"I Moved Your Cheese"

Just finished an excellent book called; "I Moved Your Cheese" written by Deepak Malhotra who is a professor at Harvard Business school. The book is climbing quite a bit in the business book popularity category, and is a satisfying response to the original business classic "I Moved Your Cheese". I enjoyed it thoroughly and could really see the obvious connections between this read and the Martial Arts - I kept thinking "Every aspiring Martial Artist should read this!".

When I got to the end I read all of the "Acknowledgments" section. Usually this is a portion I skip over, but I liked the book so much I thought it might be nice to see some of the authors influences. I was pleaseantly suprised to see the mention of Sifu Brown as one of the Professor Malhotra's influences.

Check it out if you get a chance. (Also the book is available at the library both in hard copy and digitally) "I Moved Your Cheese"

Quote

From Drop Box

Very Touching

This article speaks for itself; it's the Ulogy of a man who changed the world and made it a better place. Thank you, Steve Jobs, for everything you created that made our lives a little better and a little happier.

Confidence

Yesterday I talked to the teens about confidence. I believe confidence is an internal knowing; it's a type of mental certainty.

I believe confidence comes from aligning thought and desire. In other words when there is something you want, and you allow no other thought of limitation, or negative belief to grip you - then you will begin to KNOW that your desire is coming.

At the dojo; we use meditation as one of the best tools to eliminate negative belief and therefore allow our natural POWER AND CONFIDENCE to shine through.

Here is a video that to me powerfully gives an example of a person who is a complete state of knowing and confidence. It's pretty amazing to see this joyful, unshakable knowing shine through this contestants words and actions. Enjoy!

(I couldn't embed this one for some reason) but here is the youtube link. Trust me it's worth a watch: http://youtu.be/AeqPJojGqxc

The world is changing right before our eyes.

Isn't it wonderful to see that companies are taking a hard look at the way they do things - and then making ethical choices. Good stuff!

Some of the best Steve Jobs Quotes Ever.

I'm a Google fan. I love Android. Yet I have great appreciation for those who have been the great innovators of all times. Steve Jobs is one of those world changers.

In many of these quotes (not all) but many of these quotes you will find some of the best Martial Arts principles ever recorded. If I were to sum up the best of these in one line I would say this: "Care deeply about what you do - don't work for money alone - work from a sense of passion."

Thank you Steve Jobs for making this a better world.

Enjoy

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/08/24/steve-jobss-best-quotes/

I love these pictures of the mall!

These are some of the original architects drawings of the concept of the Lake District. I love teaching and working out here! (Click them to get a better view.)

From Mall dojo pics

From Mall dojo pics

From Mall dojo pics

From Mall dojo pics

First day of outdoor practice on the Lake

Outdoor practice on the lake - wow it's nice to have pleasant weather!

From Instant Upload

The first day

OK; so it's not the best pic - but it's notable because it's the first picture I took at the new dojo. I was on my way out the door heading to Glendale; I'm glad the move was so fast!

From Instant Upload

New Talk: "Your Place of Power

Enjoy.

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New Talk:"Rabbits and Basketball"

Are you on the right road? When you miss, do you keep on firing?

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Gotta Love Fallen Timbers Mall

People ask me why I love the managment at the Shops at Fallen Timbers so much. Need I say more?

From Mall dojo pics

Latest Talk: "Confidence"

My latest talk on the subject of confidence.

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The End of the World?

With all the recent talk about the "End of the World" I thought this sort of hit the mark for me.

More science about meditation

http://lifehacker.com/5800249/why-meditation-relieves-chronic-pain-and-stress

Inspiration: My Karate teacher - a Lifetime of Practice

Hanchi Robert Bowles; my Karate teacher - and probably my greatest life influence- working kata and bunkai this year. He has over fifty years of practice; and moves and looks the way he did over 30 years ago. What an inspiration!

I truly am blessed.

Tournaments?

I was talking to Sempai the other day and the subject of Karate tournaments came up. A lot of my training days were spent participating in various events, and she was wondering why we don't do a lot of participating these days.

