Who I am...and why I go by 'Chuck'

Good afternoon to all readers. My name is Charles, but most of my friends call me Chuck. For myself, that name generally conjures up images of large guys with mullets in varsity jackets and high tops, driving around in old school camaros taking people’s lunch money, but I generally always go by it anyway.

Why, you ask? Certainly not because I have a mullet, or have ever owned a varsity jacket or Camaro. (Although I did have a few sick pairs of high tops back in the day). I use it because it’s just plain easier to say than ‘Charles’. If you don’t believe me, put a bunch of saltines in your mouth and see which one you can roll off the tongue easier. This is particularly the case in Asia, where folks struggle with their ‘r’s and ‘l’s. Asking people to pronounce a name that has both an ‘r’ and ‘l’ back to back is just a brutal process for both their tongues, and my ears, so I’d much rather just save them the trouble.

Who (or what) I am is a traveler, and for the past 7 years, I haven’t just lived in Asia- I’ve visited virtually every corner of the globe. Traveling as a student, teacher, and volunteer, I’ve been as far north as the Artic Circle about Norway, and as far south as Ushuaia, at the southern tip of South America. I’ve done treks in rain forests, have stayed in buddhist temples in Thailand, and have even worked as an assistant on a Safari in Kenya. Why? Because believe it or not, I wanted to learn how to fight. I started off my travels as an olympic-style tae kwon do player who came to Asia for training. While training in Korea however, I discovered that the more time I spent outside of my comfort zone, the quicker and more adaptable my mind became- something that I thought would be invaluable in the ring. In addition to that, I also saw parallels in what I was trying to learn to do in the ring, and what I actually was doing while traveling- that is, constantly adapting to a continuous, fluid, and at times unpredictable situation. And the better I got at it, the calmer I became- both in and out of the ring. So it was that I developed my addiction.

At present, I live in Tokyo, Japan, and am an actor, model and business owner. As I mentioned before, I’ve been out here for 7 years now, and plan to stay for another 3 whist I build my company’s business and pursue a career in Asian Action Cinema. In part, I am writing this blog simply to explore my own mind- to masturbate philosophically if you will- as I live here and experience life as it is out here. At the same time however, I want to write it to share with you, my family, friends, and hopefully readers, the things that I’ve learned. I hope that you all can enjoy it, find elements of it insightful -or in the least, worth arguing over- and entertaining. In the least, I hope that you can grow from reading it, in much the same way that I grow by trying to articulate my thoughts to you. Thank you for taking the time to read these entries as I hope you will, and I look forward to any comments (even the critical ones) you may have of anything I have to say.

Chuck Johnson