Richard Del Connor, The Hippy Coyote moved to Las Vegas in December 2011 to learn Lion Dance.
In 2010, Shaolin Records released PART
1 of the KUNG
FU COWBOY series of albums: King Solomon's Temple
AmZen eNEWS June 2012
Official newsletter of American Zen
Official
Newsletter of American
Zen, America's
First Buddhist Rock Band
Montrose Kung Fu School Hires Coyote for New Shifu Position
"I wanted that location," says Buddha Zhen (our Zen Coyote). "A couple of my senior students wanted to finance a school for me to teach in. It used to be a dance studio. It's really huge. It's two storefront spaces. But then, one day, there was a Kung Fu school sign on the building. What a shock!"
Coyote brought his senior students to the grand opening of the Eagle Claw school of Sifu Benson Lee.
Coyote, as Buddha Zhen, gave a handwritten letter of congratulations and best wishes. He also gave a few American Zen cds and a Buddha Zhen Tai Chi Magic 1 cd to Sifu Lee.
The Chinese have many codes and symbolisms that Americans are completely unaware of. Certain numbers are thought of as bad luck and other numbers as respectful or good luck. Most Americans don't know why we view the number 13 as bad luck. I'll give you a hint. It has to do with Holy Knights Templar.
Some instructors prefer to have a school all to themselves. I, as Buddha Zhen, have taught in over 50 locations, none of which were mine except my front and backyards in Utah and Tujunga. I could teach a few students from my home and referred to these locations as "House Of Zhen." When I was selecting my websites in 1999 and 2000 I chose "HouseOfZhen.com" This translates as "House Of Truth." I like that.
Point is, I've never had a real school that was entirely mine. So, if I got the chance, I wouldn't want to share it with anyone. My school will be a temple so I don't want it to be used for yoga or dance classes or skateboarding... If anything, I'd like my school to be available for the students to work out in it. Over the past 32 years, I have worked out in many Kung Fu schools, and they can add a dimension to the Kung Fu workout with the full length mirrors and Chinese weaponry and artworks on the walls... I want to work out in my own Kung Fu school. Heck. I'd like to live there!
Back to our drama: It didn't need to get dramatic, but Sifu Lee divorced his wife Suzanne and she wants to keep the school with Sifu Lee teaching at a new location in the Montrose area.
When Suzanne called Buddha Zhen in Las Vegas, it seemed like a dream had come true. Buddha Zhen could teach in that Montrose school and there would be no overhead. Wow. Since BZ was barely earning enough for his frozen burritos, overhead was an impossibility.
Buddha Zhen gave all proper respects and assurances he didn't want to offend or cause trouble for Sifu Lee and would keep an open door policy for him to still teach there.
However, although Buddha Zhen had been in Las Vegas since December, someone accused Buddha Zhen of seducing Suzanne... New York Kung Fu brothers of Sifu Lee became concerned and Coyote had to call Sifu Lee and explain he was not sleeping with his wife or seducing her...
So Buddha Zhen didn't pursue this Kung Fu school teaching position for the next couple months. When Buddha Zhen returned to California in his 14' Uhaul rental truck, towing his Toyota Tacoma truck on a tow dolley on June 1st, he slept in the truck for the next couple days as he gathered up his belongings stored at his Kung Fu students homes and combined everything into his 10' x 30' storage unit in Santa Clarita.
Then, on September 3rd, Buddha Zhen held his "Farewell Seminar" at Crescenta Valley Park. "I was hoping it would be a 'Welcome home' seminar," sighs our disappointed Buddha dog. "There were only a few people attending... That's one of the reasons I wrote my book Human Values for Success in Family and Business. People need to be more committed and loyal to their family, friends, teachers, parents, government and employers. Even if I would have been able to start a successful school in Las Vegas, my Los Angeles students should have supported that. It would be their school also. When your parents move to another city, they are still your parents. The only reason people understand that is because of the undeniable biological relationship. But that's not what I'm talking about. You should respect and love your parents or step parents or foster parents, just as much whether they live in Hawaii as you would love them if they lived next door."
Coyote laughs, "I was speaking to my dad the other day and he says that if I have enough money, my kids will want to be with me more."
But as far as Montrose goes, Coyote has posted hundreds of flyers on telephone poles from Tujunga to Montrose since 2001. Coyote has done demonstrations and public events. The Buddha Kung Fu school and 12 Step 12 Week Kung Fu Bootcamp have been featured in newspaper articles. Still, there hasn't been a successful way to promote Kung Fu or Tai Chi in the Sunland, Tujunga, Montrose, Verdugo City, La Canada-Flintridge, La Crescenta cities that are gathered together in this valley east of Burbank and north of Pasadena.
