Black Belt Exams We will be holding our April black belt exams this Saturday, April 9th, 2022. Exams begin at 9:30 a.m. Guests are welcome to attend. Seating will be limited so please feel free to bring your own chairs. Anytime a student earns their black belt or advanced degree it’s a…
Inspiration
What makes you nervous?
Last week I had the unique opportunity to play golf with my wife on our dream vacation. We’ve been planning a trip to Pebble Beach for the last ten years. If you’re not a golfer you probably can’t appreciate the significance of that but a trip to Pebble Beach for most golfers…
Call the auto club – Triple A
This weekend I was traveling to a competition in Sparta, Illinois. After about two hours of driving in unfamiliar territory I found myself stopped by a police barricade due to a flooded roadway. There was a police officer tasked with the job of stopping every car and explaining the situation. When my…
Go to the heart of danger…
…for there you’ll find safety. This is another lesson from the Pendekar. If you want to defeat a boxer, you have to first learn how to box. To defeat a grappler you must first learn how to grapple. In order to be a complete martial artist its important to recognize our strengths…
"Little Feet"
I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity throughout the 1980’s and into the early to mid 1990’s to train with a number of some of the world’s most influential martial artists. I had an apprentice instructor-ship under Guru Dan Inosanto. Through Mr. Inosanto I had the opportunity to train with…
The 3 ways we learn
The three ways we learn is a regular topic in our Little Ninja classes. As part of the class the students have to memorize and recite the three ways we learn. The class goes something like this – ME: “What are the three ways we learn?” CLASS: Usually there are a couple…
T-P-T-M
I love watching baseball, baseball at any level. One of my favorites is the College World Series. There are so many stories within the game. One year, many years ago, there was a player who was facing a team coached by his own father. This of course had the potential for a…
The Purpose of Martial Arts
This past weekend we promoted twelve new black belts. As part of the exam we often talk about the purpose of training in the martial arts. I thought this was a great opportunity to share some of those thoughts with you. General Choi, the founder of modern day Tae Kwon Do, once…
What is Monday Inspiration?
I started Monday Inspiration many years ago as a way to stay in contact with a group of Black belts whose lives had taken them away from the St. Louis area. Wayne Johnson and Don Smith were two black belt instructors who were instrumental in mentoring me in the early days of…