So I've given up alcohol. So far so good, bring on day 2! But god it's hard. I walked past the bottle shop and it was all I could do to stop myself from walking in. My flatmate just came home and offered me a glass of wine. I told him I'm on the wagon. Doesn't help that he drinks a lot :(

I saw the quote above in the local gym (a place I have finally rediscovered after many months' absence) and it got me thinking about habits. A habit is something we've done so often it's almost involuntary. Our habits, to a large extent, define us as people. Not just what we do, but the way we think; having a consistently positive outlook, or a friendly manner can be considered a habit. It is our habits that dictate (mostly) how we conduct our lives. So to change our lives we need to change our habits.

The problem with habits is that good ones are hard to form but easy to break, whereas bad ones are easy to form but hard to break. Changing your life for the better means doing both those "hard" bits over and over again; it's no wonder it's a difficult task, and if you're depressed it makes it even harder. How can we make it easier? Here are three things I'm going to try.

1. The Chain

I read an interesting article a while back about a technique that Jerry Seinfeld used to build the habit of writing every day. He kept a big wall calendar and put an "X" on every day when he did some writing. The goal is not to "break the chain"; that is you aim to have a continuous string of "X's" with no days missed out. I think there's a lot to recommond this approach - it gives you a very obvious, visual representation of how you're going with building your habit which can motivate you to keep it up.

I've taken this to heart and I created a "chain" spreadsheet which I've hung up on my wall. Across the top row are all the dates to the end of the year. Down the first column are the habits I'm trying to make or break (only alcohol and coffee so far - best to focus on only one or two habits at a time). I hope by the end of the year I'll have a calendar full of X's!

2. The Profit/Loss Card

Another idea for breaking bad habits (based on an article at About.com) is to make a card for each bad habit you're trying to break.

On one side write the good things that you expect you'll get from continuing with your habit (the "profit"). For alcohol these may be "a temporary buzz" and "a possiblity to forget my problems for a night". Make sure these are real payoffs not just perceived ones.

On the other side of the card write the things you stand to lose out on by exercising your habit (the "loss"). By getting drunk you may "waste a day with a hangover", "will feel even more lonely and depressed", "say and do things that I don't mean and hurt the people I love".

When you find yourself tempted by your bad habit, get the card out and read both sides. No really. Read it, don't just think about it. After reading it weigh the options. If after thinking it through, you decide the profits outweigh the losses, then go for it. It is now your explicit choice to do this, not just a habitual behaviour.

3. Good Habits to Replace Bad

As you give up your bad habits, you need good ones to take their place. Decide on what these will be in advance. Instead of alcohol and coffee I will start drinking more water, fruit juices and herbal tea. I will also use the time I used to spend at home on the couch drinking alone to make progress on things that I really need to do around the house.

What Now?

So there you go, a plan of sorts for changing my habits. I'll let you know how it goes. In fact, I think it would be great to make my "chain" public somehow, kind of a public display of progress (or lack of); it's easier to be good if everyone's watching! Will think about ways I can do this...

break down the walls,
which left you in mazes,
break down the walls,
which created dark phrases.

let your mind ponder what it needs,
but take a few moments and a peek
at life and its many view,
clearer, becomes what you seek.

there is a single force,
it is your only dose,
it is what chose,
from it you rose.

acceptance brings rebellion,
rebellion brings inoculation,
inoculation brings fulfilment,
fulfilment brings achievement.

once there are no walls,
you are free,
you can catch a breeze
or just lay about and ease,
but there is need,
which you need to fulfill,
the reason force of being,
the pinnacle of truth,
an action,which adds
a code to the decoded universe.

keep your path,
let it lead,
in the end,
you will succeed .

Today at the 2008 Wireless Enterprise Symposium, Research In Motion (RIM), the cellphone giant from our neighbor to the north, made an announcment many of us techies have been anticipating for some time, finally divulging details of their latest device, the Blackberry Bold.

