Shak The Wandering Monk

A diamond is simply a coal under intense pressure. Remember this and you will understand how true champions are made. If you have read any of my entries so far, you may have deduced that I do love people. I love starting conversations, asking people about themselves, and learning what makes them tick. If I have learned one art in all these years, it is the art of building rapport. I can safely say its helped me squeak my way through interviews, meet and start talking to pretty much anyone I wanted and has gotten me out of some hairy situations to say the least! In retrospect building rapport has always come easy to me, but its my curiosity about a person's life story that keeps me talking to them. Over the years, I have met a few people who really stood out and some I have been honored to call a friend. These are the people I call Diamonds! They are rare, hard to find, and usually are quite unassuming at first. The first diamond I met by accident. In 2016 I was rolling at a

Human connection can be such a magical experience. I can say that after the passing of my Father and a good friend, Human connection is one aspect of life that I value more now than ever. Great friendships, people I meet in passing, and just sometimes a conversation in a store with a clerk have left more of a mark on me than any pair of jeans, sports car or drink of alcohol ever would. With some exceptions, after about 3 years of training in any particular club, you will meet the people who have stuck around and in that crowd, you will catch a few Gems..once in a while, you may even be blessed to meet a diamond. Undoubtedly in the past 15 years, I have met some of these gems, even a few select diamonds to say the least. The first diamond of a human being I met in my Martial Arts journey was Professor James Hundon.  I first heard of Professor James Hundon when our JKD club decided that it was time to host a Master from the U.S. in August of 2015. It was a difficult time for me,