Welcome to this summer ’98 column, my loyal "Karate Voice" readers! Isn’t it amazing what Vasilios, Gina and Carmen have done for all of us in the martial arts community? I think I speak for all of us when I stress that good journalism integrated with morals and ethics we learn in the martial arts will always be the foundation stone of sharing from one generation to the next. The writer is the epitome of the "scholar." No movie gets produced without a script. On all 17 of my Panther tapes, Master Jennings is listed as the producer and I as the writer.

In the past many students had to pay cash to their teachers. Students were taught and then told to "stay in the closet" with the information, so to speak. Students were discouraged from being entrepreneurs and "teaching to soon." The Tracy’s (kenpo) were some of the first to bring the martial arts to a professional marketing level where giving and receiving were more "equal." The Gracie’s and 18 Daoist Palms both have Panther home study courses. I teach my students how to get a business license after a year. I teach them about how to use a re-sellers permit, get a bookkeeper and do legal upright business to the letter of the law. This is very exciting for 80% of my students. They realize that just being legitimate with the law by having a license to have a mail order home study video exchange certification program is the first step toward taking the martial arts as a way of life seriously. This method is not for all. It is not meant to be. What it is meant to do is make this information available to those that are interested and furthermore appreciate the instructor sharing this valuable information. A teacher has to set an example. If I can live in the middle of the high desert three miles from a town of 400 with a post office box and make three to five thousand dollars a month, serious students listen to my advice. I accomplish this without a school or students in the traditional sense. I used to run my teacher’s classes. Even though I do not pay overhead for a school, I have over two acres to "play my forms on." High technology improvements like the Internet, have propelled my web site at www.ironpalm .com to get over 13,000 hits a month! It more than pays for itself. Fortunately my great student and friend Lohon Shi Fu Darren Henson keeps our site cutting edge with real audio and video of my palm break.

I always strive to make my students better than myself. If I can make $4,000 a month through the mail then I want them to get to that point. By the time they get to that point I want to be at $6000 a month. They will then know it can be done and go up the ladder of success with me as a sort of friendly competition amongst peers with the emphasis on cooperation over competition and a mutual desire to work on some projects exclusively together in "niche" markets. To me it is important to document one’s system and then market it worldwide in different languages. I also believe that small 100 page instructional booklets will be the most practical worldwide to produce and sell at a cheap price. I believe in using a "sliding scale" for countries that are poorer economically. This may also provide jobs for foreign correspondents to work with the teacher to produce the educational products in each country as a cottage industry. Not everyone has a VCR worldwide. Booklets that are adjusted in their price to be affordable to the common laboror will increase the chance for others around the world to create livelihoods that are eternal in practicalness, utilize health and self defense as well as a path to the unfoldment of the lotus within each of us. To be a good teacher you must teach. To be a good teacher you must write books and produce videos. You must also be able to create audio books. Add charts, CD-ROM, DVD, chat rooms and conferencing to be well rounded.

Sometimes we as artists will leapfrog our careers by having a "patron of the arts" sponsor our first creative projects. This usually manifests as a book or video contract to produce a series of instructionals with an established well respected publisher for the sake of getting our foot in the door. I chose this path and it worked great. From magazines to Panther and Ryukyu, it has all helped in emptying my cup, meeting new friends, becoming a household name in the martial arts community and most important, it has helped in preserving this rare information for future generations. Lets hope none of us martial history buffs ever forgets the example of Bruce Tegner. He wrote little 100 page booklets for Thor Publications in California during the late 50’s and 60’s. I have at least 20 in my private collection that he wrote. Can you think of more than five martial artists off the top of your head that wrote 20 books on martial arts that were best sellers and now considered collector items? Before you invest in new books, check out used bookstores and buy up all these classics before they disappear.

I do a lot of delegating of authority in our system of 18 Daoist Palms. I like to empower my students who are also my friends. They enjoy producing tapes for our system and being the first to get certified in the material as well as produce a professional video for our system. I appear on the video as well, usually doing a meditation or herbal talk after introducing them. I get waivers from the students to give copyright to the system. In return they get distribution rights and half price. They in turn have the vintage original, them and me together. Next, their student will in turn learn the material even better and produce it better as well, giving their instructor copyright in return for distribution rights. If these sound business practices become a part of each students training, and if they are interested, it will mean that at least each student is given a "choice" as to whether they want to learn the entrepreneurial skills necessary to running a cyber kwoon or a more traditional school in a way that scientifically shows them through their instructor’s example, just what is possible if one’s version of the "American Dream" is to make a living with their art.

Home study provides a tool for the working family. It gets everyone involved. A business license allows sales of videos around the globe. If I were limited to California sales, the state would get 8% tax on each sale. By going global, only a mere fraction of my sales are in California. Having a license gives the family a write off for computer, video, audio, office space, transportation, mailing supplies, software, martial supplies and educational equipment. There is much to learn. Some would call it red tape. A patriotic American would call it "doing the right thing." You will never feel like a real professional until you actually get a license and go legitimate. Local small business associations can help you with free information. Software like Quicken and Microsoft Money can help you with your books. Tax preparers like Sears’ H&R Block can prepare your taxes on a simple return for about $500. A bookkeeper may be a bit more but is highly recommended because of the "personal touch."

Remember that you do not have to quit your day job. Instead show appreciation that you have a job at all to work as a stabilizer while you develop your martial entrepreneurial skills. When you meditate on some of the things that I have touched upon, come from your heart! Listen to your higher self-prompting you to muster forth the discipline, courage and faith. This is America. Capitalism and Democracy! Our system will always exalt the common laborer as the back bone of our society, but hey…for those of you with faith and intestinal fortitude, for those of you that listen to the beat of a different drum, become the leader you were meant to be. Lead! Let the others get out of the way or follow.

This column by no means covered this delicate subject in any depth, however, perhaps it will spark an interest in pondering some of the things I have mentioned in light of the times we live and the ever new opportunities for being creative with the arts we love and live to share with others.

Sincerely,

Jung Shee Lacy. 

Mew Hing Productions
42499 Old Highway 80
P.O. Box 427
Jacumba, CA 91934-0427 USA