What in the world does Sun Tzu have to do with an ice hockey Gold Medal? Everything.
It was an Olympic Gold Medal ice hockey game for the ages! The USA and archrival Canada squared off and played through a full three periods, an overtime, and then to a shoot out with the winning USA goal scored by Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson who, although she may not know it, demonstrated one of Sun Tzu’s preeminent maxims: All warfare is based on deception.
In any combat situation, the master fighter, the master general, the master tactician, always attempts to manipulate and control his adversary. Its inverse is critical to survival: one must not allow himself to be manipulated by an adversary. This simple truth is echoed in Sun Tzu’s terse but definitive maxim: The wise general cannot be manipulated.
In life we seldom face actual physical combat. However, daily we are assaulted by the very exigencies and challenges of life. They become our adversaries. Disallowing them from manipulating us is critical to living a successful life. As wise generals of our own army of one, ourselves, we must so center ourselves in wisdom and power that we cannot be manipulated by such challenges, whether those challenges arrive in the form of people, events, circumstances or problems. As wise generals we cannot afford to be manipulated by any force—internal or external—if we are to maintain our individual sovereignty as human beings.
Congratulations to Tristan “Raptor” Ligtvoet on the accomplishment of his Karate Institute of America 2nd Dan Black Belt rating.
Raptor, the 64th Black Belt of the KIA, is one of the finest human beings you could ever know. An exceptional young man, he has also become an exceptional martial artist. The KIA is very lucky to have Tristan, his talent, character, and skill in our family. Thanks, too, to his parents, Atousa and Ed, for raising such an exemplary young man!
As is Karate Institute of America protocol, everyone has a call sign. Once in a while, one may query how an individual got his/her call sign in the first place. Sometimes, this can be a mystery. Not so with Jon “Stretch” Vail. In the following pictorial catalogue, can you guess why Jon got his call sign? If you can’t get this, you fail the test!
This is too much fun! Jon “Stretch” Vail studied at the Karate Institute of America way back in his teen years. As destiny commanded, when he graduated from high school he went to college in Arizona, received a degree in geology, married his lovely girlfriend Janice, got a job, settled down and started a family.
Jon has been wonderfully connected to the KIA and, lucky for us, keeps us updated with his life. Following are a half dozen photos of the Vail family from 2008 and 2017. The changes are beautifully dramatic and so much fun to enjoy. So, enjoy them! And thanks, Stretch, for sending them to us to share with other KIA family members. What awesome memories! We all wish you, Janice, Jenny and Ryan a healthy, balanced, harmonious and successful 2018!
Just thought I’d share some pics of my daughter Chandra and her kids over Christmas vacation. How sweet it is to have them visit from Boston!
