Dream Hunting!

I've been at this for some time. It's been a long road. I visualized teaching, fighting, and creating a team. I have far out accomplished what I thought I was capable of. I am on the verge of bigger dreams now, dreams that will allow me to take care of my family and give a sense of stability that can be passed on for generations to come. There have been extreme ups and downs and times where I wasn't sure why I was even doing this.The only answer I had came inside the gym. No matter what the circumstance the gym was there and I was there, kicking and punching my dreams into existence. I feel blessed to have found something I love and worked hard to study my craft in a way that I can teach it to others and make a living. It is a modest one but the future is bright. I encourage you all to do the same. Get out and hunt for it. Your dreams will not fall into your lap, it is your responsibility to hunt them down. As you take steps towards your dreams, they will take giant leaps towards you. There will be situations where you will be tested, do not let them slow your momentum. It may not happen overnight. The fact is I know it won't, but if you stay on your path and stay focused your dreams will happen and then some. Believe in yourself and do your best to let go of the things that hold you back. Anger about past situations and anxiety about future ones are merely obstacles and not what make you but what should drive you. There is a happiness in the journey alone, before you ever arrive at your dreams you become a different person, you feel a sense of purpose, of accomplishment. What started out as confusing as being lost in the woods will become clearer over time. The more you believe, the harder you work, the closer it will come. In your dreams you will find piece of mind and in your soul you'll find a fullness. Go dream hunting, you won't be sorry

"Yo name Floyd?"

           Hello all, I hope this finds you healthy and well. I've been thinking about writing a book for years and decided why not now. During this process I realize that have many untold stories and I suppose I could share some of them in my blog and perhaps they'll end up in the book. Some of you might know that the beginning of my education came at a Catholic school, uniforms, mass,communion, the whole nine yards. However, by the time I was in sixth grade I was made to go to a public school (Louis Worth) on the other side of town. I had to catch two trains or three buses to get there. It wasn't that it was so far from where I lived but more the fact that I didn't know anyone there that bothered me. I made my way through the school with caution as due to the building gang violence and bullying factor along with the lack of support made it a little unsafe at times. I suppose there are a couple of examples where my Taekwondo training came into play while I was there at Louis Worth. At 6th grade I had been doing Taekwondo for about 2 years.
          Even though I tried to keep a low profile during my time at Louis worth I somehow attracted a bully. I don't remember his name but I remember him having some older gang member buddies and a seriously bad attitude. We had a class or two together and he would berate me and throw things at me, the usual bully stuff. I did my best to avoid him and duck him whenever possible. When it wasn't possible I just simply ran away. He wanted to beat me up pretty bad but he just couldn't catch me. It became laughable at some point. However, no matter who you are and what you're running from, either you're gonna get tired of running, or whatever it is you're running from will catch you. I eventually just got tired of running. During lunch one day we started doing our regular thing he would chase me and I would run but this day was different, this time I just decided that I had had enough. I stopped. There he stood in front of me hands held high and saying every nasty thing in the book but at that moment I became very relaxed and comfortable my target was clear as day. His hands were so high up that his stomach was exposed. I struck it with a straight punch just as Sensei Carlos had taught me and all the talking faded as he reached for his stomach and kneeling down in pain. I didn't stick around however, I took off running. It was my best weapon. Although I was never bullied by him again, I don't know if it was the punch or if he just got tired of chasing me.
           At some point I met a girl that lived near my hood that went to the same school. I remember liking her, of course at that age I probably liked every girl I saw. Anyway we had exchanged numbers and calling people on the phone was still a new and daunting task especially on the bright yellow rotary phone that hung just near the doorway in the kitchen. One wrong number and it was start all over again. I had become a master dialer in later years, I could speed dial on a rotary now that's talent. So one day after school I call her and we start a conversation about menial little things school etc.. At some point in our conversation she brought her brother up. He was an 8th grader that I didn't really know. I had seen him around the school a couple times but that's about it. Now i'm no idiot, I wouldn't have said anything bad about her brother I just wasn't in the habit of putting myself in harms way. A couple of days pass and i'm standing outside during lunch. A voice from about 10 feet away shouts, "Yo name Floyd", "What?" I responded. Now he was standing over me, it was her brother and a few of his friends towering over my small lanky frame. "Is yo name Floyd?". Now I could have said anything, Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky, Mike(yeah I did that), but no I said it, like a moron. "My name is Lloyd", at that very moment as the words slid from my lips, I knew I had screwed up. He fired an uppercut to my stomach, now I suppose I should have folded, not to say it didn't hurt but it wasn't harder than the stuff I was taking in training with sensei. A glared at him as he continued to curse at me and tell me he was on the phone listening to me talk to his sister. I for the life of me can't figure out what I could have said to cause the attack. Anyway he was doing the usual threatening talk you become used to on the South Side of the Chi., but in his face it was definitely a bit of shock. I mean I should have been on my knees but there I was staring right back in his face. They left me a lone and walked away. Thank god for two things that I applied from my training, a strong body and a strong mind. I can truly say that if it hadn't been for my Taekwondo beginnings I wouldn't have made it through some of the situations I found myself in.

         Last one, this one has a couple of lessons to take away from it. So I had a few truly thug friends around my hood and that's just how it was. Some guys were cool and some guys were grimy but we were all in the same hood struggling the same way. My boy Eric was that way. We hung out quite a bit breaking windows out of abandoned buildings with rocks, playing basketball, and basically running around causing mischief. I was playing basketball at he park and though we hadn't hung out a lot in recent weeks Eric was there. As I remember he had gone almost full on gang member and subsequently become criminally active. I had seen him hanging out near where I had put my things including my basketball as we were using someone elses ball for the game. I looked up and it was gone and so was he. I was pissed, I'm sure i went on a little bit of a rant about him stealing my ball before I took off home. A couple hours later I got a knock on the door, it was Eric. No one else was home and he sort of pushed his way in, he was pushing me and telling me not to go around saying that he stole my ball. I was standing my ground and telling him I knew that he did it. He looked furiously at me as he pulled back and threw a right hook, I ducked the right hook and dropped him into the corner by the front door with a right cross(trust me I was shocked too). In disbelief, mouth wide open, I felt like I had to say something because everything had gone quiet. I opened my mouth and it spilled out' "that's what you get" and I turned and walked away. My heart was pounding and I was in complete shock. I walked back to my bedroom at the end of the hall and shouted to the front,"you better leave or I'm gonna call the police". I heard the door slam and I sat up on my bed. I walked to the living room and a huge smile came over my face as i realized he was gone. I was re-enacting the duck and punch and even staring at my hand for long periods of time and then I noticed it. My other basketball the one I considered "the good one", was gone. I think most of us in the hood had 2 basketballs, the one with the slight bubble and "the good one" lol.. Anyway when I walked away he took his opportunity to snag the other ball on his way out.
        So I learned two lessons from that experience, believe in the technique(because it works), and it ain't over til it's over. Stay focused or you might lose something more valuable than a basketball or in this case 2.