Captain Lou Gacs, United States Marine Corps, Retired, has been a student and dear friend of Mr. King and the Karate Institute of America for nearly forty years. As is well known, the motto for the U.S. Marine Corps is semper fi (short for semper fidelis) meaning “always faithful,” and if there is one quality describing Lou Gacs more than any other, it is “always faithful.” No doubt about it.
Principle #4: Balance Is Primary From The Black Belt Book of Life: Secrets of a Martial Arts Master. Of all life’s skills with which to carry, remember this … Balance is Primary! Anyone can teeter-totter but not everyone can balance. Anonymous Man always travels along precipices. His truest obligation is to keep his balance. Pope John Paul II The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us.
Front Cover. Cover artist: Adam “Frog” Mahan Back Cover The Karate Consciousness: From Worldly Warrior to Mystic Master is dedicated to the philosophy that karate is both an excellent system for the integration of body, mind and spirit as well as an excellent vehicle for the evolution of one’s consciousness of life from a mundane perspective to a more elevated and edified reality. Just as many martial arts systems are comprised of an ascending ladder of colored belts to designate accomplishment, so life is also comprised of an ascending ladder of levels of consciousness from worldly to divine.
Judy “Striker” Gompf is back on track and on the move toward her Purple Belt and a new career. Having taken some time off, she is diligently practicing her Kiado-Ryu forms, techniques, and fighting skills, as well as cross training. She recently set a new personal best of 800 lunges! That’s right, 800! Quite a feat, especially after only being able to do 20 lunges at a time when she first started.
Nicole “Goldilocks” Hackler—KIA Faithful and Marine Corps wife to retired husband, Warren—has added the title of “Authoress” to her many accomplishments. Congratulations, Goldilocks! Nicole’s poem, A Knock on the Door, is included in the 2017 edition of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Military Families, 101 Stories about the Force Behind the Forces. Lovely as always, and with her contagious effervescent personality, as always, Goldilocks poses with the book that has put her on the map of published authors.
Sadly, this week’s feature reveals the power of one punch, one cowardly sucker punch which ended the life of a forty-five year old father of five children, Louie Campos. The original story, written by Melissa MacBride: http://abc7.com/news/sucker-punch-in-las-vegas-kills-victorville-father-of-5/1960092/ A follow-up story by ABC News reports that the murderer, an ex-felon, has been arrested and awaits trial: http://abc7.com/news/man-arrested-for-fatal-sucker-punch-on-socal-father-of-5-in-las-vegas/1966683/ Two major lessons can be learned from this tragedy: A single punch can be lethal.
Black Belt vs. Pimp (Knowledge vs. Stupidity) Movies are filled with fight scenes that go on forever and ever, giving people the illusion that such extended engagements are the reality of street fights. Not so when a well-trained Black Belt is involved. The following four-part screen cap reveals how knowledge triumphs in many situations, and in this case it is “one and done.” As the narration of the video states, the black dude is a pimp who assaults a Black Belt named Jay Lee, who, upon assault from the pimp, preempts the attacker and knocks the dude out with one blow, in what appears to be a lead armbar to the head/neck area.
Margaret Thatcher served Great Britain as Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990. The first woman to have held the PM position, she was not only a great lady but a great leader—tough, smart, and uncompromising, qualities which garnered her the appellation of “The Iron Lady.” Today’s world could definitely benefit from more of Thatcher’s leadership, strength and courage. The Karate Institute of America applauds her, especially in her belief of self-responsibility and personal ownership—qualities any KIA student understands.
Perseverance and Spirit have done Wonders in all ages. George Washington These words inspire us all to be better, to do better, to never quit and to remember the Spirit within us. Isn’t it interesting how all truly great leaders inspire and encourage those to whom they have been given the mantel of leadership, as opposed to those so-called leaders who try to divide men and weaken their spirits in order to control and subjugate them.
Great Britain’s Sir Winston Churchill is, arguably, one of the greatest leaders of the 20th Century. The following quote contains eight of the most powerful words when any of us is going through hard times, sort of like climbing up the ladder from white belt to black belt. Basically, the tongue-in-cheek translation of these powerful eight words is, “Don’t stop here!”