When Georgia meets New Jersey!

I love it when I go down to Georgia. I love my family there. I love my friends there. I love the students there. I love the feel there. I went there last summer for a week. I went again for Thanksgiving. I went for their tournament in March. I went back the next month to help at a tournament and spend time. Then I went again in the summer. I'm going back for Thanksgiving this year too! So you can imagine my excitement to have Georgia come to New Jersey.

My friend Stacey came to visit me in my homeland in the magical place called New Jersey. The main reason was because I was holding workshops that she wanted to learn from and bring back to her school in Georgia. But she got plenty of time to have a glimpse of my world here in New Jersey.

Quite honestly, my world is pretty magical. It's like playing around in the wizarding world of Harry Potter with a cross of impossible possibilities only Mary Poppins could conjure up. I don't exaggerate. I like my world. Many from afar get a glimpse maybe, the ones on the inside get the best seats and the greatest benefits. And some right in our own backyard could only wish to be on the inside. It's only getting better. But Stacey really go to experience a real time jam packed Trento schedule!

Stacey at TMAFC with my students Theodoris and William.

Early Saturday morning before going to Mike Lee seminar in PA.

When Stacey got here we stopped at Aunt Karen's bakery in Park Ridge. She got to meet the infamous aunt and the bakery that has such a story in it's origins which you can read here. And who happened to be there also to visit but Grandma Cyn herself! She even got to see the Bea Arthur-Estelle Ghetty exchanges with them! From there Stacey got to see TMAFC in it's new location in Saddle Brook. She helped out with my classes and met a good deal of my students. She also got to take a kickboxing class of mine which she been wanting to do and see a little bit of how I do my fitness program. That night I had a family party in which I took her to and she met pretty much my entire mother's side of the family.

The next day is when I brought my students to the Mike Lee seminar in Pennsylvania! Stacey can't say she didn't get experience after experience! She learned a lot from that seminar, as we all did, but it was very cool to have her with us for my first time with students and to meet the badass in person. That night a small group of my usual Jersey crew got together and she was able to meet people she has only heard about for over a year.

Stacey and Miss Joss

Stacey in New Jersey at our place of Oak and Ale! 

Stacey Stone with my NJ crew!

The next day was a full day of workshops. I began with my Essential Oils workshop which we had about a dozen people attend and I taught about the oils, uses, stories upon stories, and brought a lot of different experiences to the workshop having a background in other healing modules. After two hours of working with the oils and teaching, I had to set up and prepare right away for the Qigong workshop which we had about almost the same or so amount of people for. I had begun with Wuji and discussed the principles which I always start with and then went into a set. Stacey did one of my favorite sets when I was down in Georgia so this was a newer set that collaborated with the principles of the oils that she could learn and bring back as well.

On Stacey's last night was really the first night we didn't have to rush for a schedule due to my teaching or work. We got together to JUST BE. A group of my adult students whom she met whether it be from Taekwondo, Haganah, kickboxing, or dear friends and some family got together for a little bon fire and food and she got to spend some actual time with my Jersey crew.

It's hard for me to clash my worlds sometimes, especially after that horrible no good very bad year. But this was okay. This was very good. I was very happy. I am happy Stacey got to see my world, or a little bit of it. I am glad my people got to meet her. I do wish Bobby could have come too, maybe next time. But it really was a great weekend and I do hope Stacey enjoyed her stay. We all enjoyed her company! (BOWS)

Before my Oils Workshop

Qigong at TMAFC

Stacey's last day and a little bon fire!

Yours in service,
MASTER A TRENTO

Team Building with Mirrors!

Soooooooo here's the story. I had these three large mirrors that I had in my old location stored in Aunt's garage. These mirrors have been like the bain of my existence. I told Aunt Karen they would only be there for a few months. Well a few months became almost a year. Too long for my liking and I didn't like leaving them there. She never said boo about them, but I am sure she wants her garage back and I didn't want to be inconsiderate to her space. My new location has slowly but surely grown and upgraded. I fixed up the lights, the new office and healing room almost done, new mats on the way, so now it's time for the mirrors to go up on the wall!

