PeaceWalker Blog

Tom Gray (my Dad) on Left - 1960 Okinawa Earlier this year I moved out of my condo and as part of my downsizing strategy; I decided to get rid of quite a few of my books. This sounded easy enough at first, unless you are an avid book reader and collector as I am. You other "book-ies" out there know what I'm talking about! Well, deciding to undertake a book purge has been a good lesson for me in terms of practicing non-attachment and letting go. I have accumulated somewhere between 1,800 to 2,000 books. No, that's not a misprint, I did have THAT many books! Too many, WAY too many! So I began going through them, picking out the ones that I wanted to keep (like ALL of them!) and the ones that I would give away or sell. I would first make three piles: The first made up of those books I couldn't do without; the second were those books that I knew I didn't really need and then the third... Oh, that damn third pile, it was the most difficult of all because it was ...

In response to public cries for answers regarding conflict in and outside of our schools Timberland Charter Academy decided to take a different approach in addressing some of the problems facing thier students. In a society where zero tolerance policies, strict legal ramifications and over the top laws are having difficulty providing solutions to the serious problems that our kids continually face, this small school in Muskegon is working to do something more.  Wondering if stiffer penalties and inflexible guidelines are the only ways to deal with issues facing the young people attending their schools, playing in their neighborhoods and walking down their streets, assistant principal Todd Hendricks tries another approach. The real question that needs to be asked is whether or not the bullying and violence is the problem, or if it is a symptom of something deeper? How can we inspire the respect needed to even have a chance of avoiding the threats of bullying and vio...

Here is another great article by my colleague, friend and RGI President, Jack Hoban. In this article Jack and Bruce clairify and add depth to the concept of the Combat Mindset. They go into depth regarding the three dislipines that make up this path. The discussion includes how and why these dynamics are so important no matter if you are a soldier, police officer or a civilian PeaceWalker (something I will elaborate on later). I hope you enjoy the article and find it beneficial along your journey. If you would like to find out more about this perspective please join us at our Resolution Group International Conflict Resolution Workshop coming up in May. Click here for details . In the meantime enjoy the article and as Jack says, "Keep Going!" Best, ~Craig The ethical warrior: Developing a cop's combat mindset by Jack Hoban & Bruce Gourlie One popular phrase says: “Be polite and professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet.” It may sound sen...

Craig Gray - Dr. George Thompson - Gary Klugiewicz - James Morganelli I recently received my Instructors Certification in Dr. George Thompson's Tactical Communication course he calls Verbal Judo www.verbaljudo.com.  It is an impressive course on how to de-escalate and negotiate with a person to gain voluntary compliance, cooperation and collaboration. It was created and  run by Dr. Thompson and his right hand man Gary Klugiewicz. As I was putting my thoughts down in a manner that would be enjoyable and beneficial to read, I saw that RGI Associate and friend James Moganelli wrote a nice piece on the experience, so being one to leverage talent, I asked James if I could re-post his article. As for James, he is a very talented martial artist, instructor and writer. I met him a couple of years ago through Jack Hoban www.rgi.co and I am glad that we are getting a chance to know each other better. I would recommend that you check out James's blog site http://sgtidojo.blogspot....

We recently made the front cover of Rapid Growth Media. A nice article that you can read here: http://www.rapidgrowthmedia.com/features/03242011KravMaga.aspx The article has created a little ripple of a buzz inspiring some others to do a little writing of their own. Here is a nice write up by John Kowalski's Babacita blog shout! Thanks for the good words John! Here are John's words: An excellent article on Krav Maga and local Grand Rapids, MI instructor Craig Gray. I’ve had the honor and privilege of knowing Craig as a friend and also training with him for a few years. He is the utmost professional and extremely skilled in teaching this important, life-changing mentality and skill set. Some excerpts from the article: “Our global society has changed the way we do warfare. It’s not ‘us versus them’ anymore. You don’t always know who the enemy is,” explains Gray. “Krav continues to change to embrace new threats.” No matter the situation, Gray believes ...

A chill ran up my spine when I first heard the news regarding the terrorist bombing a bus in Israel, especially upon the news report of the particular bus that was said to have been hit: Bus #174 to Maaleh Adumim. It is the bus I take when I am training in Israel with Israeli Krav International Head Instructor, Moshe Katz. My first thought was, is Moshe alright?! Once I found out that he was, my next thought was, "Hey, that is the bus that I take. It could have been me on that bus!" Reality check and some food for thought! Another Krav Lesson. Later reports confirmed that it was NOT bus #174, rather it was bus #74, regardless a tragic event all the same.   Here is an article Moshe wrote regarding the recent terrorist bombing in Israel. I just landed yesterday, back home in Israel after a long seminar tour of the USA and Canada, and it is great to be home. Today I received some phone calls from dear friends and family, "Are you OK?", "Sure", I s...

  Moshe (bottom) & I showing some Krav Maga ground tactics at a seminar in Indy (ouch!) . Here is a blog post by Moshe Katz. I liked what he says here and thought you would find it insightful as well. THE MASKS WE WEAR by Moshe Katz We all wear many masks throughout our lives. We are trained not to act spontaneously, not to show our hand, not to reveal too much. A child cries when it feels like it, even if the timing and location are very poor. Tomorrow I will fly to the USA, a twelve hour flight, and I pray I will not be near any crying children on the plane. As a child grows older his parents train him how to behave in public, and this is a good thing. We must learn to be considerate of others, not to shout out loud in public when we are overly excited about something. We live in a civilized society and we must be constantly aware of our behavior and be considerate of others. But then there are moments when a person might lose control. He might forget al...