Luck....

Today I wanted to discuss a theme I hear a lot these days. That is the aspect of luck that some people think that I have an abundance of.  I am told from time to time what a lucky fellow I am.... I have a beautiful wife, a great job, great kids, an awesome grandson, and I have a great facility.

I am so lucky to be able to train with the Seo family, to be a personal student of Carlos Machado and his brothers, and to have trained with Dr. He Young Kimm.  I got lucky with the deal I got on my tractor or my truck.  I am lucky to have the friends and students that I have that have my back and are there to support me.

Let me be the first to acknowledge the grace God has bestowed upon me, without him I am nothing and would have nothing.  Everything else would be vanity, a false hope, an illusion, meaningless without the gift of Jesus at Calvary.  I fail God daily but he has never failed me.

That being said, what many people refer to as luck has been through a deliberate and determined course of action.  It took me years of effort, hard work, and struggle to build our school.  It didn't just fall into my lap.  I took the actions necessary and spent the money and sweat it took to get it built. 

When I took my school out of the World Hanmudo Association I realized that it was no easy task to find a Korean Hapkido esque Grandmaster of Dr. Kimm's stature and ability.  I pursued a student teacher relationship with the family of Grandmaster In Sun Seo because he was one of the few who out ranked Dr. Kimm and had the skill and knowledge to take our Hapkido to the next level.

Frank Caracci, Mike Reed, and I decided to learn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and bring it back to our schools.  There were other reputable BJJ black belts much closer and more accessible than Carlos who lives in Dallas. None were of comparable rank and skill level.  He was an 8th degree black belt, at the time, and is the nephew of the founder of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.  I have been making the long trek to Dallas ever since and black belt is now getting almost within view....

I have been able to get good deals on a number of things lately including my truck and tractor.  Part of this comes from knowing a lot of people and being able to borrow the money when I needed it.  If you live within your means then you will be much more able capitalize on a deal when luck smiles upon you.

God has blessed me with my wife, kids, grandson, and family.  I still have some family members I would just as soon not claim but I think everyone one does.  You take the good with the bad and deal with the rest.

The moral of the story is set your goals and do whatever you need to do(within reason and without sacrificing your morals) to achieve your goal.  I have a student who is set on making the olympics and if he can keep his mind on judo and not girls he has a really good shot of making it.