It has been a day filled with training from various angles…in the pool resistance training, out of the pool-stay-alive-in-the-heat-training, solo kata training, synchronized kata training, with music, without music, with frustration, without frustration…you get the point.  Tomorrow we will dive further into self-defense.

Here is a link to a local newspaper that ran an article on me and our Quest For The U.S. Open.  Thanks to the West Orange Times here in the Orlando area for running this piece.  We have made some great friends from the response to the article.

http://wotimes.com/articles/2009/06/22/news/sports/sports01.txt

Please take a moment to read through it and pass it on to friends and family via Fb, email, twitter, or any other way you communicate with your peeps!

It’s hard to believe we are under two weeks away!  We will keep working harder than ever to be ready in every area.  The dream is at hand!!!  As always, I appreciate your support, prayers, and encouragement!  I have added a support button to the right in the sidebar.  If you think kindly of it, please throw some spare change our way and we have two free gifts to send you regardless of what amount you give.  I thank you in advance.

There have been some new developments as a result of this Quest that I am excited to share with you as the details are ironed out and I have permission to announce.  Please stay tuned, and know that we are reaching lives in some unique places as a result of reaching for the highest level of athletic training in our Quest For The U.S. Open.

If you don’t have your tix yet for the event, please mosey on over to the U.S. Open site and get your tix locked in.  I will be competing in events on both Friday and Saturday, and will share some times as I know them.  The biggie “Night of Champions” is held on Saturday night, and you will definitely want to see this.  A…MA…ZING!

Do me a favor and check out some of my sponsors like www.BoldLook.net and my coach www.LaurenKearney.com over in the right hand sidebar.

Everybody stay cool now…I’ll see you at the U.S. Open!!!

Michael, Kyle, Ariel, Ricky, me, and Lauren at Palm Beach Martial Arts & Fitness

I just returned from a day of training with my coach, World Martial Arts Champion Lauren Kearney, in Palm Beach/Lake Worth area.

  Good, hard day of training, and yet very encouraging.  The U.S. Open is right around the corner (July 3 & 4), so now it’s time for refining, a step up in mental prep, and continuing to focus on my own physical training for continued weight loss, flexibility, and strength.  Overall a very good day.

Lauren brought in two other World Champions for us to train with (Kyle Montagna and Ricky Morris), as well we had the privilege of training with another U.S. Open first timer (Ariel – better watch out for this girl as she is a young star rising!)…so it was a lot of fun, educational, and a lot about raising to the level of those who are much better than me.

Snapped my little toe on the mats today which wasn’t (isn’t) fun, but gonna tape it up, ice it up, and work the “kinks” out over the next several days.  Don’t think this is gonna hinder me at all other than being really uncomfortable.

Big thanks to those at Palm Beach Martial Arts & Fitness (www.palmbeachmartialarts.com) for allowing us to train in their facility today.  Great place!  If you are in the Lake Worth area…get yourself over their way and check it out.  I promise you will enjoy it!

ALSO…this just in:  article in today’s West Orange Times about this Quest and kinda what has led me to all of this.  Please pick up a copy in the next day or so…I would appreciate the support as I know the newspaper would.

Now off to do some more “refining”!