Two seconds. That’s all it took for Miguel Rodriguez, Long Beach Gladiators wrestling coach and a teaching assistant in the Long Beach Schools to know he had to work with Isaiah Bird.
“My boss asked me to meet with a new kid to the school, a child without legs,” Rodriguez said. “As soon as I met him, I knew right away that I wanted to work with him. He asked me to pick up him so we could play basketball. He was so friendly and outgoing. I knew he was special.”
Six-year old Bird has indeed done special things already. He may have wanted to shoot hoops with Rodriguez when they first interacted, but that’s no longer his activity of choice.
Rodriguez introduced him to wrestling through the Long Beach Gladiators over a year ago and he quickly embraced the sport.
“He pushed basketball to the side,” Rodriguez said. “It’s all about wrestling for him now – he got really into it. He liked it right away. He saw that not having legs could be an advantage – it’s hard for people to take you down. He also has amazing upper body strength. He walks on his hands so his hands are basically his legs. He practiced and practiced and practiced and he did very well in his first year. Actually, as soon as he wrestled his first match, we realized we could teach him and he would develop his own style.”
That style is heavily influenced by a wrestler who faced some of the same challenges as Bird while growing up in the sport on Long Island. Rohan Murphy lost his legs at birth, but went on to wrestle at Penn State before representing the United States internationally in powerlifting.
“When Isaiah started, we called Rohan and he came down,” said Long Beach High School head coach Ray Adams. “The first time Isaiah saw Rohan, the look on his face was amazing; it was like seeing himself in the future. It’s been nice to see that relationship develop.”
“Rohan Murphy is Isaiah’s idol,” Rodriguez added. “That’s his superhero. He accomplished so much without legs. Isaiah talks about how he needs to do well in math and all his subjects so he can go to college and wrestle like Rohan Murphy. We spoke to Rohan and his high school coach about what they did when he was learning to wrestle – how to teach Isaiah the right things to make him as successful as possible. Isaiah continues to get better. He’s been outstanding.”
Indeed, he has. According to Rodriguez, Bird placed third in the state and sixth at the War at the Shore Nationals, among other achievements. His medal count continues to climb.
“Isaiah loves his medals, but now he’s talking more about the big trophy he got taking sixth at Nationals,” Rodriguez said. “That was unexpected and amazing.”
Words like “amazing” are often used to describe Bird.
“It’s inspiring to watch him wrestle,” Adams said. “He goes out there and operates with what he has and makes no excuses about anything. It’s great to see someone overcoming the odds the way Isaiah does.”
“I think he shows that anything is possible,” Rodriguez added. “Here you have a child with no legs, who says he doesn’t need them. Everything we do, he tries the best he can. If he can do it, the others can do it. There are no excuses – that’s Isaiah’s line. That’s his motto. We’re very lucky to have him as part of Long Beach Gladiators and at the same time, he’s lucky to have the wrestling family and wrestling community. The community has shown that it will come together and help him when he’s in need.”
Bird does face additional challenges off the mat. He is homeless – currently living in a shelter with his mother and younger brother.
After a story about him appeared on News 12 Long Island earlier this spring, some assistance arrived, including a wheelchair.
Retrieved on December 8, 2014 from:
http://www.newyorkwrestlingnews.com/news_article/show/388792?referrer_id=1024271
Pooh bear holding onto a Tao kite
Winnie the Pooh has a certain way about him, a way of doing things which has made him the world’s most beloved bear. And Pooh’s Way, as Benjamin Hoff brilliantly demonstrates, seems strangely close to the ancient Chinese principles of Taoism. The ‘Tao of Pooh’ explains Taoism by Winnie the Pooh and explains Winnie the Pooh by Taoism. It makes you understand what A.A. Milne probably meant when he said he didn’t write the Pooh-books for children in the first place.
Over the centuries, Taoism classic teachings were developed and divided into philosophical, monastic, and folk religious forms. All of these could be included under the general heading of Taoism. But the basic Taoism is simply a particular way of appreciating, learning from, and working with whatever happens in everyday life. From the Taoist point of view, the natural result of this harmonious way of living is happiness.
One of the basic principles of Taoism is P’U; the Uncarved Block. The essence of the Uncarved Block is that things in their original simplicity contain their own natural power, power that is easily spoiled and lost when that simplicity is changed. This principle applies not only to things, but to people as well. Or Bears. Which brings us to Pooh, the very Epitome of the Uncarved Block. When you discard arrogance, complexity, and a few, other things that get in the way, sooner or later you will discover that simple, childlike, and mysterious secret known to those of the Uncarved Block: Life is Fun. Along with that comes the ability to do things spontaneously and have them work, odd as that may appear to others at times. As Piglet put it in ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’, “Pooh hasn’t much Brain, but he never comes to any harm. He does silly things and they turn out right.”