To answer this question I think I first have to tell you why I participated in competition in the first place. Ever since I was 15 years old I always wanted to teach Martial Arts. Competition just didn't appeal to me; in fact I think it's fare to say I'm basically not a competitive person at heart. But since I did want to teach I always thought that by winning various events I'd have the credibility to represent my art and my Sensei as a teacher. (This was mistaken thinking - see my footnote.)

Thinking that I had to accomplish something in order to be a great teacher was really a mistake. While it's true that I wouldn't trade anything for the lessons learned through competing, the reality is none of that was necessary to be a good teacher. All that was and is required is a genuine love for the students you are blessed with; it's that love that makes people of all ages learn - it's also that ability to see the greatness in them that makes them see it in themselves. Behind every Master is someone who knew they would become a Master - someone who believed in them; and that's what all great coaches and teachers have in common.

One coach screams like Bobby Knight, another is soft spoken like Tony Dungey, but no matter what STYLE of coaching, the consistency is they care about their people and see their greatness.

But as for open tournaments, I do NOT recommend open tournaments to our students today. (We do host our own internal dojo events that I DO recommend HIGHLY.) The reason I do not recommend tournaments in the open circuit to most students has to do with the philosophy and atmosphere that we've created at our dojo. The culture of our dojo is a carefully designed ingredient to helping students learn. We have a certain way of treating each other, a certain way that we believe rank should be considered and respected but not lauded, a way we believe that higher ranks should conduct themselves. We also believe that winning is secondary to representing self and art with etiquette and dignity.

We believe that you could spend a lifetime on one segment of one art. We believe that the variety of technique is far less important than one technique performed with excellence. We believe in being flexible and open to change, but change for change sake or out of boredom is a mental and attitudinal problem that can never be fixed with a new technique, form or weapon.

The problem I have with open tournaments is that new - and often unaware - students are exposed to a clash in culture that is not representative of what we believe the Martial Arts are and should be. Sadly they sometimes can bring some of these less than positive attitudes back onto our mats and have a less than positive impact on our culture. Sometimes this can lead to the student getting sidetracked, and losing sight of what matters the most, and losing their way in their own practice.

I realize it may sound self serving to say this, but it's from the heart. I believe we've created something really special in our dojo. We've created something that shouldn't be special because it's the atmosphere that the Martial Arts was designed around; but unfortunately today it IS really special. It's my conviction that open tournaments are seldom helpful in creating a better dojo and better Martial Artists.

Do you still have the urge, just gotta know what it's like? Here is my challenge to you then: spend one year training in our dojo HARD. (no off one week on another) Train hard and fully submerge yourself in the class, the philosophy, and learn to meditate and do it daily. If you've given the dojo one year, then go and watch your first tournament and I bet you you will not be comfortable there. You will feel something is missing, something very important in the practice of the Martial Arts and you will understand my viewpoint.

Is there a place for competition in the Martial Arts world? I believe there is a place for few, and I mean very few, who might be looking for MMA experience to use that experience as sort of a test - a personal rank test - of what it's like to face their fears and challenges head on, and try one of these events. But that is the exception and not the rule, and generally an MMA event is not viewed as a "Martial Arts" event; it's generally viewed as a "sporting" event. Consequently our team members actually have a better chance at influencing the culture of the event rather than the other way around. - I've seen this happen with my own eyes!

Bottom line; train, train harder, meditate and understand the philosophy behind what we do, and don't let anything side track you on your way to becoming the Martial Artist that our ancestors would be proud of.

Just my thoughts today.

This weeks talk: Listen to Me!

I got myself fired up when I gave this talk so I hope it does the same for you!

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“mindpower” is Joseph Hurtsellers podcast. It’s a weekly shot of motivation and inspiration. Joseph Hurtsellers (Sensei Hurtsellers) - as his students call him, is a 30 year veteran of the Martial Arts field. Joe uses his experiences both on and off the mats to create a talk each week that is designed to help you get more of the things you want and less of the things you don't. While many of Joe's talks will help those practicing Martial Arts, these talks are designed for EVERYONE that might be looking for techniques, stories and thoughts designed to inspire, and live a more joyful life.

