Lessons from the Dojo

A while back, I decided to find out about the sport of karate by way of my brother-in-law’s karate dojo (school). The first day of class was quite the eye-opener. Everyone seemed to know what to do, drills went off without a hitch (except for me), an eight year old came at me with fists flying, all in the name of practice of course, and in the middle of a lesson on kicking from another young student, the kid dropped and did ten quick, perfectly-formed push-ups…it was punishment for doing the exercise wrong and he had, to my surprise, doled out his own punishment.

Discipline, respect, excellence…all of these areas were repeatedly demonstrated during my weeks of class. My question was how? How do you get a room full of kids (and adults) to build confidence, accept discipline, give and receive respect, and strive for excellence while at the same time allowing them to have fun and build skills that they will use for the rest of their lives? The answer, from my fifth degree back belt brother-in-law and karate school master, includes the following points.

1. There is one leader. The highest ranking person in the dojo is in charge. Period. It isn’t a democracy and everyone knows there is no arguing, debating or whining when the black belt in charge gives an order. This age-old tradition is ingrained in students from the first day and is taught both by the example of other students and the formalized bows and salutes to the karate master.


2. The rules are consistent, thoroughly explained, and apply to everyone. Everyone must take off their shoes when entering the training area of the dojo. Not only does it show respect for the dojo, it also keeps the area clean that you will, no doubt, be rolling around on later. Everyone must attend class in a clean and complete uniform. This builds school unity, discipline, and shows respect for yourself.


3. Punishment is swift, fair, and consistent. What happens when a student wears their shoes onto the training floor or shows up for class with a dirty or partial uniform on? 10 pushups. Immediately. Everyone knows that is the standard punishment and they will often drop and do their pushups before the Sensei can even bark the order. The students especially get a kick out of watching the Sensei do push-ups because of a rare aberration to the rules. Push-ups are a consistent dojo punishment for a variety of altercations. They are swiftly doled out and serve the added bonus of making the students stronger which improves their ability in the sport.


4. Repetition is key. How many times can you do a kicking drill before you have the perfect height, snap and power to back it up? I lost count somewhere in the multi-hundreds but even though my kicks were OK there is still room to improve. And you improve by doing the action again and again and again. And being corrected again and again and again. How many times can the Sensei teach the kicking drill to one student before their eyes glaze over and frustration sets in? Fortunately this teacher knows that the student only learns by doing the same action over and over ad nauseum. His duty is to teach the student certain skills no matter how many times he has to repeat himself.


5. Teach someone a skill then allow them to teach it to others. No matter the students age or abilities, everyone is allowed to be a leader. A student, even if their skills aren’t perfectly refined, can teach what they have learned to others. What better way to build a child’s confidence than by having them lead the stretching exercises to a room full of students ranging from five to 65 and skill levels from white belts to black belts. Teaching others often has the added bonus of making the teacher an even better student.


6. Goals are clearly defined. One need only to look at the wall in the dojo to see what their next goal is. The belts are arranged on the wall in order of rank. If you are a white belt your next major goal is to earn a yellow belt. The goals you must achieve to earn each belt are listed next to each belt so there is no question what you need to learn next. Of course each component of the belt level test is broken down into smaller parts and taught at the students pace.


7. Testing of skills is done often. Every week students get to show what they have learned. During the Friday night class, all students from four year olds to the oldest in the class, from white belt to advanced black belt, line up in front of the class and show their skills. Testing by the sensei, either for a belt or for a stripe signifying advancement towards the next belt, is done during this class in front of all students. The atmosphere can’t help but be supportive since everyone else has been through this drill many times before and they know exactly what you are going through.


8. Celebrate small and large achievements. Every time someone reaches a large goal, like earning their next belt, or even a small goal like earning a stripe for their belt, the whole class recognizes their achievement. The student is brought to the front of the class, formally awarded the honor and then every student shakes their hand and gives them a hug. How’s that for a boost to the self-esteem?


9. Have frequent face-to-face discussions. During each mandatory monthly session, the sensei will discuss one aspect of karate. Topics can range from respecting others to the spiritual aspects of life, from controlling anger, to doing better in school. The topics are meant to educate and inform as well as open up discussion from all attendees.


10. Begin and end each day with acknowledgement from the Sensei. Every student is welcomed by name as they come into the dojo. He asks if they are doing well in class or if they are practicing at home, how their family is doing or what they did last weekend. This makes all students feel like someone really cares for them. At the end of class, the drill is the same; bows, hugs, often play time on the mats and positive parting words. No matter how class went, how many push-ups they had to do, or how much the Sensei yelled at them, the students can count on the beginning and end of their session to be happy and positive.