Owl sitting in his chair
Owl instead, is the opposite of Pooh, the Knowledge for the sake of Appearing Wise, the one who studies Knowledge for the sake of Knowledge, and who keeps what he learns to himself or to his own small group, rather than working for the enlightenment of others. That way, the scholars can appear Superior, and will not likely be suspected of Not Knowing Something. After all, from the scholarly point of view, it’s practically a crime not to know everything. But sometimes the knowledge of the scholar is a bit hard to understand because it doesn’t seem to match up with our own experience of things. Isn’t the knowledge that comes from experience more valuable than the knowledge that doesn’t?
While Owl’s little routine is that of Knowledge for the sake of Appearing Wise, Eeyore’s is that of Knowledge for the sake of Complaining About Something and Rabbit’s is that of Knowledge of Being Clever. As anyone who doesn’t have it can see, the Eeyore Attitude gets in the way of things like wisdom and happiness, and pretty much prevents any sort of real Accomplishment in life. Cleverness, after all, has its limitations. Its mechanical judgements and clever remarks tend to prove inaccurate with passing time, because it doesn’t look very deeply into things to begin with. The thing that makes someone truly different -unique, in fact- is something that Cleverness cannot really understand.
Pooh and Christopher Robin help Tigger
“A fish can’t whistle and neither can I.” There’s nothing wrong with not being able to whistle, especially if you’re a fish. But there can be lots of things wrong with blindly trying to do what you aren’t designed for. Unfortunately, some people aren’t so wise, and end up causing big trouble for themselves and others. The wise know their limitations; the foolish do not. To demonstrate what we mean, we can think of no one better than Tigger, who doesn’t know his limitations (‘Tiggers’ can do everything’), which brings him in lots of trouble. Piglet instead knows his limitations and that’s what makes him sometimes more brave than you would expect from such a small animal. So, the first thing we need to do is recognize and trust our own Inner Nature, and not lose sight of it. Inside the Bouncy Tigger is the Rescuer who knows the Way, and in each of us is something Special, and that we need to keep:
“Tigger is all right really,” said Piglet lazily.
“Of course he is,” said Christopher Robin.
“Everybody is really,” said Pooh. “That’s what I think,” said Pooh.
“But I don’t suppose I’m right,” he said.
“Of course you are,” said Christopher Robin.
.
From Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kretshnif_(Hasidic_dynasty)
Kretshnif (also written as Kretchinev, Kretchniv, Kretshniff) is a Hasidic Jewish dynasty that comes from the Nadvorna dynasty.
The first rebbe of Kretshnif was Grand Rabbi Meir Rosenbaum, a son of Grand Rabbi Mordechai of Nadvorna. His sons and successors included Rabbi Eliezer Zev in Kretshnif, Romania and Sighit, and Rebbe Issamar of Nadvorna (d. 1973) in Chernowitz. The descendant rabbis of this dynasty span the globe, mainly in Israel, New York City, England, and Canada.
Dynasty[edit]
Grand Rabbi Meir Rosenbaum of Nadvorna-Kretshniff (d. 1908), son of Rabbi Mordechai Leifer (changed last name to Rosenbaum), son-in-law of Rabbi Yechiel Michel Tirer of Dorohoi Grand Rabbi Eliezer Zev Rosenbaum of Kretshniff (d. 1944) author of Raza d’Shabbos, son of Rabbi Meir of Kretshniff Grand Rabbi Nissan Chaim Rosenbaum, of Bradshin, son of Rabbi Eliezer Zev of Kretshniff Grand Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Rosenbaum of Kretshniff-Sighet (1920-2006) in Jerusalem, son of Rabbi Nissan Chaim of Bradshin, son in law of Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Rosenbaum of Nadvorna Grand Rabbi Nissan Chaim Rosenbaum of Kretshniff-Jerusalem, son of Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Rosenbaum of Kretchnif-Sighit in Jerusalem,
Grand Rabbi Zeidel Rosenbaum of Kretshniff-New York, son of Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Rosenbaum of Kretchnif-Sighit
Grand Rabbi David Moshe Rosenbaum of Kretshniff (d. 1969), son of Rabbi Eliezer Zev, son-in-law of Rabbi Chaim Mordechai of Nadvorna Grand Rabbi Menachem Eliezer Zev Rosenbaum of Kretshnif-Rechovos, present Rebbe of Kretshnif-Rechovos, son of Rabbi David Moshe
Grand Rabbi Yisroel Nisan Rosenbaum of Kretshniff, present Rebbe of Kretshnif-Kiryath Gath, son of Rabbi David Moshe
Grand Rabbi Meir Rosenbaum of Premishlan, present Premishlaner Rebbe, son of Rabbi David Moshe
Grand Rabbi Zeyda Shmuel Shmelke Rosenbaum of Bitschkov in Yaffo, son of Rabbi David Moshe
Grand Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Rosenbaum of Kretshnif-Monsey, son of Rabbi David Moshe of Kretshnif and son-in-law of Rabbi Israel Rosenbaum of Stanislov[1]