Well I finally had someone who said they can transport them the entire mile away, until when we finally got the truck there and they were going to move the mirrors, the mirrors we stuck together from leftover adhesive. The workers didn't want to break them, understandably, but they didn't want to tamper trying to separate them.

Well ALL DAY I was calling around to different people and places to figure out if my mirrors were now useless or if there was a way to salvage them. The person who was going to move them believed to think so and told me just to buy new ones. But you know me, I'm not going to let a problem defeat me, I WILL find a solution! What frustrates me is when I don't know what it is I am looking for and/or what direction I need to go to find a solution. I ended up being able to get some kind of commercial solvent that supposedly would be able to separate the mirrors without damaging them. Don't ask me how to use it! I couldn't tell you if I knew!

Well after classes one of my kickboxers, Carolyn, my two students Heather and Thomas, Ashley from the gym, myself and Aunt Karen went to the garage to analyze the situation. Sweat, blood, and tears man. Sweat, blood, and tears. The Renaissance Woman, Aunt Karen was in perfect form! Every little tool and item that no one else would have but her that served a tremendous purpose was used! Who held the flashlight, who held the different ends, who peaked on either side, who directed where to go, who poured the solvent where it needed to go, who wrapped what needed to be wrapped, everyone stepped up!

The solvent you ask? WORKED LIKE MAGIC! As soon as it touched the glue within FIVE seconds detached! Unbelievable! We accomplished what these workers did not want to do and with success! We wrapped them tight and now they are ready to be moved! It took an ENTIRE day but we figured it out.

I couldn't have been more appreciative for the support from that little army we had in Aunt Karen's garage. I also was thrilled they got to see Aunt Karen in true form with the ideas just rolling along! But I was really grateful for this support, it was a very trying day and with their help we figured it out and was able to do what needed to be done. At one point Carolyn mentioned how she has been to corporate team building exercises where corporations make their staff members and employees do drills and ice breakers to build team skills and such. She said none of those she has been to built the team building the way we came together that night!

TEAM stands for Together Everyone Achieves More. Thank you to all my fellow team builders for your help! From Aunt Karen to Heather to Thomas to Carolyn to Ashley! (BOWS)

Yours in service,
MASTER A TRENTO

The Table

At the Mike Lee seminar in Pennsylvania, Mike began with a more philosophical approach. I have always said, from day one meeting him, this man is very brilliant. He may be a badass warrior on the outside (which he is) but there are several layers to this man that is absolutely brilliant, structured, and philosophical. I remember first meeting him and he layed out a structure using combatives, but if you really listened to what he was saying, he was drawing out a road map that pertained to our everyday lives.

I think recently he has noticed that as much as people learn physically from him, it's from the motivational concepts that he brings to the table (no pun intended coming up) that people walk away with the most. SO at Hudson Valley Haganah, Mike Lee Kanarek began his seminar with a concept that is going to be explained further in his new upcoming book, which will be found not in the martial arts section but in the motivation section!

He claims he knows why most people in life are lost and cannot find direction in their lives. Because they cannot take care of their table! This is how it works. Think of a table. It has four legs. If all four legs are strong and sturdy, it will hold up the table evenly and work together to keep it strong. If you were to jump on top of your table, would the legs crack and break? Or would they hold you up? So each leg represented a category to really pay attention to in your life that needs to be fulfilled.

The first leg is HEALTH. Obviously, this is a very strong aspect of Mike Lee's life, especially being a soldier and doing what he has done all his life. The layers to your health pertain to proper exercise, proper nutrition, proper rest, proper mindset, proper mental stimulation. Mike hates people that do not respect themselves and eat crap all the time, not exercise, let themselves go. People allow their bodies to get inflammation either through improper exercise or eating improperly, etc. If the people testing for FIGHT Black Belt were to not pay attention to this leg, there is no way in hell they could have passed their test.

Every time someone makes a choice to eat badly consistently, go out drinking all the time, sleep very minimally, not taking the time to take care of the bodies they have, you cut away at that leg. The leg gets shorter. Can you imagine a table with three legs and one small one? The table becomes wobbly, it effects the other legs, if you jumped on that table, it will surely collapse.

