Achieving a black belt in the martial arts requires years of training, dedication, practice and personal evolution. The primary evolution centers around moving from a primary focus on self-achievement to a transcending focus  that centers ...

Life transitions are often extremely difficult for people. The difficulty often stems from an inability to recognize that "what"  they do may be different from "who"  they really are. By focusing on the "why" we do things, or the inna...

In the martial arts we train our students to trust their instincts about people, places and things. The best self defense is being aware of your surroundings and  listening to your "gut feelings". Author Gavin de Becker, in his book, The G...

Inevitably, we all experience conflict almost every day. It could be at work, school, or at home. Conflict, although anxiety provoking, is a means for personal growth. Tune into this podcast to learn different styles of dealing with conflict. W...

Samurai warriors were taught to create a hyper- state of awareness by clearing their mind creating a state referred to as "Mushin". This state of "no mind" improved the warrior's ability to be overcome their opponent in battle. The teaching com...

We all remember the old western movies where there is a barroom brawl. Inevitably, one of the characters throws a punch and when his target moves out of the way he tumbles uncontrollably over the bar crashing into the glassware! This is moving ...

In the martial arts we teach the skills of how to fall on the ground safely to avoid injury. We tuck our chin to our chest and round the surface of our back so we can dissipate the energy of the fall over the rounded surface of our back--much l...

Tradition brings great joy and value in many societies across the world. Tradition aligns practices and beliefs and contributes to a feeling of comfort in the familiar.  It is also important to recognize that tradition is often a practice ...

Learning that experiencing gratitude leads to generosity is the premise of this podcast. A virtuous cycle is created that perpetuates generosity from the foundation of appreciation and gratitude. Examine your life circumstance and uncover what ...

As we move toward the end of our careers or even as simply as moving up the corporate ladder,  we will need to consider who will take our intent forward.  Who will  carry out proverbial "ball" forward, into the future, to preserv...

There are areas around the world called "Blue Zones" where there are concentrations of people that have lived longer than 100 yrs. The people of these areas have much to teach all of us regarding how to live a long and purposeful lives. Ikigai ...

The space between two martial arts combatants is a finite separation which we call the "gap". In order to engage in combat, participants must close that gap to initiate the physical interaction or combat. In order to close that gap--combatants&...

When we establish our life goals we can either approach the process with abandon  and run the risk of burn out or exhaustion in an"all-out" effort to achieve them, or we can be more metered and take smaller more disciplined  steps to ...

In today's day and age we are constantly faced with new challenges, obstacles and dilemmas. To discover success we must maintain the ability to adapt and change as our environment dictates. Our ability to be a life-long learner comes from  ...

As leaders, we are often approached by colleagues who relay a situation or incident to us and ask us to do something about it! We must first seek the truth by evaluating all perspectives.  We cannot put the "stake in the ground" about what...

With all that is going on in our society today we often find negative emotions affecting our  ability to flourish. Negative emotions impede effective communication and often lead to many interpersonal breakdowns.  To...

The internet and all social media make sharing information globally an instant reality. Unfortunately, the things we read are frequently only perception of truth and not actually true. We tend to believe what we read or see as irrevocable truth...

Have you encountered a problem that seems to be so difficult to solve that the answer is just not apparent? The problem seems to rent a space in your brain and preoccupies your thinking. You become overly focused and persistent on finding a sol...

During the pandemic many of us have felt burned-out and are merely existing instead of passionately embracing life. We find ourselves searching the internet, binge-watching Netflix and impulse-buying on Amazon to get an endorphin high to escape...

The word team is used in may areas of lives, work, school, play, sports, etc.  We use acronyms like "Together Everyone Achieves More-TEAM" or "Team work makes the dream work!".  The language implies that we are involved in some sort o...

In today's world we often focus on our personal imperfections. It may be our appearance, our family, our heritage, our work or any thing we perceive as different from the norm. Unfortunately,  we invariably craft narratives that are negati...

In today's society we are taught that happiness comes from achieving success. When we search for happiness we find it!  We just need more preparation!  The truth is happiness finds you!  When you start with positivity--happiness ...

All too often we leave an interpersonal interaction feeling like we have, in some way,  been disrespected. This feeling leads to an emotion which may result in a regrettable action. Tune in to this episode to learn abou...

In life, we often encounter changes and situations we immediately  judge as good luck or bad luck. The ancient story--"Maybe Yes, Maybe No" helps  us understand that we can't be too quick to judge and categorize every life ci...

Our current world is stressful. Our work is difficult, relationships are hard and trying to take care of our self is almost impossible.  Real self care is more than just focusing on things that reduce stress such as massages, yoga, organic...