READMORE after the break...

C|Netnews.com outlines the details of the announcement of RIM's newest series of Blackberry devices, the 9000 series, and it's hardware specs. Strangely, they don't discuss the device's distinction as being the first handset from RIM to include the newest edition of its operating system, version 4.6. For those of you faithful Blackberry users, or those looking to take the plunge, Tech Digest has done a comparison of the Blackberrys Bold, Pearl 2 and Curve.

As a Blackberry fanatic, I'm eager to get one of these in my hands, but as far as making the immediate purchase of one as I did with the Curve last year, I may have to hold off as news of the second edition of the iPhone has me interested!!!

Also visit the handset's website for more info.

Drop us a line, let us know what'cha think....Got something to contribute, hit us up!!

-aveboogie

UPDATED INFO

Blackberry 9000 review

: : : : : : : : : : :

ABC: OBAMA HAS MORE SUPERDELEGATES THAN CLINTON

Obama has won more states.  Obama has won more votes.  Obama has won more pledged delegates.  And now Obama has won more superdelegates. Even if you count Florida and Michigan, Obama still wins every conceivable metric of success.

The Democratic Primary has been effectively over for weeks now; this is just one more nail in the coffin.  It's time for us to unite behind our nominee, Barack Obama, and start making the case as to why he should be the nest President of the United States.

Local, regional, national, and international. Whatever catches my attention and interests me. Updated throughout the day!

Canada/Ontario/London

Canada/Ontario

Canada/Other

International

Polls just closed in North Carolina and already the networks are calling it for Barack Obama.

Meanwhile, Indiana's polls closed a half hour ago and the outcome is still up in the air. CNN has it as 57% for Clinton and 43% for Obama with 18% of precincts reporting.

More as it comes...

UPDATE: If Barack Obama's an elitist, then so are the good people of Indiana; take a look at this exit poll result posted on Daily Kos:

Indiana:

Does Clinton share your values?

Yes 62
No 37

Does Obama share your values?

Yes 65
No 33

Let's put this elitism garbage to bed once and for all, shall we?

And with 20% reporting, Indiana is still 57-43 Clinton-Obama.

UPDATE II: With a quarter of all districts reporting, Indiana's percentages haven't budged--we're still at 57-43.

UPDATE III: CNN is showing nearly a third of Indiana's precincts are reporting and the percentages are still 57-43 Clinton-Obama. If Obama's going to make Indiana close, he's going to have to start showing some movement pretty soon.

UPDATE IV: With 38% of Indiana precincts reporting, there has been some movement--now the totals are 56-44 Clinton-Obama. The start of a trend, or just some electoral static?

UPDATE V: Now CNN is showing Indiana as 55-45 Clinton-Obama. CBS has called it for Clinton but the other networks are holding off. Will Obama knock Clinton down to a single-digit victory in The Hoosier State?

UPDATE VI: CNN is showing Indiana at 54-46 Clinton-Obama with just over half of all precincts reporting. Looks like most networks were right to hold off calling this one just yet...

UPDATE VII: With 65% precincts reporting, Indiana is now at 53% Clinton and 47% Obama. In the past hour or so Obama has cut Clinton's lead nearly in half; this is now a 6-point race.

UPDATE VIII: With 76% reporting, Indiana is now down to a 52-48 Clinton-Obama split. This is a huge blow to the Clinton campaign no matter how you cut it--IN was supposed to be her state, and for it to get so close is a bad omen in general. Tonight may very well erase any benefit she got from winning PA two weeks ago.

UPDATE IX: With 83% reporting, it's still a 4-point spread, 52-48. Lake County--which is near the Indiana-Illinois border and where the Obama stronghold of Gary is--won't report until 11:00 PM EST.

UPDATE X: With 91% of precincts reporting, it's now Clinton with 51% and Obama with 49%. Even if those are the final percentages this will represent a huge coup for Obama. If he manages to win Indiana it will be an even bigger blow to Clinton, particularly considering the significant negative press he's received since PA.

