Just a quick technical note for all my readers. There is a big discrepency between what you see from Internet Explorer and Google Chrome in the design & layout of the blog. I will be working on those issues over the next few days..

Also, I will be publishing some really cool short stories here starting soon. I will break them up into pieces. Mostly fictional stories, all original works of mine. Hope you enjoy them.

Have a GREAT day!

The "Hunger Games"

Woke up early again. My dog needed to go out so I decided to do a little computer work before I went back to bed. I have been thinking quite a bit about how my attitude towards hunger has changed since taking this "90 Day Challenge" with Visalus and I wanted to share this with some of you.

First of all I have come to recognize the feeling I get in the pit of my stomach as a signal not to eat but as my body telling me it needs something. Now how I respond to that feeling "Hunger Pains or Pangs" as some might describe it, is totally different than before. Six months or a year ago I would have wheeled into the nearest Bojangles or Wendy's and got myself a combo of some sort including fries and a tea. WOW! Do you realize how foreign that seems to me now?

Today when I feel that odd sensation in my stomach I look at it in a different way. I recognize my body wants something and I often respond by drinking some water ( I carry two or three bottles with me every day now) but I now see that signal as a good thing! It tells me my body needs fuel and if I don't stop and fuel up guess what? My body feeds on itself! If I have excess fat cells than that's where the body goes for fuel to create the energy needed to keep moving. It's a GREAT feeling to know that you are burning those fat cells. I drink water to sedate the feeling (no calories) and keep on going. Now if I get too hungry I pull out either a Vi shake (I carry one of those too) or a breakfast bar to get through the day and I eat later when I get home.

So to wrap it up let's just say we need to take a whole new approach to the Hunger Games we play each and every day as we go through our work week.

My tip pf the week is if you travel alot or drive for a living, always keep a cooler with bottled water, a few of your favorite breakfast bars, and a Vi Shake to get you through the day.

Peace be with you!

I've certainly made my share but it is part of who I am today...

Martial Arts, Fitness & Weight Loss

Attended a great Seminar today with Grand Master John Pellegrini in Southern Pines, NC. Master Dorton was kind enough to welcome us all to his Dojang once again for an awesome Saturday of training with GMP! My Sensei, Jeff Flagg and his son Austin Flagg both recieved their 3rd dan certificates in Combat Hapkido as did Mona Doyle.

Next year Jeff Handy and I will be getting our 1st Dan at this seminar. Looking forward to that! I stuck to my diet today and ate light, not junk. The Visalus, VI Shape Shakes sustain me through these tough all day workouts and I still have energy to excercise later when I get home. Been eating lots of lettuce wrap/turkey/tomatoe for lunch or dinner the past month to keep the weight down but I still have a weakness for kettle chips! (grin)


More later!

Just Six More!

When I am working out in the mornings I have gotten into the habit of pushing myself a little harder. At the end of my set I add six more reps whether I'm doing pushups, crunches, using the dumbell or squats, just add six more reps to push your body to grow a bit more.

I wonder how we can use this method in other parts of our lives? Could we make six more sales calls in a day or a week? Could we put six more dollars in the tithing tray at Church or leave it for a tip at a restaurant where a great server deserves a helping hand? How about six more minutes of praying or devotions?

I'd like to know your ideas on how doing just six more, can change your life!

Inspirational Quote of the Day!

Getting Your Mind Right Again!

Update! Lost 22 lbs in 8 weeks! "90 Day Challenge" coming to an end in less than two weeks...

........... Now back to "Getting Your Mind Right!"


Like me, you may have heard this phrase before. I have heard it and used it but what does it really mean?

Like many people, I have struggled with trying to get my appetite under control for years and due to my penchant for eating unhealthy snacks and gorging myself when I have a plate or two of yummy food to consume, I have suffered from all types of problems from weight gain to GERD and other gastro intestinal problems I will not go into. Making a plan and sticking to it when it comes to food is a really hard thing to do!

