Jon F. Merz

 by Jon F. Merz

In The Footsteps of The Past

Yesterday, the family and I went for a hike at the Nobscot Boy Scout Reservation in Sudbury, Massachusetts. For those who have been reading this blog for a while, you know this is the site of the annual New England Warrior Camp put on my friend Ken Savage, who runs his own dojo the Winchendon Martial Arts Center and is the senior student of my teacher, Mark Davis of the Boston Martial Arts Center. Every year for the past fourteen years, Ken has put on the camp and invited instructors from all over to come and present a teaching segment – sometimes based around a theme, sometimes not. Over the years, thousands of people have come to this 3-day event, held each Autumn, and “explored, challenged, and developed their warrior spirit.”

It’s always a fantastic event and ken and his staff do an utterly amazing job of making sure that the Camp runs smoothly. For most folks, the visit to Nobscot is a once-a-year event, but I like visiting the camp at other times of the year for the specific purpose of walking in the past.

For fourteen years, the Camp has been a fixture in my life; an event where I get to have scores of experiences, lessons, and opportunities. Fourteen years ago, I’d only been studying the art for about seven years and had only just earned my first degree black belt during a trip to Japan in 1997 with Ken and Mark. Back then, I didn’t teach at the Camp – I was simply another camp-goer eager to participate in whatever segments were available. The Camp – as created by Ken – delivered countless adventures that have a cherished place in my memories.

But as is so often the case with life, our focus is often only forward-looking. What’s coming down the road? What’s happening around us at any given time? What are our goals for the day, the next week, or the next year. And I’m fond of saying that once something is in the past, it’s no use residing there any longer because it can no longer be changed.

As much as I myself like to keep driving ahead, there is great value in walking in the past – if only for a few hours. And by walking the paths of the Nobscot Reservation, it gives me the opportunity to remember precious lessons that time may have obscured or rendered less potent. As I walked with my family, I passed the Fire Trail where my good friend Rich Borgatti earned his black belt by belly-crawling up the side of a mountain and then having to endure a particularly grueling series of attacks. But you can read Rich’s full account of that night here, because for me to attempt to replicate it from my perspective as his senior would be unjust.

We walked past the Chippanyonk Fire Circle, where on Friday and Saturday nights, the instructors field questions from camp goers on the essence of warriorship, walking the path, technical questions from the art, and so much more. The conversations that have taken place there are priceless, and even now, the words of those many nights still linger in the rustling of the trees that lean in over the long cold embers of many fires.

Beyond, we strolled into the Ellis Lands, where most of the teaching segments have taken place. It’s where I’ve taught the majority of my segments alongside my close friend Paul Etherington. It’s where Ken built a long fire walk during one particularly memorable Camp. It’s where we’ve practiced intention exercises while surrounded by the dark forest on all sides.

Every step that I took with my family yesterday brought back another moment – precious fleeting instances from my past riding on the wings of a lesson, an expression, a comment, a smile – and another realization of the legacy I’ve been ever so fortunate to be a part of. As I watched my sons run along the same paths, and their laughter echo through the same trees I’ve come to know so well, I saw glimpses of faces from my past running and laughing as well. Some of those people have chosen to walk another path; others still walk the path with me. But each has had a place in creating the treasure that is my past.

When Ken created the Camp, he’d recently earned his 5th degree black belt and the Grandmaster told those who passed the test that he had just given them a seed. It was up to them what they did with it. They could put it away, and every so often take it out and look at it. Or they could plant it and let it become something truly incredible. Ken selflessly chose to plant the seed and let it blossom into the New England Warrior Camp. For fourteen years, he has labored tirelessly to provide students with the chance to experience aspects of Ninjutsu training that you won’t find in the safe confines of a dojo.

But he’s done so much more than that. What Ken has created with the Camp is a living, breathing piece of history – much the way the art of Ninjutsu is a living, breathing, constantly evolving martial lineage – one that continues to teach long after the actual events have passed.