"Massive thanks go to some of the great influences of these talks: Esther Hicks and teachings of Abraham, Wayne Dyer, Steven Covey, Tony Robbins, and Sifu Robert Brown. A great deal of thanks also go to the students at the Martial Arts Center (www.ohiomartialarts.com) for their constant support and enthusiasm that has made this work possible." - Joe Hurtsellers

It's Up To You - latest talk

What if you could control the way you feel? What if you could learn to practice your way into being happy? What would life be like if no outside force could cause you to feel fear, anger, or resentment?

To find out more, enjoy this weeks talk by pressing the play button below:

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How the world of audio just got a little better.

If you don't listen to internet radio there is a new service that might make you join in.

If you do listen – this new service will make you fall in love with radio all over again!

This post is an exception to the rule of my posts. Rather than being inspirational I just want to share something I found that I really, really, like. As many of you know I love tech - and when I see something that makes my jaw drop it's in my nature to share it.

The other day I found a fairly new web site called RadioWeave. This site is pretty revolutionary, so much so that I think it could be the very beginning of something very big across the internet. Imagine being there at the beginning of Facebook or Twitter. I believe that RadioWeave has the might have that same kind potential.

Remember the days when in the car the radio was king? The traditional approach was you pressed your preset buttons that were based on the kind of station you wanted to hear. You didn't have to download anything, mess with any settings, you'd just get in and listen. If you didn't like what was playing you just pushed the next preset (or maybe later just changed the preset all together). That radio model worked incredibly well for decades - to tell the truth sometimes I still miss it. (This is probably the reason that people still subscribe to Satellite radio - you just tune to a station you like, but if something comes on you don't want to hear you just press a button.)

But, the world has changed so much since the days of the radio. There are literally hundreds of thousands of places you can get audio content over the internet – and music is only a fraction of the content available. These stations are really each individual shows that cover the broadest subjects (like CNN, ABC News or NPR) – down to the most specific subjects - you name the topic and somewhere there is an internet radio show hosted by enthusiasts on the subject. (I host a weekly show on the specific subject of using your mind to create a better life that I call "mindpower" as one of many such examples.)

Now imagine what it would be like if you could get in your car, or go on a run, or head to the gym, and simply press a button that was a loop of all of your favorite stations all kept track of for you and updated as soon as new content was published. If you are listening to one show and get bored you just tap a button to move to the next one, and all of your shows – and the individual places you've left off are all kept in perfect order for you and played as an indivdual track ranging as long as 6 minutes to shorter broadcasts such as quick weather, or stock updates. Radioweave is sort of like an eight-track player that is continuously organizing and playing the tracks of your life. (Sorry to those of you too young to know what an eight-track is.)

But there is even more – because RadioWeave also links to your Facebook and Twitter accounts. What this means is that as part of your running loop the service READS OUT LOUD recent Facebook and Twitter posts. I'm not kidding and I”m not making this up, IT READS THEM OUT LOUD!

I think the reason RadioWeave is so powerful is it matches the way most of us naturally go about our day. Rarely do I have a large block of time to listen to my shows; usually I'm moving from one place to another, doing yard work, working out ect. So what ends up happening is I end up with small blocks of time to listen throughout the day. RadioWeave keeps me updated on what's going on around me, but it let's me skim everything I find interesting and find the real gems in the audio world that I would otherwise miss.

Bottom line is this: I can tell you personally that almost as soon as I signed up with RadioWeave it immediately began to change the way I listen to content and I'm absolutely in love with this service!

Wait you say – what does it cost?

That's the best part of all – it's FREE! ..... Don't we live in some amazing times?

Here is a video from the company – when I watched it I was it's 64^th view on YouTube – so really folks we are on the absolute cutting edge of this new technology. If you love podcasts like I do – or think you might if there were an easier way - then check them out.

