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Showing posts from March, 2010

Marketing, Modesty and Blowing Your Own Horn

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Me at the gates of Hell in Hell, Michigan (ironically on my way back home w/Will "Buddha" Weatherby from Jack Hoban's Buyu Camp in September, 2010!) Hello all~ I am still sitting here listening to Robert Plant belt out the jams and I wanted to share some things with you; things that have been on my mind today regarding some marketing that I put out. Earlier today I put out a marketing flyer that promotes one of my upcoming seminars (www.roninkravmaga.com for more info!). I have always had a difficult time blowing my own horn (I know some of you are thinking, "yea right!" :-). It is the most assertive advertising that I have published to date. Anyway I have to admit that I feel a bit funny about it. Not that it's not true, because everything that I said is factual and honest. It is that I feel a little funny proclaiming it to the mass public and more importantly to all of you. I feel strange tooting my own horn to everyone on facebook, LinkedIn, all of my fri

Multi Cultural Krav Cuisine

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Moshe Katz and I at a recent seminar here in Grand Rapids, MI. Hello gang~ It is Sunday night, I am sitting here watching/listening to Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation DVD. It is a good one. I've always been a Zep fan and Roberts performance on this one is great! He and his band play one Zep tune and then one of his songs from the Mighty Rearranger. The Zep tunes are done in a very cool non-conventional way; keeping a great energy, yet a different twist on the old songs we know and love. A great DVD! If you like Zep and Plant pick it up!! I was on Moshe Katz IKI site the other day reading his latest blog "Multi Cultural Krav Cuisine" and it really resonated with me. I liked it a lot, so I asked him if I could copy it and use it in my blog for all of you to read and hopefully enjoy as much as I did!? I believe in a universal life value and I thought this reflected that sentiment as well. Multi Cultural Krav Cuisine Yesterday as I was driving to Brooklyn to visit my r

Training, Kicking Ass and Empowerment

I found this video while on Tim Ferris's www.fourhourworkweek.com blog. ki'une's video is great. The song is one that I heard years ago and was casually keeping my ear open for it with little success, so it was good to have found it after all. Those of us who have been training a while are often asked why we do it? People will come with a gleem in their eye wanting to learn to "fight," to "defend themselves," to "kick some ass." I think that what they truly seek is very different from what they ask for. I believe that what people are really looking for is empowerment. Empowerment to live, to protect and to inspire. To live up to ones true potential and if neccessary to defend and protect themself and others. To develop the courage to do as Joseph Campbell said, "Follow your bliss." It takes guts to do this and it helps to surround yourself with others that are on the path as well. We can all help one another to stay on track; to lift

What Would You Do?

Imagine yourself sitting at your favorite coffee shop sipping on your latte', chai, whatever; your laptop's open as you update your facebook account or ramp up for your next business meeting, when all of a sudden some goon walks in wearing a long trench coat. As you notice that something is just wrong with this picture, he whips out a rifle and begins to hold up the place. Yea, I know what you are thinking, "this sounds like some cheezy movie...how cliche'!" Well, this really happened at a local Grand Rapids coffee shop called The Bitter End. It's a place that that I often go because it's less than a mile from my condo. I'm not a stranger to violence, I've been around the block my fair share, but I haven't been in a situation where there was some gun toting thug in the middle of a place where there were numerous people that I could put in jepordy if I were to decide to take action and things went South. So here is my question to all of you. Wha

Jack Hoban on Frontlines of Freedom Talk Radio

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The last time that I was in the studio with Lt. Col. Denny Gillem recording my episode on Frontlines of Freedom ( http://www.frontlinesoffreedom.com/ ) he was trying to get an interview with someone who was training the military in hand to hand combatives. Overhearding his conversation I thought, "hey, I have just the guy for him...Jack Hoban!" So I talked to Denny and made the introduction; a couple of weeks later they did the interview! ~ Jack does a great job talking about his perspectives regarding Warrior Ethics, Universal Values and the idea of training Ethics-Tactics & then Techniques. Jack explains that by keeping the ethic first the appropriate tactics and techniques should follow and support those universal human values. Now stop reading my yaking and check out Jack's interview yourself: http://www.frontlinesoffreedom.com/podcasts.html it's the March 11th episode, first one. I was just out in Jersey training with him and his crew earlier this month. I a

Robert Humphrey's Warrior Ethics by Tony Notarianni

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I was out training with Jack Hoban in New Jersey earlier this month. While there I had the pleasure to train with Tony Notarianni a martial artist out on the East Coast. He wrote a great article in his blog regarding Robert Humphrey's Warrior Ethics. He was kind enough to let me post it here for you to read. Thanks Tony! The Dual Life Value ~ Between February 19 and March 26, 1945 (65 years ago from this article) the world witnessed some of the fiercest fighting of World War II in the pacific. American forces sought to wrestle control of the strategic island of Iwo Jima from Japanese hands. In the midst of this concentrated conflict a marine by the name of Robert L. Humphrey found himself on the front line in charge of a saturated rifle platoon. During this conflict he experienced first hand a collection of universal concepts that set him on a life long journey to understand and where possible resolve conflict in many forms. Perhaps the most significant universal concept he develop

Frontlines of Freedom Military - Veteran Talk Radio Interview on Attitude

Hello gang~ I am sitting here listening to Led Zeppelin's "The Song Remains the Same" DVD and catching up on some on-line stuff. Check out my latest interview on Frontlines of Freedom Veteran / Military Talk Radio with Lt. Col. Denny Gillem (Ret.). We talk about one of the fundamental aspects of defense, empowerment and life: Attitude. The person who does not have the proper attitude is at a huge disadvantage regarding survival and life. As a buddy of mine says, "If you're going to be stupid you'd better be tough, because stupid hurts!" Check out the podcast, I'm on part 3 about 6 minutes in: Listen to my interview on Frontlines of Freedom talk radio http://www.frontlinesoffreedom.com/podcasts.html Talk to you all later. Be well, ~Craig