Childhood TV Mentors

When I was growing up in a single parent household, most often the babysitter was the television. I know over the years, TV has been blamed for a lot of things but for me, there has been a positive side that has been very valuable.

I remember we had a great color television and then when the fighting between us three kids got to be too much, my Mother sold the big TV and bought us each a little black and white TV.

For me, this upgrade meant freedom to watch whatever I wanted to watch on channel 4, 5, 9 and 11, (there was channel 2 but nobody ever admitted to watching that educational stuff). TV is where I found my first male role-models and learned some basic lessons; the beginning of a lifelong belief system. How to be a Man 101.

Two of my favor shows were “Lost in Space” on CBS and “Kung Fu” on ABC.

I liked Lost in Space because one of the characters was a boy named Will Robinson and he was always involved with the action. He was very courageous and was always somehow involved with solving the problem, thus saving the day.  I was about the same age as him and I wanted to be just like him. It involved space exploration, science fiction, monsters and aliens, everything a young boy with a budding imagination could ever want in a TV show. Will Robinson would, in time, be replaced by Captain James T. Kirk from Star Trek, but that’s another article.

The second TV show I loved was Kung Fu and this one was broadcast when I was a teenager. At the time, I had no idea how this show would influence my decisions and eventually guide the course of my life.

The main character’s name was Kwai Chang Caine and in a nutshell, he spent his childhood training to be a Shaolin Priest in China and shortly after accomplishing this, he was framed for murder and had to flee to America; the show was based in Old West of the 1800’s. A Shaolin Priest is an expert at many forms of martial arts but also of philosophy, reason, logic, kindness, discipline and wisdom. Someone who takes on a vow of poverty so as to never “want” for anything and to be content with what they have already; serving those in need who need to be helped. I’m know there is a whole lot more to it but that’s what I, as a teenager, gravitated to in this show. In my young eyes, he was the ultimate good guy!

The above photo captures his final test of placing his forearms on both sides of the smoldering cauldron, lifting it from one place to another while branding himself in the process with the mark of the Shaolin Priests. The signs of the Dragon and the Tiger on each forearm were burned into his flesh and he went outside and collapsed into the snowbank. This scene was the main reason why I got a USMC tattoo; I will never, not be a Marine and a mark of the code I live by that I will proudly carry for the rest of my journey.

He lived a life of poverty and literally, walked the states, helping people in need and saying incredibly powerful and meaningful quotes that positively changed people’s lives. He would travel from town to town and whenever he saw injustice, he would have a flashback to a lesson one of his mentors taught him; Master Kan and Master Po, (who was blind), and defend the people using a martial art referred to as kung fu. Although he was wanted by the law, he lived by his principles and defended those who needed defending; he was indeed a hero. He was half Caucasian and half Chinese and he always dealt with racial disparity but he always rose above it. I felt a connection being half Black and half Ojibwe myself; I felt like I knew and understood his struggle.

His character always had me thinking like a real mentor would; I listened and learned to follow these beliefs and integrate them into my life. The show taught me how to be more than what I was, it showed me what it meant to be a responsible adult. If I learned self-discipline, honor, and integrity I could be far more than what I currently was at the time and in those moments, seeds were planted in my young mind of what it should be like, to be a good man.

One of the first conversations that grabbed me was when young Kwai Chang Caine was meeting and talking with his blind mentor, Master Po:

‘Of all things, to live in darkness must be the worst.’ -Young Caine

‘Fear is the only darkness.’ -Master Po

‘Never assume that because a man has no eyes, he cannot see.’ -Master Po

‘Close your eyes. What do you hear?’ -Master Po

‘I hear the water. I hear the birds.’ -Young Caine

‘Do you hear your own heartbeat?’ -Master Po

‘No.’ -Young Caine

‘Do you hear the grasshopper which is at your feet?’ -Master Po

(Shocked to see the grasshopper)

‘Old Man, how is it that you hear these things?’ -Young Caine

‘Young Man, how is it that you do not?’ -Master Po

I had seen Bruce Lee in the movie “Fists of Fury” at the Capri Theater in North Minneapolis as a teen and, like the rest of the world, fell in love with the martial arts. We used to have kung fu fights on my block and all of the kids got involved (it’s a wonder none of us ended up in the hospital). In time, I was to learn that Bruce Lee was supposed to play the role of Kwai Chang Caine but unfortunately, it did not happen.

For me, this is when I started my martial arts training. I started out with a homemade pair of nun-chucks (a chain with 2 sticks on each end) and started working out with everything I could find and eventually fell in love with the samurai sword; this started a life-long passion of learning how to move and control my body.

World Religions class at my Catholic high school opened my mind to other cultures and philosophies around the world like Taoism and Buddhism and I started to see a whole universe that existed outside of mine.

After high school, I had been working at a bank, pondering what to do with my life. I actually narrowed my decision down to two choices; travel to China, take a vow of Chastity and spend my lifetime becoming a Shaolin Priest or become a U.S. Marine. For each of these choices, I knew I would be forever changed and a defender of the good. I knew I was destined to make such a choice and this choice would allow me to be who I was supposed to be in life.

So, to be completely honest with you, the bottom line was I liked girls too much and the Corps was only a 6 year active duty commitment.

Now as I look back over my lifetime, I see how I have followed my childhood TV mentors and through my impressions of them, how they made a lasting impression on me. At the age of 18 my Mother asked me what I wanted to do with my life. I told her I wanted to help people but I had no idea where to start. The military created another foundation for me to build upon, I was trained to have a mindset to help and to serve people, (plus a whole bunch of other combat stuff too) and over my lifetime, I have used that knowledge to continue to serve my country and the community at large.

In a sense, I like to think I have become the Courageous Hero I wanted to be as a child and feel I have served as a role model for others with the actions of my life and from time-to-time, saving the day.

Did you ever have a childhood TV mentor? I would love to hear about who they are and how they positively affected your life?