Stop Hiding and shine!!

The new year is well and truly up and running.I keep hearing in the news usually Sky News which prides itself on repeating the same news every 15 minutes. That this is going to be a tough year but so far its just like any other year.Why do the news reporters love negative news? They thrive on it!
January is normally a quiet month in the gym world but this year it has started with a bang, are people sticking two fingers up to those negative reporters?
We have big planes for the real combat system, we are starting a new advanced master class in April which we intend to make very powerful, hard but powerful and most definitely life changing.
The gradings are going well and we are getting some quality people into our system, standards are high but that's how we like it.
I think maybe we should make this a year where we stand up for ourselves and don't be afraid to say how good we really are. I meet people all the time who are amazing, they have fantastic stories to tell but for some reason they just don't see it, why is that?
With this in mind I would like to share one of my favourite quotes with you. Nelson Mandela used this in one of his awesome speeches but it was actually written by Marianne Williamson.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us most.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous. talented and famous? Actually who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people wont feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within is. Its not just in some of us, its in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

I think that says it all really so lets shine!!!!

Endings and Beginnings

Once again Christmas is nearly upon us and I do love this time of year. For me it symbolises birth with the birth of Jesus and therefore new beginnings. Whats done is done there is nothing we can do about the past except maybe learn from it. The future to a large extent will be determined by what decisions we make in this present moment. The past can often cause us to feel guilty or ashamed where as the future can cause us to feel fear but in the present moment or in other words the here and now we are usually just fine.
As the year comes to an end I often find myself reflecting on how fast my life seems to be going by. I am 48 years old now, I don't feel it, its not until I look in the mirror that the realisation of my age hits me, the grey hair is a bit of a give away!
How ever I must say life is good, the real combat system is going from strength to strentgh and is taking the world of self defence or self protection by storm. How many systems have John Awesome Anderson as a black belt? We run master classes that change life's and gradings as well as fantastic work shops.
Matty Evans and myself realised very early on that people really want to feel confident in every day life. Studying the arts or self defence is one way of working towards that state of confidence.
We live in a world where depression, sadness, guilt, anger seem to be the norm. All of these things or feelings are natural but they can be changed and they don't have to be the norm.
We aim to help people to change their perceptions which in turn will change the way that they feel about themselves.
We certainly can change our lives but to do so we must go inside, journey to our core and this can be painful. We must unravel old scripts, negative scripts and replace them.
After all if we accept that we have scripts (which we all do) then how did these scripts get there? Who put them there? The exciting thing is, if we have old scripts then surly by taking the same action in reverse we can create new scripts.
So why not start now and write some new scripts for 2011, go on!! you can do it!!
Have a great Christmas and thank you all for your support in 2010
God Bless
Warm Regards
Tony Somers

THE BLAME GAME

Once again November has been a great month, the weather did affect our last workshop but we still had great numbers and a good day was had by all. John Awesome Anderson went over pre-emptive strikes as well as Matty and myself doing our regular teaching.
Geoff Thompson and Peter Conserdines course was also a good day with Peter picking out one of our black belts (Robbo) for special praise.
The next grading in the Real Combat System will be December 18Th early booking is recommended.
Recently I have been working very hard on my internal game and a big part of that is not blaming others. The only thing that I can control is me! if I am trying to control you then that is completely wrong and usually comes from a place of fear.
Notice when ever you point a finger at someone how many of your fingers point back towards you.
Its all about me or in your own case its all about you, I can only control me and even that is hard sometimes.
You may not like me but I cant help that its important that I like me, if you call me a twat and deep down I believe that I am a twat then your words will hurt. However if I know that I am not a twat which by the way I do then your words or accusations will roll of my back like water off a ducks back.
Its more important how I see myself and to do that I must learn to understand myself and then to love myself and also to forgive myself. We are all human and humans make mistakes.

