Similar to the decades-old Who moved my cheese?, Discover Your Dragon (2012) presents a truly innovative way to deal with change in your life. I recently met with the author Donald Hyun Kiolbassa (aka Kung Fu-cious) to discuss his new book. Kiolbassa, a native Chicagoan, is both an accomplished lawyer and a gold medalist in the martial arts. As part of his training as captain of the United States’ Chinese martial arts team for the 2008 World Games, he was invited to study at the legendary Shaolin Temple. In this book, he shares this journey and the lessons he learned about life.
Kiolbassa takes the reader along on his journey to “The Victorious Life.” He summarizes the lessons he learned into five simple categories. The Principles, as he calls them, are as follow:
- Hard Work
- Health
- Balance
- Skills
- Goals
He warns his readers early on that Kung Fu literally means “Hard Work.” This learning sets the tone for his entire journey. Having Chinese roots myself, I immediately recognized this way of thinking as a cornerstone of the culture (my own grandmother used to say “ don’t be afraid of work – let work be afraid of you!”). Kiolbassa writes about arriving at the temple and being awoken at 4:30 a.m. to start his training regimen with a run in the mountains. This, followed by carrying conical containers filled with water up a mountain. The containers did not have flat bottoms so the carrier would not be able to rest, and if he spilled a drop he would have to start over from the bottom!
Thankfully, we can read this from the comfort of home, but one can feel Kiolbassa’s pain as his arms scream from the agony of carrying the water up the steep mountain. Similarly, in empathy, I could feel my own nose itch and wanted to move to scratch it when reading of him learning to concentrate without movement during meditation to avoid beatings from the monk.
All of the principles are described with similar detail and illustration, each with several tenants that are important parts to the whole. In Hard Work, he discusses how one must be accountable and tenacious, as this will provide the confidence one needs to succeed.
A proponent of full-body health, Kiolbassa discusses overall physical and mental wellness. He is a handsome, lean and toned illustration of his own beliefs. During our interview, he told me that he had to put on 25 extra pounds to film the Batman video game. Now that it was complete, he needed to lose to get back to normal, so he had only toast while I polished off two eggs and bacon!
In Balance he discusses the ever-changing demands of life. Here he urges the reader to prioritize and be patient, since given all of our responsibilities in life, we may not achieve balance right away. Similarly, in Skills the reader learns again the importance of patience. Also, in climbing our own mountain, he explains, one may need a mentor.
The last step to the “Victorious Life” is to set goals. Which mountain is the reader to climb? Mr. Kiolbassa suggests Happiness as everyone’s goal. In order to be happy, we need to stay the course and adapt to our surroundings.
At the end of the book, Kiolbassa exclaims that the view is beautiful at the conclusion of his climb to the top of the mountain but that he endured significant struggles to get there. His teacher matter-of-factly points out that “this is the way of life.” Indeed it is.
Discover Your Dragon is available for purchase on Amazon.com, or you can contact Joseph for a copy signed by the author.
Joseph Calvanico is a managing director at Hilco Real Estate, where he heads up the Property Tax Division. Joe attended the University of Wisconsin where he obtained a B.A. in economics and later attended The John Marshall Law School in Chicago, earning a Master’s degree in real estate law. He lives in the West Loop and is an avid Cubs Fan. Contact him at jcalvanico@hilcorealestate.com.