Stay tuned...

UPDATE XI: 92% in, still 51-49. Obama is down by more than 20,000 votes, but many of the outstanding areas are his strongholds. Will this be the straw that breaks the camel's back? Even if Obama doesn't pull out a victory, tonight will still be remarkable. Conventional wisdom said that working-class Indiana was Clinton's--Obama wiped her lead out in a matter of days, despite several bad news cycles. If nothing else, tonight will be a testament to Obama's ability to weather bad press and come out better in the end.

UPDATE XII: Kos brings us this line from Tim Russert:

Russert: Hillary Clinton has cancelled all her morning appearances.

That's perhaps the most telling part of this. Despite her campaign's spin, Clinton knows this is a huge blow to her Presidential ambitions. She's far behind in the popular vote and the delegate count; being handed a humiliating defeat in what was widely considered a safely-Clinton state puts the Democratic nomination that much more out of reach.

Still 92% reporting, still 51-49.

UPDATE XIII: 95% of precincts are reporting. It's still 51-49, but now Obama is behind by only 16,609 votes. In other words, the last 3% closed the gap by about 4,000 votes.

FINAL UPDATE: With 99% of the precincts remaining, it's still 51-49. Clinton won Indiana, but by the slimmest of margins--out of 1.25 million votes cast, her margin of victory is just over 22,000 votes. That's a less than 1% victory.

Indiana wasn't supposed to be close--the last Pollster composite showed Clinton winning The Hooser State by more than 4%. In other words, despite weeks of bad press, Obama managed to whittle Clinton's sizable lead to basically nothing. In addition, he picked up a sizable number of delegates by winning NC in a landslide.

The Democratic primary, for all intents and purposes, has been over for weeks now. But perhaps tonight will be the night that finally cements this fact into the DC conventional wisdom. Personally, I hope it does.

break ups

break downs

break through

break wide open

breaking bread together

coffee breaks

breaking clouds

break a trail

commercial breaks

break in the conversation

“your voice is breaking up”

break waters

lucky breaks

break dancing

break wind

prison breaks

breaks in the music

breaking away

breaking down an idea or concept

breakfast

break even

break the barrier

break in the circuit

break formation

break a habit

break a sweat

break into portions

break a code

break through security

break a leg

breaking ground

break into a smile

break the ice

make a break for it

and...

Break out of a rut!

SF

Excerpts:

The Pentagon is free to air its views on any military operation but it should do so openly.
Potential covert production of press materials by the Defense Department would
undermine full and open public debate on one of the most important matters facing this
country, the war in Iraq. Such debate is essential to our democracy.

According to the article, the documents suggest that the Pentagon supplied retired
officers serving as analysts for several major American broadcasters with private
briefings with Sec. Rumsfeld, talking points in anticipation of appearing on TV, and
commercial airfare. Allegedly, the Pentagon discouraged the analysts from publicly
describing the nature of their relationship with the Pentagon. This clearly violates the
spirit, if not the letter, of the law.

Basically, the Pentagon supplied pro-war, pro-administration retired army officers to news outlets for the purpose of providing what was advertised to the public as unbiased analysis of the war in Iraq.  On-air, these officers' connections to the Pentagon was undisclosed, and the American people were misled into thinking they were getting analysis based on field expertise, not political bias.

We know the Republicans sold their war to the American people with lies; we just didn't know how far and how deep those lies went.  Now, at least, we have a little more of the whole picture.

The National Weather Service today/May 2, 2008, are anticipating that a Severe Thunderstorm Watch and possibly a Tornado Watch will be issued this afternoon.
 
The storms that they are concerned about will be hitting sometime this afternoon or early evening (5-6 PM for the Kenosha area).  These storms will be developing over northern Iowa and are in front of a cold front.  The biggest threat will be large hail and down-burst winds.  They said there may be an outside chance of an isolated tornado.
 
