Continuation of Teaching Us Mastery
I started combining martial arts and spiritual philosophy in 2006-2008. I was especially interested in the warrior mindset. After moving to Tucson, I joined a gym to learn more about physical combat (I had never done a combat sport before) with mixed martial arts. I began training hard and working towards physical mastery of fighting and the warrior mindset, while bringing in the philosophical and spiritual dimensions. I wanted to know mastery in its complete form.
There came a point, because of some of our interactions with combat athletes, that I needed more protection mentally from the experiences. It was extremely stressful and I was coming up short. I have a very strong spiritual core, but when it came to the mental strain of work and what we were going through, I did not have the mental stamina and fortitude to handle severe situations. I was not strong enough. Spiritual strength alone was not saving my mental mind.
This is why I began mixing the philosophy of samurai, martial arts, and spirituality, starting in 2019. I needed something more. Like the Self-Creation Process, I came upon this answer by accident. It was COVID lockdown, I was researching and writing about yoga and enlightenment. I was investigating Pantanjali’s Yoga Sutras, and I was looking for information on yoga and accidentally came upon a Bruce Lee quote. It was the first time I have ever seen someone unite martial arts and mysticism. I felt immediate relief and power mentally, I became energized, and I began looking for more information. I started reading his other quotes, then reading his book and writing, which then led to a deeper examination of other martial arts masters and their views on training, fighting and mastery. I started writing on a social media account about it, and came across another martial artist and writer, who had incredible clarity of thought about the spiritual aspect of martial arts, and that was Rickson Gracie. This was in 2019, but by 2020, I was feeling a greater draw to his work as well, even meditating on his images online.
What came from this event, and is still in the works for me, is a Self-Creation Process that completely changed my life. I cannot talk about the full story on this blog because there is a STRONG supernatural element associated with it, but it is an unbelievable story. And Groundwork Promotions (and my pending projects) are continuing to be impacted by what’s happened and what I discovered in the process. Right now, I am making a portfolio for this website and I am just in awe about what we have accomplished. I go back to my post on Honoring Where We Come From, and I cannot believe what we have done and who we have worked with over the years. I just stare at this website, the blog posts, and the portfolio and cannot fully absorb what has happened and I am not even finished yet. I have several other clients to cover.
One of the first pictures Paul ever took for 10th Planet San Diego and San Diego Combat Academy, around 10 years ago.
We have worked with some incredible people in the past 13 years. I find myself watching their videos and looking at their photographs, over and over again. I want to fully absorb everything. We started by chance, with a small MMA gym in Tucson, Arizona and now we are not only working with martial arts and combat in Arizona and California, but we are also working with a martial artist and entrepreneur in New Zealand. This is truly amazing.
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Supernatural Relationships
I have very traumatic and supernatural relationships with martial arts (and jiu-jitsu in particular). Starting in June 2020, something changed, and nothing has been the same since. Despite the extreme trauma involved, something extraordinary also happened and I was healed of something big. I was healed of more than one thing, as a matter of fact.
The experiences of being immersed with both Rickson Gracie and Bruce Lee and being immersed in the masters of both martial arts and the spiritual traditions, not only defined a a purpose for me going forward, but it also opened me up to miraculous experiences and healing. It also, caused me to have greater unexplainable relationships with the martial arts community in Tucson, San Diego, and now New Zealand. I have no explanation yet, for why these things are happening. This is definitely a supernatural, non-ordinary tale of all tales.
