ON THE ROAD WITH THE MONK

Current travels

On the road with The Monk

I am in San Diego at my hotel watching Christian Television. There are five men in a talk show type program. All five men are very obese. I feel bad for them as they huff and puff and try to deal with their fatness. They are preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ as if they really follow this Gospel. I feel bad that I can't accept teaching from someone who has an addiction. If they were drug addicts, would I wan them teaching me about the bible? Food can be an addiction and naturally these men are very addicted to food. They are well over a hundred pounds over weight. I just can't take them seriously. To bad because I may learn from them. But if they are faced with reaching out to God for help, or reaching out to ice cream, they will chose ice cream every time. Sorry, but I believe we must walk the walk if we are going to talk the talk. Salvation and the born again experience frees us from addiction as we begin to put God first. Either you do this or you do not. We are judged by the fruits of our lives. So, I guess I will change the channel and watch the liars running for president. That was even worse. Wow can they tell lies with a straight face. I will flip over to The Fox news and get indoctrinated by O'rielly. No, that is to much so I will continue to flick through the channels. Casting Nancy Grace in the role she plays is a stroke of genius. She has a gift for stirring up hatred like no other. Nothing is on tv now that the Red Sox have won the World Series. I am following the Patriots and have been a fan for most of my life. This team, along with the Red Sox truly understand that the shot at hand is all we really have. So, I turned the tv off and now I have two hours to kill before I go to bed.

Lets talk about my road trip.
The road games continue on. After my trip to Chicago and San Diego I returned to San Diego to work with two Monk Masters and a large weekend class. It was a nice trip. Our plane ran into some serious turbulence as we tried to avoid the ice storms that were making their way across this country. How weird was that? Severe ice in the north east and record breaking heat in the south east while I was basking in cold weather in San Diego.
The Monk Billiard Academy in San Diego is the home training center for most Monk Masters. This fine facility has five cameras in the main training room so we can give our students the kind of feedback on their stance, stroke and grip they need. The San Diego Charger are sharing a real nice story about the San Diego Monk Billiard Academy in the program at the stadium as the place where you can bring your game to its highest level.
The Monk Masters offer eight classes at all Monk Billiard Academy centers. We have Monk Masters in several different locations. You can log on to www.themonk.com and check on where each teacher offers training in The Monk 101 program.
On Thursday a student in the Masters of Art in Pocket Billiards program flew out to San Diego from New York. He attended the workshop in Houston a few months ago and felt like he needed to spend some time with us for his up coming tournament challenges. I am taking him through a special tournament training program I designed for the masters who are playing in the Super Billiards Expo in March.
i was able to work with a two fine masters in Sinton Texas. Harry and Aaron, father and son went through a two day program. Wow was that nice. Both players are very very good. They picked up the material well and we were able to move through the entire program. I had some time left over so I drove down to Corpus Crispi Texas to visit Harrison at the Paradise Billiards. My training went well in this fine pool hall.
I am in training now. I stop by pool rooms from time to time just to work out. The training is going very well. it is pure joy to be hitting the balls again. I look forward to our match when I come to your town.
Until then, may all the rolls go your way

My Trip begins
In my travels to day I have been to New England, Ohio, Michigan and North Carolina on my bike. I flew to San Diego, Houston and Raliegh Durham.

You can read about this bike trip if you join me in Myspace.com. Send me a letter, monkbilliardacadem-e.com and I will set you up.

I am getting ready to fly out to Chicago for a workshop on the 10th and 11th. If there is any way you can make that workshop, please do so as it will be a wonderful experience for you. I have two other masters working with me.

Then I fly to Charlotte NC for a meeting with one of our brightest stars.

Then I drive up to Lancaster OHIO for The Monk 101 8-Ball Tour on the 17th and 18th. I am staying in the area for a class on the 21st. This is just a one hundred dollar tuition. The class will last for four hours.

I am going to San Diego for the Southern Edition of The Monk Billiard Academy om Sam Diego grand opening. That is on the 25th of November.

Then I go to Houston to work with a student who is in The Masters of Art in Pocket Billiards. After that I return to North Carolina on the 30th and hope that is the last of my travels until mid January when I might play in the Senior Open in Houston.

I am in North Carolina working on a new and exciting game in pocket billiards which I hope to introduce you to very soon. this game has all the elements that provide a great night of competition. I made sure it features the THREE PROMICES OF POOL which I write about in I Came To Win.

From time to time as I travel around this country I like to share some of my thoughts with you.

Winning defined
When you study the winners you always fine a correlation between each team and what they do to win. We had a classic example of that this weekend with the Patriots and the Red Sox who seem to mirror each other. Both teams turned in a dominate performance. Both teams operate by the same principle. I find this to be true in other sports as well. Tiger Woods, Michael Jordon and Allison Fisher come to mind.

