Year End Clearance pt. 4

I usually start off my last blog of the year with a reference to a movie that best describes my life so far.  Then I realized that this time around, I should stop comparing my life to a movie.  I mean, my life is authentic.  No one is living my life besides me.  I admit, starting my year end blogs is quite difficult.  I always want to start off with an inspiring first paragraph before I do the rundown of my 2011.  To get some inspiration going, I start to look through my previous end of the year blogs and noticed that ever since I came back from my "sabbatical", my life has been AWESOME.  Was my life awesome before my sabbatical?  Well, it was another life.  It was a life that I wouldn't change for anything.  If I did, then I wouldn't be here.  My life is happening as its suppose to be happening.  I am here because I am suppose to be here.  In 2010, I re-established myself within society.  The foundation of who I am was being blue printed and built and now in 2011, I have a strong solid base where I can continue to grow and house a life that I always wanted.  I've housed many experiences and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.  

And now here is the rundown of 2011...

-  As always, at the end of every year, I take a few days off from work to relax.  This whole week has been great.  I've been writing blogs for my website for the last couple of days.  I had to catch up since I've missed out on the whole month of November due to "major maintenance repairs".  Blah.  I had to write enough to end off the year with a good note.  I noticed that I wrote more this year than I did last year and you know what?  I am proud of everything single thing that I've blogged about.  The grammatical errors?  Yea, still working on that.

-  I cannot write about my rundown of the 2011 without mentioning my fiance, Tangela.  This past year, we have been steadily planning our wedding.  The long talks of minor and major details we need to follow through and numerous calculations of how much this is and how much that is for other things.  Earlier this year, we finally found a venue to hold our ceremony AND reception and didn't hesitate to search for the DJ and the photographers/videographers a few weeks later.  We actually got all major stuff done.  In June, we had our Engagement party. A month after that, we took our Engagment photos.  We took a break from the wedding planning but discussed about what we needed to do in the following months.  Saving money was of our immediate priority and we thanked the almighty baby Jesus that we had so much time to plan instead of having no time, being rushed.  At times, I remind myself that this time next year, I will be married to the one that I've been waiting for all my life.  There are no words to express of how I feel about her.  I am just blessed to be with someone who is willing to share their life with me and have a family.  

-  Oh yea, as of November, I am a proud owner of the iPhone 4s.  Yup.  I actually wasn't planning on getting one until I was told that my contract expired this past February.  My pops informed me that I could get the new iPhone 4s for very low price if I sign up for another 2 year contract with Verizon.  I debated for a few days because I really didn't have a problem with my HTC Incredible smart phone I got last year.  My brother convinced me (and a couple of people) to get the iPhone because...well.. it's so freaking cool.  Very easy to use but still getting the hang of it.  The visuals from the iPhone screen is...so...CLEAR!  The battery life is unbelievable.  I can go a day and a half without charging it.  Great phone.  I don't know why I didn't get one in the first place.  Now, I'm wondering how the iPhone 5 is going to be.

-  Boxing?  Man, this year has been filled with surprises and upsets.  First off, Manny Pacquiao.  His fight with Shane Mosely was nothing but a sparring match.  Two nice guys fighting each other.  Manny managed to knock down Mosely but later on, Manny was thrown to the floor and the ref counted that as a knock down.  Manny being pissed, finished up strong and defeated Mosely by unanimous decision.  Months later, the third and final fight between Manny Pacquiao and Manuel Juan Marquez, was very close.  Marquez countered ferociously but with less attacks while Manny also countered ferociously WITH many attacks.  Manny won but was NOT Manny's best fight.  Floyd Mayweather Jr. won against Victor Ortiz with a LEGAL cheapshot allowing Floyd to be yet again undefeated.  You can say the two best welter-weights of boxing did not have a great year, despite them winning anyway.  What really saved boxing by the end of this year was the second fight between Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito.  Cotto won in the 10th round by using different strategies.  He worked hard for this fight and I commend him for his win and great effort.  

