Taking stock...

As I had mentioned to you all in the last blog, my 30th birthday marked year 15 of this journey of mine, and I thought now would be as good a time as any to take a minute to list out both the things I’ve accomplished thus far, and troubles I’ve had to face in the process. Hope that it’s as interesting for you all to read as it was for me to write out.

Accomplishments:
-Traveled to 33 countries around the world, going as far north as the Artic Circle above Norway, and as far South as Ushuaia, at the very southern tip of South America.

-Seen how Dolphins play in the deep ocean when there’s no one else around for hundreds of miles.

-Slept on top of Dune 7, and watched the sun rise and set on one of the largest sandunes in the world.

-Lived in a Buddhist Temple.

-Seen just how many stars there are in the sky when there’s no light pollution for hundreds of miles around. (It’s absolutely unbelievable).

-Seen the sunrise from (near) the top of Mt. Fuji.

-Climbed the tallest mountain in South Korea barefoot.

-Learned to Rock-climb on one of the most beautiful limestone cliffs in Thailand

-Seen the Moai statues on Easter Island with my own eyes.

-Worked as a stripper.

-Drank with Yakuza. (Nice guy)

-Had a God-only-knows-how-expensive dinner with a Chinese Army General.

-Attended two Japanese celebrity weddings.

-Went on tour with the most successful rock group in Japan.

-Learned to be an applied Linguist in Korean, and Japanese with a working base in Chinese, Spanish, and Portugese that I can build on as necessary.

-Figured out the general order and process through which my mind acquires Language so that I can teach myself any language I want simply by immersing myself.

-Worked on security teams for some of the biggest movie stars in the world, ranging from Orlando Bloom, and Keifer Sutherland to Jackie Chan, and Syllvester Stallone.

-Had the world’s most expensive sushi at the same table with Cameron Diaz

-3rd Degree black belt in Taekwondo, Two-time national champion, two time state champion, and the only foreign Intercollegiate Champion of Hong Kong.

-Verge Corda in Capoeira, and experience in 9 other martial arts.

-Learned how to wield a Japanese Katana.

-Became a regular action movie actor in Japan

-Featured in a Taekwondo Textbook in Korea.

-Built a company on my own from the ground up,and published my own book and CD. (www.phatenglish.com)

-Figured out how my body works to such a degree that I can gain and lose weight as I please, and rarely (if ever) get sick, headaches, stomachaches or injuries.

-Read several hundred books covering every topic one can imagine.

-Learned how to fight adversaries twice my size, strength or experience both in and out of the ring, and to have no fear of them. Experienced firsthand that as Schwartzenegger once said, “If it bleeds, you can kill it.”

-Learned to embrace and push my way through anything and everything that scares me.

-Learned how to comfortably fight anyone, of any martial arts style, at any range.

-Learned that both success and failure are both simply illusions, and that the merit in each can only be defined by the things that one learns from them.

-Joined the Mile High Club. (Wow! The crazy things you do when you’re young!)

-Found a methodology for eating that keeps me trim, strong and muscular that’s really healthy and really cost effective too.

-Successfully nursed a pigeon back to health after it electrocuted itself, burned all the flesh off the top of it’s head and lost an eye. (Until I took him to the vet to get feathers grafted back onto his head it was pretty nasty looking).

-Found a methodology to do so, and experienced what I can honestly call ‘perfect sex.’

-Found out who my real friends are. (i.e. the people who hung in when the sh—really hit the fan).

-Learned to have no attachment to any material possessions, no fear of rejection, pain, embarrassment, loneliness, starting over from scratch, or too much of anything else.

-Learned how to stay controlled, calm, collected and objective in extremely chaotic situations. (i.e. jumping out of an airplane, or off the end of a 120 ft. crane, being stranded in the middle of a completely unknown environment, or being hungry as hell when you don’t have a penny to your name and no friends to fall back on).

-Learned that there is always always ALWAYS a way. (And usually a super-cheap or free one at that).


Trials and Tribulations:
-Got drugged, and jacked for everything I had in Thailand

-Got horribly seasick at least once in every ocean, and once even in just the sea of Japan. No more boats for Chuck.

-Got food poisoning in Malaysia, and spent an entire evening having to listen to two Indian dudes in the room next to me having sex.

- Got ridiculously bad altitude sickness on while climbing Mt. Fuji (first time dealing with it, had no idea what to do) and vomited more times than I ever have in my life. (Especially if you count the dry-heaving afterwards). Never made it to the summit.

- Got set up to lose in a kickboxing match in Tokyo

- Got set up to lose on a TV toughman context in Tokyo

- Got jacked for the payment of both of them

- Vomited blood at a time when I was penniless, had no insurance and had no idea what the Japanese number for 911 is, let alone the Japanese word for blood.

- Walked from Tokyo to Yokohama (about 20 miles or so) after an audition because I couldn’t afford the train fare to get home.

- Had to eat Pigeon in China for the sake of being hospitable. (Thankfully that was before the 'pet pigeon' experience. )

- Had to eat ‘pudding’ made out of fermented Pig’s blood for the same reason.

- Split a nest of Fire Ants in two while moving compost as a volunteer in Thailand. Not a good time to be in shorts and flip-flops.

- Lost a lot of girlfriends because I had no time to spend with them and was generally always broke.

- Almost lost a few close friends for the same reason.

- Lost the respect of a lot of people who couldn’t see just what I was trying to achieve.

- Had to drink with a different Yakuza. (Not a very nice guy).

- Got fired from my stripping job for treating my female co-workers as people, and trying to show them that there were ways around the fact that they were being systematically exploited.

- Got systematically exploited myself during the same period.


Well folks, as you can see, the list of positives is considerably longer than the list of negatives. I can only hope that this shows you why I am out here doing what I do. For those of you reading this blog who have stood by me, fought with me, had patience with my schedule (or lack of response in emailing), please know that you are appreciated. Let's hope the next stage of my life (i.e. where I apply everything I've learned from this past one) will be just as fun and fruitful ;)