Every human in life shares a commonality regardless of race, religion, and or gender, we all require food and sleep to survive and all of us wake each morning with plans of accomplishing something regardless of its significance, for some it is to once again find bodily nourishment, defecate and repeat the process, day in and day out. The simple question of “what is your why” pertains to what is your reason for getting up in the morning, what do you want to accomplish with the gift that another day has brought? For me, I have my goals and our life needs binned into a few simple categories:

Personal development: 
This is doing things to better my mind and body. This is where lifelong learning sits, which I satisfy through my passion for academics, reading and conversation with others, this is also an area where physical fitness lives and must remain a consistent practice. Without a sound body and mind it would be difficult to fulfill what is noted below.

Family involvement: 
This is doing what is needed to raise respectful, critical thinking, mentally tough and self-sufficient kids to adulthood and being a good husband, brother, friend, son, cousin and just all around supportive and contributing member to my blood and extended family. 
Community Outreach:
This is the area of giving back our paying it forward, spending time with the limited skills and experience I have acquired over the years to help others achieve their dreams, it is giving back to organizations that played a role in providing a foundation for me to stand on. It is doing good deeds for others and society.

Survival Skills: 
Most people don’t have a bin for this area, this category also has ties to personal development and family involvement. This is the area where skills must be honed to protect family, other loved ones, general public and or country from threats.  This is where Martial Arts and weapons training resides as well as safety tactics are the topics of discussion and practice in our household. It is the life insurance policy that we pay into through our training and development to help prepare us for a time, when God forbid we may need it. I suppose this is also an area that taps into something more primal like fishing for food, hunting or doing those things that we needed to do to help us and our clan survive against starvation and death from competing tribes that threatened our survival.  Some may see this area of development as unnecessary in today’s somewhat civilized society, however like many societies, civility is not built on solid ground, or perhaps better stated it is built on the actions of other men, civil unrest can lead to a downward spiral of martial law, requiring law abiding citizens to defend themselves and their family against threats.

These are the areas that are my “why”, they provide my mental grounding and purpose for living, they are the reasons I bother getting dressed in the morning and dedicate time to my physical wellbeing. Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl’s mentions in his memoir titled “Mans Search for Meaning” that each of us has to have a reason for living in order to survive the most heinous of circumstances; from his experience as a prisoner in a Nazi death camp he found that once someone lost their “why” the mind followed by the body gave up fighting for survival and they perished, but those who were reminded of a why continued to fight for survival.  Our very existence for life requires that we know or at least take the time to think about “what is our why”, once you have found your “why”, hold on to that thought to help you overcome setbacks and struggles you may and will encounter in life.  Each of us may have different reasons for getting up in the morning, regardless of what your reason is, I hope it is reason enough to keep you fighting the good fight to live another day, week, month, year and life of “self-actualization”.  God Bless.

One day father sheepdog said to his litter, who wishes to learn how to fight with their hands?
Not I said the youngest sibling.
Not I said the middle sibling.
I want to said the eldest sibling.
The following week father sheepdog said to his litter, I may not be around one day or be around forever to protect you, so its important for you to learn these skills that have been taught to me, so who wishes to learn how to fight with a stick?
Not I said the youngest sibling.
Not I said the middle sibling.
I want to said the eldest sibling.
The following week the father said to his litter, who wishes to learn how to fight with a knife?
Not I said the youngest sibling.
Not I said the middle sibling.
I want to said the eldest sibling.
The very next week father had to go on travel and before he left he kissed each of his kids on the cheek and told them to be safe and to be aware of their surroundings. That night the big bad wolf arrived and the neighbors and family trembled with fear, then in desperation a question was asked, who here can protect us, immediately the eldest sibling said, I can protect you for I know how to fight because my daddy trained me. That night the eldest daughter slept confidently and comfortably in her new wolf skin blanket. The End!

How long will it take to get me black belt?