October has been a busy month for The Real Combat System, our gradings are going from strength to strength and the level of those people grading has been fantastic.
The work shops are amazing, how many places can you go to train where you have the likes of John Anderson, Aarron Clamp, Mark Chambers and many more of that ilk helping you to get the techniques right?
We have been up and running for just over a year now and it has been a real learning process for Matty and myself but we feel as though we have learnt allot in a short space of time and we are really proud of the system that we have created.
I think you take our students and place them in any system any where and they would hold their own, which is a great testament to them and the system.
It is a self protection system and as we always say good self protection is about not getting in dangerous situations in the first place. I also have a personal policy of its nice to be nice and I am a big believer in building rapport with people. The logic being that if people like you then they are not likely to want to attack you.
Of course as the old saying goes "shit happens" so its always good to be prepared and have confidence in your own ability to protect yourself and your loved ones.
Next year promises to bring more of the same with the Real Combat System spreading far and wide as our instructors take the system to a national and hopefully international level.
We will also be starting a foundation course in Real Self Protection that will leed to a grade in our system. This foundation course will leed on from our very successful master class and include the latest physical and psychological techniques to improve your life in every area.
Lastly a big thank you to all of you for your continued support we could not have done this without you.
Best Regards
Tony

CHOOSE YOUR ATTITUDE

In my DVD Embrace your Fears I have carried out several interviews with people who have managed to over come or should I say cope with dramatic events in their lives.
As a trained counsellor I deal with people on a daily basis who are facing or have faced traumatic events.
A lot of people when they first come to see me blame everybody else for the things that are going on around them and sometimes the people around us are a pain in the backside. However the only thing that you can control in your life is you. Let me say that again, the only thing that you can control in your life is you. To be more specific the only thing that you can control in your life is your attitude towards life it’s self.
One of the guys I interviewed on the DVD was Steve Smith. When Steve was forty years old and working as the head of a scaffolding gang, he fell and injured his back. Steve went from being a very fit, independent, happy go lucky man to a disabled, depressed guy in a wheel chair paralysed from the waist down.
By his own admission the first two years of life in a wheel chair were very hard and he went through a spell of grieving for his old body. After two years Steve decided that this was his new life and he could either accept it and get on with it or spend the rest of his life in misery, pining for what once was.
He is now one of the happiest people I have ever met; the first thing you notice about him is his big smile and raucous laugh. He has gone from being a scaffolder to a computer genius, having studied many various aspects of computers.
Steve realised he had a choice and although it must have been a very difficult choice, he chose to make the best of what he had left. There is a saying that God will not close a door without opening a window.
Steve is a great inspiration to all of us, but how many days do you get up and something goes wrong? You spill your coffee, you can’t find your keys, and you are late.
What happens to your attitude? Do you let that spilt coffee ruin your whole day? You argue with your wife, you admonish the kids, you fall out with your work colleagues or customers and why? Was it the coffees fault? Your wife’s fault? Your kid’s fault? Or was it down to your own attitude?
Remember you always have a choice.

What Is Normal?

I went to see a nutritionalist recently, which was a very enlightening experience. I personally believe that our diets are a very important factor in our lives. I am not too sure about the old statement “you are what you eat” but diet does have a big bearing in how you feel on a day today basis.
This column is not about diet so I wont go into the details from my visit to the nutritionalist. However one of the things that she did say was, that a large section of our society do have very poor diets.
This is a generalisation but a lot of people work all day, probably snack on poor food. They then go home and have their tea, which might be a good healthy meal. They then have a few beers or glasses of wine in the evening; go to bed and wake up feeling tired, lethargic and with no energy. These feelings may last for the first few hours of the day. I am sure we have all gone into work and said to our colleagues, “I’m feeling a bit tired or rough today, I drank too much last night”
The worrying thing for me is that for a large section of society this is happening on a very regular basis. The point the nutritionalist was making is that this behaviour is normal for lots of people. For most people this is just normality, to wake up feeling a bit rough, tired, lethargic and with very low energy levels is normal.
I would take this even further a large section of our society get up every morning and go and do a job that they don’t like or are even in a relationship that they don’t like and this is their normality.
Most people don’t even realise that they can change; this doesn’t have to be the norm.
Now I am not saying here that people should start leaving their jobs or their partners for that matter. However if you are not happy then you don’t have to accept it as your normality, you can change. One of the easiest ways to start this change process is through your diet (its not easy but easier), Ghandi said people want to change the world but they cant even change themselves.
Here is a little test for you, it’s obviously your choice as to whether you do it or not. Just for a few days don’t have a drink and also eat healthily. There are big debates about what is a healthy diet but most of us have a rough idea about what are good and bad foods.
The second part of the test requires you to change your perception. Every time you turn on the TV you are bombarded with bad news, death, destruction, the economy, abuse etc, etc.
Why not start your days with the gratitude sheet? So instead of focusing on things like the bad things in life and all its negativity (the media love this) Why not focus on the good things in life and instead of looking at what you don’t have, why not concentrate on what you do have?