Yesterday, walking through the woods at Nobscot, I got a chance to relive many of those lessons, to remember the joys of hard training, the chuckle of shared camaraderie, and even the wafting scent of the ghost of Ed the Cook’s Gumbo recipe.

Living in the past is a mistake; but visiting the past every once in a while is a great thing. For me, it helps me appreciate the journey I’m on, the places I’ve been, the kindred spirits I’ve been blessed to walk beside, and the lessons – so many lessons – that I’ve learned in pursuit of some greater ideal. Thanks to Ken Savage and the New England Warrior Camp, I have a place I can visit where walking in the footsteps of the past is not only possible…

…it’s wonderful.

Thank you, Ken.

in life thoughts / martial arts / self protection / ninjutsu / Uncategorized 0 comments
 by Jon F. Merz

Facebook Page Timeline Tips for Authors

So, as of March 30th, every page on Facebook will be rolled over to the new Timeline format currently being used on personal profiles. It’s no use complaining; Facebook has mandated the switchover. While all pages will switch over on the 30th, you can actually get started now on designing it and using the Timeline feature for your page. But for authors, here are some critical tips to make the most of the new format.

1. Choose a great cover photograph. The measurement for the new page cover photo is 851 pixels wide by 315 pixels tall. But be advised: your cover photo must NOT have any of the following:

i. price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download it on socialmusic.com”;
ii. contact information such as a website address, email, mailing address, or information that should go in your Page’s “About” section;
iii. references to Facebook features or actions, such as “Like” or “Share” or an arrow pointing from the cover photo to any of these features; or
iv. calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends.”

Any of that stuff is expressly forbidden by Facebook.

That said, your cover photo can really make a great impression. It should be sharp, illustrate who you are as an author (and more if you happen to have a good platform) and include a nice eye-catching graphic. Here’s the cover photo I had my graphic design guru do up for my page:

Since my platform is “writer, producer, ninja” it was important to me that I convey each of those items through a visual cue. So, you have a screenshot of The Fixer website, me doing some ninjutsu, and then book covers for my various recent works. My logo is front and center and my name is prominently displayed. I think it works very well and comments have been great. Having the cover photo with Timeline gives you far more real estate to make an impression than the old page layout, so be sure to use it to get people excited about your writing! The overall design also ties in with my website design – brand continuity is very important!

Finally, your cover image is also clickable, so be sure to put up a description there that helps sell yourself and your work. My cover photo description reads: “Find out more about my books here http://amzn.to/lawsonbks (for Kindle users) and http://bitr.ly/lawsonv (for Nook users) and be sure to visit me at http:///www.jonfmerz.net & on Twitter @jonfmerz” It’s one more opportunity to engage new and old fans alike so don’t forget to use it!

2. There’s no longer a tab you can set as your default landing page, so anyone coming to your page will see the Timeline feature. Make sure if you’ve got posts or comments in your timeline that you don’t like that you delete them and clean things up.

3. FBML is going away in June. For a while now, FBML (Facebook Mark-Up Language) was a simple application you could add to your page and create a sort-of custom website on it, using HTML etc. Well, Facebook has decided that FBML is obsolete and they’re switching everything over to iFrames now. What that means is if you have any custom tabs (say, “Subscribe to My Newsletter” or something like that) they will stop working in June. So the best thing to do now is to replicate those same tabs using iFrames. How do you do that? Pretty easily, actually: grab the Static HTML iFrames Tab Application and add it to your page. Now you can take whatever HTML coding you had on your FBML tab and move it over to the iFrames tab. After previewing the new iFrames tab and making sure it works like it should, you can delete the old FBML tab.

One thing, FBML used the same CSS style sheets that Facebook uses and inherited all those font qualities, etc. The new iFrames tab does not, so your stuff is going to look different until you set the font size and face to the same as your other pages. You can set the CSS style directly on the iFrame app tab when you insert the rest of the old FBML code. iFrames actually gives you a LOT more creative control over what you want the tab to do, so take some time to learn how to maximize it. I’m not going to run through how to do that here, but it’s something you’ll want to explore to get the most functionality out of your new page design. (I’m still in the process of redesigning my page anyway, so it would be premature of me to offer up advice when I’m still figuring it all out!)

