Thanks to You

    So many people in my life have done kind or extraordinarily meaningful things for me with no thought of personal gain, and I think it is well past time to thank those with whom I may have neglected to acknowledge for their commitment to me and to the greater good of mankind. This list is actually quite long, and I'm not surprised. There is really so much good and compassion out there, you just need to look past the small amount of negative and overly loud narcissists out there to find the "kind" in mankind. I'm not going to list EVERYONE because that would get a little tedious for you to read through, so instead I am going to make it an extra personal goal over the next little while to go out of my way to acknowledge as many of those people as I can. There are some I want to acknowledge here  ( this is hundreds of people actually, but I'll group them in a great big collective thank you hug ), because the current lock down prevents me from doing this face to face, so here we go.....

Fellow students at SRKF, each and every one of you, yes you, I'm pointing at you! Your commitment to the art we practice, to the school you train in ( either at home, in the Kwoon or wherever you are ), your willingness to learn and the energy you bring to the cosmos, I feel energized by your very presence, I am lucky just to know you, thank you.

Sifus both past and present at SRKF and in Kung Fu in general. The path you show me as a student is not just a path to mastery but a path with a purpose. You make me better just by being who you are. Every Sifu at the school, as an individual, brings something different to the table but all with the same goal, to make the world we live in a better place for not just themselves, but for everyone, regardless of the baggage that most people have. I could list dozens of Sifus who have changed my life but the risk is I might miss someone, and I can't do that, that would be an injustice to them. So this is for EVERY Sifu, thank you.

Master Brinker, I am going to keep this short as I could write a novel about how you have guided me and my family to where we are now, but anyone who knows you already knows what I would write because the path you lay out is so easy to follow, the leadership you provide, your passion for the art of Kung Fu.... I could go on and on, but as I said I would keep this short so, thank you.

My family, Deb and Kody, I know I can do this in person but I wanted to publicly acknowledge you both as well. Without you on my journey, there is no joy, no stopping to smell the roses, no reason to push forward. You two are my companions on this journey through this crazy world. I may push a little to hard sometimes to do "things", but that is only because we are so good together and our time is so finite, I want to enjoy every moment before I can't anymore. You two rock, not just thank you but love you.

This part of my kung fu is so important to me. Acknowledging those around me makes me train harder, think more, and appreciate what I can do as an individual to make the world a little better place for all. I'm gonna go train now, feeling revitalized by writing this.