The second leg is SUPPORT/FAMILY. It amazes me how even at a Mike Lee Seminar, the theme of the year is brought up! I've been discussing this all year and it pops up everywhere! Even at a Haganah seminar! Family is not always blood. And that family or that source of support can even be ONE person! But it is a human need to have that love and connection, that support that fuels us. It's a sad thing to live in this world alone. How many times we see someone and you know they will always have their "person".

Mike spent the longest discussing this leg. Coincide-ance at it's best I guess. I know it's hard for people who have so many people around in their lives and yet feel alone in this world. But the power of support does help a person function and have more fulfillment in their lives. If you don't allow for that support, or don't create a family where you belong, it cuts away at that leg as well, hence weakening the foundation of your table.

The Haganah organization is a strong brotherhood, Mike has done a beautiful job creating that support system for many who take part of this organization. The loyalty all these badass warriors have for Mike Lee Kanarek is awe-inspiring as well. I am sure many would die for him, many would take a bullet for him, and many would fight in battle along side him if he asked.

The third leg is CAREER. He did NOT say job! A job is not one's career. Some of us have the blessing of being able to do what we love to do so much, find fulfillment in what we do that gives us great joy. Some people have jobs but their career is in something else. But when our career brings us money, money sad to say is needed to function in this world. Without it, we find ourselves stuck. As my 88 year old friend Mary says "It don't take money to make you laugh, it takes money to make you cry!"

Mike says money is your ammunition for the battlefield of life. What is your contribution to this world? What difference are you making to better your little corner? When you have a job, own it and do your best to fulfill it to the best you can. He used an example of a screw business. Someone in the screw business knows his screws inside and out. Material used in their making, which benefit where, costs, quality, etc. Everything in their craft! And of course, my student John Vanderhee who has been in the screw business for years was there. It was like Mike was talking to him! Hence the birth of his nickname, Screwman! LOL!

The fourth leg is HOBBY. We need to do something OUTSIDE of what we normally do that brings us joy, allows us to JUST BE, and to function at a different level, once again keeping our table strong. Even in self-esteem work, when I would teach organization I would teach we need to organize our lives into 4-6 different areas. And I made it MANDATORY to have one of them labeled as FUN or ENTERTAINMENT. We need to make this area of our life just as much as a priority as Financial or Home or Health.

Looks like Mike Lee is right on the ball with this. As thought provoking and insightful as could be, this philosophy on life would indeed help so many maybe find a little direction and not be so lost. With direction can one feel accomplished. And the more people become accomplished, the more motivated an individual becomes. How many times do we run into people who say "I just have no motivation." Well Progress is the key to motivation, so start progressing on the legs of your table! And the stronger your legs and the more your allow your legs to grow together, the higher you go and you'll be able to look above any hedge or wall that seems to be an obstacle. Focus on the solution, never the problem. If you come to me with a solution, there's no problem!

So I reflect on my own table. If I jumped on my table, would it stay strong or collapse? SO of course as I do anything, I reflect on a longer scale. I already had my table collapse and break. A couple years ago I don't even think I had any legs on my table lol. This past year has been so good to me. Health is great, never sick, training hard, my mind is clear and getting in better and better shape, eating right etc. Support, that's what this entire year was about. I belong to three wonderful organizations, my school is growing more than ever, my students are absolutely wonderful, my mentors and master are wonderful, and friends long term and new who are more loyal than I have ever had in my life. Career has spear headed in such a small time, and my work to this world of mine has grown stronger than ever. My school is growing, foundation is stronger, and yet room for growth has phenomenal potential as well! Hobby......well....maybe one leg needs some work. The only thing I can think of is I love my TV shows and movies. I do a lot of that alone now these days, but it is something I enjoy and I love getting lost in a story and binging when I can. Not much but it's a start.

SO I implore you, and ask you the same question Mike Lee asked me: If you would to jump on your table, would it collapse, or stay strong?
(BOWS)

Yours in service,
MASTER A TRENTO