Rebuilding from the Ground Up

A shot of me at 88kg, 5 years ago, before my son was born
and injuries had gotten the best of me. 

So, after dropping the first YT vid of this year, 36 Weapons of the Human Body, I was really happy to discover that I still actually had a few fans out there. A few people had made comments like "Welcome back!" and "Finally! I've been waiting for forever for your next video!". These kinds of things (and honestly these people) are the ones that have motivated me to get back to it, and it was incredibly refreshing and energizing to hear.

Taking stock of the past 5 years in general, it occurred to me just how much I had really lost. I lost my kidney function, my white blood cell count, my shoulder, my knee, both parents, my dog, and my home in the states... and that's just the things I am willing to talk about publicly. In short, I've been a mess. Add in trying to take care of a toddler, and a company in its infancy in a foreign country, and the mess gets even messier. To be honest, the past few years felt like I was trying to drive a 4-cylinder car with only 2 cylinders firing and a wheel missing.  It occurred to me that I'm not doing anyone any good- my son, my company or myself- if I'm performing or operating at less than my best.

The things that are gone, are gone, and I can't get them back; but there are also plenty of positives on the horizon as well. I went to the doctor last week for a physical, and he said my kidneys are back to full function. Thanks to getting my IHP cert, and discovering functional fitness training, I feel the strongest I have been in a decade. We were also finally able to get my son into a government backed nursery school and that will drastically cut the family bills. The private one he is in now has been like paying for a second apartment, and with that and concern expense now gone, and I have a lot more leeway (mentally and financially) to focus on driving forward.

All that being the case, it's time to rebuild. Rebuilding my YT channel and fanbase is one goal of this year. Rebuilding my body, getting back to how I used to look, and getting all my physical skills back is another. As far as the company itself goes, the next goal will be rebuilding and redesigning the action training program. We are supposed to have 3 areas of operation: Film, Stunts and Martial Arts. The martial arts program (ie Taekwondo) is still going, and has basically been carrying the company; but with everything happening in the past few years, the film action program has suffered the most. Despite that, it's something that I still believe in and it's time to make it work the way it should. Going off of the relative success of the TKD program, much like my YT channel and my body, I feel like it's time to rebuild it from the ground up. The next step after that will be getting the film production side off the ground, so that hopefully myself and this company will be firing on all cylinders, by the end of this year.

When I was in my early teens, my Dad gave me an old framed copy of the poem "If" by Rudyard Kipling, that his Dad had given to him. He said if he ever wasn't around, and I felt lost, to refer to it, and use it to find my way. In this case, I am channelling the second verse:

If you can dream- and not make dreams your master;
If you can think- and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you have spoken,
twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, 
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools; 

This is me now rolling up my sleeves and picking up my worn-out tools. Onwards and forwards.

Thoughts on 2014

So we have finally crossed the threshold from 2013 to 2014, and I couldn't be more excited about it. While overall, 2013 was a good year in terms of getting things done, it was also a hard year for me physically, with a major illness and two major injuries taking up the predominance of my mental energy for most of the year. Although 2012 saw my father's sudden passing, and as such, still had it's fair share of tears, it was also the year where I was cast as a character in Japan's the biggest drama, one of the biggest movies, and internationally one of the largest (if not the largest) video games of the year, all at the same time. Going into 2013, I had a schedule that was fully booked solid in January (which was a first) and was hopeful to see the trend continue... But alas on the very first job, I contracted the EB virus infection that rocked my system, made me unable to work, and left me weak enough to have two other major injuries (my first ones) back to back.

As soon as I got the infection from that first job, I had a feeling that this would be a rough year. Not really one with major victories and successes as in 2012, but one where I would work my tail off to get the groundwork laid to have an incredible year in 2104. And it was just that.

This is included:
-Getting a new apartment even closer to the city center to cut down on commute times, that has the space for me to both work out and film at home, and also allows Mari and I to have our own separate workspaces so we can both maximize our working efficency.

- Two new income streams:
1) A contract to train the paramedics of the Tokyo Fire Department that is not just incredibly fun, meaningful and rewarding, but also keeps me gainfully employed for 4 months out of the year; thus allowing me to replenish lost savings, and catch up in any bills that may suffer while working freelance.
2) Freelance Cross-cultural Business Consulting work that fills in the gaps at those times where entertainment work is few and far between

- My Youtube channel breaking 1/2 million hits and Getting into the YouTube Studio:
This will allow me not just continue How to Defeat Dudes for free, (as well as start another show, and launch a new language based channel), but also do something that I have dreamed of for years, but had no way to pay for: formally study film production.

- Getting funding for my first film:
Getting outside funding for a feature film is hard. Getting it for a short is damn-near impossible. Especially a first-time effort. But Jorge and I have done it, and with that our action film production project is on its way.

- Starting my Taekwondo School:
By combining with the the Shinjuku Taekwondo Club, I not only picked up my own space teach in, but also a bilingual assistant instructor, and with that, our club has been growing ever since. While the Quiet Flame Dojang is still small, (about 30 members or so) it is big enough that we are in the black, and on its way as a school.

Now, as I head into 2014, I get to see many of these things come to fruition:

1) My TKD school has its first stunt fighting training session coming up in January, and it's first student to cross the line from beginner to Intermediate level with Dean's green belt test.

2) Jorge and I's short film is set to start production in March... Finally. After 5 years of preparing for it.

3) My new YouTube language channel will launch and after 8 years off struggling to make gains with it, my American English pronunciation training tool, Phat English will finally be taking shape in a major way with its own high production quality Youtube channel, and a new Japanese website, and our first sale at an international university. We also finally qualified for a trademark, with just a month left before my application period expires. (I've been trying for several years).

4) The first part of the largest entertainment project I have ever been involved in, the $70 million dollar video game I was in back in 2012, will finally be released on March 18, and with it, international interviews and things are sure to follow.

Granted, seeing as how 2013 started off on equality positive circumstances and ended up being a hard year to get through, I don't want to jinx this one...But at the same time, getting through 2013 has given me a quiet and cautious, (but still very positive) approach to 2014, and the confidence to know that no matter what happens or comes, it's not going to slow my roll. The positive energy going into this year is incredibly strong, and the fact that its actually the year of the horse-my Chinese zodiac sign- (AND that the Spartans just won the Rose Bowl on New Years Day!!!) is just more reason to feel that way. This is going to be an incredible year people. And I look forward to sharing it with all of you. :)