Please take the proper precautions and be aware of changing weather conditions.  I would also ask that municipalities inform us of any damage reports.

Vigilance is paramount.

Can this primary just end already?

UPDATE: Already this video's veracity is being called into question. The original source for it appears to be War Room, the documentary about Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign. The part in question is this, about 4:15 in:

If you turn the volume up, the first subtitle is clearly wrong--there's an extra syllable there; it sounds like Kantor is saying "those people are shitting." As for the second line, though, the subtitle seems to reflect what he says.

You could argue that he's not talking about the people of Indiana; that's possible, since the topic at hand is the polls, not necessarily the states. A few people who heard it also claim to hear the name "Charlie Black" in Kantor's whispering (Black was George H.W. Bush's spokesman at the time) after the supposed slur. But as far as I can tell, the subtitle appears to be accurate.

UPDATE II: D.A. Pennebaker--an ally of the Clintons and the director of War Room--says the video is a fake.

Here's Atrios' take on it:

I'm not going to try for a complete transcript, but basically Kantor gets polls from Indiana. They're close. He says even if they don't win the White House has got to be shitting themselves. Then what I think he says is something along the lines of "how would you like to be beaten by a worthless white n*****," presumably meaning Bill Clinton himself and referencing the Bush I campaign team's likely view of Clinton.

She did a cover of a song not yet written. Sang to her in many a dream. It began in magnificence, like the cascade of feathers in a blissful pillow fight, but it didn’t come out right. She only knew the harmony. His swollen heart beats incomplete as she scrambles to fill it with bits of love, but she grabs the wrong pieces and leaves the song on a half note with no bridge or chorus or third verse or applause. In flustered defeat a declaration of redemption is proclaimed to be sounded with a chorus of angels on a golden guitar executed with calloused fingertips, deserving of a standing ovation. If she only knew…she could have sang Mary Had a Little Lamb out of tune and he would have been happy.

Senior Professor Andy Fitzgerald Breaks some nasty looking tiles!

It was done for What Now, on Sunday. The quality and camera angle doesn't quite do the scariness of the destruction justice, but I thought you might be interested to check out what my TKD instructor can do with a sore shoulder.

(note to self, stop answering back in class.) (Actually I'm pretty sure I don't answer back.) (Most of the time anyway.)

More info here: http://miramartkd.wellington.net.nz/

Hier gehts zum ganzen englischen Artikel.

Gabriel

John McCain and George W. Bush's Iraq war: 5 years down, 95 years to go.

(I'm the handsome devil on the left)

Here's the awards' breakdown:

• Three third place medals in weapons and continuous sparring (Bob in weapons, instructor and new student in sparring)
• One second place medal in breaking (Bob)
• One first place trophy in point sparring (Super student)

Considering that I helped train these people and also placed I'm very happy.

How did I do? Let's call it bitter-sweet. First the bitter: I was the only unconfirmed school black belt at this tournament who was competing against a bunch of higher ranked black belts. Suffice to say I was very nervous due to it being my first time up against black belts. In weapons there was only four of us and everyone else was a second or third degree black belt. One guy who was warming up with the sais was doing all these crazy 360 and 540 aerial kicks. Well that's the last thing I needed to see and it took care of what little confidence I had left. So about half way through my nunchuka kata my mind went blank and I forgot the rest of a kata I've been practicing for over a year now! I took a third place medal but am not happy at all about that.