Well, I have still not mastered my late night cravings for ice cream, chips or pop corn completely but I have gotten closer to my goal than ever with the help of a company called Visalus. They make a delicious cream flavored shake mix that you can use as a meal replacement or supplement depending on your goals. If your goal is weight loss (like me) then use it for meal replacement.

I have been doing it for over 2 months and I have lost 22 pounds. The pounds came off quick and the funny thing is, I had been trying to lose weight since January 1st and had managed to lose 10 pounds already but it took me about three months on my own. With the help of the VI shakes (and they are very tasty I might add) I lost the next 10 in about 3 weeks. Now I am holding steady at about 156 and anticipate losing only about 5 more poundsat most! Since I am 5'10 and fairly lean already, I don't want to lose much more weight but I am now in the phase of toning and reshaping. I am preparing for two upcoming Black Belt tests in the two martial arts classes I take, both will be within a few months of each other if all goes well. The first one will be in my Tomiki Aikido class and it may happen by the end of this year. The next test will be in Combat Hapkido and should be sometime in the first quarter of 2013. Again this is if I stay injury free and all goes as planned.

Now the phrase (Get your mind right) is important here because what I am learning or have learned is that all of this stuff in regards to food, excercise, etc., is all in your head. You have to get in the right mindset to accomplish goals you have. In other words, you have to really want something bad enough to make the changes that have to be made in order to accomplish your goal, any goal.

I suppose I have finally gotten to that point. I want something bad enough to do what it takes to see it through. One thing I am excited about is that this product the (VI shakes) are the catalyst that have helped my break through a really tough barrier that was keeping me from getting my mind right. Now that I have achieved my weight loss goal, I am on to my next goal which is getting in the best shape I can be to be ready for these upcoming tests. I feel like I can accopmlish that now. The one regret I have is that it has taken me this long to get here, at 51 it seems I am a very slow starter.


In closing let me add that I am currently reading a new bookcalled "Overkill" by Steven Shrewsbury. It is about a legendary warrior who is over 700 year old! I'm not saying I would like to live that long but at least he has had plenty of time to learn and "Get His Mind Right"...

Blogging for health and wealth!

If you have read any of my previous posts you know I am involved with the "90 Day Challenge" by Visalus Sciences. Drinking VI Shakes now has become ingrained in my daily routine. I love this stuff! After losing about 22 lbs in 8 weeks I am into the home stretch of my 90 days. I am also promoting the product. I am passionate about the company and what it's products have done for me and what they can do for others. I am recommending it for many of my friends and actively trying to make a serious run at becoming an Ambassador with this company! I need your help to accomplish that goal!

If you want or need to lose some weight this is an amazing product so give it a try! You won't be sorry. But like anything else you have to comitt yourself to this and eat right when your not drinking shakes. Lay off the Pizza, soda and other stuff that will replace those calories that you lost early in the day. Don't eat late at night, drink a small shake if you get hungry. It's 10:00 PM here and I just finished a good workout and a before bed-time shake. I know losing weight is tough, I struggled with it for years but Visalus has changed that for me. I hope it can be what you are looking for as well. Visit my Visalus page @ http://pearcejd.myvi.net

Is it time for a change?

Greetings Friends!

Now that I have reached my weight loss goal of 160 lbs, it is a matter of maintaining my current weight or managing my appetite. Someone told me the other day that you "Eat to live not Live to eat!" In today's America that's so true. So many people "Live to Eat" it seems we schedule our entire lives around what we eat.

Unfortunately too many of us consume food that is not healthy and we gorge ourselves at each meal instead of eating small amounts several times a day. Don't get me wrong I will still go out and eat a great meal at the "Bonefish Grill" or "Red Rocks Cafe" one of my other favorite restaruants. I will also have a beer or two from time to time and eat deserts or ice cream but I will now only indugle that aspect of food on occaision and not very frequently.

Now it's VI Shakes

Twice a day and a sensible meal. I had a lettuce wrap sanwhich today for lunch with turkey, tomato and mayo with a little cheese sprinkled on it. Chips and a large glass of ice water. This is a typical meal for me these days and it's how I managed to drop from 187 in January to 160 today. I will have stir fried squash and zuchinni tonight with onion, celery and beef, maybe some shrimp too. I normally drink water at home or cofee.

