The philosophy of Martial Arts in one sentence.

Meditation raises our consciousness by allowing us to stop thinking. When we stop thinking we let go of all of our negative thoughts, concepts, and self limiting beliefs. Since our natural state of being is a powerful and joyous one, with practice meditation therefore creates happiness in our lives.

Another way to create this powerful natural unlimited state is by using positive thought purposely. There are many tools and techniques to do this; I teach and use many of these on a daily basis; but the long and short of all of these techniques is learning to consistently think in a direction that makes you feel more joy and more freedom. In other words to retrain yourself to always think good and kind things.

So in considering all of this I remembered Thumper's Mom from "Bambi". She said, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."

Now that's great advice for all of us; but I'm going to modify it only slightly and then you will have the entire internal philosophy of the Martial Arts as I teach them. The entire philosophy of the Martial Art in one sentence is:

"If you can't THINK anything nice, don't THINK anything at all (meditate)."

Easy to remember and true.

How to change your life!

When you think a thought the thought creates a feeling. Your feelings create your actions; and your actions create every aspect of your future. Your beliefs are simply well rehearsed thoughts; thus the saying "Your belief forms your reality" is absolutely true.

This very powerful technique will teach you how to take control of the thoughts you think and consequently make effective changes to your beliefs and as a consequence create quick and powerful changes in the quality of your life.

Listen in by clicking the play button below.

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Loyalty

Here are my thoughts on the subject of loyalty; where does it really come from?

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In life you hold the statistical advantage!

I'm not a gambler, but I do play the Black Jack game on my cell phone quite a bit. Before I had ever been to a real Casino I discovered something obvious about the game in my phone. I discovered that over time I would always win out. The reason was that no matter how many times I might lose a hand I could always double my bet - over and over again if necessary - and eventually I would end up with more money than I started with. As long as I kept playing, and kept raising the stakes, I would alway increase my earnings!

I thought to myself; if it's so easy to win at this game, why don't people just quit there jobs and play cards for a living at real Casinos; whats the catch?

But in Las Vegas there is one critical difference. Even though the odds of winning an individual hand are identical, and the game is played exactly the same, there is one major drawback. At a real Casino each table has established a "maximum" bet. An amount of money that you can bet no higher than on any given hand. As a consequence of the "maximum" bet you can't follow the strategy of simply parlaying your bet because you will almost always hit that ceiling!

On the game in my phone no matter how many times I lose I can always double up and eventually I win. In the Casino there is a limit to what I can bet, and it's this limit that is responsible for statistically always making the house win.

And so here is my point. Most people think life is like a Casino. They try things and lose, they try again and lose, and unfortunately if they lose enough times they arbitrarily decide that they have hit there limit and stop trying. They get up and leave the table.

The great news is that life isn't like a Casino. Life is more like the game on my cell phone. In life there is no "maximum" bet. You can keep on betting and keep on betting, and all you need is one big success to make up for dozens of misses.

Over time, because there is no maximum to the number of tries you get, life is always stacked in your favor. Some appear to gain there successes more quickly, others more slowly, but the great news is this: it is a 100% statistical certainty that as long you keep on trying you will succeed!

Letting to Let Go of Resistance

Here is a brief talk on learning to let go of those beliefs that may be keeping you from being your best; enjoy!

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Sometimes you get more if your willing to pay more.

Does getting something for nothing usually work out? Here's a brief story about my experience of getting a "free" education.

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Comfort Zones in the Martial Arts

Imagine yourself climbing an infinitely high ladder. When you go up the first couple of rungs there is no fear; you are still a safe distance from the ground. But when you get past a certain point if you're like most people fear can set in. That fear simply means you've climbed out of your comfort zone.

You can avoid the experience of fear in two ways. First if you keep looking up and avoid looking down. Secondly at any given level, if you stay there long enough, your fear will begin to diminish. (This happens all the time with new construction workers who are terrified at first of working on tall buildings but after a period of time they just grow used to it.)

Comfort zones in the Martial Arts (or anything else) work exactly the same way. Often in your practice when you feel uncomfortable it simply means you've moved up a rung in the ladder; you've moved past where you were into higher, more uncharted territory. You can avoid most of the discomfort by keeping your mind on where you are going, and stay in the new place long enough for you to feel safe. Eventually the fear will subside and it will be time to move on again!

What has stopped more aspiring Martial Artists than just about everything else combined is the refusal to move into an unfamiliar area and or the refusal to move out of a comfortable area. If you study every great Martial Art Master they all had one major thing in common; they all were innovators, they stepped out of there comfort zones, often becoming students again and again, continually modifying their techniques and the styles they taught. If you want to be great you must keep moving and looking ahead!

There is some really good news about comfort zones. If you were on a ladder, climbing it higher and higher, eventually you would come to a place where going still higher wouldn't bother you at all. After all, is six hundred feet really that much different than five hundred? So in exactly the same way, when you get to a certain place in your practice moving to new territory isn't that big of a deal; it's just what you do and it gets easier and easier.

So there you have it; if you want to break through your limitations there really is a simple formula.

1: Don't look down, keep your mind on your progress.

2: Stay in your new area long enough to feel good about it.

3: Keep moving and realize eventually you will get to a level where progress will come to you with very little discomfort.

Good luck breaking through your comfort zones!