4. Hello Data! One of the coolest new features when you implement the Timeline design on your page is the incredible amount of information Facebook gives to page administrators about who is viewing your page, liking it, post popularity, etc. This is fantastic because it lets you see immediately how much your posts and engagement with readers is registering. Say you write a post about your recent book coming out for sale: with the new data feedback, you can see how popular it actually was. It takes a certain degree of guesswork out of trying to quantify your reader engagement. The results are right in front of you. It might be slightly disconcerting to learn that your throwaway joke about Snooki and the Mayan calendar had more viral impact than talking up your latest thriller, but it’s also good to know how your demographic responds to you.

Here’s a screenshot of my admin panel that displays on top of my cover photo (you have the option to hide this – see the upper right button there?) Check out the small square that says “insights.” If you click on “see all” you’ll be whisked away to a page with incredible detail. But here’s the cool thing about even that small screenshot: I’ve been sick lately two times. Guess where those two dips in my engagement data fell? Exactly when I was feeling like crap and didn’t post very much or otherwise engage. As a result, my reach dipped, people weren’t talking about me, and the page just sort of died in terms of excitement.

Why is this data so important? Because as much as you might like to lock yourself away and live out that “writer hermit” fantasy, the truth is you’re in business. You sell ebooks, or books, or both. And as such, you need to know what your audience is doing, how they’re responding, and how to engage them – that is, if you have any hope of making a long-term career out of this stuff. So Facebook has graciously given you oodles of information to help you improve your business. Seriously. Some of you will no doubt roll your eyes and employ that old excuse, “I don’t have TIME to look at all of this stuff, I’m a writer.” Great. Well, if that’s your excuse, then so be it. Some other writer will quickly grasp how this data can give them a leg up on you and then proceed to decimate you in sales. This kind of intelligence is gold, people. Use it or lose it.

I’ll have another post next week discussing more ways to make your page better. But for now, get out there and start creating some kick-ass designs!

And by the way, if you find this post useful, come swing by my Fan Page and say hello!

in Build a Bestseller / ebooks / promotion & publicity / publishing / Uncategorized / website 0 comments
 by Jon F. Merz

The Story of Will’s Birth

Yesterday was my youngest son Will’s 7th birthday. It’s amazing how quickly time flies and looking at him now, he seems so far removed from that night in early March those years ago. Right now, he’s sitting in my office behind me reading a Lego magazine while he waits to go the doctor. He’s been feeling pretty crappy since Friday, so we want to make sure he doesn’t have strep throat.

Seven years ago yesterday, I was exactly where I am now: sitting in front of my iMac in my home in Medfield. It was going on about 10:50pm and Joyce was in our bedroom watching Law & Order, and Jack, who was three at the time, was asleep next to her. Joyce suddenly called for me and when I came into the bedroom, she was standing up saying, “it’s time to go!”

We bundled Jack up, called Joyce’s folks to meet us at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston so they could take care of Jack while Joyce did her thing, and climbed into our car and shot off for the city. A trip to Boston during the day can take anywhere from forty minutes to an hour depending on traffic. Much of the trip is on a one-lane road, so if you get stuck behind someone driving slow, you’re screwed. But at that time of night, we made pretty good time. I opted to jump on the highway as soon as possible so we could get on roads with more than one lane in order to get us there quicker.

We cruised off of 128 North at route 9 and headed east toward Boston. Route 9 goes straight into Boston and it’s right near the hospital, so that was a good route to take. As we shot through Wellesley and Newton, traffic started to increase. All the while, Joyce was trying to keep her mind off the pain by complaining that they were just about the reveal the killer’s identity on Law & Order and she had missed it.

