Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is..

Discussion on the three big Chinese internals, Yiquan, Bajiquan, Piguazhang and other similar styles.

Re: Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is..

Postby Steve James on Fri Aug 17, 2018 7:38 am

Well, it all comes down to goals. For a single guy, it's fine if the goal is to make enough money to have the leisure time to do what he chooses. If training is the primary goal, there are two types of jobs available: those where one can train on the job, and those where one can't (or can't do well).

True, firefighters have to be fit as part of their jobs. I know a few firefighters who are also martial artists. Otoh, I don't think they'd say that being able to train was the reason for doing what they do. If time to train is primary, then almost any eight hour gig will work. After all, it's just the way it is now. All it takes is a steady schedule and the desire.

I don't know about working in corrections. It means being incarcerated for eight hour shifts. I'd rather work outside. Anyway, civil service jobs are steady.
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Re: Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is..

Postby grzegorz on Sat Aug 18, 2018 11:50 am

Fair enough on prison guards. Probably not my first choice either. But here they start at 76K a year whereas everywhere else they make closer to 40 something K a year. So here it is a good job with a pension and probably safer in some ways than being a cop. Mostly it was for the OP who seems to be interested in testing out his marital arts yet I don't think that happens to cops as much as he thinks I think the gun has replaced the need for martial arts, if a cop is using martial arts instead of a gun, like special forces, they have already failed at something in other countries things are different whereas shooting someone down is not justified by simply seeing them as a threat.

You may find this interesting on Cal Prison Guards. They are a powerful political force here and a big reason why California has a huge prison population. Like law enforcement it is a business, but someone has to do it...

Spoiled California Prison Guards Have It Easy

If you're one of the kids who's spending the weekend trying to decide whether to go to Harvard next year or become a prison guard in one of California's luxurious prisons, you might check out the Wall Street Journal.

See, the Journal wants to help you avoid making the wrong decision: If your goal is to get a college degree and live in Taxachusetts, then go to Harvard. But if your goal is to line your pockets with other people's hard-earned money and live the easy life, become a California prison guard and watch the money roll in, says hard-working day laborer Allysia Finley:

The job might not sound glamorous, but a brochure from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations boasts that it "has been called 'the greatest entry-level job in California'-and for good reason. Our officers earn a great salary, and a retirement package you just can't find in private industry. We even pay you to attend our academy." That's right-instead of paying more than $200,000 to attend Harvard, you could earn $3,050 a month at cadet academy.

Training only takes four months, and upon graduating you can look forward to a job with great health, dental and vision benefits and a starting base salary between $45,288 and $65,364. By comparison, Harvard grads can expect to earn $49,897 fresh out of college and $124,759 after 20 years.
As a California prison guard, you can make six figures in overtime and bonuses alone. While Harvard-educated lawyers and consultants often have to work long hours with little recompense besides Chinese take-out, prison guards receive time-and-a-half whenever they work more than 40 hours a week. One sergeant with a base salary of $81,683 collected $114,334 in overtime and $8,648 in bonuses last year, and he's not even the highest paid.

The guards also get longer vacations, awesome pensions, medical benefits forever and ever—and all at the public's expense. So many perks! They probably get their Chinese take-out delivered to them in compartmentalized cartons made of silver, while the Harvarded lawyers and consultants are stuck with those low-class plastic things.

Sure, being a corrections officer has a few drawbacks—for example, you have to spend your days in a depersonalizing environment defined by barbed wire, locks, and concrete, which can be a bummer. But you can leave that all behind at the end of the day and go shopping. Yeah, sometimes an inmate will try to pull out your dreadlocks—but if that happens, you can just buy new, even better dreadlocks. Every now and then, an inmate might punch you for no reason or kill you while trying to escape—but with all that taxpayer money you can just go to the hospital and get the best health care available (or a doctor who performs resurrections, if you're dead). As a guard, you'll have to constantly be aware that someone could shank or tackle you at any moment; hire a good therapist and you'll be just fine.

