PeaceWalker Blog

It seems in today's overly compartmentalized world it's easy to fall into the "analysis paralysis" trap. It seems that more people are excited to pontificate, research, philosophize, attending meeting after meeting, consult the "experts," and compare ALL of the endless options, rather than get as much info as appropriate, make the best decision to implement a plan, move forward and adapt as needed on the fly. Too much talking, not enough doing. "A good plan executed now is better than the perfect plan executed next week."  ~Gen. George S. Patton  Now don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting a "Ready, Shoot, Aim" strategy.  Don't make rash, impatient or emotional decisions. However, if you are dealing with something urgent or something that needs to have forward movement, then make your assessment, consult who or what you must, make your decision, implement and adapt as needed to overcome the challenge. In

You may have heard the saying, "showing up is half the battle?" Well, according to Woody Allen, it's not true, showing up isn't just half the battle, he believes that its 80% of being successful! No matter how much talent you have or how well equipped you are for whatever it is that you're supposed to be showing up for, the fact remains that if you never make it, none of that even matters. Keep in mind that attending means more than just being there physically, it's about really being THERE! Being present, having a good attitude and not giving up are essential to your success. You "showing up" and being about as useful as a two legged chair isn't the point either. You actually have to apply yourself too. Over the years I have seen many examples of hard chargers fail even though they were smart, athletic, strong, persuasive and talented. Why did they fail? It wasn't because they lacked the skills or innate ability, rather it was

  Balance lays somewhere in between gun ho and gun shy. Each of us has our tenancies toward too hot or too cold, too aggressive or too passive, too much or too little, too fast or too slow, too optimistic or too pessimistic, too idealistic or too realistic. You get the idea. It is important that you know where you are and continue to find the balance between the two opposites of your personality. Not always, but often within the one duality lays the seed of its opposite. The bully may, on the inside be someone who has a fragile ego and is afraid, so they over compensate by bullying others to protect themselves and/or make themselves feel better (at the expense of others). We often resist in others what we don't like in ourselves. The more balance we can find the less waves we create in ourselves and when dealing with others. How can we make this shift into a more balanced state? First by simply noticing. Without judging or trying to figure out, notice our own tendencies,

  When it comes to training in the martial arts, there are many methods out there. It is easy to get confused as to what is what. I was trying to explain the difference between defensive tactics, training, sport and protecting in a way that clarified the difference. Something that communicated the right feeling of each and didn't over complicate the subject. Three Faces: Combat sports (like boxing, wrestling, judo, bjj, mma, fencing, etc.) , training in martial arts & defensive tactics are things we do WITH others. Defensive tactics, personal protection, survival, violence are things we do TO others. Protecting, helping, administering first aid, etc. are things we do FOR others. Some of these activities may look similar. An MMA match may look a lot like something you would do TO another person, but in fact it is a game where two willing participants share an experience where there are boundaries, expectations and consent. Here is an analogy that may bett