Thursday, July 17, 2025

Book Review- Honor of Blood

Just finished Honor of Blood by Kenneth Fjeld.  Definitely a great Martial Arts book. It does have a 1970s martial arts film feel to it.

Kenneth is a sixth-degree UFAF Black Belt and UFAF Region president for Europe, so his experience in martial arts was a definite plus in illustrating the characters' martial arts actions. 

It was a hard book to put down, so I finished it quite quickly. It was suspenseful right to the end as you did not know if the main characters were going to survive against the odds they faced.

I highly recommend this book. I know the author also, and he is a very down-to-earth person.

Book Review - Acts of Kindness My Story

I just finished this book after it had sat on my desk for almost a year.  This is a biography by Wilma Norris Knight, the mother of Chuck, Aaron, and Weiland Norris. I found this book when we were cleaning out the UFAF Storage locker here in Las Vegas, and I had it on my 'to-read' stack of paper books.

She put this together with Chaplain Todd Dubord when she was 90. She passed away at the age of 103 in December 2024.

Her story is amazing and very spiritual. You can definitely feel that God was first in her life. She outlines her early life, her marriages, her Children, and how God/Angels have guided and helped her throughout her life.

I would highly recommend reading this book to get to know her and understand what drove her to be the kind-hearted woman she was. It also outlines where Chuck and Aaron Norris get their value and why they are also so kind-hearted.

I was fortunate to have met her at our UFAF ITC several times here in Las Vegas. What you read in the book is the way she was in real life. 

Book Review - To Kill a Mockingbird

Earlier in the month, I finished this classic, which I also read a long time ago in High School.  It's an amazing story published in 1960 about racial inequality. I find it amazing that the author Harper Lee had the courage to write this, and she is from Alabama. She won a Pulitzer Prize for this in 1961. It does warm my heart to know there were people who did not feel that black people should be demonized and treated inhumanely.

 I am glad I was not raised in this part of the country or during this time. Reminds me of a comment made by one of my Air Force buddies sometime during 1979-1982 while I was stationed in Ellsworth AFB, SD. He told me that He and I could not walk down a street in his hometown in Mississippi without me getting beaten up and him being lynched. He was black, and I was white as snow.

Do I believe we still have Racism in the US?  Yes, I have seen it. I'm not sure we'll ever be able to completely eliminate it.

I am glad the Jim Crow laws are no longer in effect, so people of all colors can at least make something of their lives.  We should judge people on their character, rather than their appearance or spiritual beliefs.

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Picture of the Day - ITC Setup

My goal this month is to take a daily picture of something that makes me smile.

For the next four days, I will be posting pictures from the United Fighting Arts Federation (UFAF) International Training Conference and Championships.  This annual event is held in Las Vegas. This organization was founded by Chuck Norris and Aaron Norris.

This year, we are holding it at the Rio Casino and Hotel. These pictures are from the ITC Setup.  The next four days will be photos from the event

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Picture of the Day - Challenge Coins

My goal this month is to take a daily picture of something that makes me smile.

These are some of the challenge coins that I have received over the last couple of years. In the military, we used to have to carry these coins as if we were challenged in a bar, and did not have them, then we would buy a round. I do carry some that I give to police officers and firefighters to thank them for their service