So kids, what's it going to be? Shouldn't take a Harvard degree to figure out which way to Easy Street.

http://gawker.com/5797381/spoiled-calif ... ve-it-easy

Last edited by grzegorz on Sat Aug 18, 2018 12:19 pm, edited 7 times in total.
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Re: Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is..

Postby Steve James on Sat Aug 18, 2018 2:19 pm

Yeah, somebody's got to be a prison guard. I'd rather go into construction or even deliver mail than stay in an office all day. Bus-driving, or truck driving, also pay well. I know a Harvard PhD grad who bought a semi and spent her time doing inter-continental deliveries.

Anyway, the key is finding a lifestyle that one can maintain one's livelihood. If it is healthy, rewarding to others, one enjoys it, and pays really well, it's not called working any more. :)
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Re: Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is..

Postby grzegorz on Sat Aug 18, 2018 11:36 pm

I hear you but I also think there are people with good intentions who go into law enforcement and want to help and do good for the community.

Personally I am skeptical when someone wants to join the force to prove something. I think these cops become bad cops. I am also suspicious of people who want to become cops but not for the long haul. Seems to me that someone who wants the job for life would be a much better cop than someone who wants to try something new.

Want to prove yourself? Then enter competitions, that is what they are for.

Just my 2 cents.
Last edited by grzegorz on Sat Aug 18, 2018 11:37 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is..

Postby MaartenSFS on Sun Aug 19, 2018 6:24 am

How about you read the OP again? I never said I wanted to do this job to prove myself. I said that I may end up needing to at some point. I'm not some bloodthirsty arsehole that is going to get discharged because of excessive use of force. If it comes to me or them, though, it will be me.

I totally agree, though, that it's the lifestyle that is important. After all of the things that I did in China I just cannot sit in a boring office and wait to die. I'm not sure if this is going to be the right job for me, but I'm going to blow through this academy full steam ahead and see for myself. I mean, a lot of the people on here that have been to or lived in China did not share my exciting lifestyle. I spent my days training hard and adventuring on a motorbike, travelling to places where no foreigner has ever been. It didn't pay well, but I was young and didn't give a shit. Now I need to build towards a better future, but without losing my soul. It's not easy. Most days I feel like I want to pack up my bags and disappear in South America or somewhere this time, but now I have a wife and responsibilities..
Last edited by MaartenSFS on Sun Aug 19, 2018 6:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is..

Postby Peacedog on Sun Aug 19, 2018 9:12 am

Maarten,

Figure out how to pay your bills and work up from there.

Do your books, videos, and seminars until they displace the earnings from your day job. A screenplay might not be a bad idea either. Others have done it you can too.

Otherwise, don’t wait too long to have kids. It’s never a perfect time for that.

Finally, ignore the naysayers and just grind it out.
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Re: Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is..

Postby Steve James on Sun Aug 19, 2018 12:35 pm

Now I need to build towards a better future, but without losing my soul. It's not easy. Most days I feel like I want to pack up my bags and disappear in South America or somewhere this time, but now I have a wife and responsibilities..


Yup, once you're a householder with someone to support, the first thing is taking care of those responsibilities. It may also mean reducing or limiting the risks you take because getting injured may prevent you from providing.

I agree with Peacedog. Find an income source, but you don't have to wait to have a child. Well, I can only speak for myself; but, I'm really happy that I had children early. Yep, there were some difficult things; but they never stopped us from doing what we wanted to do. We just strapped them on our backs and went. Of course, now that I have grandkids, I'm fine with letting their parents lose sleep. :)

I also agree that it's important to ignore the naysayers. However, some of them may offer good advice. It's natural to ignore them. Don't let them stop you from doing what you think you can. But, keep one ear open.
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Re: Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is..

Postby grzegorz on Sun Aug 19, 2018 1:40 pm

Maarten,

I wasn't talking about you.

Most threads spin off into a world of their own and not everything on this thread is about the OP.

I was going to throw in a disclaimer in there but I figured people were mature enough to hear people's different opinions since I didn't mention anyone by name.