I have only two warnings: So far RadioWeave has a highly developed Iphone app, it's stable and works great, but the Android app is still in Alpha so it's not in the regular market - (Mine seems to work OK - still a little buggy but passable!). Secondly, RadioWeave is new - and they don't seem to have Wall street money behind them yet; they are a small group of people working on this project in their spare time - so if everything doesn't work perfectly just remember they are doing their best. I consider it the price I willingly pay for being on the absolute cutting edge and being able to do something no one else can. If you keep those things in mind; and like audio like I do, I think you're going to become a fan.

Free Hugs!

The story behind the video:

One day, while Juan Mann was getting off an airplane he noticed all of the friends and families of travelers waiting to hug their loved ones. He thought it would be sad if someone didn't have someone waiting for them to give them a hug, so he started this project.

For over an hour he waited - then finally - the older lady in the video took him up on his offer. She told him earlier that day she had lost her best friend - her dog - and his hug had meant a lot.

Still later others started joining the project but local authorities tried to stop it. Juan was told he needed 10,000 signatures in order to continue - watch the video to see what happens.

To date this video has been seen over 67,000,0000 times; and Jaun has sparked a movement that has been repeated countless times all over the world.

My New Talk: The Tightrope Artist

Today's talk is all about faith; enjoy.

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About "mindpower":

“mindpower” is Joseph Hurtsellers podcast. It’s a weekly shot of motivation and inspiration. Joseph Hurtsellers (Sensei Hurtsellers) - as his students call him, is a 30 year veteran of the Martial Arts field. Joe uses his experiences both on and off the mats to create a talk each week that is designed to help you get more of the things you want and less of the things you don't. While many of Joe's talks will help those practicing Martial Arts, these talks are designed for EVERYONE that might be looking for techniques, stories and thoughts designed to inspire, and live a more joyful life.

"Massive thanks go to some of the great influences of these talks: Esther Hicks and teachings of Abraham, Wayne Dyer, Steven Covey, Tony Robbins, and Sifu Robert Brown. A great deal of thanks also go to the students at the Martial Arts Center (www.ohiomartialarts.com) for their constant support and enthusiasm that has made this work possible." - Joe Hurtsellers

My Newest Talk: What is the 2% of your day that is responsible for 98% of your results?

Are you missing out on noticing the small moments throughout your day that are responsible for the majority of your success?

Listen in on talk 26 - it might be important!

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How to choose a Martial Arts school.

Martial Arts Center

I was surfing the web the other day and started looking for articles on how to find a good dojo. I was amazed at how much really bad information was out there. So as the saying goes, "If you want something done right do it yourself".

When I was scouring the web for articles the first thing I noticed was the shameful self promotion that was actually going on in the guise of trying to help a reader or parent. Most of the articles were written in order to bolster the reputation of the writers dojo. It's the oldest sales method in the book. It works something like this; the salesperson becomes the "consultant" on what to look for in a product or service, and then gives the consumer a list of important items that are really the "sales points" of what the salesperson is trying to push. In other words if I sell red cars, and you ask me what I should look for in a car I'd say something like: "Well there are lots of choices out there, but probably the most important thing to look for in a car is it's color, and clearly you should look for cars that are red."

My way is not the only right way.

At my dojo there are a lot of things I do a certain way because they grew out of my personality, my community, and my life experience. One example is our very short term contract policy. (We do three months at first and then go "month to month" after a fairly short period of time.) The reason I do our programs this way today grew out of my real life experience and our community. I know this is against the Martial Arts industry philosophy as a whole, but my perspective is I'd rather bring someone in who is new and fresh and really wants to learn, than keep someone who is unmotivated on the mats because of their sense of obligation to pay. This is the way I do things today, not because it is a "sales point" but because it helps me create the culture I want in the dojo, and be a better teacher.

But all of that said I would not tell you to use that as a criteria for choosing a dojo. Why? Because I know some of the best teachers I've ever met who DO use longer contracts, and some awful teachers who DON"T. So there really is no hard and fast rule, my belief is what matters is congruency; does the teacher believe what they do and say, and have they created a culture that's a reflection of them rather than having created some commodity that they are selling to the public.

