The Swing Back to Balance

Over the past fifty years, I’ve witnessed a troubling shift in the world of martial arts. The values, virtues, and principles that once formed its foundation have taken a negative detour. As commercialization, entertainment, and glorified violence took center stage, the true essence of martial arts was pushed aside. What was once a sacred path toward discipline, respect, and personal evolution has been reduced, in many circles, to a spectacle—devoid of spirit, wisdom, or purpose.

This trend has left me increasingly dissatisfied with many of the podcasts, seminars, and event presentations I've attended over the past five decades. While the physical techniques may still be impressive, the heart, the humility, the why—the more profound meaning—are often missing.

And yet, I also understand that nature and the universe move in cycles. There are rhythms and seasons to all things. The pendulum of life may swing far in one direction, but it always returns. I believe we are now living through that return—a swing back to the dawn of old.

I sense a shift in vibration and awareness.

People are waking up. They are seeking something more balanced, more meaningful. A way of living where peace prevails, where love, honor, respect, patience, integrity, courage, and compassion are not only desired but necessary. These virtues are not outdated—they are needed now more than ever.

The negative cycles of the past fifty years have left deep scars. People are fearful, frustrated, anxious, angry, and depressed. When common sense and rational thinking are absent, when truth is distorted and values are compromised, we find ourselves at rock bottom.

Those of us who lived in better times know the difference.

We've seen what a life rooted in principle looks like. We've experienced a world where community, honor, and discipline were taught, practiced, and lived. What a difference fifty years can make.

Now is the time to remember who we are—and why we are here.

We have lived through enough to know better. We've been given the gift of free will, and yet, we continue to make choices rooted in fear, division, and limitation. This can't be the legacy we leave for future generations.

We are capable of so much more.

So I ask: At what point did we give up?

When did we become so disillusioned, so afraid, and so defeated that we stopped rising? When did we abandon honesty, integrity, honor, and self-respect in favor of comfort, distraction, or despair?

Did we believe life was meant to be easy?

Free of struggle, challenge, heartbreak, pain, and suffering?

Life was never meant to be painless. It was meant to reveal us—to forge our spirit and test our truth. Every challenge is a choice. Every trial is a mirror. Life asks us again and again: Who are you in relationship to this?

It's not what happens to you that defines your life. It’s how you respond. It's who you choose to become.

And that is why life is for warriors.

Hardship is the training ground. Adversity is the path. Not to break you, but to awaken you. “Shit happens” not to punish you—but to provoke your highest self to rise.

The time has come to rise again.

Not in rebellion—but in remembrance.

Not in anger, but in alignment.

Let us return to the way. Let us choose love, discipline, courage, and truth—not because they are easy, but because they are right.

The future will not change unless we do. The world will not heal unless we lead it back—through our words, our actions, our integrity, and our example.

Let the swing back begin—with you and me committed to being our best. We can't change others, but we can control and discipline ourselves to be our best.

Reclaiming Your Power

Through a Shift in Mindset

The world has numbed us with indifference.

The COVID-19 pandemic was not just a global health crisis—it was a psychological and spiritual assault. It infused a potent cocktail of fear into our collective psyche, weakening our spirits and fragmenting our communities. Fear spread faster than the virus itself, and many have yet to recognize just how deeply it rewired our sense of normal. People weren't merely cautious; they were terrified. Entire populations braced for doom, consumed by worst-case scenarios and manipulated by narratives designed to keep them compliant and quiet.

What happened? Who knows? But here's a timeless clue—follow the money. When fear spreads, profits often soar—control increases; and the soul of society dims a little more.

The most dangerous pandemic wasn't viral. It was mental. Emotional. Spiritual. And it's far from over.

We’re now living in an era where fear has become the new normal—a subtle undercurrent beneath the surface of everyday life. Fear of disease. Fear of violence. Fear of failure. Fear of the unknown. These fears are constantly reinforced by the media, institutions, and even our self-talk.

But here's what we forget: 

Fear only has power when we forget who we truly are. 

Who are we? We are love and light, born of something far greater than the physical world. To defeat fear, we must reconnect with that truth. The time is now.

The Power of a Changed Mindset

If you want to change your life, you must first change your mind. That means elevating your thoughts, reprogramming your perceptions, and aligning yourself with a higher version of you. Your current mindset—the thoughts you allow, the beliefs you carry, and the state of consciousness you maintain—is the architect of your entire life.

Many people make the mistake of identifying solely as physical beings, focusing only on survival, income, health, or appearance. But we are so much more. We are mental, emotional, and spiritual forces inhabiting physical vessels. The power of thought is not abstract—it is reality-forming. Our thoughts color how we interpret events, shape our relationships, and define our character.