After Newton we came into Brookline and Joyce was experiencing more pain. I was driving fast. Jack had come six week early and had taken only three hours to deliver from start to finish. Will was five weeks early and I didn’t know how long I had before the little dude was going to make an appearance. I’d gone through First Responder training and could deliver him, if need be, but I didn’t relish the thought of doing so on the side of the road, so I was damned if I wasn’t going to get her to the hospital.

As we approached the Chestnut Hill Mall, I saw a green light start to go to yellow and spotted a cop off on my left. I deliberately shot through the light, knowing he would jump on me. He did. Lights flashing, I pulled over and then waved him up next to me. He pulled alongside and I told him that Joyce was in labor and we were headed for the hospital. Without batting an eye, he simply nodded, said, “follow me!” and we took off down route 9 with his lights flashing and us tucked in behind him. By the next intersection, we had two more cruisers all around us, lights flashing and sirens wailing as we slid through the traffic with ease and got to the hospital in about three minutes.

At the roundabout by the entrance to the hospital, we swung in and I thanked the lead cop, who stayed in place until we got Jack with his grandparents and Joyce headed inside. The valet at the hospital took care of our car and we went inside to have Will. By now, it was about 11:40pm and less than three hours later, Will arrived at six pounds, fourteen ounces and nineteen inches long at 2:31am. His delivery was tougher on Joyce than Jack’s but she still managed to do it without any drugs – something that I still marvel at – and only by crushing the bones in my hand and her sister Jocelyn’s hand, while I told lame jokes to try to keep everyone’s spirits up.

My second son was as much of a gift as my first and I was thrilled that I had now had two boys, especially since before Jack, we weren’t even sure we’d be able to have children at all. Seven years later, that little bundle of joy has turned into a Monster Truck fiend and Lego architect of the first order. He has an amazing sense of humor and the wiseass sarcastic gene handed down in my bloodline is alive and well in the newest generation – for better or for worse, lol. I’m thankful every day for my sons, and even when life’s other challenges intrude, I never end a day without giving thanks for them being in my life.

So Happy Birthday, William Edward Merz. Seven year ago, you were just a sleepy little bundle of joy viewed through my misty, proud eyes. Today, you’re nursing a sore throat and handling it like a champ. In a few weeks, you’ll be back in the baseball field smacking home runs with the best of them. Seven years doesn’t seem like all that long, but you’ve already given me more reasons to be proud of you than I had a right to expect.

I love you, son.

NOTE: This blog post was inspired by my sister Johanna who runs a great workshop on Birth Stories for parents through her company Familytopia. She runs fantastic programs for corporations and companies of all sizes and does one helluva job at it.

in life thoughts 0 comments
 by Jon F. Merz

“Finding Bigfoot” is My “Jersey Shore”

I had an epiphany of sorts last night.

I’m battling the flu and so a lot of my time lately has been spent in front of the TV taking it easy. I hate the lack of activity, but I need to rest. As I’ve been resting, I’ve been watching “Finding Bigfoot” on the Animal Planet network. I discovered this show last year, and I think it’s probably one of the dumbest shows around.

But I love it.

Cryptozoology has always been a closet passion of mine. When I was a young kid, I got into Loch Ness and the Yeti and Bigfoot so much that I had drawers set aside in my room for my “research.” My research largely consisted of drawings I’d made and any newspaper clippings I could find. I was devoted to watching In Search Of with Leonard Nimoy and imagined one day setting off on my own quests to find long-lost beasts of legend.

So when Finding Bigfoot debuted last year, I was all over it. I’d already been raving about how great Destination Truth was and hoped that Finding Bigfoot would be in the same vein as that show.

It’s not at all like Destination Truth. It’s more like Jersey Shore.

Finding Bigfoot has a cast of four: Matt Moneymaker who is the head of the BFRO (Bigfoot Research Organization), Cliff, his trusty sidekick, Bobo, who actually looks more like a Bigfoot than anything they’ve found to-date on the show, and Renee, the skeptical biologist who is along to try to debunk the things the group hears in the woods, any footage they come across that sort of thing.

