by Tony Terranova Mon Jan 19, 2009 4:03 pm
Hi Nick,
Good to hear from you – and I see you have an great memory in tracking back the task Geoff gave me to write a book at his first ever masterclass which we both attended.
As you know Geoff and I have been friends since we started training together in the early 1980’s. Therefore we have along our different journeys shared many experiences, stories, highs and lows and supported each other. As a result of this Geoff suggested I write about my experiences based on my working in nearly all parts of the world. I never intended to write until he told me to, and since then a few other established authors have pushed me into writing.
The title of my book is “The Nuts and Bolts of Living” and I have completed the first chapter and have the material ready for other chapters. I called it the nuts and bolts because I am an engineer and it is “living through the eyes of an engineer”
In summary my intention is include the following in the book (there is more but this is just a quick snap shot):
• My specific working experiences in different parts of the world; e.g. Siberia, Russia, USA, Mexico, China, Japan, Malaysia, European countries, Canada, Middle East countries and others etc.
• The different approach I developed to work with each of the different cultures
• Adversity encountered on the visits and how I overcome them
• I will use engineering analogies as a parallel to life and martial arts by talking about some of the engineering solutions that I have used apply to living and the martial arts
• Coping strategies I have used along then way when things get tough and you are thousands of miles away from home and on your own
• How I adapted my training so that I could keep training while traveling / coping with injuries and modifying my training as I get older (I am now only 52!)
• Friendships I have made along the way
• My personal demons that I have had to slaughter which surface when one is isolated and thousands of miles from home
• My own personal experiences and views as a Sicilian immigrant coming to this country at the age of 8 and not being able to speak the language, the subsequent school bullying and my development in martial arts to counter that bullying
• My 25 year journey in the martial arts, the people that have influenced me and some of my views on the martial arts research I have done
• As you know my wife Jenny is unwell with a genetic disorder for which they say there is no cure; this adversity has resulted in me, my wife and my family finding strength with certain coping strategies which I will integrate into the main body of the book as it may help others in the same situation.
The book is not an autobiography as I do not consider myself important enough to do a Bio. It is intended to be more of a integrated montage of information that will provide the reader with an insight to other cultures, philosophies, the importance of what Deepak calls synchronized destiny - and coping strategies when things get a bit tough. It may just help someone in their lowest moment to be able to carry on. I have learnt that even in the darkest moment if we take the time to look carefully we will see a flower growing somewhere which is our little sign of hope. At our lowest time we just have to look, believe and tough it out as there is always tomorrow.
The hardest part is to get my arse into gear and get writing.
Regards,
Tony