Now the sweet: We had 10 black belts competing in breaking and at least one was a fourth dan. Well when I heard the numbers and saw the ranks I thought it was game over for ol' Bob. My breaking strategy has always been this: Take a moderate approach and focus on speed breaks, power breaks, or penetration breaks. At my age aerial is out. Usually a few people who try high risk aerial stuff always screw up so I end up placing. My strategy really paid off this time. I'd say 80% of the competitors tried speed breaks or air breaks and only one person succeeded--this on the second try. In addition a few competitors got very upset at their failures and flamed out which cost them points whereas I did not. One 2nd dan set up four breaks: Three which had multiple shots or speed breaks. He failed on just about every attempt and even kicked his holder's hand who cried out in pain. Then his other holder set up in a front stance while holding a board vertical above his head. I'm thinking "what the hell"? He takes off running, springs off his holder's front knee, does a back flip and tried to break the board while spinning in the air! He nicked the board and fell flat on his face. In fact the medic had to come over and they think he may have cracked his clavicle from the fall. He is probably an example of overconfidence which is the opposite of my problem.

Anyhow, I settled on some moderately difficult breaks and emphasized coordination, power, or penetration. First out of the gate was a simple round kick on one board. We are taught to break by curling the toes back and using the ball of our foot. Well to kick it up a notch I used the flat of my foot. I hit it a tad high due to nerves but I still broke it on my first attempt. I'm also certain I could have broke two solid but I did not want to risk a broken foot this close to the confirmation test.

Second up was my step jumping axe kick with an already bruised heel. I ultimately decided to go with a stack of six boards using spacers. I think due to the bruised heel and my fear of pain and more injuries I pulled my first attempt. When I did I broke only two and there was a very loud groan from the crowd. Worse still, some jackass in the crowd actually laughed at me! This will be a sound I remember when I'm 80. On the reset for attempt #2 sabum asked me if I could go on with my bad heel. Well suffice to say that between the pain and having heard a jackass laugh at three years of hard work my face remained emotionless but I growled under my breath: "Reset up!"

The second time through I was probably as focused as I have ever been in my life and blasted the stack to bits! I also knocked my breaking stands over. This time the crowed cheered! (fickle buggers!)

Last up was my hammer fist on four solid boards and I took these on my first attempt with no problem.

The result: Much to my surprise I took second place in the black belt division and did so as un-confirmed black belt who was competing with a badly bruised heel against competitors who all had more experience!

Anger rattles some people but most of the time it focuses me like a laser. It's been that way my whole life. So I wish I knew who it was who laughed. I'd really like to thank them for helping me to take second place!

Sabum sent out a nice post-tournament e-mail to all of us and I just have to share her review of my contribution:

This was Bob's first tournament participating in weapons. I must say, nun-chucks are a challenge itself but in the Black Belt division—wow! He may have missed a few movements but he did a great job at staying in control and continuing without issues. I couldn't even tell he missing a section. That happens to the best of us, even [name deleted] made that mistake before too!

I loved watching Bob in breaking. My favorite part was, sorry to say Bob, the axe kick. Going in with a bruised heal, he didn't even think twice. The boards won on the first attempt. But Bob was not going to sit back and take that. "Reset up!" He was mad now, and left no mercy on the boards. Master "B" even made a comment about the break and his four solid board fist break. Alright, second place in the black belt division!

Master "B" is famous for breaking in our collection of schools. In fact his school is very strict. So knowing that he was impressed makes me feel pretty good. In addition Grand Master "C" was watching the whole affair too which is good thing because for sure he'll be judging at the confirmation test. If they have to have a memory of me before the test, taking second at my rank in breaking should be it!

The second bit of sweetness is what I'm calling victory by proxy. Last summer I got murdered in sparring by a much younger and very aggressive opponent. This particular school has a reputation for aggressiveness and they crank out some serious fighters. The school is primarily Hispanic and besides taekwondo also teaches boxing which is a national sport/religion in Mexico. These guys throw a ton of hand techniques even if hand techniques usually don't score points in a typical taekwondo match. They also always keep their hands up and sometimes will throw an illegal technique. They actually play the foul game and will take a few warnings just to rattle their opponent. (e.g. one guy threw a spinning back fist yesterday)

Well our student who gave me a mild concussion a few weeks back murdered one of their students in point sparring. Considering that I helped train him it made me feel really good. He also took first place in point. Considering that this was his first tournament this was quite an accomplishment.

