"A warrior is someone who is always striving for self-mastery, to improve himself and to better serve his goals." - Richard Strozzi Heckler from "In Search of the Warrior Spirit"
Visit my site at: www.burrese.com
Martial arts, self-defense, warrior lifestyle, success, mediation, law, writing, speaking, exercise, health, fitness, Hapkido, Korea, Japan, Asia, and many other things...
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I read 6-8 books a month. I enjoy reading books on various subjects, but especially books related to Martial Arts, Self-Defense, Warrior Lifestyle, Success, Self-Development, Money & Finances, Health & Fitness,Biographies, and novels as well.
The University Of Montana-Missoula
Missoula, MT
Graduated: 1994
Student status: Alumni
Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Major: Business
Minor: Communication Studies
Clubs: Honors College
1990 to 1994
Alain Getting things done early this morning so we can take our little girl to see Santa later today.... Posted at 12:58 PM Dec 5 view more
Dear friend, there is an old saying that goes "no one wins in a fight". This statement is oh so true, because yes you may have one person who comes out victorious but at what cost. Even the most strong and skillful fighters almost always suffer some sort of physical damage. And let us not just look at the physical damage but also what of the psychological damage. You see a fight is a very dramatic experience and takes a great toll on the mind. Most tough and aggressive fighters will tell you that fighting does not bother them. If this is truly the case they are more than likely desensitize and possibly a little passive suicidal. By maintaining an attitude like this for many years this will truly cause great psychological damage and a slow decline in positive mental health. A true and virtuous warrior truly despises the idea of a fight and uses every avenue to avoid it and end the conflict in a peaceful manner whenever possible. This keeps the virtuous warrior morally strong while maintaining good mental health. The virtuous warrior learns to be very sensitive and in tune with the emotions and movements of others. In this way the virtuous warrior can anticipate an attack and take steps to resolve the issue in a peaceful manner. The key is learning how to be sensitive and connected with all that is around us. So may this day be the day, that we allow ourselves to be sensitive and in tune with each other. May this also be the day that we take peaceful actions before a problem matures so that it does not elevate to dangerous levels. Remember dear friend that before we can gently and lovingly control our attackers, we must first be able to gently and lovingly control ourselves. Both inside and out!
Dear friend, there is a fundamental concept of Asian philosophy which deals with the universal energy that is all around us. This concept can be called by three different names which are Ki, Qi, or Chi depending on your location and who you are talking to. The name we use for this concept truly is unimportant. What is important is applying this concept to our daily life. Our first step is the acceptance that this energy is all around us. We do this by realizing that just by us existing this truly is a wonderful and beautiful miracle. Once we have accepted the energy, the second step is tapping into it. We can tap in from two different entry points. The first is very dangerous, this is when a person becomes very selfish. This person will use anger and frustrated determination to achieve what they want in any way possible. The problem with this method is that it usually ends up destroying everything it comes in contact with. This is called negative Ki/Qi/Chi. The second way to tap in is by developing unconditional love. This is when we look at the world as one big family. We understand that if we connect with each other that there is nothing we cannot achieve. This is called positive Ki/Qi/Ki. So may this day be the day we sense the universal energy that is all around us. And may we also have the wisdom to join together, so that we may feel the limitless and beautiful gifts that the universe so freely gives.
Dear friend, to walk the peaceful path it is necessary for us to study the nature of conflict. We do this not to become an attacker, we do this so that we can understand those who would attack us. We learn how the attacker thinks and the weapons they use. By knowing these things we can develop a peaceful and logical defense. Having a good defense is very important in maintaining our peace and well-being. Many times our attackers will strive to make us feel defenseless. By making us feel defenseless this will create a fear that will give them power over us. But through the constant study of defense we can block and avoid their attacks. This will give us a sense of peace. As they realize that their attacks are futile this will exhaust and frustrate them. When this happens, doubt and fear will enter their minds. This will cause them to have a fear of failure which will disrupt and scatter their thoughts of attack. So dear friend may this day we have the strength to practice defense with no thoughts of fear or anger. May we realize that we need not attack. May we also realize the strength of our attackers comes from our fear. So as we control our mind, body, and spirit we have the choice of whether anything can truly harm us. Peace or true love is fearless.