All of these lessons are applicable whether you are using them in your home, in your business, or with your team. The basics of practice, respect, discipline, and communication work no matter what lessons you are trying to instill.

Preparedness Foods from Your Local Grocery Store

Decades ago you could tell the "real" (read wealthy) backpackers by the kind of food they brought. A week's worth of Mountain House stuffed in their pack meant they had spent some serious cash before they hit the trail. On the opposite end of the spectrum was a kid I headed up a mountain with who brought a week's worth of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches squished into his pack and that was it. These days, your local grocery store can provide all kinds of vacuum-packed, pre-packaged food that can sustain you for a week-long pack trip all the way up to a year's worth of sheltering in place. Here's some items that I regularly pick up at my local grocery store that have a long shelf life, are light weight, and require minimal cooking if any (this means these foods can be used at home during a disaster or you could toss them into a pack and carry them away if you needed to evacuate):

• beef jerky
• nuts
• dried fruit (raisins, dried apples, dried cranberries, etc)
• tuna in a foil pouch
• dried soup mix (ie: cup a soup)
• tea
• powered milk
• powdered drink mixes
• hot chocolate mix
• bullion cubes
• instant gravy mixes
• minute rice
• instant noodles with sauce mix
• jello
• pudding mix
• granola bars
• energy bars
• instant oatmeal
• spices
• dried vegetables (mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes
• quick cooking pasta (couscous, etc)
• candy (M&Ms, etc)
• fruit leather
• pancake mix
• Bisquick
• Parmesan cheese
• cereal
• peanut butter
• instant coffee
• instant potatoes
• butter buds
• packaged curry mix

Note that there are lots more options if weight, cost, or cooking time are not an issue. In addition, if you are looking at long term--five years or more--food storage, you will want to move to the next level such as nitrogen storage, MREs, etc.

Taking Care of What Ails You

Of the people I know, the majority of those who don't/aren't/can't prepare for disaster usually have one thing in common--they have one (or more) major problem that takes all of their time, effort, money, and attention. By this I mean they are alcoholics, drug addicts, spend-a-holics, seriously ill, have major financial drama, have major relationship drama, or the like. Of these problems, the only one that a person has very little control over is being seriously ill. The rest of these problems can be fixed if the person so afflicted takes care of what ails them.
The reason this post came together today is because I had a meeting with a friend this morning along with a bunch of other people. We then had another meeting with a different group of people scheduled for later in the afternoon. Now I could have hung out in a coffee shop waiting for the second meeting but I asked my friend what he was going to do and he said "catch an AA meeting". I knew he had been clean and sober for nearly 20 years but he does still like to catch a meeting every now and then and there just so happened to be one down the street from where the events we were attending were happening. Being curious and always up to learn something new, I tagged along with him. Although I don't drink, I wanted to see why AA has become known world-wide for helping people recover from alcoholism. It turned out to be a really good, positive learning experience. In regards to preparedness, here's what I learned:

• Until you stop blaming others and take responsibility for yourself, things aren't going to change. If you want to see a positive change, you need to be the positive change. It is easy to point fingers after a disaster but that doesn't accomplish much; you need to pick up yourself, and pick up the pieces, and move forward.
• Once you realize you have a problem of any sort, you need to take steps to fix the problem. Other people can't fix your problems, only you can do that. There is help available if you seek it out. The corollary is that you can't make other people change whether it is in their best interest or not. You can lead by example and offer help when asked but mostly you go about your business, take care of yourself, and let others take care of themselves.
• If you have a major problem such as addiction, not a whole lot matters besides getting your next drink, hit, shopping spree, etc. Somewhere after that on the priority list comes work, kids, spouse, etc. Things such as planning for your future, making sure you can take care of yourself before, during, and after a disaster, and teaching the family preparedness skills probably won't even be a blip on the priority screen. Therefore, getting the problem under control is the first step in moving towards being able to take better care of yourself and your family.
• Take things one day at a time. Yes a tornado just wiped away your house, the cows have all run off, and your place of business no longer exists either. You can look at the big picture and feel so overwhelmed that you give up or you can take today and do the best you can with it then do the same tomorrow and the next day and the next.
• People are generally very supportive of others. The group today was so nice, understanding, and supportive that even I wanted to come back! A lot of times people feel alone, alienated, and adrift (this can happen on a good day, imagine how people feel after a disaster has just turned their life upside down). I think it is human nature that the majority of people you come in contact with will be helpful and supportive--good to know after a disaster.
• You can fall off track but it is always possible to get back on track. This happens often during addiction recovery, and it happens often in life. For example, I know it is important to be physically fit so I try to walk, jog, or run at least five miles each day. With my crazy schedule, I usually accomplish this goal but not always. For a long time, I would try to meet this goal, not be able to follow through because of a really hectic week, then figure it was useless to try so I would quit all together. Now, I aim for five miles a day but if I can only do one quick mile on the treadmill, that is OK too and I just try again the next day. Making a tiny bit of progress is better than making no progress at all.

