PeaceWalker Blog

One day a teacher grew tired of her apprentice complaining, and so, one morning, sent him into town to buy some salt. When the apprentice returned, the teacher instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then drink it. "How does it taste?" the teacher asked. "Bitter," spat the apprentice. The teacher chuckled and then asked the young man to take the same handful of salt and put it into a nearby lake. So, the two of them walked down to the shore and once there the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water, the teacher said, "Now drink from the lake." As the water dripped down the young man's chin, the teacher asked, "How does it taste?" "Fresh," remarked the apprentice. "Do you taste the salt?" "No," said the young man. At this, the teacher sat beside this serious young man who reminded her of herself and took his hands in hers, offering "The ...

A picture from my perspective on stage while presenting at PetchaKucha Night It sounded so easy at first. This would be just another speaking engagement right!? Last year I spoke at just under one hundred and thirty engagements, seminars or trainings. Now this number doesn't include my regular teaching schedule or networking meetings which would add another four hundred plus individual events. So, in light of that you may understand why I figured that speaking at this Pecha Kucha Grand Rapids event would be a fun little challenge. You may be wondering what is this Pecha Kucha Night anyway? Well, PechaKucha Night was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. It has turned into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide. Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of "chit chat", it rests on a presentation forma...

  Thank you, thank you! I am honored to have won this prestigious award! In receiving this recognition I would like to thank my mom and dad, all of my mentors and of course all of those people who train at our academy!!  Hold on, wait one cotton pickin' minute... Before my I get too big for my britches, we should talk about something first. Who is the U.S. Commerce Association anyway and how did I win this so called award? Well if you google this official sounding association you'll find out very quickly that it is one big scam to get business owners to buy these bogus awards. Tricky tricky! So business owners beware of this scam to pilfer your pocket books! Have a good New Year all! And as my grandad used to say, "Don't take any wooden nickles!" All the best, ~Craig

Here I sit in one of my favorite coffee houses, sipping on my Harney & Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice Tea , listening to some Ronnie James Dio and reflecting about 2011 and of course looking forward to what 2012 has yet to bring! Before I go into too much detail about my thoughts let me tell you a little "Tie In Story." I call this one, "The Stone Cutter of Notre Dame." I don't remember where I picked this story up from, so for that reason forgive me if I don't recite it word for word. I changed the title and adapted things to suit both my purpose of telling it as well as my fading, sometimes ill tempered memory. So without any further ado: "The Stone Cutter of Notre Dame" One day the foreman of a very large stone query was out doing his rounds checking on all of the workers who were cutting stone into bricks that were to be used in constructing the great Cathedral of Notre Dame. As he walked he came across one of the workers grumbling and v...

Mushtaq & I at a SNDSTL  [Secret Non-Disclosed Silat Training Location =] Here is a good post entry I thought you would benefit from. Mushtaq Ali shares his "Twenty Rules of Silat Zulfikari." Although told in a lighthearted way, they are some seriously good principles of warriorship! Enjoy! If you would like to read more of Mushtaq's insights check out his blog. The Traceless Warrior The Twenty Rules of Silat Zulfikari  by Mushtaq Ali While these rules started out a bit "tongue in cheek", (someone asked me about the philosophical basis of Silat, I replied "I hit you". The rest, as they say, was history). So, for the edification of my students, and the amusement of my readers, I present to you The Rules (with commentary) 1. I hit you "We are but a simple people." It is good to always remember that the point of the exercise is to deliver energy in the form of destabilize shock to one's opponent. This may be in th...

This is a great article on PoliceOne.com written by fellow RGI compadres Jack Hoban & Bruce Gourlie. A great article I thought you folks out there would benefit from as well. Click here for more about Resolution Group International. Talk to you soon. Best, ~Craig   The Ethical Warrior: Are ethics tactical? Our power to overcome danger is born from our duty to protect   Our recent article, “The Hunting Story,” tells how a simple soldier in the back of a truck was able to activate a feeling of human equality between relatively well-off Americans and destitute villagers in a poor, allied country with just a few words and a challenge. When asked to articulate why all people feel that their lives are equal he said, “I don't know why they value their lives so much. Maybe it's those snotty nosed kids or the women in the pantaloons. But whatever it is, they care about their lives and the lives of their loved ones, same as we do.” Human equality and the “inal...

The following blog post is written by Israeli Krav International Head Instructor Moshe Katz. It is an interesting article that I hope you find as informative as I did. All the best, ~Craig Things Change " Nothings going to change my world ", sang John Lennon in the 1960's, but perhaps more than any other man of his time he embodied change. He was shaped by the winds of change and he helped make those changes. " The times they are a – changing ," Sang Robert Zimmerman, a.k.a. Bob Dylan , and indeed changing they were and changing they are. Change is constant. But some of us try to preserve the way things are; we forget that no one can stop change. Yes, some things stay the same forever but some things change. The same sun rises everyday and sets every night, human nature is basically unchanged, love and hate, jealousy and fear; our emotions are the same as thousands of years ago. And man comes up with defense mechanisms. One of those remar...