All things considered if this is my last tournament in the taekwondo world I'm very happy how I went out.

I think I'll close this post with the hammer fist break on four solid. I'm playing around with a free ripping program and can't get the sound to take. The video is also grainy. VodPod is down for maintenance so I had to go with YouTube.

(My apologies about the quality. This free ripping program sucks and I don't know when I'll get around to trying to convert what was sent to us from the tourney.)

~BCP

From CNN.com, 8:37 PM EST:

_________________________________________________

UPDATE: From CNN.com, 8:51 PM EST:

_________________________________________________

UPDATE II: MSNBC and FOX News are both calling it for Clinton. A Clinton win is expected, but what matters is her margin of victory--if she doesn't get at least 60% of the vote, PA's delegates will be split nearly evenly, leaving Clinton more than 150 pledged delegates behind Obama.

UPDATE III: CNN has also called it for Clinton, but the gap is narrowing.

From CNN.com, 9:04 PM EST:

____________________________________________________

UPDATE IV: Now we're back to where we were 20 minutes ago.

From CNN.com, 9:12 PM EST:

___________________________________________________

UPDATE V: From CNN.com, 9:22 PM EST:

___________________________________________________

UPDATE VI: From CNN.com, 9:39 PM EST:

___________________________________________________

UPDATE VII: Up then down and up again...

From CNN.com, 9:49 PM EST:

__________________________________________________

UPDATE VIII: From CNN.com, 10:05 PM EST:

___________________________________________________

UPDATE IX: From CNN.com, 10:17 PM EST:

____________________________________________________

UPDATE X: From CNN.com, 10:29 PM EST:

___________________________________________________

UPDATE XI: From CNN.com, 10:59 PM EST:

____________________________________________________

UPDATE XII: From CNN.com, 11:27 PM EST:

____________________________________________________

All day at work it hurt and I was limping. I also know my shoe made it worse. Well I get home tonight and get ready to practice and see this when I remove my shoes and socks.

(click to enlarge each image)

Well I know why I was limping!

:)

I blame this product. In particular, the black one.

It has a VERY narrow sweet spot. You have to hit it just right to get it to break. If you are off a little it either breaks really hard or does not break at all. In fact, we've had many people have trouble with this board and end up with similar injuries. In short: I would not recommend it.

Anyhow, I still muddled through practicing my nunchuka kata and breaks tonight. It's much better when I'm barefooted. I still plan to do the step jumping axe kick and I still plan to use the same foot. The reason being is my left leg is more flexible in the hamstring so I can get it up higher. That's critical with an axe kick.

Tomorrow night we are testing students and I don't plan on doing anything crazy between now and Saturday. Regardless, I full well know I'll be breaking with a bruised heel and I am expecting pain. I know my pain limits and know I can suck it up and push through. Barefoot I was able to do fundamentals, the kata, and all my breaks without any trouble tonight. As long as they don't make me wear shoes (they won't) I'll be OK.

I'm going to attempt 6 boards with spacers on this particular break. I staged 10 and it looks daunting so forget that! Given the state of the heel that's reasonable. If it's better on Friday I'm just stupid enough to reconsider. We shall see...

The funny thing is I also have broke four solid with a hammer fist before. Well I staged that tonight and it too looks daunting. But I know I can do it so I'll just focus and see how it goes.

Right now it's time for ice and a nice martini!

~BCP

Pupunta ka sa luma mong blog tapos magki-click ka randomly sa archives section. Tapos babahain ka ng pictures at kuwento ng mga kasabawan n'yo ng ex-boyfriend mo nung mga panahong ang sayasayasaya pa ng mundo. Pero maiisip mo, masaya ka rin naman ngayon. Pero parang iba. Parang masaya ka pero wala ka sa sarili mong katawan. Parang outsider ka sa sarili mong saya. Parang may astral projection na nagaganap. Makikita mo yung sarili mong nakatambay sa bahay nang may bahay, tumatawa nang walang humpay. Alam mong ikaw yun pero hindi ka maka-relate sa kanya. Ang labo.

