PeaceWalker Blog

Often people attempt to live their lives backwards; they try to have more things, or more money, in  order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need  to do, in order to have what you want. ~Margaret Young It's been a couple months since I've written, so I thought I'd jot down a few thoughts. I've been really busy lately, fortunately all good things! My work with The PeaceWalker Project , Resolution Group International , Ronin Empowerment Group and of course Ronin Krav Maga all have been keeping me rather busy. Not to mention my meager college class load that I am able to scratch out as I try to finish my degree in ethno-history. I'll probably be eighty years old before that bad dog is finally done! I have all of you to thank regarding how my path has developed and keeps moving forward. I appreciate everyone who has written, attended seminars, c...

The Home where the standoff took place. In the wake of the recent tragedy concerning 34-year-old Rodrick Dantzler much has been reported on. This deeply unfortunate event that has rocked the foundation of our community is certain to touch each of us in some way, to a lessor or greater degree. It is times like these that truly illustrate just how interconnected our community is. The degree of separation that each of us has from someone involved in this incident will probably prove to be surprisingly small, for me it has been but three tiny degrees. - My Saturday wrapped up much as it always does, teach from morning into late afternoon, go home, take a shower, wrap up some bookwork, take a quick power nap and then off to a Saturday night of socializing, while taking advantage of another incredible Michigan Summer. This week I ended up at a small pool get together on the West Side of Grand Rapids near Leonard and Covell. Things started ...

"Once upon a time I asked a wise man how he reconciles the religious tradition of the Indigenous, Native culture into which he was born with his affiliation with one of the three Abrahamic faiths. His response to me was, "Spirit is Spirit." ... I did not know at the time that I also belong to an Indigenous, Native culture. Thanks to that same wise man, I know that now and have also come to understand that indeed, "Spirit is Spirit". I will always remember those words..." ~Corinne Clair Coughlin     w/some possible mysterious connection to a certain Mushtaq Ali Al Ansar, but one can never be sure =)

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....