OK, I'll hop off the soap box now. If you take anything away from this post, it should be that the opportunity to learn new things can come in a variety of ways, that if you have a problem that is holding you back try to fix it so you can move forward, and that judging other people or being harsh with them is a waste of time--better to spend the time focusing on yourself and your goals.

Food Stuffs: Know Your Neighborhood

Being bored silly with the treadmill, I used MapMyRun to map out a five mile route around my neighborhood this morning for my daily run/walk. Of course it is late summer so all kinds of food stuffs were in bloom, but it really opened my eyes to how many sources of free, wild food there are just outside my door. This may be a good project to do in your own neighborhood so that you will get an idea about the types of food available now, and with regular walks or runs (you can't see a lot of these things cruising by in a car at 60 miles per hour) throughout the year, get an idea of what kinds of food are available year-round where you live. Of course, in a SHTF scenario, everyone and their brother will be foraging for wild food when their stores get low, but at least you will have an idea of where to start looking. Here's what I saw near my neighborhood:

• Gardens: apparently many of my neighbors have green thumbs and wonderful gardens of all sizes


• Green houses: I didn't know there were so many of these in my neighborhood


• Trees: I saw apple, cherry, pecan, peaches, walnut, plums, pears, and more apples


• Berries: blackberries, raspberries, strawberries (done for the season), huckleberries, grapes


• Fish: there were three streams that I didn't even know ran through my neighborhood, I'm guessing there are at least salmon in these streams


• Ocean fish/shellfish: since I live by the straits, we have easy access to salmon, crab, mussels, oysters, squid, etc.


• Small furry things: rabbits (I didn't see any but I know they are around), squirrels (saw quite a few of these), possum (squished in the road), rats (this would be a last resort)


• Big furry things: plenty of cows, horses, goats, pigs, deer, bear (didn't see any bear but I know they are there)


• Wild edibles: lots of cattails, mushrooms (I didn't see any but I know lots of people forage for chanterelles around here), nettles, skunk cabbage

These are just the things I could identify. I'm sure that the trained, educated eye could identify many more sources of food.

Credit Cards 101

Credit cards are either the bane of your existence or a small but important part of your financial life. Either way, it is virtually impossible to live without them in our high-tech society. In order to keep yourself ready for anything (ie: not deep in credit debt when a disaster strikes and you need to be financially solvent), follow these simple rules:

• Don’t have more than four or five credit cards. Keeping track of a dozen cards is difficult and if you are prone to over spending with your credit cards, having a handful of them could lead to disaster.
• Keep track of the credit cards you have. For each credit card, write down the name, account number, mailing address, 1-800 contact number, contact number if you are traveling overseas (it will not be a 1-800 number), the payment due date, and the credit limit.
• Try to use only one credit card each month and pay it in full each month.
• If you do have balances on, for instance, four different credit cards, make a plan to pay them off ASAP. Some people will pay off the card with the smallest balance first then move on to the next highest balance, while others will payoff the card with the highest interest rate first.
• For your cards that carry a balance, review your statements thoroughly. Your statement should tell you the credit limit, the interest rate, and any additional fees assessed (over limit fees, late fees, etc).
• For your cards with high interest rates, call the company directly and asked to have the rate lowered. Many companies will do this for you if you ask. Speak to a supervisor if necessary.
• For cards with annual service fees, once again call the company directly and ask to have the fee waived. Many companies will do this for you, but again you may need to talk to a supervisor.
• Realize that one late payment can raise the interest on ALL of your cards to the maximum level. Often buried in the fine print, the Universal Default agreement that you made with the company allows all companies to raise your interest rate if you are only late on one payment for one card.
• Realize that the interest rate you pay for purchases is usually lower than the rate you will pay for credit card cash advances. Also, cash advances often incur additional fees in addition to the higher interest rate.
• If you cannot control your credit card spending, quit cold turkey. Do not take the cards shopping with you. Do freeze them in a block in your freezer so that you will have time to think about your decision to use them while they are defrosting.
• If you are relying on credit cards to pay for your living expenses, that’s a sure sign that you need to earn more income or cut expenses. Credit cards, in this situation are a temporary solution to a long-term problem. If you can’t pay your basic bills then you really won’t be able to pay the basics plus your credit card bills so nip this problem in the bud immediately.
• If you do use credit cards responsibly, make sure you are getting more bang for your (charged) buck. Cards that give you rewards, a financial incentive, or frequent flyer miles are better than cards that give you nothing in return.
• Analyze the offers that your credit card company sends you with a critical eye. Credit card spending is down recently so all of the sudden, companies start sending out “blank checks” that allow you to withdraw funds from your credit cards. Good idea to use these checks if they have a low interest rate to consolidate other credit card bills onto one bill. Bad idea to use them to buy the big screen TV you always wanted.