Am I the only one who is getting tired of internet content farms?

The second thing I noticed was the amount of really poor search results you seem to get these days. Articles that were clearly written simply to pick up Google search phrases and said basically nothing were everywhere. Do we really need another article that suggests that we figure how far a dojo is from our home to see if it's an option? Do we need another article that suggests we check our budget first to figure how much we can afford to spend?

I'm to the point where I think some of these articles are written by templates, and somewhere there is a computer program that simply swaps in the keywords and PRESTO - new article!

So here is my shot of providing useful information. Before I do it's important to really understand this one thing first and foremost: The Martial Arts are an ART! Performing them is an ART, teaching them is an ART, and directing a dojo - like it or not - is an ART too! There really are no hard and fast rules when it comes to a dojo. Consequently there is also no hard and fast rule for finding one either.

How to tell if your on the right track?

I think the best model for a great Martial Arts teacher is the example of Mr. Miyagi in "The Karate Kid" movie. Although this was a fictitious character, I think he best embodied what we are all looking for in a teacher.

The easiest and most powerful way of picking a good dojo or teacher is to use what I call the “Mr. Miyagi Test”. It's very simple; when trying to figure out the criteria for what your looking for first ask yourself this simple question. “In the “Karate Kid” would Mr. Miyagi have passed this criteria?” If you use the “Mr. Miyag Test” you will find yourself almost always on the right track, and you can quickly skip the dozens of articles and books to get the education you are looking for.

A simple list: So what do you look for in a good dojo? Impossible to answer; but I have provided a list that (I think) is useful for what NOT to look for.

What NOT to look for in a dojo:

1.) Relying primarily on larger governing bodies to determine a dojo's quality.

There's a saying for Martial Arts insiders that is appropirate for this one. “All Chiefs and no Indians.” There are hundreds – if not thousands – of martial arts associations. Almost every one of them has a main purpose to make the member dojo look good on paper. Very few have rigid standards that are worth a hill of beans, and even those that do have no way of standardizing the way classes are taught on a day in day out basis. That's just a fact of life when it comes to studying an art.

Is being in one of these organizations a bad thing? Of course not; I've been members of several over the years myself, but DO NOT rely on this information at all to determine the quality of the school. Instead rely on your own eyes, ears, and mostly your heart. They will tell you more than any piece of paper on the wall that was framed at the mall.

2.) Relying on the head instructors Rank or qualifications.

The same as item number one. If you can't rely on organizations, then how can you rely on the rank that these same organizations sometimes give out?

In the mid 1980's I was sitting in the late great Robert A. Trias's office in Pheonix Arizona. (Mr. Trias has the legacy as being known in the Martial Arts world as the “Father of Karate in America” - having introduced the art to the US in 1942. His accomplishments are far to numerous to mention but he is known as one of the true pioneers of Martial Arts in the U.S. - check the link)

He walked in and said: “Joe, you should congratulate me, I was just promoted to 10^th degree Black Belt!"

I was taken back; I didn't think it was my place to comment to someone of his magnitude – I stayed quiet.

He smiled and said: “But Joe, do you know the only problem?”

“No Sir” I said.

“The problem is (and I'm quoting here) I don't know any of the S.O.B's that promoted me!”

The point is you can't rely on rank promotions, don't hold it against anyone, but don't use it to judge in their favor either.

3.) Relying on the head instructors accomplishments or qualifications

I'm starting to get redundant here; suffice to say I'd love to use this, I have a lot of things in my life that I've done in the Martial Arts field that I'm proud of but you really can't use them to judge a teacher. What matters is that there is a fit, a connection between YOU and the TEACHER. (How many awards or trophy's did Miyagi in “The Karate Kid” have?”

For a list of my accomplishments that you should NOT consider click here. (I'm proud of these accomplishments but truth is I know people who have done more but are not great teachers, and I know those who have done none of these things that are simply marvelous!)

4.) Relying on a particular style as your reason for selecting a school.