Dear friend, from time to time it is good to set down with pencil and paper to analyze how we spend each and every moment of our day. When we do this exercise we are not concentrating on writing down what we physically do during our day, what we are concentrating on is how and what we think. Because there is an old saying that goes “what we think is what we become”. On one side of the paper we write down every happy thought we have during the day. On the other side we write down every negative thought we have during the day. Once we have this list completed we can set back and analyze how much time we are spending in the light and how much time we are spending in the dark. We then look at the positive side with a smile and thank the universe for all the blessings it has bestowed. Now for the negative side, we should look at this side and also smile. We must take the time to think how every negative is humorous and positive in some way. By doing this we control our mind and spirit. We take control of our life by shining light on every negative. Because when the time comes which is our last moment in our physical form, we will be able to look back in a flash and know that our life was a beautiful and joyful experience. This is because we have learned to accept the light by seeing everything in its true and positive form. So dear friend may this day be the day you see beauty in even the most trying circumstances. May you have the strength to guide your mind and spirit to the gateway of peace. By doing this you will light the way for others to follow. This will give you true peace and joy.
Dear friend, why is it that if we take two people and put each in total solitude, cut off from any human contact one will go insane while the other finds peace and enlightenment. The answer to this question is found in the idea of being totally connected to the universe. If a person thinks mainly about themselves isolation will be very hard, because in isolation they will feel alone and disconnect. But if a person uses the time in isolation to meditate and look inward, little by little they will learn to feel their connection to every molecule in the universe. The emotion of loneliness is a warning sign that we are not in connection to the greater whole. As we feel the loneliness come upon us, we should close our eyes and breathe deeply allowing the knowledge to fill our souls that we are always connected to everything in the universe. As we meditate we should allow the thoughts of I, me, my, and mine to disappear. With this meditation we will plant the seeds of we, us, ours, and the greater whole. When these seeds begin to grow, we find a boundless strength. As we tap into this strength, we realize nothing is impossible. If we can dream it and let go of selfishness it will materialize with time and a little joyful work. So dear friend may this be the day that we realize we are all connected to every molecule in the universe. May we use this knowledge to bring peace and beauty wherever we may go. May we also realize that by being one with the greater whole nothing is truly impossible.
Dear friend, our existence in the physical world is brief indeed. If we live a long life we may be have a hundred years or so. When we consider that the earth is about 4.7 Billion years old, a hundred years is a short time indeed. This time we have in is truly a blessing. We must use this wisely and with great care. As a newborn baby we take our first breath with a great scream and tears. This symbolizes that even though we are pure and innocent our existence in the physical will be filled with great struggle and conflict. As we grow we realize that struggle and conflict will be our constant companion. To learn to find peace, we must bravely face hardship with strength and honor. We realize that even though we are peaceful creatures sometimes we must pick up the sword to protect and survive. As we pick up the sword we must always remember that we are defending and not attacking. The life-giving sword is a sword that is only used to protect and serve. Many times a true and peaceful warrior will transition to the spiritual world with the sword in hand. It is amazing that one of newborn babies’ first actions is to clinch their little fist tight and the last action of many peaceful Warriors is to gently open their hand that is holding the life-giving sword. This symbolizes in the beginning there is beauty with struggle and in the end there is the return to peace. So dear friend may this day, be the day we realize that every moment is a beautiful gift. May we live each moment to its fullest and at the same time strive for the beauty that peace brings. And when our time comes may we bravely face the beauty of our return with no sorrow or regrets. Because we have lived, loved, and followed the peaceful path.
Dear friend, have you ever noticed sometimes all of our problems come at us at once. Many times this truly is not a coincidence. The reason this happens is because our attackers are very clever and patient. They wait until we are preoccupied with an attack of another and then sensing our seemingly vulnerability they mount their attack. Do not look upon this type of situation with anger or fear, instead look at it as a great complement. The complement your attackers are giving you is a complement of respect of your great strength and defense. Because they know if they attack you one at a time in a just and fair manner their chances of success are not good. So they use the strength of their numbers and count on your fatigue to accomplish their goals. When you find yourself in these types of situation use the strength and wisdom of the Dragon. Stay calm and focused and deal with each attack as it comes and then quickly move to the next attack. Keep your mind and spirit clear and bright. Always remember your goal is not to destroy your attackers, your goal is to survive and live a peaceful and beautiful existence. The spirit of the Dragon never judges or condemns, it is the spirit of peace through pure and reasonable defense. So may this day, may the arms of the Dragon embrace you and keep you safe. May your spirit soar and send the message out that the art of peace is the path you follow. May you reasonably and quickly defend yourself from all attacks. And may you always show love and compassion for your attackers. Because even though they may wish you great harm, you understand that your attackers are truly connected to you as one family. So we always show love and compassion to misguided family members.
