Wilhelm Reich - Man's Right to Know

I highly recommend this video.  

Insecurity of Men and Women

Recognizing Pain, Overcoming Through Spirit

As of late, I have been in a state of elevated pain. Whether this is due to weather or overexertion while training at home, I have noticed that it has become increasingly debilitating. Continuos physical pain is not something that is new to my life, though, and each day presents new challenges on how to overcome it. Sometimes the solution is to simply power through and pray it goes away, other times I have to force myself to not move and focus on my breathing until it passes. I have learned this in my training though that it is possible to not only overcome your pain for a moment, but to completely surpass it. As you grow stronger in your spirit as well physically, things that used to be incredibly painful can become a minor nuisance if you even acknowledge them at all. Other things that you never noticed before will begin to bother you. This is a testament to the body's frailty and how limited we truly are. No matter how strong we get, there will always be a new pain or a new ache that will arise. As I have learned recently, true strength is not based on how little pain you can feel, but how you overcome and surpass the challenge of pain when it blocks your path. For me, I know that the only reason I have the strength to overcome my pain and the desire to become stronger is from God and God alone. He is my strength when I am weak. He helps me to run when I doubt that I can even stand. It is by His strength alone that I am who I am. See, that's the real challenge we as martial artists face. We all desire to be strong and grow, but unless we have a solid foundation and a willingness to learn, we will simply wither. A strong tree can not grow in cement. It needs soft soil to truly flourish and roots that go deep and spread wide to gain its strongest form. Much in the same way, we need to acknowledge that we are weak for the Tree of Life to grow in us and roots of wisdom that grow deep and wide to use the knowledge we gain to its fullest potential. Only then will we bear the fruits of our labor, the ability to teach others and plant the seed that will start this process in them. The real questions now are these, how do you deal with your pain? Do you choose to ignore it, or let it make you stronger? Where does your strength come from, the limits of your being or something far greater than you can even begin to fathom?

FMK Being More Recognized

So me and Jenny went to the Chase Bank in Chicago today to open a business account for FMK, we have just been incorporated, which is exciting.  As we were walking out, an Asian woman held the door open for us.  As we were leaving, she came back out of the door and said, "hey do you guys have a YouTube channel?"  "I recognized you."  So she basically recognized us from our YouTube stretching videos and said that we helped her out a lot.  It was pretty interesting as this is not the first time this has happened.

This also prepares me for the future, as it can be one of these MMA or BJJ guys that see me and will immediately want to start fighting, well we'll see what happens from here!

The True Origins Of Kung Fu

Sifu, Shunyuan and I were talking yesterday in a philosia video about the origins of kung fu, or should we say martial arts. We agreed that the question of who started it really doesn't make much of a difference, because whoever it was, that was then and this is now, and it's everywhere. Wish I'd have thought about it while we were discussing the matter, but the truth is that martial arts can be traced back even further than any human society, to something that is actually beyond time, and just the same a million years ago as it is today. It is in all of us, and always has been, deeply embedded in our DNA. It's just up to us to allow it expression...

Motorcycles are for sexually frustrated men and insecure women

Motorcycles are for sexually frustrated men and insecure women who think they need to keep up with the sexually frustrated men in order to get respect. It's all a fucking joke. I'm so fucking over people trying to be cool and avoiding their real issues. Check ur fuckin ego always! Noone cares how cool you look. But people will care if you are honest with yourself and with others cuz that shit is way fucking cooler.  

....yes my close friend was just in a motorcycle accident that was unnecessary and she went against my warnings. So you know what? fuck it yo! you get what you ask for. Ill show mercy to stupid people but I sure as hell won't ever partake in some ego driven bullshit. I thank god that I see the light and I thank Freddie for teaching me to take care of myself in all situations. (Fully knowing that the best defense of any potentially harmful situation is to not be in that situation in the first place!)

Experience is the best teacher and I only hope this experience doesn't get waisted by this person's ego masking the truth. But then again we all have our own paths. Be safe, be kind, be healthy.  Be real. 

Limits of Perspective

Would you be willing to lose everything you have in this world to follow something you believe in? Would you be willing to leave your family and friends and everyone you ever knew so that you can take up the calling laid before you? As a follower of Christ, we learn that the Bible teaches that everything in this world will pass away. In light of that, what would you choose to serve? This world that will fade or an eternal Kingdom that will never cease to be? this sermon says it better than I can but it's something to think about. Especially as martial artists. What does it mean to defend yourself if all you have is yourself and nothing else to stand for? http://www.moodychurch.org/watch-online/someone-worth-losing-everything/

Tony Jaa's First Teacher

I came across this gem of an exploration called 'Martial Arts Oddyssey' a few years ago. This evening, I started to revisit it with the Muay Boran episodes, and suddenly caught the whole thing about how the main instructor featured in these six segments was actually Tony Jaa's first teacher, and that Jaa was born in this village. I guess I really didn't catch on to it before, because I didn't really know who Tony Jaa was. I still found these segments worth watching previously, now their significance is all the more enhanced. In any case, I would recommend viewing the entire series of 'Martial Arts Oddyssey', which has a good balanced representation of what's going on out there...