-  In October, my brother ran the New York Marathon.  I was and still am, proud of what he did to challenge himself.  Getting into the NY Marathon is difficult.  You need to do certain requirements of other marathons to even qualify to be picked to run the race.  Fortunately, my brother was picked and he ran the marathon and finished under 4 hours!!  The fam and I waited on the side lines, hoping to see my brother run in action...and we did.  He looked great and was determined to win.  He told me later on, that he was dead tired and once he saw me and the fam, he started to run faster.  Us being there, motivated him to keep on pushing.  His next goal is to run other major marathons across the US.  Why not?

-  This past Thanksgiving, the fam and I traveled to San Francisco, Califorina to spend time with my brother and my sister in law.  It was a great break from New Jersey.  There are times that you need to get away from where you are and just enjoy other places for new experiences.  Even though I've been to San Fran many times, my brother always seem to bring me to areas where I have not been to yet.  My parents also celebrated their wedding anniversary as well in San Fran.  We all went to a great restaurant and had a great time talking.  Family has always been important to me and just being there with them, makes me feel whole.  I am who I am because of them.  They are my life and I am in debt to them always.

-  During my visit to San Francisco, I visited my friend, Jeff Chinn, and his famous "Bruce Lee" Room.  I met Jeff last year at Bruce Lee's 70th Birthday Event held by the Bruce Lee Foundation.  Jeff gave me, my brother, and my sister in law a tour of his Bruce Lee Room and might I add, every story he had about his collection were excellent and very dear to Jeff's heart.  Jeff is one of the few to have a piece of garment that Bruce Lee wore in "Enter the Dragon".  Yup.  Jeff also had Bruce Lee's wife, Linda Lee Cadwell and most of Bruce Lee's students visit the Bruce Lee Room as well.  The room's back end was covered with Bruce Lee magazines and shelves with endless Bruce Lee memorabilia.  I was just in awe of his collection.  I thanked him and his wife for inviting me, my brother, and my sister in law into their home.  We had a great experience and had fun at the same time.  Thank you, Jeff.  Definitely coming back next time!

- Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do.  Bruce Lee's Way of the Intercepting Fist has been part of my life for four years and something months now.  I cannot believe I have made it this far.  It has been a dream come true.  I am studying under the best instructor and training with the those who take the art seriously.  My training regiment has been constantly changing.  I can never stay with the same routine for long.  I feel that a change must always be a priority.  Constant changing means constant adaptability.  I train myself to be ready for anything with anyone.  People don't realize that Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do is NOT a sport.  It never was and it will NEVER will be.  JFJKD is geared toward street fighting.  There are no rules, no referee... anything goes.  THAT is always the mentality I am under whenever I train.  I always make it a point to work on being simple, direct, and non-classical when it comes down to street fighting.  Being efficient is a great factor as well.  Even if I may never use JFJKD in my life, it's better to know and not have anything happen than not knowing what to do when it does happen.  Be ready for whatever may come.  There are more things to learn.  There are things I know I need to keep working on.  Training never stops....ever.

-  Speaking of Jeet Kune Do, after Sifu Ted Wong (Bruce Lee's friend and last private student) passed away, there has been some sort of conflict among Ted Wong's students.  I am not going to get into much detail but remember this, if you want to train under an instructor that has been CERTIFIED by Ted Wong, ask to SEE credentials.  I am not kidding.  You have every right to see a certificate of some sort to prove that they are the real deal.  What's the real deal?  A certificate with Ted Wong's stamp or signature of approval.  It's that simple.  But beware...Ted Wong had two certificates, one certificate that only had a rank number (meaning they were only students NOT instructors) AND the other certificate that says "Instructor" WITH a rank number.  These are the important things you MUST look out for.  Remember, you are going to invest your time and effort to train in Jeet Kune Do, especially under an instructor certified by the late Ted Wong.  Please choose wisely.

-  In August, Sifu Richard Torres held the FIRST Annual Jeet Kune Do Summit in Poughkeepsie, New York.  Two days of training under five incredible instructors were; Sifu Richard Torres, Vince Raimondi from New Jersey, George Hajnasr from Conneticuit, Ralph Figueroa from Arizona, and Wing Chun instructor, Tony Santiago who is also from New Jersey.  Every teacher had valuable knowledge to share.  Different ways of seeing things through another, is always a great way to learn.  Even though there has been heavy conflict within the Jeet Kune Do community, all of us put the bullshit aside and just trained.  Good 'ol fashion training to wake up the spirit.  We also had fun in the process.  It was all in the spirit of Jeet Kune Do and Bruce Lee.  And since this seminar was a such a successful turn out, there will definitely be a SECOND Jeet Kune Do Summit in 2012.    