Fear thrives in the absence of clarity. But love? Love is found in clarity, in remembering, in choosing light despite darkness.

Living in Love: A Higher State of Being

What would your life look like if your dominant energy was love? If your thoughts were aligned with peace, your actions rooted in integrity, and your intentions fueled by service?

You'd walk through chaos with calm. You'd interpret problems as challenges. You'd embrace adversity as growth. You'd see fearful people and meet them with compassion, not judgment or panic.

That's not wishful thinking. It's a reality available to all of us, but only through a conscious shift in mindset.

So why do so many remain trapped in anxiety, depression, frustration, and rage?

Because they haven't changed their way of thinking, they still react from conditioned programming, still chase empty pleasures, and still look for love in all the wrong places—sex, addiction, distraction. But love can't be found out there. Love is within. And when you live from that place, everything else changes.

The World of Relativity and the Realm of the Absolute

You are not of this world. You came from the Realm of the Absolute, a non-physical dimension of perfection, where experience does not exist—only being. To gain experience, to define who you are, and to grow in understanding, you have to enter this physical dimension of relativity.

Here, you encounter contrast. Up and down. Love and fear. Light and dark. That contrast gives you a choice. And in every moment, you get to choose who you want to be.

But most people forget this. They get caught in the illusion. They label situations as “bad” and create suffering. But suffering is not inherent. It is perceived. If you see an event as a problem, it becomes one. If you see it as a teacher, it becomes a lesson.

You hold the power. Your perception determines your experience. If you want peace, stop feeding pain. Stop giving your attention to drama and doubt. Stop telling yourself stories that keep you small. Choose love. Choose faith. Choose light.

Your Direction Determines Your Destiny

Life has no absolute right or wrong—only alignment or misalignment with your purpose.

Are you moving toward your true self, or away from it? The flow of the universe is natural, like water running downhill. When you resist it, you suffer. When you align with it, you thrive.

Too often, we look outside ourselves for answers. We chase money, fame, validation, or solutions in someone else's doctrine. But the truth has always lived inside you. That's why the path forward begins with taking responsibility.

Own your choices. Own your outcomes. And from that place of ownership, create something new.

The Champion's Mindset: My Journey

In my martial arts journey, I discovered the power of mindset firsthand.

I earned my Black Belt in six months. I went undefeated in tournament competition, with a record of 92-0. I won my first major championship at the Long Beach International Karate Championships. Experts said it was impossible. But I lived it.

I didn't achieve this through brute strength. I tapped into Universal Intelligence—an infinite, energetic database of all human knowledge, power, and potential. You don't access it with muscles. You access it frequently. When your vibration matches the wisdom, clarity, or power you seek, it flows to you effortlessly.

Champions like Muhammad Ali, Tiger Woods, and Michael Jordan didn't just train their bodies. They mastered their minds. They aligned their internal state with their external performance. That's what made them great.

You can do the same. It starts with one choice: be your best.

Be Your Best Self—Then Do Your Best Work

Before you can do your best, you must be your best.

That means elevating your state of being. Letting go of victimhood, releasing blame, and dropping excuses. It requires daily discipline and radical honesty, especially with yourself. I spent years lying to myself. It wasn't until I faced my reflection with raw truth that real change began.

Transformation starts with accountability. Nobody else can fix your life for you. You must take 100% responsibility. That's the doorway to freedom.

Perfection is not required. But excellence is worth pursuing. Strive to be a little better each day. Allow others their journey. Judge less. Love more. Ask yourself in each moment: What action best serves love right now?

The Mind: Architect of the Self

The mind is your most powerful tool—and sometimes your most significant obstacle.

From childhood, it builds a self-image based on experience, emotion, and survival. It constructs ego, personality, and identity. However, this identity is often a facade. The ego clings to it, fearing its unraveling.

Eventually, many people wake up and realize: This version of me is not who I truly am.

We spend years searching for love externally because we forgot that we are love. The mind defends what it constructs. But the soul yearns for what it remembers. Until we return to the truth of our origin—love and light—we will continue to recreate pain.

But the moment we remember, we begin to heal.

Final Thoughts: Reclaim Your Power

We are spiritual beings having a physical experience—not the other way around. This world is not our source. It is our stage.

Fear may dominate the headlines, but it does not have to dominate your heart.

You have everything you need right now to rise above fear and reclaim your truth. Your mindset is your steering wheel. Your energy is your fuel. And your choices are your path.

Be your best. Think with clarity. Act with love. Live with purpose. 

when the next fear pandemic comes knocking, you'll already be immune.