighter of all time was a self developed intellectual.
He understood that the cognitive / meta physical produced the physical.
He shared that attributes must be aligned with thoughtful expressive purpose.
Above all else in life through his personal development journey,
 he focused on producing intellectual fighters.

Joe Lewis   &   Dennis Nackard

He expressed through action, writing, and conversation his distaste for individuals 

whom were unable to express themselves from the trapping

s of regimented activities and groups.

This theme carried through his coaching, political discourse and friendships.

Joe Lewis was an independent individual,

 this made his greatness by example that much more powerful.

There is no need to connect his legacy through comparison.

He was his own shining beacon as much as any other legendary

 Martial Artist / Scientist.

Mr. Lewis studied, 

lived and expressed his spirit at a level only reached by a few contemporaries,

Bruce Lee, Mike Stone, Chuck Norris and Bill Wallace.

Joe Lewis was a proud Marine,

 He often paid tribute to his training in the Marine Corps and 

traditional Okinawan Arts.

From this foundation he built an independent process

 by which he and others he mentored from could launch themselves

 into an expression of self through their own independent intrinsic spirit.

-Ian Marshall-

I Can....

Other than weighted walking and classes at the Joe Lewis Research Conference,

Since my surgery and resulting infection this was gym day #1.

 I'm staying at the Sheraton Uptown in ABQ New Mexico it's got a great gym and a salt water pool and have put together a training regimen for the next ten days.

First of all I should definitely tell you, 

if you have the opportunity to swim in a salt water pool DO IT !!

Salt water pools have become more popular because they have many advantages.
The first advantage is the level of comfort you experience.

Salt water is softer on your skin than chlorine.
Also, chlorine makes your eyes red and itchy and discolors hair.

 Chlorine pools create organochlorines which mimic human hormones.
They also cause fertility, immune system abnormalities, and various cancers.

 30 minutes of lap swimming in the salt water pool

3/3 minute rounds of footwork / shadow boxing

3/3 minute rounds of Bill Wallace's super stretching and kicking.

After a knee surgery,

 'Superfoot' had recommended I use a recumbent Lifecycle to aid in my recovery.

A woman hopped on the only bike while I was getting a water.

 Rather than kick her in the head,

 I hopped on the Elliptical Cross Trainer...

30 Minutes interval training (HIIT)

 with great music and graphics!

This thing Rocks.....!

HIIT describes any workout that alternates between intense bursts of activity and fixed periods of less intense activity or rest.
 A basic workout is run for a minute then walk for two minutes.
 Repeat this 3 minute interval five times for a 15 minute FAT BLASTING WORKOUT !
Sound to simple to be effective?
Science doesn't stretch the truth HIIT works !

  Mentors like Dr Jerry Beasley, Joe Lewis, Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace
and Dr Gyi are instrumental in my evolution as a martial artist and a person..

Before approaching a potential mentor,
identify what you hope to gain from a mentoring relationship.
Determine then what mentor will best help  you acheive your  objectives.

Start by identifying your short term goals.

What knowlege,skills and abilities do you need to get there ?

Answers to these questions will help you chose your type of mentor.


Outside of Martial Arts.....
Mentors provide wisdom without pain
my mentors provide both
- robb buckland -

The Sounds of Silence

Never be bullied into silence.

 Never allow yourself to be made a victim.

 Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.

-Harvey  Feirstein-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1Dmrpt_CdI

The inner voice takes many forms but is usually not flashes of light,

life changing spiritual experiences or the result of rituals. 

It is usually just an inner gentle constant urging to change something.

Be willing to listen to the answers whether you like them or not.

Words have power and can choose the direction of our lives.

We can experience life positively or negatively .....

Our mind will create negative,

disempowering meanings whenever things are seemingly going wrong.

Success and failure are not overnight experiences.

 It’s the small decisions along the way

 that cause people to fail or succeed

 -Anthony Robbins-

As a young traditional martial artist

 my interpretations were often deemed questionable.

I remember once at Karate  College......

Joe Lewis said, "What are you going to teach ?"