Episodes usually begin with the team in a certain part of the country to investigate a recent sighting. Enroute, a conversation occurs whereby the three guys all talk about the likelihood that there will be a “squatch” in the area, while Renee sits there and attempts to inject some semblance of rational thought into the mix. She always fails.

And therein lies the problem with the show, the boys have already decided that pretty much every area they visit has Sasquatches living in it. Every sound in the forest during their night investigations is a “squatch.” Every locale is “squatchy,” and so on and so on. These guys want so badly to believe that Sasquatch exists that they have really compromised all of their supposed journalistic integrity in the hopes that their gee whiz charm turns viewers into believers. Renee’s perspective is brushed aside and the guys don’t seem to like her very much. In their defense, she has about as much charisma as a paper bag, but then again, none of the team really has much in the way of charisma, either.

On every episode, after the team has stood up in front of the locals and plotted their sightings on a map, they go out into the woods. At night. Because, ya know, night is scary. And everything seen through night vision looks cooler, apparently. The team always breaks up into two squads and then they plod through the woods. At a predetermined point, Matt Moneymaker will do his best Bigfoot howl. Bobo will then usually answer in return. Then they wait to hear any other sounds. Sometimes the coyotes complain. Sometimes they get a “knock,” which is apparently how sasquatches communicate by knocking branch lengths against tree trunks. (How they’ve determined these behavioral characteristics is anyone’s guess, but they claim that their field research proves it.) I’m still waiting for the episode when they do these insipid howls and some camper shouts back, “Shut the fuck up! I’m trying to sleep!” That would be gold.

One of my favorite parts of the show is when the team comes up with a supposedly revolutionary method for tracking any squatches they suspect to be in the area. On the most recent episode, this method involved baiting several tree trunks with glazed donuts and then sprinkling ultraviolet powder in the area. That way, when the sasquatches had their coffee break and came over for the free donuts, they’d step in the powder and then the team would be able to track them with special flashlights.

Uh…yeah.

Naturally, instead of sasquatch tracks, all they got were raccoon and possum tracks. I wondered why they were bothering with UV powder when they could have just as easily set up motion controlled cameras used on other nature shows. If any squatches came trooping through, the camera would snap their picture.

But pictures aren’t as cool as UV powder.

Another thing: the team is always looking for squatches in the night. But most of the eyewitness reports have encounters during the day.

In any event, the show is actually a comedy about three bumbling idiots and the one sane individual who tries to keep them grounded. And I watch it every damned week. Because, you never know, one time they might actually get lucky and stumble over a squatch.

I can’t claim to learn anything from watching this other than perhaps how NOT to go bigfoot hunting. But I still have to tune in. I imagine it’s the same for viewers of Jersey Shore who tune in each week to see if Snooki can ever get through a night without shacking up with the crew of whatever aircraft carrier happens to be in dock that particular week. It probably most definitely WON’T happen.

But it COULD.

So, my thanks to Matt, Cliff, Bobo, and Renee for making my television viewing just a bit more comedic and addictive.

Until next week. 🙂

in film/TV / general / life thoughts / Uncategorized 0 comments
 by Jon F. Merz

The Easy Way or The Right Way?

Today’s been a great day so far: I have a brand new nephew, Dylan James, who entered this world earlier this morning. I received a fantastic piece of fan mail from a Delta flight attendant who absolutely loves the Lawson series, which is always gratifying to get. And I also got an email from someone within the Ninjutsu organization asking me to come out and teach a seminar for them.

I was both honored and humbled by this request. It’s nice to get an email from someone who appreciates my perspective on this art to the point that they’d like me to come and put on a weekend seminar for them.

But I turned the request down.

And here’s why: if someone wants to hire me for a seminar, they shouldn’t: they should hire my teacher Mr. Mark Davis of the Boston Martial Arts Center. This is the man who has taught me virtually everything I know about this art; this is the man whose wisdom, experience, and guidance have enabled me to survive some horrifying encounters and emerge unscathed. It’s because of Mark that I am as far along the path as I am.