As an instructor of the martial arts I am often surprised how often this question gets asked of me by either acquaintances and or individuals who walk into my school looking to get trained. It is also a question that irritates the hell out of me; perhaps the reason it does is because in my mind it bypasses all of the other important positive aspects that martial arts study has to offer.  And it immediately leaves me to believe that the student or individual posing the question is more interested in making a statement about the color of the belt or title by their name rather than learning techniques that might help them or their family out during a crisis. Perhaps more important and or relevant questions should be:

1.      What are the health benefits of practicing martial arts at your school?

2.      What type of commitment is required to attend your school?

3.      Do you train for sport or survival?

4.      What are your expectations as an instructor?

5.      Does your school require a contract?

6.      What your teaching methodology and what metrics are used to gauge success?

These are just a few questions that I believe are more germane to the discussion rather than “how long will it take to get a black belt”. My typical answer, if I am not in a grumpy mood is, it will take as long as it takes; meaning that I have laid out a set of requirements based on a path that I have gone down and when you understand the concepts and can perform much of what has been taught as if it is second nature that you are ready to teach others. Martial Art study is like planting a tree, its growth will depend how much care and feeding go into its development.  Earning a black belt from me is not simply a measure of time lapsed it is thorough understanding of our DeCuerdas Concepts, as are school produces thinkers not just individuals who are trained to throw a series of punches and kicks without rhyme or reason to what they are doing, our students have to be adaptable and be able to change gears or tactics based on the progression of the confrontation or added attackers. For some schools the methodology for earning a black belt may be easier to come by, especially if a large student base is needed to keep the doors open; fortunately for me this is not an issue so I can truly concentrate on passing on the fundamentals of an art that was taught to me by GM Art Gonzalez. In our system earning your black belt gives you the title of Guro which means instructor, in other arts the same meaning is given to the term Sifu and Sensei. This is why it is so important that the “black belt” student be able to fully understand the concepts of the art and be able to relay those concepts on to others. Even if I deem a student has reached a level of maturity to earn their black belt the honor cannot be bestowed without the consent of two other black belts from our system and finally our Grand Master. So how long does it take, as long as it takes, which is entirely dependent upon your commitment.

Core values of the VEA Martial Arts Academy: Strength, Honor, Courage, Commitment, and Discipline

What do these words mean? Many organizations including our military and martial art schools have similar slogans or mantras on their banners but lack in the description of what the words mean and how does it tie to a schools identity.  The words strength, honor, courage, commitment and discipline are the “core values” of the VEA Martial Arts Academy.  Core values are those traits that don’t change overtime, already exist, and lie at the heart of organization. As a small group practicing the art of Diestro DeCuerdas Fighting Systems under GM Art Gonzalez and further promoting the art of Tenio’s DeCuerdas Eskrima, the word “Strength” personifies our schools dedication for maintaining personal health through vigorous exercises and anaerobic drills that will allow us the ability to better deploy the art we are practicing. “Honor” describes the way we carry ourselves and represent ourselves and style both privately and publicly, we also honor our founders and leaders of the art and we should never lose sight of the gift they have left behind. “Courage” is a core value we strive for and attempt to fortify through realistic training and by practicing under duress, it is the mental conditioning that we perform through our training to prepare for that day when we may have to utilize our skill. “Commitment” is the unwavering attitude that we must have towards our training and towards our brothers of our art, we are committed to helping each other grow and prepare for battle; if we are not then we are doing a disservice to our peers and ourselves. “Discipline” is perhaps the hardest of our core values to maintain, its enemy is procrastination and laziness; two formidable opponents looking to grab hold of us at a moment’s notice whenever we let our guard down. But through consistency and support from our peers and all martial art colleagues we can overcome setbacks and continue to persevere to become better than the day before. It is no accident that these core values were developed for the VEA Martial Arts Academy, they are the guiding principles for every student that enters our door and they can easily apply to life outside of the Dojo. In addition to the aforementioned core values, we also pride ourselves of our aspirational values which are humility and compassion. While we take great pride in our art and love its combat effectiveness we understand that we can always improve our martial art and that we should always maintain the mindset of a student regardless of our rank and or title. This is why we open our doors to all martial art styles and practitioners willing to collaborate and share ideas. So until next time, may you have strength, honor, courage, commitment, and discipline with every endeavor you pursue!