Being a cop is a serious job. We need cops but for whatever reason we tend to get a lot of right wing wackos and people who just want a pension in those jobs. The cops I know actually like their jobs and the prison guards too but I also know bad cops who see everyone as some type of threat and I don't think they should be cops.

As to you or them well yes do what you have to do but you should know that in a lot of European countries you almost never see police shootings. Perhaps that is in part that they have much better training and a 6 or 4 month course doesn't cut it. Just something to keep in mind.
Last edited by grzegorz on Sun Aug 19, 2018 1:56 pm, edited 8 times in total.
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Re: Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is..

Postby grzegorz on Sun Aug 19, 2018 1:58 pm

Finally, ignore the naysayers and just grind it out.


No naysayers here. The American dream is a good union job. Get in, get vested and stick it out unless something better comes along.

I deliver to a lot of martial art schools and it is obvious to me that most are ran by someone with another source of income.
Last edited by grzegorz on Sun Aug 19, 2018 9:02 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is..

Postby MaartenSFS on Tue Aug 21, 2018 6:49 pm

Thanks, mates. No, I'm not taking it personal. I get it. Law Enforcement gets a bad reputation. Sometimes not unfounded. The ones that do the job well really deserve a lot of respect, though. I really can't say how long I'll want to do it. I'm really not interested in the mandated overtime hours that I'll be forced to do after the one year probationary training, as that will eat into my training time. I really feel the responsibility to pass on what I learned in China, so that is one of my biggest priorities. But after two years one can choose a number of directions to grow in, so who knows..

Regarding children, my wife is eager, but I at least want some money in the bank. THANK GOD I got some of my dreams out of the way before starting a career and having children. I can always find people to train with and look at photos from my adventures (and cry a bit on the inside).. :P

In European countries there are few shootings because there are few guns.. Who would have thought?!
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Re: Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is..

Postby Steve James on Wed Aug 22, 2018 1:14 pm

Fwiw, if you're providing, it's gonna be your wife who has the final say on when you have kids. Did you ever see Three Days of the Condor? One agent gives a whistleblower some advice. Putting into the context of a marriage ... "One evening you will come home and the lights will be low, candles will be lit, soft music will be playing, and maybe a few bottles of wine. Next thing you know, ... you'll be going to Lamaze classes. :)
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Re: Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is..

Postby Trick on Fri Aug 24, 2018 5:33 am

I read somewhere that legendary Karateka Jon Bluming enlisted to fight in the Korean War just to experience real fighting, don’t know its true or not....My first employer I had enlisted in the French foreign legion when he was 19 for adventure and action he stayed a coupled of years and then went on as a mercenary for some time.......Some just take it a little farther when young
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Re: Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is..

Postby Trick on Fri Aug 24, 2018 8:14 am

Apparently there is an Prison-“Kung-Fu” style called Jailhouse Rock or 52 Blocks - “https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jailhouse_rock_(fighting_style)”
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Re: Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is..

Postby Trick on Fri Aug 24, 2018 8:21 am

MaartenSFS wrote:
In European countries there are few shootings because there are few guns.. Who would have thought?!

As I have read, so far this year in my Swedish hometown there has been 10 killings by gunshots, a city of some 300K citizens. They say it’s a record breaking year. 8-)
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Re: Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is..

Postby windwalker on Fri Aug 24, 2018 4:44 pm

Trick wrote:
MaartenSFS wrote:
In European countries there are few shootings because there are few guns.. Who would have thought?!

As I have read, so far this year in my Swedish hometown there has been 10 killings by gunshots, a city of some 300K citizens. They say it’s a record breaking year. 8-)


How many killings by other methods?


the statement that there are fewer killings because there are fewer guns is true. One might compare how many knife killings there are in the US compared to those in European countries. My bet would be less than per capita in European countries.

It is also true that those who do the killings with guns have managed to get what they're not supposed to have
Last edited by windwalker on Fri Aug 24, 2018 4:49 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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