PS ~ I have siad goodbye to fast food. Will I ever stop and enjoy a chicken sandwich with fries and a tea again? Maybe but not often. Where I used to do that at leat 4 or 5 times a week, now I am down to once or twice a month and when I do I rarely eat the bread and usually throw out some of the fries. I also feel terrible after doing it so it's pretty much over for me now. McDonalds, you are DEAD to me!

Clearly I would have never dropped the last twenty pounds without the help of the VI Shakes. I just had one a few minutes ago and always start my day with one now if I have time. The combination of 1% milk (8 ounces) a banana, two scoops of shake mix and maybe some yogurt is my standard shake. We mix it up occaisionally by adding blueberries, strawberries, low fat ice-cream, peaches or whatever we might like at the moment. Chocolate is good from time to time too!

I hope some of you will take the challenge! This is one of the greatest things I have experienced in a long time! Being my high school weight is awesome and I feel so much better! If your interested in learning more go to the website and look around. Call me if you have questions and are ready to order your first bag of VI Shakes.

http://pearcejd.myvi.net

We are all different!

Loosing weight is a battle many of us fight in our lifetimes. Some of us more than others. I'm pretty lucky I suppose as I have always been fairly thin even though I was up to 199 lbs several years ago, I manage to stay around 175 - 180 most of the time. Recently I managed to loose 10 lbs by removing bread from my deit. It took me three months to loose that 10 lbs as I like to eat sweets at night before bed.

However I recently ran across a product by Visalus Sciences that led to me dropping 15 more lbs in only 5 weeks! WOW, I was amazed and still am. I signed on and am still in the middle of my 90 Day Challenge. I know this works, will it work for you? Only time will tell, take the "90 Day Challenge" and find out!

What have you got to loose?

Getting Your Mind Right

Update! Lost 22 lbs in 8 weeks! "90 Day Challenge" coming to an end in less than two weeks...

........... Now back to "Getting Your Mind Right!"


Like me, you may have heard this phrase before. I have heard it and used it but what does it really mean?

Like many people, I have struggled with trying to get my appetite under control for years and due to my penchant for eating unhealthy snacks and gorging myself when I have a plate or two of yummy food to consume, I have suffered from all types of problems from weight gain to GERD and other gastro intestinal problems I will not go into. Making a plan and sticking to it when it comes to food is a really hard thing to do!

Well, I have still not mastered my late night cravings for ice cream, chip or pop corn completely but I have gotten closer to my goal than ever with the help of a company called Visalus. They make a delicious cream flavored shake mix that you can use as a meal replacement or supplement depending on your goals. If your goal is weight loss (like me) then use it for meal replacement.

I have been doing it for over 2 months and I have lost 22 pounds. The pounds came off quick and the funny thing is, I had been trying to lose weight since January 1st and had managed to lose 10 pounds already but it took me about three months on my own. With the help of the VI shakes (and they are very tasty I might add) I lost the next 10 in about 3 weeks. Now I am holding steady at about 156 and anticipate losing only about 5 more poundsat most! Since I am 5'10 and fairly lean already, I don't want to lose much more weight but I am now in the phase of toning and reshaping. I am preparing for two upcoming Black Belt tests in the two martial arts classes I take, both will be within a few months of each other if all goes well. The first one will be in my Tomiki Aikido class and it may happen by the end of this year. The next test will be in Combat Hapkido and should be sometime in the first quarter of 2013. Again this is if I stay injury free and all goes as planned.

Now the phrase (Get your mind right) is important here because what I am learning or have learned is that all of this stuff in regards to food, excercise, etc., is all in your head. You have to get in the right mindset to accomplish goals you have. In other words, you have to really want something bad enough to make the changes that have to be made in order to accomplish your goal, any goal.