The bottom line is that credit card responsibility lies with the consumer. The credit companies are doing everything they can to keep you in debt and paying them interest. It’s your job to beat them at their own game by using common sense when using your credit cards, keeping strict control over your spending habits with the cards, and paying off your debts as soon as possible. Besides, you will want to have large credit lines available on these cards, if, for example, you end up evacuating from your home and staying in a hotel for a number of days, you need to leave the country at a moment's notice and need a way to pay for it, or any other true emergency that pops up.

Spy Gear

If the time comes when you need to gather information on someone (ie spy on someone) here is the gear you will need. Note that said spying may not be legal/moral/ethical...

• Cell phone with GPS
• Binoculars (for surveillance from a distance)
• Digital camera (for pictures of the person/people/evidence/documents/etc)
• Digital camcorder (if a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth 10,000)
• Night vision goggles (for better vision at night...)
• Wireless spy camera(s) (for watching/videotaping the action)
• Wireless audio device (for listening in)
• GPS device (for noting locations)
• Parabolic microphone (for listening over a distance)
• Voice activated audio recorder (for bugging certain types of locations)
• See behind spy glasses (gimmicky but they actually work)
• Telephone voice changer (for making calls, leaving messages with a different voice)
• Lock pick (for covert entry)
• Phone tap (for recording phone coversations)
• Lip reading (a skill that comes in handy sometimes)
• Computer keystroke logger software (for password grabbing, etc)
• Remote screenshot software (to see what your mark is seeing)
• Cell phone spy software (to capture cell phone coversations)
• Assorted covert audio/video recorders (disguised as a watch, a button an a shirt, a pack of gum, etc)
• Thumb drive (for copying files)

Notes from the Most Recent Preparednss Conference

Now that I've had a bit of time to catch up since the last conference I attended, I figured I should organize my notes and share the things that I learned that can apply to just about any situation. These include:

• About 85% of the preps you make will apply to any disaster situation. The other 15% will need to be tailored to the specific emergency.


• When you practice your drills, have each family/team member assume different roles. You shouldn't always be the leader because you never know if you will be around so others need to know how to be the leader as well. I found it funny when about 15 high ranking people were tossed into a hands-on drill situation and all 15 immediately assumed the incident commander role. Of course in their organizations, this is the role they would have, but when put into a different situation, with different people, the ability to quickly organize and fall into the necessary roles is important.


• There was an emphasis on resiliency being the thing that sets survivors apart. I remember talking to a man quite a while back who survived the tsunami in Indonesia. When I asked him what he did in the days following the tsunami, he said he and his family started cleaning up. He said if he would have waited for the government to help, nothing would have got done. I guess in his, and many other countries, people are much more resilient because they have to be or they wouldn't survive.


• People often think of a warrior as a fighter and that's all. A warrior actually encompasses a number of traits, only one of which is being able to fight. Warriors are responsible, they see the mission but they see the bigger picture as well, they use common sense, they are disciplined--both physically and mentally, they lead when they need to lead and follow when they need to follow...


• There are a number of community organizations that civilians can participate in to learn preparedness skills: Search and Rescue, Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), Blockwatch, etc.
• Mobile command posts are cool--I was in gadget heaven in a few of the units. Are you ready to go mobile? You may not have millions to spend on such a unit, but do you have plans for things such as incoming and outgoing communications, a way to receive news and information, security for your mobile unit, food and water, et al?
• If you are in the vicinity of what may be a bomb, turn off all radios, cell phones, walkie talkies, and other radio-type devices.
• Train with your family to use HAM radios and make these a part of your plan. It's surprising how many organizations have HAM radios for back-up communications yet they either forget to rely on them when necessary or forget to turn them on so that people can call into them. Regular use will make them more likely to be used in an emergency.
• Experience counts. If you are planning for a hurricane, you want to pick the brain of someone who has survived a big hurricane. All of the preparation in the world will not be able to teach you what been-there-done-that experience will.