"I have to go back to my Daoist roots," chuckles Buddha Zhen. "Daoism teaches us to plant our seed in soil that will bring life and sustenance to the plant. Perhaps if we had moved to Burbank as I'd originally planned, my Kung Fu and Tai Chi schools would have been more successful. Unfortunately, this area wasn't the right location for my Shaolin Chi Mantis programs. The Tai Chi Youth programs did very well at the YMCA, but that wasn't really my school and I was paid by the hour. The Buddha Kung Fu programs were tested and revised into the best Kung Fu program in the USA. It's got a lot more Kung Fu than most people can acquire, but for those Americans who want to be Kung Fu masters, Buddha Kung Fu can do it, and it will be safe, fun, and without injury. Now I just need a place to teach."
Human Values for Success in Family and Business: Book #1 of 4
http://www.shaolinRECORDS.com/RecordStore-R/HumanValues1-R.html
Shaolin Chi Mantis Traditional Buddhist Gongfu and Taijiquan
http://www.ShaolinChiMantis.com
Buddha Kung Fu
http://www.BuddhaKungFu.com
Tai Chi Youth nonprofit education organizaton
http://www.TaiChiYouth.org
House of Zhen
http://www.HouseOfZhen.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
=======================================================
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - Odyssey of American Zen:
Adventures of the Kung Fu Cowboy - -
Time With My Kids
My son was taken away from me to live with his new father, Fred Maldonado, back in 2005. Ironically, he moved to Las Vegas and my ex-wife Michelle McCarty chose not to marry him after visiting his new home. "My face melted off," she exclaimed to ex-hubby Coyote when he was living in Las Vegas this year.
"How weird it is that history repeats itself," says our philosophical fundog. "My son lost his stepfather when he moved to Las Vegas, and then when he moved back in with me, he lost me when I moved to Las Vegas."
Coyote says that he hasn't been able to or even allowed to raise his son since 2005, so their relationship has been distant, especially with relatives bad talking and stabbing our Coyote in the back with hateful comments... for not doing anything wrong at all. (Oh yeah, "You don't make enough money," is what all his relatives have been saying since 1992 when Richard became a full-time Mr. Mom to raise his daughter.)
"I have nothing to be ashamed of and raised my kids as best I could," states our proud pup. "I was the best Mr. Mom in the world. Probably the best mom in the world. But my kids never really appreciated me because I was ALWAYS there, 24/7 cooking and cleaning and teaching them Kung Fu and Tai Chi and homeschooling... They were glad to get rid of me," Coyote chuckles. "But in the last couple years, and especially after my leaving for Las Vegas, they seemed to appreciate me more than ever."
"When Michelle divorced me in the early nineties and said she would never work for Shaolin Records again or obey me as a wife, she also said that the family would be more successful with her pursuing her career with Xerox and not being involved in my businesses at all. Unfortunately, the main reason I married Michelle was to build a family business. I wanted the kids to be involved. I wanted the whole family to work together as singers, actors, musicians, writers, performers, and running a multi-media conglomerate. I wanted my spouse to be my manager, like Billy Joel's early wife, and Shania Twain's husband. I wanted my kids to travel and perform with my like Paul McCartney and Wings, or The Jackson 5, and I wanted my kids to inherit and take over my record company, Shaolin Records, my movie company, Shaolin Pictures, my music publishing company, Shaolin Music, and of course my Kung Fu school, Shaolin Chi Mantis Traditional Buddhist Gongfu and Taijiquan."
"That was another reason I wrote the book, Human Values for Success in Family and Business. I wanted to figure out what I did wrong and how to do it right, explains Coyote. "If I wouldn't have done it wrong (by the advice of others) I wouldn't have known that I was right all along. My financial and business success is based upon all the work I was able to do in my spare time each night after the kids were in bed. Since I had to be the president, secretary, treasurer, salesman, promotion person, marketing director, graphic artist, producer, director, talent, author, and accountant of all my operations and businesses, it was necessary to reduce my nightly sleeping to 4 to 6 hours each night for 15 years. My albums were recorded at night, my books written at night, and my Kung Fu curriculums were designed while the family slept. In 2008, after moving to Montrose, you can see my productivity increase dramatically as I had more time to work on my projects and businesses. I began releasing an album and a book each year, designed and launched a new Kung Fu school, Buddha Kung Fu, and was able to teach more classes without dragging my kids to them."
