PeaceWalker Blog

When “A Charlie Brown Christmas” was produced for television in 1965, Peanuts creator Charles Schulz had one specific, but important directive.  That the program be about something. Namely, he insisted, it be about the true spirit of Christmas. Otherwise, he said, “Why bother? Of course, as we know now, Schulz had his way. Mostly lighthearted and inspirational, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is punctuated by its infectious original music, a catchy song, and the now iconic symbol of recognition and hopefulness: a seemingly lifeless little tree. The highlight of the special , however, is a moving scene in which the Linus character, blanket in hand, stands on a spotlighted stage and explains the true meaning of Christmas. It includes a biblical passage from the  Book of Luke. Specifically,  Luke 2: 8-14. Linus recites: And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of th

  Apparently, as a result of wrangling this years ample Christmas tree around, I threw out my back. :-( It didn't happen in the moment, it was a delayed effect.   Yep... I go to get out of bed yesterday morning and I could barely stand up straight or walk. I'll save you the details about getting my shoes on or going to the bathroom!  In times of pain or trouble I often find myself making jokes or laughing... And yesterday was no exception, even though it literally hurt to even chuckle.   Why So Serious?! Difficulty befalls us all. Our lives may be going along perfectly, and then out of the blue ...  WHAM!  ... life decides to test us. You are in the fast lane of life, cruising along at a pretty good clip, and lo and behold, a roadblock appears directly in your path. It wasn't there, and now it is. You have no time to react. Your previously wonderful life is suddenly not so wonderful. You might lose a loved one with no warning. The company you work for goes bankrupt, and ove

I know Halloween is long since over, but... It's not uncommon for martial arts   and   personal protection courses of all types to use advertising based on scare tactics.  Telling stories of crime, violence  and  conflict is a good way to motivate people to take a course or buy something security oriented, be it classes, guns, security systems, pepper spray, or the like.  We tend to gravitate toward the negative. You've probably heard the old marketing line,  "If it bleeds it leads..."  That's a sad  but  true statement. In the legal field it would be called ambulance chasing.  I just made an announcement a few weeks ago at the academy half joking about our Active Response Training Seminar. It seems many of the years in the past, when we run these seminars, some event occurs just before the seminar. It kinda makes it look like we are 'ambulance chasers.' When that's not really the case it all. Our events are scheduled out about a year in advance.  Unfo

  I'm sitting here by my fireplace, paying my bills, nibbling on my lunch (Amy's organic bean burrito), sipping on a Trilogy kombucha   and   writing to you (of course). All from the comfort of home. Which reminds me of a text I got this morning from a community member. They asked: "Where does my identity as a "provider" fit in? As a man, father, ex-husband  and  husband, I've got this need to provide... Is that separate from being a protector or part of it?" My Answer... "Being a Provider IS being a Protector. They are one in the same. Providing food, shelter  and  a healthy home is an essential part of being a protector of yourself  and  family." Yes , all of this PeaceWalker Protector stuff is not just about a collection of techniques to physically protect yourself. It's not just an approach to negotiate, de-escalate, influence  and  lead. It's not just a strategy to manage conflict more effectively... or a quick  and  simple way of

  You've heard my rants about the limitations of techniques and that self defense training should be more than just punching, kicking, choking and shooting right?! Well, here's a question for you... Does Your Training Do THIS?! When it comes to your self defense training, ask yourself if you can you apply the principles you're learning to these areas of your Life: Your Body Your Mindset Your Relationships Your Income At first glance you may think that at least two of these things are not really related to self defense training at all...  But look closer and you'll find that they are ALL inter-related.  How you live your Life IS how you defend yourself!  If your training is turning into everyone you see into the 'enemy' or someone you have to beat, you may want to reconsider what your training is focusing on.  Being tough on the mats, yet a delta bravo isn't going to win you any friends or allies. What's it's going to do is create more conflict and vi

 It's only a couple days before Thanksgiving, (my favorite family holiday BTW).    I hope you are preparing to spend some time w/your family and friends to celebrate everything you are grateful for.  I have a full weekend of family gatherings ahead of me... I feel overwhelmed with gratitude that I have so much to be thankful for. Every year I appreciate my friends and family a little more.  I know it sounds a little corny, but I find my heart overflowing with gratitude from the love and beauty that I have been blessed with in my life.  ...And that gratitude extends to YOU as well.  I want to let you know how grateful I am for YOU being part of this community and my life.  Thank  you! I appreciate sharing a part of this journey together with you. No matter how large or small, it makes a difference.  I wish you and yours the best of things and hope that you are celebrating what you are grateful for.  A PeaceWalker Challenge... Gratefulness and forgiveness go hand in hand.  Here's

  In today's world of Flakebook, the google machine and youtube university, we have more information available to us than ever before.  You can literally see millions upon millions of techniques in anything you can imagine (and several things you can't).  So, with all of this information available you'd think that people would be better off in every category that vexes us.   You'd believe that we have better relationships, live healthier, happier, safer lives. Yet the masses seem to be just as dumb, lazy, incompetent and miserable as ever!  Why?! We have an overload of information, we're light on knowledge and starving for wisdom and real connection. We seem to be getting more anxious, lonely, irritably complacent, lazy, and despondent. Why? Because, even with all of this information floating around out there, most folks use their same ineffective Operating System. Even when we're given the answers to all of the questions we have, we fail to see the deeper conne