Ayan mukha ka nang tanga. Mangingilid na yung luha mo. Magda-drama ka na naman. Tangina akala ko ba ubos na yan?

Tapos parang pang-asar, biglang tutugtog yung "Ngayon at Kailanman" ni Basil Valdez sa iPod mo. Akalain mo yun, meron ka nun sa iPod? Pero kasi, napag-usapan n'yo noon ng ex mo na puwedeng gawing wedding song yun kaya sinave mo sa iPod.

Si Lord nga naman o, kapag nakakakita ng opportunity...

Sa bawat araw ang pag-ibig ko sa iyo, liyag

Lalong tumatamis, tumitingkad...

Whatafuckinglie. Hahaha. O, bakit bitter ka? Ang labo nga e, kasi di ka naman galit sa ex mo, swear. Actually, friends pa nga kayo. Pero you can't help but be bitter about the situation. Kasi tangena akala mo ito na e. Akala mo shet pang-Maalaala Mo Kaya ang lab story na ito. Pero wala e. Hanggang dun na lang talaga.

Ang nakakatawa pa rito, nao-obvious na in denial ka kasi magkukuwento ka nga tungkol sa mga dalamhati mo sa buhay, hindi naman in the first person. That way dine-detach mo yung sarili mo sa lungkot, kasi fucker di mo talaga matanggap sa sarili mo at sa harap ng ibang tao na malungkot ka. Kasi strong woman ka, di ba?

Well generally strong woman ka naman talaga. Pero may mga araw lang talagang damang dama mo yung pagkadurog ng puso mo, yung shet duguang duguan ka na, kaya ayun, titiklop ka na lang sa isang tabi.

Tanginang boredom iyan.

Now going to the first question. Scientists are starting to think that there is no possible way that humanity could possibly be intelligently designed. They are starting to say that people could have piggybacked crystals and slowly evolved. They think that we could have evolved from monkeys and even mud. Now does that sound more logical than the possibility of being intelligently designed? No, they sound even more ludacris. Now some people can't believe in something unless (1) It's something completly logical and can be proven or (2) They can see, touch, or hear it. But for some other people they have faith in the unknown. They have faith that everything might not be able to be proven; they have faith in the unknown. Now throughout the Bible (This is gonna be my example) there are rules which to some people ward them off right away. But hear me out. But with the rules there are many benefits. Such as eternal life, protection and guidance. Now you can believe me or not. I do say to you this though. If you can find a better deal than God's then I say you should tell me and we will go. But I don't think you could find a better deal than eternal life, walking on streets of gold, having all your possible questions answered, and for what. Following a couple rules that most of society follows even though they are Gods. They follow them because they have decency and respect. And the only thing you gotta do is live and believe. I'm not gonna spend all day on this so moving on.

As for my second question. People are becoming more selfish, more impersonal with everyone else. As much as people don't want others in their business, most people do want people to be there for them, to support them and to talk to. But people at the same time keep pushing people away unless they want something. Even myself struggle with this. I don't want all my friends and parents in my business all the time but I do want to talk to them about stuff going on in my life sometimes. Now I'm going to give a example that people are less worried about other REAL PEOPLE vs. SMALL PROBLEMS. Suppose someone is driving down a street. Now there is a person broken down on the side of a road who looks like they needs help but doesn't ask. Now do you stop and ask if they need help or keep driving? Most people would keep driving. Why? Maybe they don't really need it, maybe they do, maybe they look different, maybe it's because you don't know them, maybe you're just too busy and don't care. So now you're still driving down that street. You see a stray dog with tags. Now do you stop and help? Most people would. More people will help that stray dog than a real person who needs help. But if you were on the other side. You needed the help. Wouldn't you want people to stop and ask if you need help. For the few people who have been on that side and gotten help well that was your lucky day. Maybe there wasn't any stray dogs who needed saving. Either way. People are more obsessed with their money, their problems, as if they are more important than everyone else. Now this may offend some of you so don't take it so personally. No one is above anyone. That hobo in the box or dumpster diving is still on the same playing field as Bill Gates in God's eyes. He still has feelings and problems. Everyone does. But what if everyone just cleaned their doorsteps vs. trying to get others to clean theirs? Wouldn't the world be a cleaner place overall? Heck yes it would. So next time God places a opportunity in front of you will you take it. Will you slow down and take the time. Or will your own self image and your problems overcome and you keep going looking at everyone else like they are the "different" ones?