I enjoy teaching people and I’ve done it for a number of years now. I’m always honored to be asked to be a presenter at the annual New England Warrior Camp, I’ve taught many classes at Mark’s dojo, and I run my own informal training group most Sunday nights in my town. In the past, I’ve conducted training events for the State Department, Bureau of Prisons, Department of Justice, and other interesting places like that.

But I’m not studying this art to become recognized as a teacher or a guru or what have you. My motivation has always been to study what I consider to be one of the finest methods of self-protection available to anyone – and then be able to pass my knowledge down to my children so they, too, have the means and mindset to be able to survive any encounter they might find themselves in.

That’s it.

I know of people who would jump at any opportunity to teach a seminar – to try to prove that they have some sort of great insight into this art, or to earn a quick buck. But why would hire a student, when you can just as easily hire the teacher of that student? As I explained to the person who emailed me, I’m still learning to find my way in this art – even after more than two decades. This material isn’t easy; it’s complex stuff that demands constant study. And at advanced levels, this material gets even more challenging. It’s not about “put your foot here and do this” – it’s about a whole other realm of technique. And stuff that advanced can’t be taught over the phone or via the Internet or via Skype or by churning out silly notebooks filled with A+B=C type notes. People who do that are simply misleading others for the sake of ego or to make a quick dollar.

So as I wrote back to the sender, it’s important to get with my teacher and not me. Hire my teacher to come and show you this stuff – not me. If you hire me, you’re getting material that is removed from the source and therefore not likely to be as accurate and fulfilling as it could be. By hiring my teacher, you get to experience what I experience on a weekly basis. It’s better for everyone involved.

I’ve seen too many charlatans attempt to lead folks astray in some vain attempt to set themselves up as a “guru du jour” – people who think they can break things down into stupid catchphrases and marketing gimmicks. But the essence of this art – the essence of any real martial lineage – isn’t techniques written down in a notebook (or xeroxed and covertly handed out for that matter) – it’s experience.

Each student has their own experience. That’s the truth to this training that no one can ever take away from you.

But in order to get that experience, you need to get with someone as high up and experienced within this art as possible. That’s why I refused to teach this seminar and why I suggested hiring my teacher instead. He’s got oodles of more years in this art and his comprehension of the material dwarfs my own. How could I in good conscience pretend that I could be a better guide to this tradition than him? How could I claim to be an honorable representative of this art (knowing full well that my own comprehension of this material is far less than my teacher’s) by agreeing to teach?

I couldn’t.

It would have been easy to say yes. It would have been easy to go out-of-state and put on a show down south and then pretend that I’m some elevated teacher of this material. After all, I’ve got the license from Japan to do so, so it’s all good, right?

Wrong.

I’m fond of saying that ego is the number one killer of decent ninjutsu practitioners. It’s easy to drink the Kool Aid when people sing your praises. It’s easy to believe that you’re a gifted practitioner capable of leading others.

It’s easy.

But that’s the warning sign.

I’m not in this art for it to be easy. Come to think of it, I’m not in life for it to be easy. The warrior’s path is hard – and the difficulties we face are for a reason. It takes effort to see yourself objectively and to understand that you have so much to work on, that you have your own inner demons to cleanse, that you have many more steps to go even after walking so many already.

Too many get lost along the way. They believe their own hype. They pose and posture and pretend and they end up irresponsibly hurting the lives of others by depriving them of their own experiences and their own opportunities to discover the joys of this martial tradition.

They opt for the easy way out.

I made a vow a long time ago that I would never take the easy way out of anything. So as tough as it was to turn down the rather hefty paycheck, it was the right thing to do. And the people who end up hiring my teacher will have a better time and better experiences because of it.

I believe that’s what it means to be an asset to this art, instead of just another joke.

in common sense / life thoughts / martial arts / self protection / ninjutsu 0 comments