Robert’s Story

The other day at the meeting of our investment group, Robert told a motivational story about a frog. This frog lived in a well, and he had a little puddle there. He was happy in the well, with his little puddle. One day he looked up and saw an enticing circle of light and blue sky. He was curious and decided to climb up and take a look, so he did. He got to the top of the well and saw a lovely pond a little ways off, so he went there. The pond rocked, much more so than the puddle. He was even happier in the pond than in the well. One day, he found out about a river nearby…. you get the idea. Finally the frog makes it to the ocean. The system works until you look up- man, I am climbing up this well and I cannot go back to my little puddle.  Any one reading this, look up my friend, look up. Farther off at night sometimes I can hear Robert on his way to the Ocean. I hear Louis in the pond, getting ready to head to the River. Ribbit! Don’t wait up gents, I’ll catch up to you.

Martial Arts -revisited

I have always regretted never having completed my martial arts training, although I feel confident about the training I have had. Between Jeff Smith and Arnie’s teaching, I am comfortable holding my ground and comfortable dealing with multiple attackers. Yet, lately I have been thinking differently about the Martial Arts. The older I become, the more I begin to think about my legacy, what change I plan to make in the world and what work I can do that will survive my lifespan. Thus, Martial Arts has taken its place as my current fourth goal, but honestly, I only work on two at a time and hold the third in the back of my mind until the current ones are completed. Lately I have been thinking about a different approach to Martial Arts, much more self-defense and less lifestyle. If you’ve heard of “Ground and Pound”, my new approach I call “Whop and Drop.” Because of my other priorities, my focus on fighting is now to learn how to bring any physical conflict to an abrupt and speedy end so that I can go about my business. So any time I put in would need to be on some style like krav maga, practicing a limited number of ‘power strikes’ that would quickly incapacitate an aggressor, until they become reflexive.  It may seem paranoid to think this way, but keep in mind that I commute daily on the New York Subway system. It’s not dangerous per se any more than any other public place, but a straphanger should be prepared to handle their business.  It is regrettable, as I have always considered Martial Arts as the fastest vehicle for achieving  personal development, so maybe someday after some of my other things are done I can get back into that much more joyful approach.

First post new location

Ok- time to move skiing the void to wordpress, I need to import from the other spot and pick a good theme. I am actually not sure if I have many readers, but its cool no matter what. In the words of Ivan Drago from Rocky 3 ( I think its 3) I do it for me.