I suppose I have finally gotten to that point. I want something bad enough to do what it takes to see it through. One thing I am excited about is that this product the (VI shakes) are the catalyst that have helped my break through a really tough barrier that was keeping me from getting my mind right. Now that I have achieved my weight loss goal, I am on to my next goal which is getting in the best shape I can be to be ready for these upcoming tests. I feel like I can accopmlish that now. The one regret I have is that it has taken me this long to get here, at 51 it seems I am a very slow starter.


In closing let me add that I am currently reading a new bookcalled "Overkill" by Steven Shrewsbury. It is about a legendary warrior who is over 700 year old! I'm not saying I would like to live that long but at least he has had plenty of time to learn and "Get His Mind Right"...

Combat Hapkido

I have been involved with this program for a couple of years now and just recieved my promotion for Brown Belt last weekend. I really enjoy this self defense system as it is bare bones, close quarter combat compared to Aikido. I currently am training for shodan in Aikido and will hopefully recieve my first dan promotion late 2012 or early 2013 depending on how things go. I have a bad shoulder that I have to set up an MRI for next week and if I have to have surgery it will set me back a few months in my training. I hope I can put off any surgery until after both my black belt tests. Some ask WHY do you do martial arts, especially at your age? Well, I love it for one and I believe in self defense.

Let me ask you, how many stories have you read lately where someone was attacked and beaten? Think about Travon Martin and George Zimmerman. If Mr. Zimmerman had known some self defense there is a good chance he could have fought of Martin and won! No shooting would have been necassary. We train to fight multiple attackers, so in the case where three or four guys attack one, I am prepared. I see it on the news all the time for example, these days it seems as if every time I open up a news site I read where blacks are attacking whites all over the country. In most cases it doesn't get reported as a national news story but it is happening more and more. If I am able to take out the first two or three attackers (black, white or any color) in a way that discourages the others from coming at me then I might be able to walk away from a life threatening situation like that with minimal damage. It is a dangerous world and we live in unprecedented times of racial and political strife. I love my black brothers and sisters just like anyone else but many of them have gone astray and have been influenced by the race baiters (Obama, Al Sharpton, Jesse jackson, etc.) who constantly stir up hatred for whites and those with money. The unemployment rate in the black community is as high as it has been in decades so there is alot of pent up frustration on thier part and it is constanly fueled by the democrats and the media who beat that class warefare drum with zeal day in and day out. This leads to violence! The new black panther party is another story. They have come out and openly called for violence against all whites. We as citizens have a right to protect ourselves. Well, I have gotten off track here so I digress.

I was blogging about martial arts not race problems. So as my journey into the world of Aikido and Combat Hapkido continues I have hit a few snags as the two systems are alike in many ways yet have some fundamental differences that can cause problems for me in both areas. I will get more into that at a later date. let me close by saying we have been doing Randori the past few classes. It is an excercise or drill for experienced Aikidoka and takes patience to learn. Sensei Tony says I have shown great progress in the short time we have been working on it and is very pleased with what he has seen. This has caused him to state that I am ready now to start working on the kata for shodan. I am glad to hear this! I like the Randori drills as it allows me to learn the art of slowing down my technique and being more fluid and able to blend better with uke/nage. In combat Hapkido it is time for going back to the beginning. Now that we have recieved Brown Belt status which is the first belt in the advanced stage of the system, my friend Jeff Handy and I intend to go back and review all belts over the next couple of months before we procede to Red Belt. This should be fun and will help us with our fundamentals.

Peace be with you!

Fitness after 50!

Greetings

I am taking steps to get into shape for next years two black belt tests. I have decided to give it an earnest attempt and as I look into more and more holistic health ideas I have found I have made some serious but easily correctable mistakes over the last 30 years.

First of all I have been an avid bread man all my life. I LOVE bread with butter, margarine, jelly, honey, you name it. However I have given up bread over the past few months and I have lost a significant amount of weight. Now one real good benefit is since most of the fast food I used to eat was made up of sandwiches I have given up fast food too! This is a BIG plus as I was in the habit of eating at Wendy's, Chic Fil A and a few other places on a weekly basis for years. So now no french fries, iced tea and chicken sandwiches or quarter pounders... Think of the calories I have missed out on. I have gotten used to not eating bread now and it is not as bad as I thought it would be. Less bloating and gas too!