Coyote's experiences during these years were broadcast in his weekly podcasts of the Zen Buddhist Podcast of Shaolin Zen and the American Zen Buddhist Rock Podcast, also known as Coyote Radio .NET.
Coyote's spending a lot of time driving back and forth from Montrose to Anaheim where his son and ex-wife are staying with the same person that Michelle was staying with when Coyote originally met her in 1989 in North Hollywood, California. Unfortunately, Michelle is no longer with Xerox, and working part-time for Universal Studios.
Maybe Coyote's family would have turned out better if they had all stuck together and built Shaolin Records as a family business. However, both kids have stated they want to pursue their own destinies and not be involved with any of their father's entertainment companies. So Shaolin Records is starting over again, without any distractions of raising children and the mobility Coyote wants to utilize to tour the world as a musician, author, and Kung Fu Zen master. Let's see what happens.
Human Values for Success in Family and Business: Book #1 of 4
http://www.shaolinRECORDS.com/RecordStore-R/HumanValues1-R.html
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
=======================================================
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-- BUDDHISM NEWS: The Path of
Buddha --
Buddha's Last Steps in Montrose
Buddha Zhen (The Hippy Coyote) took down the 12' Kung Fu Bootcamp banner at CV Park in La Crescenta, California. This was a final statement to the neighborhood that Buddha Kung Fu was no longer teaching classes at Crescenta Valley Park.
Buddha Zhen had been teaching at the park since 2007 as a contractor teacher, and using the park for several years prior to that for events and tournaments.
"I like it here. I love this park. I love this neighborhood. But I can't support myself here," says Coyote with soft sadness. "I have a gig in San Diego with Rhino Staging at the end of June. It looks like my dad's living room floor is going to be my next base of operations."
The Montrose Kung Fu school has contacted Buddha Zhen many times about teaching at the school. But Buddha Zhen has told the Sifu's wife, "Until your divorce is finalized, I cannot enter into any business relationships with you, but I will work for an hourly wage."
Montrose Kung Fu school owner Suzanne states she needs a teacher before her divorce is finalized but cannot afford to pay any wages.
"I'd teach for free, if I didn't need any money," states Coyote. "My kids are sleeping on the floors of their friends homes, and I'm sleeping in the back of my truck. I need to take care of my family." Coyote chuckles. "First, as my dad says, I've got to take care of myself, but I really want to provide for my kids better. I'd buy my daughter a car if I could. I'd even buy my ex-wife a car if I could."
Our well-intentioned wellness guru is without students or kids to teach. "It feels weird, I love teaching. In Las Vegas, the mason I stayed with for a couple months had a black labrador retriever dog. That dog got a lot of Kung Fu lessons while I was there," Coyote laughs. "I'd call out the exercises just as if there were a dozen students behind me--instead of that dog. I even kept my Friday morning Senior Tai Chi classes going while I was there in Las Vegas--all by myself."
Buddha Kung Fu Senior Tai Chi programs
http://www.TaijiSeniors.com
Buddha Zhen website
http://www.BuddhaZhen.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
=======================================================
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Enjoy your journeys elsewhere and
here.
Sincerely,
Richard
Del Connor
Producer, shaolinRECORDS.com
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
AmZen_eNEWS
is the official newsletter of American Zen, "America's First Buddhist Rock Band."
The AmZen_eNEWS is published monthly and sent to
fans, friends, and anyone wanting more information on the FOLK
ROCK band, American Zen:
featuring:
The
Hippy Coyote: Drums, Bass, Flute, Vocals, Acoustic
Guitar, Songwriting, and Poetry
http://www.hippycoyote.com
iTunes
AMERICAN ZEN albums
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewArtist?id=7403290
iTunes
AMERICAN ZEN Level 4 = Kung Fu Cowboy PART 1
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=292907806&s=143441
Album
website for American Zen's third album: LEVEL 4 = Kung Fu Cowboy
LEVEL4 = Kung Fu Cowboy PART 1: King Solomon's Temple
American
Zen is an exclusive artist of Shaolin Records: http://www.shaolinRECORDS.com
American
Zen homepage: http://www.americanZEN.org
American
Zen's Facebook page is: http://www.facebook.com/pages/American-Zen/60693496860?v=info
If
you wish to be REMOVED from the AMERICAN ZEN email list,
please follow the link below:
emailremoval@shaolin...
Publisher-Editor:
Richard Del Connor
http://www.shaolinCOMMUNICATIONS.com/webmaster.html
Copyright 2012 Shaolin Communications.
All rights reserved. ASCAP
To
view our privacy/anti-spam policy, please visit:
http://www.shaolincom.com/support-S.html
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________ |