Dear friend, to thoroughly studied the art of peace we must realize that many of our lessons are found in nature. For example let's take the teachings of the pine tree, the bamboo, and the plum blossom. The pine tree teaches us to be full of life every single day. It also teaches us to put down strong roots to ground us to the essence of life. And of course it teaches us to be venerable, which is to be respected because of impressive dignity. The bamboo teaches us to have strength and to be flexible enough to bend when needed but also to immediately snapped back into position. It also teaches us no matter how much pressure our spirit is under it is unbreakable. The plum blossom teaches us that our actions need to reflect a sense of class and elegance. It teaches us that our elegant actions will echo throughout time and space for an eternity. These three great natural teachers give us their lessons without charge day in and day out. The key to learning these lessons is that we need to open our spirit, listen, and learn. So dear friend made this day be the day that we return to nature. And as we do so may we thank the universe for all the wonderful teachers that are all around us. May we take these lessons and teach them to all who will listen. Because the light of the universe is a beauty that truly belongs to us all.
Dear friend, as we follow the flow of things down the peaceful path, we realize being grateful is a major key to living a happy life. This means that each and every day the universe gives us endless opportunities and wondrous gifts. When these gifts are beautiful and pleasing it is very easy for us to look to the universe and say a deep and humble thank you. But what happens when the universe gives us a gift that causes us great trouble and heartache? Well many times we respond by saying things like this is so unfair, why is this happening to me, or I have done nothing to deserve this. These are natural responses but we truly must try to respond to unpleasant gifts with the same positive energy as we respond to pleasant gifts. It is very simple when you get socks for Christmas give the giver a big hug and a thank you, because next Christmas the giver may give you a wonderful sled. Also when the universe gives you an unpleasant gift, it truly is a great test of your spiritual strength. A true warrior is a person that when they are confronted with overwhelming odds they smile and laugh. This is not because they are happy about the situation. It is because they are happy that they have the light of the universe flowing through them which gives them the strength to deal with the seemingly overwhelming odds! So may this day you have the strength to truly say thank you for every gift pleasant and unpleasant that the universe gives you. May you also have the strength to look at each difficult situation as a great test of the light that is so freely flowing through you. Remember the beauty of all things dwells in our hearts, all we have to do is open up!
Dear friend, it is very important from time to time to take a look around and count the number of Sages that reside in our everyday life. A Sage is a person who is very deep and profoundly wise. Because this person has great experience and knows that many times “he who talks does not know and he who knows does not talk” this person will often remain silent and simply observe and take mental notes. One of the greatest gifts from the universe is the fact that these great sages live right under our noses. They can be the little man that daily sits in the park reading a newspaper or the happy little lady that works in the local coffee shop. But know this dear friend they are all around us in our everyday lives. What makes a good Sage? Well here are a few of their qualities. The ability to listen more than speak, a wealth of life experiences, a true understanding of compassion, a deep connection with the universe, and the ability to think of others needs over their own. When you find one of these great sages, take the time to fellowship and learn. And as you do this they will thank you for teaching them. Because they know that to be a true teacher is to constantly learn and grow through every situation. They will tell you one of the greatest secrets of life is sitting quietly in nature and listening for the great wisdom that is all around us to see and hear. They teach us that our greatest gifts are not made by the hands of humans but are found quietly looking out to sea or looking off the side of a great mountain. So dear friend may this day you seek out the council of the wise that are all around you, may you also sit quietly in nature and simply listen because the answers will come to us as we keep a pure and clean heart.
Dear friend, sometimes it seems like each day is filled with new challenges and problems. At times we look to the heavens and ask why can't things be simple and easy. Sometimes we feel like the peaceful and serene existence we crave is unattainable. Well here is a simple principle that can help us to follow our path to peace. The principle is the universe is always in a constant state of change and development. If we remember this we can adapt and flow with the universe. So many times we try to live in the past when we should adapt and flow with the great gifts that the universe is giving us at this very moment. We will be much happier if we just learn to be flexible and flow with the constantly changing universe. Much like a surfer will ride an ocean wave, we should ride the wave of change. Any surfer will tell you that every wave is different and should be treated as a unique gift to be loved and cherished. So may this day you look at problems like new and wonderful challenges. May you use the wisdom from the past to adapt and flow with the beauty that the future gives. We must always remember to love and cherish this very moment. Because this very moment will never come again. When we realize that we are in control of our serenity and happiness the universe will open up with its limitless gifts.
Dear friend, if we step back and observe our world we will see many conflicts among humans. These conflicts occur because as humans we adore our individuality. Humans many times focus on how others are different and forget that everything in the universe is part of one gigantic family. Humans love to create names for this group and that group. These names if used with negativity and selfishness can create racism, discrimination, injustice and ultimately war. The secret to prevent these negative things from happening is awakening the light of peace. There is a light that dwells inside each and every one of us that when it joins the light of the collective warms and protects our entire universe. This light has many names a few being hope, faith, peace and ultimately love. This light is peaceful but it will do battle with the dark when needed. This light defends but also truly knows when the situation is under control, enough is enough. This means it defends but is never cruel or destructive to the dark forces. This philosophy is a very natural thing and is as simple as a stream gently flowing to the ocean. So may this day you see the world realizing that we are all one family. May you stand strong against negative forces but also show these forces compassion when our light is victorious. May you be a teacher to others naturally just by simply being the light that we are.