Now I have started my day with a cup of coffee or two for the past thirty years or so. I normally do not eat any food in the morning, only coffee unless I have scheduled a breakfast meeting for some reason. I have recently found out that the body needs water in the morning to kick start the metabolism and rehydrate. Coffee should be the second thing I consume instead of the first so I am making that change this week. So far it makes me feel slightly nauseous but I am sure I will get used to it. I bought some distilled water today to use as my wake up drink.

To wrap it up here quickly I have doubled up on my strecthing and excercises, added many more salads to my diet and bought a lumbar support for my van. With all these new changes I am sure to be well on my way to getting in shape for the upcoming tests. So here's to looking more like Bruce Lee and less like a Sumo Wrestler....

Peace be with you!

1st Kyu

Had my test last night, it was about an hour. I won't elaborate too much for lack of time but needles to say it pushed me to my limits physically. I have been working out and dieting for a couple of months in preparation for this test and it paid off, although I was a bit disappointed for screwing up a couple of techniques. But 2 or 3 mistakes out of 100 techniques isn't so bad in the big picture I suppose. I definately need to get in better shape for my Shodan test which should be before next St. Patricks Day...

Also still working the Combat Hapkido system. I am Blue now and will be going for brown next. That Shodan test will probably come next year as well. Here's to eating many more salads and drinking fresh carrot and apple juice for another year!

Peace

These are dark, perilous times in the world today.

If you are paying attention to what's going on in Europe and the middle east it looks as though the world's oil supply is being corralled and we are on the brink of WWIII. Greece is on the verge of collapse and Egypt, Syria and many other countries in the middle east are in turmoil. Iran is threatening to shut down some of the oil supplies coming out of the Mediterranean and have refused to sell oil to the French and the British. All the while Israel is contemplating a military strike against Iran who has declared they will destroy Israel soon!

In the meantime the uber-environmental leftist in America have refused to allow us to use most of our own fossil fuel supplies, said no to the Keystone pipeline and have funneled billions of dollars into worthless shell companies, touting green energy that supplies less than 2% of our energy needs. We have not built a Nuclear plant in the US for over 30 years! Gasoline is at record highs and our leaders stand by and do nothing but grandstand. Obama himself has said energy prices in America will necessarily skyrocket under his administration and he is making that promise come true. Our fragile economy will be choked by these high fuel prices and the price of all goods and services will continue to rise while jobs will be harder to find as the price of fuel increases throughout the spring and summer. This will hamper our slow climb from the pit of recession in America.

Meanwhile President Obama has submitted a budget that will have us 47 trillion dollars in debt over the next 10 years, raising taxes and cutting next to nothing from the current budget. If this isn't enough bad news, we have a war going on at our southern border that no one in the corrupt news media is talking about. The drug cartels in Mexico are killing people by the dozens here in America and headless bodies are showing up everywhere. A rational government would have troops on the border putting a stop to this invasion but out leaders do nothing and our press barely mentions it on the evening news. Not only this but we have a Supreme Court Justice who has openly declared she would not use the US Constitution and a model if she were creating a new constitution today. Is this not the same Constitution they swore and oath to uphold? My guess is that the latest appointees would follow in her wake.

The corruption of the news media in America is criminal!!!

The majority have openly chosen sides in the ideology war and have chosen the left. My guess is the journalism classes in America's colleges have indoctrinated them to the point that when the come out of college they are proud to call themselves Marxists. They use to pretend to be neutral but now many of them openly claim their leftist credentials on the air. Their purpose is to defeat everything Conservative or Republican.

America is fiddling while Europe burns. We should be shoring up our energy supplies here and making cuts that will see us through this global crisis but we are following the Europeans down the long dark road to oblivion.

Why? Is it greed, ideology or just plain evil? Only God knows, it is beyond comprehension to understand why the leaders of America don't stand up and start fighting to keep this country safe and move us away from the downfall of Europe and the Middle East. If you are a believer, no matter what your faith you must begin to pray every day for the survival of America...