What is the secret? Do they know something we don't know?
The Red Sox repeatedly talked about going from pitch to pitch. The Patriots are only interested in how they execute on each and every play. Tom Brady, the quarterback of the Patriots came to the line, third down and about two yards from a touchdown. The score was forty five to nothing. His team was ahead. He committed a foul, offensive motion, and was absolutely beside himself. He was upset because his execution was not up to his standards. Tom Brady does not concern himself with the score. His job is to deliver the finest performance possible. That is his method of playing. The Patriots reflect the attitude of their coach Bill Billicheck. Excellence is the only thing that matters. And excellence can only be involved in the present moment. The Patriot players talk about staying in the presence. Michael Jordon spoke of these things as well. He was only concerned with total awareness of the moment therefore did not feel pressure to win or lose. Allison Fisher is a classic example of present moment awareness as she tried to get her opponent on three fouls when she was leading nine to nothing in a race to ten.
Present moment awareness is the secret. The Patriots, Red Sox, Michael Jordon, Tiger Woods and Allison Fisher talk about it but no one hears.
I wrote the ultimate book on present moment awareness. I Came to Win is the book for you. I remember when I completed the manuscript, I was training at Boston Billiards and a league player came over with a challenge. My game was at a high level so I did not want to spend time with a league player playing a match that really did not mean anything. Social pool hurts my game like nothing else. He was sincere and a real gentleman so I decided to test my I Came to Win attitude and get in the moment. Each shot would reflect that attitude. My poor league player friend did not win one single game in three hours. It was sad but I did not let up. That is when I knew that I Came to Win was the ultimate tool for success.

The cold air is moving in to the North Carolina area. I have one more motorcycle trip to take as I need to cross the state to the Ashville area for some work with players who want to improve their game. Normally, when it is hot, i will take the Blue Ridge Parkway but now, I will race across I 40 and arrive in the artist town in two cold hours. Ashville is famous, like Taos New Mexico as an artist community. I like the city. Then the bike is going in storage until right after the Super Billiards Expo in March. I will head south to Florida and then across to New Orleans with a final stop in Houston for the Monk 101 9-Ball Tour. This trip will take up all of the summer and end in November. I hope to meet you and shake your hand somewhere along the way.
With the World Series over I am sort of lost to what to do. Boston has been my team for over forty years. I hope they sign Shilling. He is a legend and should retire in Boston. At this time, I believe they will sign him for one more year. The Red Sox show us all how rewarding competition can be when we are fully prepared. The next time you have a match, determine how you want to approach it. Do you want to be all offense or conservative? Set the tone and stay with your game plan.

On The road with The Monk
I came off the road from riding and took to the airs in a plane. After a few cities I returned to my favorite place, North Carolina to do some work. I have written another book and you are welcome to it if you like. Just email me and i will send you a copy. This book features one of my Monk Masters and will be a big help to you. Let me know where you live so i can send the right book to you.
Turkey day is soon upon us. I will be with friends and family. That is my favorite holiday. A day of thanksgiving. Having a grateful heart is what causes us to prosper and of course, we all offer up a prayer of thanksgiving around the dinner table.
Hopefully I will be able to watch the Green Bay Packers beat the Lions. I suffered through thirty years with the Pack and it is nice to see them doing well. Brett Farve seems to have finally grown up and stopped throwing that heart breaker to the other team.
I am so disgusted with how commentators make fun of the Patriots. This team is the best team ever assembled in the history of the NFL and it is that way because they have a remarkable coach who is able to get them all to play as a unit. As for the camera story the media does not like to tell you it was an assistant coach who got caught and the camera was taken away. No one ever saw the footage. The Coach would not let someone take the fall so he took it himself. That is the kind of champion he is. He stands up to what ever is thrown his way and always plays hard. When the Patriots do something it is with one hundred per cent effort. We can all learn from this team. When I hear some fat lazy commentator poke fun at this championship team, I am totally disgusted.
On Friday I go to San Diego to help Danny Propp open the San Diego Monk Billiard Academy. This will be fun. TV and radio are coming to the grand opening.
Then I fly to Houston to work with Master Harry who lives down near Corpus Crispi. I am looking forward to this as another guy decided to join us. Monk Master Mike Moon is helping me.
I have been working out at this small pool hall in my area. No one there knows who I am and that is fine with me. I did have this young guy come over to play. He began by running three racks and then cooled off. I managed to win five to three. I am hitting the balls very well these days. It pays off when your training is specific and deliberate. i am going through The Masters of Art in Pocket Billiards program.
In Chicago I had three students sign up for the Masters program. I look forward to working with them.
There are nine Masters who have signed up to compete in the Super Billiards Expo in March. I am going to book our hotel rooms in Jan. and plan our dinners, cheering action and order Monk Master shirts for everyone. At this time I am designing a specific training program so we will be able to make a mark on the tournament this year. I can assure you that everyone will be ready. I am looking forward to this years EXPO. You can read about the EXPO by clicking on the Calendar.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. I wish your family all the best.