From The Black Belt Book of Life: Secrets of a Martial Arts Master.

Life is a test from birth to death; an endless struggle to maintain one’s balance, poise and grace while striving to achieve one’s personal goals. If we’re to conquer the challenges of life, we must be strong … for the long haul, not just for the passing moment or the fleeting glimpses of capricious fortune.

Strength is a virtue. Talent is a gift. One can have talent but fail to achieve great things because of a lack of strength. One can have mediocre talent but achieve wondrous things through the strength of will.

In the Kiado-Ryu system, rank doesn’t make the man or woman, the man or woman make the rank.

Who we are is not a matter of what we wear around our waist but what we stand for.

For example, being a so-called “Black Belt” means nothing unless the individual who wears such a rank exudes those noble virtues associated with it, including but not limited to, self-control, discipline, courage, strength, commitment, humility, kindness, grace, patience, determination, dedication, persistence, respect and honor—a virtue seemingly unknown and forgotten in today’s society.

Like everyone else, times change, and kids, well, they do grow up and have their own families and lives. Such are the circles and cycles of life.

For those of you who remember my girls—Christa and Chandra—when they were young and hanging out at the studio, here they are, all grown up with their own beautiful families.

On the bottom row (right) is Christa with her husband, Mike, just behind her. Paige, their older daughter, is sitting on the left and her younger sister, Emery, is next to Christa.

Freedom is a great privilege. It is not a right, and it is neither free nor guaranteed. Furthermore, freedom can be lost if a person or a people become lazy, negligent, careless, cowardly, apathetic, entitled.

Following are a few poignant quotations from great men who understood the true price of freedom. These quotes are worth pondering and absorbing into the DNA of every man, woman and child who seek to be truly free. Notice the common threads woven through each of them.

Bob “Grinder” Shreck is the Sixth Black Belt of the Kiado-Ryu. He received his first dan in 1988 and continued his studies for two more years, attaining a second dan designation.

Grinder is the epitome of undying effort and persistence. Because his work schedule would not allow him to attend group classes, Bob studied privately for eight years before attaining his Black Belt. His determination and ability to press on in the face of difficult life challenges make him a great inspiration for us all.

How strange it is in today’s world that victory at all costs is more important than one’s character. It seems as though the growing consensus of achievement in today’s culture is to cast the moral and ethical quality of one’s very being over the cliff in deference to lying, cheating, stealing, deceiving, misleading. The goal, apparently, is to win the temporal, ephemeral brass ring and forego one’s primal essence.