Gratitude sheet
List at least two things that you are grateful for in your life in these areas-no matter how big or small.
My Health
My relationships
My Finances
My Career

Do this exercise every day.
Until next time focus on being positive
Warm Regards
Tony Somers

SELF BELIEF

I was listening to a great interview recently in which a famous person was speaking about a particular time in their life.
This man went through a very traumatic birth in which forceps were used to help to deliver him into the world. However the use of the forceps left him with a slightly deformed face and he talked with a slur.
Growing up his dream was to become an actor but because of his looks and the way he talked he was often ridiculed and faced more than his fair share of rejection, but he would never let go of his dream.
He eventually grew up and got married and managed to get the odd walk on part in a TV show which normally only lasted a few seconds.
Times were hard and his wife understandably would nag him to get a job, as money to put it mildly was in short supply. He although racked with guilt refused to get a nine to five job, believing that if he did, he would be sucked into the rat race and never achieve his dream of becoming an actor.
This put tremendous pressure on his marriage the final straw being when he pawned his wife’s jewellery to buy some much needed food.
Now living alone in his flat he became desperate and out of pure desperation he decided to sell his most prized possession in the whole world, his dog!
All he wanted was $50.00 for his precious friend, he eventually sold his dog for $25.00 and walked away distraught at what he had done.
To get warm he used to sit in a local library and read Edgar Alan Poe books eventually becoming an expert on the man.
While reading his books one day he had a brain wave, why not write a film script? That night he watched Muhammad Ali give a white boxer a terrible beating for 15 rounds, but the white boxer would not give up.
This inspired him to write his script and the Rocky film script was born, the young mans name was Sylvester Stallone.
But that’s not the end of the story, in fact far from it. He took the script to as many agents as he could find and all but one rejected it saying it was rubbish, predictable, boring etc.
The one who did like it offered him $1500, which was a lot of money back then especially to a guy who had nothing. He was tempted by the money but said you can have the script as long as I can play the lead role, at which point they laughed at him and told him to leave.
He walked away feeling lower than ever. A week later they called him back, “right Mr Stallone we will give you $20000 for the script (a tremendous amount of money) to which he replied as before you can have the script as long as I can play the lead role. This time they didn’t laugh but were angry with what they saw as his stubbornness and told him to leave.
A week later they called him back and offered him a $100.000 that would have made him a rich man but he just said the same thing you can have the script as long as I can play the main role. At this point they withdrew the money and said, “ok you can play the lead role but we will go back to our first offer of $1500 dollars which he gratefully accepted.
But the story doesn’t end there; he waited on the corner of the road where he had sold his dog for three nights in a row. On the third night he saw his dog with the man who had brought him. Sylvester told him what had happened and offered to double the mans money and give him $50.00 to buy his dog back. The man refused he ended up accepting $100 and a role along with the dog in the first Rocky film. The rest is history!

The moral of the story hang on in there and follow your dreams.

For one to one counselling/coaching call Tony on 07708273376 or go to www.tonysomers.com