PEOPLE THE QUESTION IS SIMPLE:

"AT WHAT POINT DO WE PUT ASIDE OUR DIFFERENCES AND BECOME ONE WITH EACH OTHER?"

The two greatest facilitators of our fears are the word’s Can’t and Don’t Know. When we say we can’t do something what we are really saying is, I quit. The truth is 90% of the time we just aren’t trying hard enough. Children seem to fall prey to this one very often, unfortunately adults do not properly correct this when they can. Adults are more adept at avoiding things they feel they can’t do. Adults like to say they don’t understand or even better to transfer their fear onto other with blame.

For the most part I agree with their assessment. However, there are times when no amount of positive thinking is going to allow you to do something. Positive affirmations cannot overcome physical limitations and just as someone can be too negative, you can also be unrealistically positive. What is really needed is balance: The right amount of caution with the right amount of "can-do" spirit!

For example, it's taken me three years to pull of the 360 kick and I do so half the time. I'd call it an average kick that I can do during fundamentals but it is certainly not ready for sparring and probably never will be. I tried it about a month ago and almost twisted my knee and fell. I am also realistically certain that I will never pull off the 540 kick. Thankfully neither of these kicks will appear on the Cho Dan confirmation test.

And even if I did master the 540 it would take years and for what? The time invested is not worth the gain on my returns given my martial arts goals. After first dan our accrediting association places a greater emphasis on these acrobatic kicks. You start to get introduced to them between about 3rd gup to 1st dan. From 2nd to 3rd dan you are expected to sufficiently demonstrate them and you get five years to do so. Up to first dan we focus on fundamental kicks--most of which are similar to karate only higher and with more jumps. After that things get crazy!

And another little known secret: Kicks of these nature place a lot of stress on the hips and knees. Given the warning signs I've had it would be foolish to pursue them at my age. In addition, outside of a tournament demonstration or sport sparring match they are not my first choice for self defense.

This topic is timely given my last post. I usually am prepared when going into a tournament except for breaking. I'll start routines at least a month out and keep experimenting and switching. I also tend to take a conservative approach at tournaments. This means I'll pick breaks that are not as risky or flashy and hope that my competitors try fancier breaks and fail. Often they mess up which means I usually place but likely at 2nd or 3rd. So is this fear or strategy?

;)

Since this is my last tournament in the taekwondo world I may go for broke and see what happens. As I keep switching it up the only break to remain is the hammer fist on four solid. These are the other two that are still being refined:

• Step jumping axe kick on a stack of 5 - 7 with spacers. I'm seriously considering a stack of 10 just because it may be my only chance to try that many at a tournament. I'll have to simulate this in dojang garage and see what the dynamics will be. Otherwise it's going to be 7 for sure. I did 5 this weekend with ease and can credit my long legs. This is one kick that these long legs are suited for!
• I'm still revising the round kick. To add challenge I am going to have two holders (1 or 2 solid boards) and try with either the flat of my foot or my shin. A shin kicks is a kick that's rarely seen at our tournaments so it might give the judges something knew to look at. In addition, it has the added benefit of me not risking a broken foot!

The speed breaks are a bust until my hand fully heals. As it stand the hammer will be a challenge. At the Cho Dan test I'll probably do a ridge hand speed break on one dangling board. But not before my thumb heals!

~BCP