-  What was also a great blessing for my family this year was my god daughter Monica getting engaged with a great guy name Brad.  When I heard the news, I was so happy for the both of them.  I know that Brad will take good care of my god daughter.  Man, where did the time go?  Last time I checked, my god daughter was like 5 years old now she's in her 20's about to get married.  The Benitez Clan celebrated their engagement with Brad's family and had a great time.  Their wedding will be wonderful.  I am definitely looking forward to it!

-  Met Run of RUN DMC in a bookstore.  'Nuff said.

-  This year, I've been socially connecting with great people via Twitter.  Yea, Twiter.  In the beginning, my @thejerseymonk Twitter account was private.  Not sure why but If I wanted to connect with people of my caliber, writers or amateur writers, then Twitter was the only the way to do it.  So I went public with my account but didn't connect with people.  So, I did what any twitter-er would do... follow EVERYBODY.  Well, only people that caught my interest.  Slowly but surely, I started to connect with artists, musical artists, photographers, martial art movie fans, martial artists, and just cool people in general.  I got a couple of famous people tweeted me back which really made me feel special.  Tee hee.  All in all, we live in an age of social networking.  We are all connected.  Twitter and other networks are great to showcase your work...and other stuff.  

-  I've become a full fledged comic book collector this past September.  Yup.  Ever since the DC Universe "rebooted", I've finally had the opportunity to finally follow my favorite comic book characters from the beginning.  All the titles of the DC Universe started back to issue 1.  You know what that means?  Get as many number 1 issues bag 'em, seal 'em and wait for the next 50 to 60 for its value to go up.  Oh yea, if I can't reap the rewards of the number 1 issues now, then my kids will.  However, I've been a comic book lover all my life.  I love the drawings AND the stories.  I'm surprised that my passion for them never faded out.  AND.. I'm also glad that I'm not the only 30 something year old STILL collecting.  Nerds over 30?  Yea, put me in that age bracket.  

-  Speaking of comic books, I finally attended my first NEW YORK COMIC CON.  It was one of the BEST experiences in my life.  Me and the wifey went on a Friday morning and you wouldn't believe how amazed and very impressed I was from all the things we've seen.  I'm so glad that I started collecting again because now I recognized comic book artists and writers (through the internet of course) without wondering who they are.  There were people who wore costumes (cosplayers) of their favorite superhero, supervillian, etc, etc and one of the best ones I've seen was this dude who dressed up as Archangel from the X-Men.  If you don't know, then look it up on google.  This dude literally hand made MECHANICAL wings that expanded with the touch of his finger tips.  INSANE.  I am definitely going to go next year and maybe wear a costume myself (yea right).  The NYCC was for four days and we only went to one.  Friday AND Saturday were the best days to go.  Saturdays is the day when you see sneak previews of superhero movies, television shows, comic books... the list goes on.  Man, I love comic books!

CONCLUSION:
At the end of every year, I hear people say "For my New Years Resolution...".  Why?  Why wait until the end of the year or a beginning of a new year to start things you want to do?  Why don't you do it now?  What's the difference if you start now or January 1st? January 1st is nothing magical.  It's just another day.  Don't put things off and wait for some fire works display to get you motivated.  Everyday you have an opportunity to change your life.  You know you can but you decide not to.  Then you know what comes after that?  Excuses.  Then by the time you know it, you just don't care anymore.  Then what happens?  "This time, I'm really really really going to make this my New Years Resolution...".  Full circle, isn't it?  All of us (yes, I am including myself because I am guilty as well) need to stop with the excuses and choose.  What happens if there is no tomorrow?  What then?  Can you honestly say that you lived a life you always wanted live?

Today is the day.  Not tomorrow, not next week, not for New Years... TODAY.  

...and Today will be the first day of your new life.

Happy New Year, Everyone
 

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