Years later while evaluating a group of my students at an event in Boston......

Joe said, "Where did you learn that?"

I replied, "From you !"

Once Bill Wallace said,

 "How can you be a Joe Lewis Black Belt with a hook like that ?"

That same,....'hook...like that'.....

sent the Herman Digital Trainer.... Off the scale !!!

http://uechi-ryu.com/my-herman-digital-trainer/

In Uechi Ryu Karate, titles are awarded to teachers

who write or create things that further the art.......

Often the greatest lessons are not in the words, (spoken or otherwise);

But what's inspired from the sounds of the silence between those words,

 and what we choose to to do with it.

Solaced by Reflection

What is the ultimate goal?

 Perhaps it's aspiring to contribute something of real value.

 Helping others that we care about deeply can inspire us for a lifetime.

 There's always a place in the world for those willing to give their energy,

 time, creativity and commitment.

As I form new relationships, take on new challenges in my career,
 encounter obstacles, and celebrate accomplishments in life,
 I take the time to remind myself of who I’ve come to be on my own terms,
 not who other people have deemed me to be.

Calming my inner critic is a work in progress,
but there is one tool that I have found invaluable for being more productive;
 Researching for,  and writing this blog and teaching KickBox Fitness.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned on my journey so far,

 it’s that people can only take from you what you allow.

 If you allow others to define who you are,

you give them the power to dictate where your path will lead.

All adversarial activities are won by those setting the agenda

-Angelo Dundee-

Our inner critic helps us live in a way that’s true to our values,

 questioning decisions that we might regret later.
The inner critic can also bring down our mood,
self-esteem, and sense of self-worth.

Having strengthened my own nurturing inner voice through this blog, 
and through KickBox Fitness
I can now access that voice internally when my critic appears.

I am solaced by striving to be a reflection of my mentors example.

What we have once enjoyed we can never lose.
All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.

  – Helen Keller-

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.”

 

California Dreaming

 
The effort of the struggle to simply maintain,

and not quit is more meaningful than the victory.

 

You only lose if you fail to learn something.

 If your stamina ain't bendin' ...you're just pretendin'.

 

- Joe Lewis-

 

During  Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace seminars, he would distract us from the screaming pain in our legs by making us sing the song, "California Dreaming".

 

 The song distracted us from the 'negative mental chatter' that occurred during the stretching regimen.......

 

Accepting your fears doesn’t happen overnight.
 It takes time and practice.

When you first address fears,

 your mind will tend to fight you.

This also occurs when you are close to overcoming challenges of any kind.

Fear is more intense when it pertains to the unknown.

    Atheists say that God doesn't exist and that death ends individual existence.

There should be nothing to fear from death,

 since your brain just shuts down.

 Christianity says that death brings judgment to the unrepentant.
 
If you go by the odds,
 either death brings the cessation of existence or some kind of paradise that is open for everybody.
 It is irrational to fear this kind of uncertainty.
 
The only uncertainty that should be feared is whether or not Christianity is true.
Get informed and make a rational decision.

At the Joe Lewis Memorial banquet the most powerful message was given by Joes' lifelong friend
Bill 'Superfoot ' Wallace.
Bill told us of a visit with Joe at the V.A. hospital.

 Joe had spoken very little in the final days and was slumped in a wheel chair as they walked outside.

 

 Bill said to Joe ,

"Joe we're gonna sing 'California Dreaming'....
 com'on Joe your gonna sing with me."
 

Bill started as always.....and Joe Lewis, who as early as Tuesday, Wednesday and now again Thursday had been given only a few hours to live ......... began to sing !! 

He sang the whole song with Bill,
 ( I'm sure Joe was thinking 'Ha got you fucker !')

 

 Joe passed away peacefully two days later with his loving children at his side.

At the memorial banquet Bill Wallace had all of us sing 'California Dreaming'.

This time we didn't sing to forget our pain or to mourn the loss of our friend and mentor,
we sang to celebrate his life.......


Courage is Staying One Step Ahead of Fear