I'm getting caught up in the news... Mainly the Israel / Gaza situation. I'm no authority about what is happening there. However, I may have a little insight because of my travels there and the friends and collogues that I stay in contact with who live there.  The situation continues and I believe it will for some time. Lives in jeopardy on all sides... Innocent and otherwise.  Another war... This situation brings my mind to the Ukrainian / Russian conflict that is still raging... It's obvious that peace would be better, but just like our own lives conflict happens in many forms.  Krav Maga Doesn't Win Wars... I remember one time when I was in Israel training one of the Krav instructors was asked about the difference between civilian and military Krav Maga.  The instructor couldn't hold back a smirk as he said,  "There's no difference really, same principles just different application... Krav Maga doesn't win wars." It's true... Krav Maga doesn

  What'd ya think I meant?! HAPPY  HALLOWEEN !! You and I both know there are plenty of things in the world to be afraid of, but for tonight, I hope you enjoy the magic of the holiday with your loved ones.  Yes, we train to protect against the things that go 'bump in the night... But don't lose sight of WHY we train in the first place!  Don't let an ominous mindset and training focus turn you into the very thing you are training to protect yourself and others against!  The idea of training is to defend against the dark arts! =) Speaking of... I recorded a special  Halloween  Podcast Episode for you. Here's the link to listen to it... If You Dare! =) https://anchor.fm/craig-gray1/ episodes/122-The-Great- Pumpkin-e1pq7rg Spirits of the Dead by Edgar Allen Poe  (Published 1829) Thy soul shall find itself alone 'Mid dark thoughts of the grey tomb-stone -- Not one, of all the crowd, to pry Into thine hour of secrecy: Be silent in that solitude     Which is not loneli

Holy cow!! What a fantastic weekend!! What weekend?! The last weekend of September and the first weekend of October! We had our first annual PeaceWalker LIVE Camp and it was off the hook!  We had about 30 people attend through out the three day weekend event.  15 instructors did some fantastic breakout sessions too!  As a matter of fact, this camp put the spotlight on our own PeaceWalker / Krav Community!  I began by laying the groundwork on what is this PeaceWalker Path is and how it all ties in together.  Then I handed several breakout sessions to our community member instructors. We also did some adventure challenges. A ropes course, trust fall and other team building activates.  You can check out all the pics on our instagram page here:  https://www.instagram.com/ peacewalkerlife/ Wait a Minute... All of Them?! We had an impressive crew of participants and instructors: Accomplished martial artists, police, teachers, counselors, nurses, doctors, EMT's, professors, pastors, milit

All of this talk about the war in Israel and war can get overwhelming. The endless news reports and social media sharing. The graphic images and discussions about violence, killing, rape and torture. The talk between family and friends about what's happening in the Middle East. All of this can affect our kids.  Our children sometimes over hear these discussions and see the graphic images and begin to become fearful.  When they see adults get upset they pick up on that too.  They may be direct about it. "Mom/Dad all this talk about terrorism, violence and war is making me feel uneasy and anxious."   But more than likely, their feelings may not be expressed directly or clearly. This anxiety and fear becomes displaced. It's seemingly ambiguous sometimes.  The War on Fear Remember your kids look to you on how to deal with things. They are relying on you for a sense of safety and security.  Here's some basic tips on How To Talk To Your Children About Conflict & War

I was out in New Jersey when I heard that Israel was under surprise attack by Hamas, a terrorist organization controlling the Gaza Strip. Then to make matters worse Hezbollah,  (the terrorist group largely controlling Lebanon),  also staged an attack.   These surprise attacks came at an especially vulnerable time, as the Israel celebrated Sukkot a seven days holiday that commemorates how the Jewish people were sheltered and protected on their long journey from Egypt to Israel — as well as celebrating the abundance of the annual harvest. The casualties continue to mount and, I predict, will continue to over the next several days / weeks ahead.  After hearing all of this, I immediately thought of my Israeli friends and collogues who live there. Some are in the army, or other protective services position (or their kids are), where others are (very) concerned citizens.  Every one of them that I contacted so far is alive and well for the moment.  My heart, thoughts and prayers go out to eve

  Patience. A word that we heard as kids. A word we still hear, but haven't grown to like any better.  For most adults, it's a just a word. In our instant gratification worlds patience is something we rarely really feel the full weight of, but it still has influence over us.  A buddy of mine is in the process of losing 40 pounds he's doing it the right way. He's lost about 27 so far and has another 13 to go. He's shedding about 2 to 3 pounds per week, so that means he'll be at his diet for another couple months.  It's a (relatively) slow, methodical, day in and day out process.   It's a choice he makes every day, every meal, every snack.  It's the same for folks who walk into my local Krav Maga Academy. Learning takes patience, because it takes time.  You have to learn to enjoy the process, because it IS a process.  The same holds true for learning anything.  HOWEVER... Just because time is passing doesn't mean you're improving. Compare these