In any field of endeavor there are always levels of expertise from beginner, to intermediate, to advanced, to expert and beyond. Captain Lou Gacs, USMC retired, has surpassed that level of what is “beyond” to a level of martial arts excellence that is simply extraordinary. Without a doubt, Captain Lou Gacs is a “Martial Artist Extraordinaire.” It is one thing for an individual to attain a Black Belt rating in one style of martial arts.
A fellow martial artist recently shared the following story. Pay attention if you value your money, jewelry, even your life—especially if you’re a woman. In the community of Newport Beach, CA, theft is increasing, just like everywhere else in the world. A man, acting as if he was in dire trouble and needing assistance, approached a woman in her car. The woman was wearing a nice necklace and beautiful jewelry on her hands and wrists.
These are tough times, right? So what’s the answer? It’s simple. Get tougher. Life is not complicated. We exist in a bi-polar universe. Therefore, there will always be good times and bad times. There is day and there is night; hot and cold, wet and dry, winter and summer; fall and spring, etc. Wisdom necessitates that we understand this universal principle and plan accordingly—emotionally, physically, financially, spiritually. One of the noticeable things about the environment of present-day earth is that it is obviously going through tough times.
From The Black Belt Book of Life: Secrets of a Martial Arts Master. In the realm of greatness and all of its immensity, the secret to its attainment is the overcoming of adversity. A great man stands on God. A small man stands on a great man. Ralph Waldo Emerson Responsibility is the price of greatness. Winston Churchill No man ever yet became great by imitation. Samuel Johnson Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ’em.
The world population in this year of 2022 is nearly eight billion people (8,000,000,000). ( https://www.worldometers.info/world-population). That’s a lot of human beings. Of this extremely large number of souls, how many do you suppose have ever had to stand still, perfectly still, without so much as a finger twitch for 5 minutes? 10 minutes? 15 minutes? 20 minutes? 30 minutes? 40 minutes? 50 minutes? One hour? The lower amount of time, 5 to 20 minutes, is pretty easy to master.
What does Mark Twain—Samuel Langhorne Clemens—have to do with Martial Arts? Actually nothing, per se. Martial artists have their martial skills. Mark Twain had his wit. His tongue was so sharp it could cut a person down before he blinked. For Twain, his wit was his martial art. Mark Twain has been recognized as the greatest humorist in American history. The great writer, William Faulkner, credits Mark Twain as the “Father of American literature.
This is a big deal! Chris “Growler” Grau, the 36th Black Belt of the Karate Institute of America, achieved a 5th Dan “Master” ranking on 14 July 2022. With this hallmark achievement, Chris is to be honorably acknowledged as “Master Grau” in the Kiado-Ryu martial arts system. He is only the second Black Belt in the 43 year history of the KIA to be awarded such status, joining Kim “Cultivator” Thomas who was the first Kiado-Ryu Black Belt to attain such a high rank and awarded to him on 15 December 2015.
You remember “Big Mike,” right? He was the focal point of the 2009 movie “The Blind Side” in which Quinton Aaron played the part of a homeless kid, Michael Ohr, who eventually became a professional football player in the National Football League (NFL). Sandra Bullock played the charitable mother (Leigh Anne Tuohy) who guided and supported “Big Mike” in his journey. For her performance, Bullock won the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Martial Arts is combat by definition. The goal of combat is to win. In order to win it is critical that we know both ourselves AND our enemy. Sun Tzu—the famous Chinese warlord and author of The Art of War—stated: Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster. Sun Tzu Wars can take different shapes. The current invasion of Ukraine by Russia is a “Hot war,” as were World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, America’s Revolutionary War against Britain and our own Civil War.
He’s smart. He’s fun. He’s nine years old and now he’s a Kiado-Ryu Orange Belt! “He” is Arian D., call sign Terror. Note: Terror has a wicked right reverse punch; an excellent cross-over back kick and an astonishingly good knife-edge kick. So trouble makers beware! Arian may be nine years old but he’s already been keeping the bullies away. We all know the type—dudes who think they’re tough until they encounter someone who is truly tough.