Blue Belt Test

Greetings!

Today I passed my Blue Belt test in Combat Hapkido.. I am also injury free for the most part and able to continue on to test for my 1st Kyu in Aikido soon (fingers crossed) maybe in a month or two which will allow me to finally start my training for my Black Belt test. I am eager to get there after alot of hard work. Last Thursday two of my good freinds from Aikido class took their Black Belt tests together. I filmed the majority of it and just burned it to a DVD to share with the class in fact. It was a great test and they both did exceptionally well. Conratulations to both Noah and Yuka!

By the way, I have learned to play "Night Moves" by Bob Seger on the guitar over the past few weeks. What a great song! If I could only sing it like he does.. (grin)

Thanksgiving is next week so I hope you all have a blessed and safe week.

Peace

JD

OWS for what it's worth

I have been paying close attention to the OWS movemeent. Considering the so called Arab Spring or (Sharia Summer) as I like to call it, many have predicted this would come to America and it finally has. Violence has broken out on Oakland, California - Surprise! Who'd have thought!

After watching this transpire for several weeks now I must admit I am glad this has happened. No, not the violence but the coming out of the Marxist, Communist, Socialist Democrats here in the USA. You see these college kids have all been turned into some form of Marxist by their college professors and they have all been indoctrinated into believing Capitalism is bad, Communism good! Now they are demanding that the capitalist system be destroyed and that a communist state take it's place. It is wide open for all the world to see and most all the Democrats including Obama have embraced them.

So, all the fools who ctiticized FOX News for breaking the stories about Obama and his Marxist pals 3 years ago can now sit back and say, oops! We have now inadvertantly proven their point! The right has been trying to tell the public for years about the leftists and communists that have infilitrated the higher learning institutions of America and what they are doing to the college kids. The so called main stream media leftists are the result of those college classes in journalism and whatever else it is they are required to take. The President and his wife are both results of the indocrination machine at Columbia, Yale, Harvard. They all teach the same stuff. America bad, Socilaism good.

So America, the proof is right before your very eyes on the news every day. Can you see it now?

The Grid, Music and Martial Arts!

There's alot of talk about dropping off the grid these days. I wonder if it is even possible to do such a thing. Sometimes I feel like I would like to to try but when it comes down to it I don't think it is very realistic. Yet, I think we should all consider planning ahead in case something drastic happens in America.

For example a major earthquake, hurricane, tornado or flood could destroy everything you own so it is nice to think you would be prepared for such a scenario. I mean by storing food and clothes somewhere other than home. Sounds extreme but how grateful would you be if your house was destroyed and all contents like in Joplin Missouri or in the recent tsunami in Japan. What if you had the forethought to store food, clothes, even money in a place somewhere other than your own home. Not saying that I have but the thought just came to me in this regard. I will have to ponder the logistics of such an idea.

Now moving on to lighter subjects, if you have ever read this blog you know I am into martial arts. I love to practice it and to watch it on TV or in person. I have been and am still pursuing black belts in two arts, Aikido and Combat Hapkido. I am still making good progress towards these goals and am about to test again in Combat Hapkido, this will be my Blue Belt. In Aikido I am still a couple of months away from my next test but it is a BIG one. First Kyu, which will be my last test before Black. Very exciting! My ultimate goal is to teach self defense. Private lessons or perhaps in a Dojo of my own someday.

One of my other passions is music. I have always loved singing, ever since I was a small boy singing around the house and to the radio. I had a knack for remembering lyrics even when I was six or seven. I began playing guitar at thirteen and only played about a year. I got good fast and even helped instruct in my music class in the 8th grade in Stockbridge Ga. but my circumstances changed and I moved away from Ga., back to NC. I lost interest in the guitar and although I usually had one in the closet I rarely took it out and played unitl a few years ago when I began playing again. I do remeber taking lessons about 20 years ago, I think I took two or three lessons but alas I once again put the guitar back up and failed to go any further.

