PeaceWalker Blog

  Seems like most of our lives are spent preparing for things... We're kinda the roadies of our own show so to speak! =) Take training for instance. I think of all of the hours, days, weeks, months, years, and decades I've spent training for things that rarely happen (physical self defense).  If you're going to be on this Protector Path, you have to learn not only how to do it well, but how do you sustain your journey!?   You ain't getting any younger son!  None of us are!  If You're Not... You Should Be... If you're not preparing, you should be... And if you are, make sure you're doing it right! Believe it or not I'm not talking about being some super prepper (not that there's anything wrong with that as long as you're doing it in a healthy way).  I'm just saying that you should always be preparing and training for those things in life you're likely to run up against.  Take care of yourself.  Look out for others.  Enjoy your journey and...

  Another beautiful day here in Grand Rapids, Michigan! Couldn't ask for better weather! An exciting day... But before I get into that, I wanted to share an epiphany that I had yesterday.  I just got finished working out and was eating my subway and bag of lays bbq potato chips... If you remember, I've losing weight these past few months and one of the things that's helped me to do this is being more mindful of my eating.  You may be thinking "No sh*t Sherlock!" of course you have... But why are you eating potato chips?! Aren't they on the ;'no no' list?! The answer is... Not if you don't over do it!  If you keep things in check, you can eat about anything, but in moderation. I've had to consciously slow down when I eat... Enjoy the process more, chew my food and appreciate the taste, rather than just shoveling it in! =D So, yesterday I was enjoying my 6" ham sub along with a small bag of Lays BBQ potato chips and had to remind myself to e...

  I am in a bit of a reflective mood about the shock and tragedy that happened years ago. It could just as well have been yesterday for me... It's still that clear in my memory... Where I was... What I was doing... How I was feeling... The phone calls... Watching events unfold... But I was one of the millions of people who weren't actually there... But I have friends who were...  Police, firefighters, friends. Not everyone made it... But, we all remember... And that reminds me of Israel and what an Israeli friend of mine said about the attitude of many in that culture... An Uncommon Wish... When a terrorist attack occurs many people think  "I'm so lucky I wasn't there."   And don't get me wrong I would say that would be a pretty rational and intuitive thing to think... However... Some of my friends and colleagues from Israel have a different perspective... When something happens, when a tragedy occurs these people think... If only I were there I could have...

  Had a great morning walk. Beautiful day!  When I got home I took a look at my phone and see I had a few emails from PeaceWalker members. One read: "You hurt my feelings with this email…NOT Good word.  J" It was in reply to the email I sent a few days ago called,  "Everyone's Welcome Around the Fire." Which speaks to everyone being welcome in my circle, as long as you aren't being a jerk. I'll take you as you are even if we don't see things the same. We can have differences, even bust each other's chops about things. We aren't politically correct, rather we try to be respectful, even and especially when we don't see eye to eye. But, there is also a fair amount of 'chop bustin'. Yes, life can be serious, but we have to stay light hearted and not take ourselves too seriously. We're all in this together.  Not Knowing... I know, I know, I can be dense, but not knowing how he meant what he sent, I replied with this: "And how ...

  If you've been around a little while, regardless if you train at the local academy, gone to some workshops, are a PeaceWalker Member or simply read these emails, you know that this community values perseverance. You hear me continually say "Keep Going." Although this sentiment may sound trivial, cliché' even, it bares weight that is quite profound.  Here's a great example of that:  This man was born in 1809.  In 1816, at age 7, he was forced to work because his family was expelled.  In 1818, he lost his mother.  In 1828, he lost his sister.  In 1831, he opened his first business and went bankrupt.  In 1832, he stood in the legislative elections and lost.  In 1833, he borrowed money   to open another business and went bankrupt again.  In 1835, he met a wonderful woman. He falls in love with her, they get engaged, and she dies.  In 1836, he entered a dark period of his life: deep depression.  He remains bedridden for ...

Last year this time, after a rather warm run (Temps in the mid 90's...), as per my tradition, I stopped by the Subway that is a couple doors down from the Krav Academy to get my dinner before teaching class. As soon as I walk in I see, or rather feel something... A disturbance in the force so to speak.  There is a rather strange looking man ordering his sub from the young sandwich artist girl who looked like a cross between a deer in the headlights and someone walking on eggshells. The man looked to be in his late 50's, possibly homeless, maybe not...He was dressed in a dirty jean jacket, jeans w/nylon cargo style shorts over them. He was bald with longer hair in the back of his head, almost 80's style 'rat tail' if you can remember what those were. His graying goatee and thick eyebrows were dyed a bright pink / red. The dye stained his face giving him the look reminiscent of the Joker who just escaped from Arkham.  He didn't act like he was on drugs so much as ...

Just got back from New Jersey yesterday. I was out training w/Jack Hoban. Most of you have heard me talk about Jack before, but for those who haven't heard of him...   Jack is a former Capt. in the USMC and one of the guys responsible for creating MCMAP as well as their  Warrior Ethic program. He is the president of Resolution Group International (RGI) that teaches conflict resolution to military, LEO's and other organizations. Jack's also a very accomplished instructor in a traditional Japanese martial art called Budo Taijutsu.  I've been training with Jack for going on two decades now... I'm also one of RGI's founding instructors, so we've hung out a lot together the past decade or so teaching police and others from all over Jersey and beyond.  I stay in touch and get out to train with Jack as much as I can.  A lot has changed in Jack's life since Covid, one of those changes is that he recently moved to Hawaii (half the year anyway) and is 'snow-bi...