This comes up for me all the time. A student who is moving to another part of the country or world will ask me for someone who is teaching the same style that I teach. My answer is always the same; I go strait to "The Miyagi Test" but with a twist:

I say: “In the movie “Karate Kid” there was a good teacher, but there also was a bad one.” Which Martial Art did they BOTH say they were teaching?”

4.) Relying on what you are told.

I hate to say it but it's true of every field. Some lie, and some simply leave part of the truth out, very few are truly honest. Trouble is, it's almost impossible for you to tell the difference. Some liars will look you directly in the eye and take on a tone more sincere than "John Boy" from "The Walton's". Some honest men and women will sometimes stutter. The fact is you can't rely on what anyone says; instead rely on what you directly observe, and then trust your heart.

6.) Relying on the quality of the facility or the training equipment.

I believe in the Zen saying “How you do one thing is how you'll do everything.” So it is fair to base some of your judgement on cleanliness and attention to detail. Other than that your on your own because 99% of all dojo's are empty space anyway. It's what happens in that empty space that really counts.

7.) Relying on internet articles or books:

Do I really need to comment on this one?

What should you look for in choosing a Martial Arts school?

So by now you're seeing the pattern. Maybe it's this pattern that explains why there are so many bad articles on the web. The pattern is really the heart of my "Miyagi Test"; you must rely on your own best judgment based on your direct observation. In the end it's all you can trust.

What does a good mechanic have in common with a good dojo? - A lot!!

In closing I want to tell you how Sempai Shelly selected the mechanic that we now use for our cars today. We've been using him for over twelve years now. His name is Dave from the Shell Service Center on Reynolds Road in Toledo. Some years ago Sempai Shelly was waiting for an oil change on a company vehicle in Daves lobby. A young college student came in with a problem with her car; it was obvious the girl needed transportation an didn't have much money.

As Sempai sat quietly in a corner of the lobby pretending to read a magazine she overheard the following interaction:

Dave told the girl kindly “You know I could fix your car, it would cost a couple of hundred dollars, but I think with the miles it's got on it, I can make an adjustment or two and get you through the next year. Then next year, if it breaks again, I think you'll be better off with buying another used one rather than having us fix it. When that time comes, bring it in to me before you buy it and I'll make sure it doesn't have any problems and tell you if it's a good deal or not.”

The girl left that day paying less than twenty-five dollars. From that day forward Shelly decided that that was the person she was going to bring her car to. Since that time we've spent thousands of dollars with Dave. (We drive our cars a long time) In addition we've referred probably a dozen different people to him over the years. Dave continues to prosper, but (unless he happens upon this article) will never know why we continue to trust him and his business.

It's hard to pinpoint what to look for in teacher or a dojo; for good or bad you are pretty much on your own. My ending advice to you is this: don't settle. Your life has gone on fine so far without Martial Arts just fine, and it will continue to do so either way. You don't need to pick a dojo just because it seems better than the place down the street; pick it because it's the right place for you and accept nothing less.

How do you pick the right dojo? I can't tell you, but just like Sempai Shelly, at the Shell station - when you find the right person for the job in your heart you will know.

For information about my dojo in both Toledo and Maumee Ohio click here.

Just Pushed Out Another Talk - mindpower25, AT&T

Here is another one of my talks; I hope you enjoy it. My hope is that they will be sort of an inspiration and a pick me up to anyone listening!

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For all of my recent talks go to: http://www.ohiomartialarts.com/mindpower%20weekly%20podcast.html

Best of Toledo

Just finished picking up the best of Toledo award. Thanks everyone!

"Blizzard" Bill Spencer was my presenter- below are a few pictures from the event and my picture with him; taken about ten minutes ago.

Well can you?

Sit quietly and do nothing for two minutes - click this link first.

I really like the good nature of this.

Interesting; I love the goodness of paying it forward.

On happiness

I love TED talks. Some of the best ideas and stories I get are from TED. Here is a talk I've been telling stories from in class recently; very interesting.

So who do you think is happier on year later, a lottery winner or an accident victim who has become a paraplegic? Listen in to find out.