Today I am into guitars BIG TIME! I own about five of them and I play every day! I love it more and more! I suppose there is a time for every thing and this is my time for the guitar. I intend to keep playing until I get good enough to be a professional. I am playing some small gigs now for very little money but it is a start. My goals is to make $5,000 a show! Someday I will get there.. (wink)

Been Away but I'll Be Back

Been away from this blog for quite a while. I suppose Facebook has allot to do with that. I thought I would do an update and try to start working my way over here more often.

First - Politics!

Life has been challenging for many of us self employed folks for the past two or three years. When the Democrats wind up in power business usually takes a hit so I was not surprised but I was surprised by the extent of damage they managed to do to the economy since they took over the congress in 2007 and then once Obama came into office.

Hopefully with the help of the TEA party we will see BIG changes in 2012 and perhaps business can begin to grow again in America. I know many people disagree with me on this and we can debate or argue much of this stuff all day but let me put it this way. It is VERY simple.

When you raise taxes on BIG business of any kind it will be passed on to the consumer, it always does. So, raising taxes on Big Oil, Big, Pharma, Big Teleco, Big Tobacco, etc, always comes back to hurt the consumer... Also, when you raise taxes on the so called "RICH", it hurts charities and investments. So it hurts the poor and those who are trying to start and grow businesses. Your not hurting the RICH because it really does not change their personal lifestyle but it does hurt those who they give money too and who they invest in.

If you can wrap your mind around that then you understand why conservatives are against raising taxes, period!

OK, on to other things.

Martial Arts

I am starting my preparations for my next BIG test in Aikido. This will be my 1st kyu test which will put me on step away from achieving Black Belt. This will be a challenge both physically and mentally. There are many techniques to memorize and demonstrate. I hope to be testing in 8 weeks or less. It all depends on Sensei Orlando. When he deems me ready he will let me know.

I am also training in Combat Hapkido in a distance learning program. I went to a seminar in Southern Pines two weeks ago. Really enjoyed getting to work with Grand Master Pelligrini again. I received my purple belt about a month ago and have been working on Blue Belt Arts since then. Will have my first MAT time on these techniques this weekend. This is the beginning of the advanced arts in this system and I really like it! I hope to move on to Brown Belt very soon.

My plan is to acquire my Black Belt in both arts in early 2013 if not sooner. Once I do this I will begin offering personal self defense training here at my home dojo. Along with music lessons this is part of my retirement plan. Of course it will be another 10 years or so before I can really think about giving up my delivery business but I will go as the Lord leads me.

MUSIC

I have been working very hard on playing the guitar and singing. I have learned 30 to 50 songs over the last three years since I began playing again. I can do a short gig now and am working towards being able to do a 2 hour gig playing and singing. I also am giving guitar lessons. I have one student already and another who wants to start next month.

Well, that's enough for now. I have to get ready for Aikido.

In the words of the Terminator,

"I'll BE BACK!"

Until then may the Peace of Christ be with you and yours and may God Bless America!

2nd kyu ~ Tomiki Aikido

Greetings

Big News at the Dojo this week! Sensei's Tony & MaryAnn are leaving for Japan this morning to help with the disaster cleanup. They will be hauling supplies back and forth to one of the hardest hit areas and also helping with animal recovery efforts. We are very proud of them and we hope they stay safe and we know they will spread the good news of Christ while they are there. It will be different around the dojo with them gone for a month. I myself will take a week off after having my 2nd kyu promotion last night. I made it through the (test) even with a bad knee, thanks to many prayers and the grace of God.

I am looking forward to getting back in the groove and learnin my next set of techniques (Di Nei) for the 1st kyu promotion. Once that is behind me it will be black belt test next! I am very glad I stuck with this class. Not only have I learned excellent Aikido but I have made great, lifelong friends here, many of who are good christians like myself and we have a llot of fun outside the dojo too.

By the way, I passed my greenbelt test in Combat Hapikdo a few weeks ago and trained a bit for my purple belt last weekend. I am looking forward to a few more training sessions with Sensei Flagg and then on to test for purple at Master Doyle's dojo in Mooresville. This will be a fairly easy test for me since many of my aikido techniques are in this test.

Happy Easter Folks and God Bless.