Dear friend, many assume that choosing to follow the art of peace is easy and carefree. But truly this is not the case. Because as humans we have a broad range of emotions and one of those emotions is anger. In many old philosophical writings anger is compared to the spirit of the Tiger. Because in a moment the most peaceful caring person can lose control and do things out of anger that they never would dream of doing. When this happens and we lash out with anger it does not mean that we are a bad person it just means we are human. Another emotion that can destroy our peace is greed or desire. Because with greed or desire we can be living a beautiful and wonderful life one moment and the next moment we feel sad because we feel we do not have enough. When these negative emotions take control of our peaceful existence we go from heaven to hell. But do not despair dear friend because the spirit of peace can be like a clap of thunder. When we feel these negative emotions dragging us down, it is time to let our spirit shout!, our spirit will say "how much better can life be, the universe gives us the light so that we can shine!". This is not pretending to be happy. This is breaking through the veil of lies that is clouding our vision! So may this day you have the strength to battle and throw out evil desires and emotions. May you realize to be peaceful you must conquer the inner Tiger that would drag you down. And as this occurs may you remember that the art of peace is a fight to the finish with the spreading of light. Remember the truth is you are part of the universe, a wonderful and beautiful beacon of light. The secret is found in following your way!
HelpCharity is a acronym for Handicapped, engagement, loyalty, protection. HelpCharity want to support organizations that pay attention to the needs of handicapped children in Germany and America. Would you like to help too? For more information please read the blog of HelpCharity.
HelpCharity steht für BeHinderten, engagement, loyalität und protektion. Mit HelpCharity sollen Organisationen unterstützt werden, die sich um die Belange von behinderten Kindern in Deutschland und den USA kümmern. Würdest Du auch gerne helfen? Informationen wie Du helfen kannst, findest Du im Blog von HelpCharity.
Dear friend, when we are attacked many times the attacker will be bigger and stronger. Also there is a possibility of there being more than one attacker. How do we cope with such overwhelming odds? The answer is simple, draw them out of their center and into ours. If we live a pure and simple life, if we are connected with nature and the universe we will be able to use the force of the universe to control the situation. Napoleon went to war with Russia but the Russians did not fight Napoleon and his armies. The Russians allowed Napoleon to chase them deeper and deeper into Russia. Napoleon truly thought that the Russians were being cowards. But when the savage Russian winter set in Napoleon and his armies were unprepared. Napoleon barely escaped with his life and his armies were decimated. We can apply this in our daily lives. Because when we see the bully coming simply avoid him when possible. Because like Napoleon sooner or later the universe will catch him and teach the strong lesson. If we are unable to avoid him we will not stand toe to toe with him, what we will do is twist and turn avoiding his strikes, drawing him in so that he becomes off-balance and falls. We truly do not wish to harm him only to survive and live a pure life. Where he thinks of material things and winning, we think of control and the universal light that connects us all. So dear friend may his day, you have the control to have peace in your own realm. As others aggressively enter your realm may you use the force of the universe to gently guide them and controlled them. Always knowing that the universal light shines through us all if we simply open up our heart.
Last year our official Pirates Magazine's tattoo shop "Studio City Tattoo(Ye Olde Tattoo Shoppe) "Cap'n Slappy and Chumbuckets personal tattoo shop and home of Talderoy got beat by a TV LAND tattoo Shop to come in second to a TV show(And thanks to her for the great exposure to the tattoo industry that her show has given,I'm just saying). Let's show TV Land that pirates rule!!!!! Please click on the link and vote for Studio City Tattoo,it only takes a minute and will help them out alot. Thank you friends
Dear friend, it is so easy to give money to charity, to go to places of worship regularly, and help build buildings and statues dedicated to goodness and purity. But dear friend this is not enough and if these are the only things we do we are truly missing the point of our wondrous existence. We have all seen examples of someone who worships one day and the next day is hateful and treacherous to their neighbors. What we must do is learn to be loving and positive 24 hours a day, seven days a week, each day of our existence. Even when we go to battle we must do so with love and compassion in our hearts. By doing this we act as a protector and not as an attacker. We must constantly strive to be a humble and peaceful warrior. Constantly little by little evolving into a Buddha or an Angel. This is a very difficult path which is very easy to run astray. But armed with faith, courage, and the light of the universe we shall press on. Because dear friend we can transcend, all we need to do is let the light of the universe touch us and flow through us. So may this day you feel the well-being and love that is all around you. May this light transform you into the being that we were all meant to be. May you give the greatest gift, and that is you touch others with the light of the universe that flows freely and beautifully through you.
