So... after spending the last 3 months in somewhat of a Visa-less limbo, I've settled into my path for the next three months, and hopefully, after that, the next two years. Starting from next week, I'll be beginning a new teaching job at a university in Kanagawa, (outside of Tokyo) and will be there until the middle of December. I'll also be teaching private students at night, and business classes for my security company on the weekends, making my teaching schedule day and night, 7 days a week.
I'm expecting it to be gruelingly exhausting, but I'm trying to save as much as humanly possible, so I figure the more time I'm spending working, the less money I'll spend. My goal for that time will be to generate enough money to catch back up on all my bills, and stockpile enough savings to survive comfortably with no income for at least 3 months.
I've also spent the past month and a half training under a friend who was one of the swordsmen in 'The Last Samurai' and hope to put out my sword action demo reel as soon as my principle Action teacher, Go-san, has the time to film it. After that, I'll be sending footage from all of the movies, commercials, TV shows, and martial arts demos I've done in the past few years to a good friend in the states to make my first complete action show reel. While he's working on that, I'll also be training for what looks to be my last ever competition- the All-Japan Taekwondo Champions, (which I'm confident I can win), and will be at the beginning of December.
On the business side of things, Phat English (my project for the past 5 years) has also been completed for sometime now, and I've recently finished trials for all of the basic materials to make sure that everything works, is spell-checked, and easy to understand. It is currently on sale (and selling), but at present, almost no one knows about it yet, so the only thing left to do is 'get it out there'.
Anyway, if all goes according to plan, by the time my contract finishes at the end of December, I'll have all the tools necessary to successfully make the jump to working exclusively as an actor/model in both the Korean and Japanese entertainment industries; solid language abilities in both countries, a super-solid demo reel, enough savings to last through the slow times, and the respect (from being both a US and Japanese national TKD champion) and social network to bring it all together. What's more, I will have gotten all these things almost completely on my own, so no one will be able to claim I didn't work for them, or take them out from under me either.
In addition to this, during this time, I'll also be living really near one of my business mentors, Dave, (who also owns a successful English Language business) and hopefully will be able to seek his council regularly as I turn my attention to putting together Phat's marketing plan. If I can finish that during that time, then I'll be able to simultaneously be able to start marketing Phat English in both places as I go. Ganbarro!! (Japanese for I'll do my best!!)
Besides building a name for myself in both Korea and Japan, and marketing Phat English in both places, my side project over the next several years will also be working directly under him. It will be to build an English-only, cultural/martial arts exchange camp for kids in both regions. I jumped at the chance, because I'll also be able to take my experience from building Phat and utilize it on a project that offers me both the mentorship and resources to actually make it happen. My hope is that if a successful model can be built for Japanese and Korean kids, then it may also prove effective for White and Black kids on the home-front or even farther down the line, or Israeli and Palestinian kids. It's also cool because while I'm building that one, my other roommate from Colombia, Felipe will also be simultaneously building a sister camp here in Japan for Spanish speakers, so who knows where the possibilities of that could lead.
Although I'm not so sure the next three months will be, the next two years or so promise to be an interesting time in my life. As I had mentioned before, this whole process started when I was 15 (or arguably when I was 11), it's been a long (and oftentimes painful) road to get this far, and it's really an amazing feeling to know (and not hope) that it's all falling into place.
Once I turn 30, I'll be heading back to the states and moving to California- (either to get my Ph.D in cross-cultural social and personal psychology) in the Bay Area, (breaking myself into the American industry on a part-time basis) or to SoCal to work in the American film industry on a full-time basis while pursuing my Ph.D part time. Either way, however, I'm sure I'll be bouncing back and forth between all three places for the rest of my life.
Well folks that's the plan. If, again, this process is analogous to taking a leap off of a cliff, then right now, I'm tightening my laces before the final sprint to the edge. Wish me luck ;)
Beyond that, I'm also on my first fast right now. As I mentioned to many of you, I've got a televised kick-boxing match this weekend with a Japanese Karate champion, and I'm still 3kg over weight, so I can't eat for the next two and a half days. Interesting experience. So far, not too bad. I've learned to love eating lemon rinds!
In addition to being a good opportunity to increase the girth of my social network (and respect) in the martial arts world, this fight also represents somewhat of a social experiment for me. I'll let ya know how it turns out as soon as the fight is over, and I've had a chance to rest ;) Hope all you wonderful readers are doing fine, and I'll holla at ya soon. Love you guys.
Chuck
ps. The picture is a newspaper ad for Seiko Watches I did last year. In case you can't tell, I'm the third one from the left ;)
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