I snapped my skateboard in 2 in August. Around that time, Chad Rivera, the original blind skater, hooked me up with some skate gear, including a new deck. Today, with a little help from my friend, Tod Pasco, I transferred the trucks from the old deck to the new one. Now, I just need to do this 50 more times, and it won’t take me so dang long. 🤣 Photo credit on this goes to my homey, John White, my favorite guy to have with me in the water with me when I’m surfing. Photo description for the blind/vi tribe: 3 photos showing the progression from the removal of the hardware to the transfer to the new deck. Tod is with me in the first two pictures, teaching me what to do. I’m by myself in the last one. @chadrivera @expeditiontrufit @surfightjj @trufit @onnit #BlindSurfer #BlindSkater #Surfight #GuardianStrong #LandTraining #TruFit #Waves4All #JoshuaTheJedi https://www.instagram.com/p/CV9lSOjrxC4/?utm_medium=tumblr

Sundays were meant for surfing! Fun time in the water with some of my Waves 4 All ohana at our local semisecret spot in Carlsbad. So much gratitude to my friend and surf brother, John White, for helping me up-level every time we get in the water. Coach John is a classy man indeed. 1st pic is of me carrying my board on my head just as I’m coming out of the water, my red “Blind Surfer” rash guard clearly visible. The 2nd is of Chance, my most favorite little dog in all the world, enjoying the shade of the board while I pack up the rest of my gear. Chance is a poodle terrier mix, almost completely white and fluffy in the best way possible. Photo credit: @aloya319 @expeditiontrufit @trufit @surfightjj #BlindSurfer #Waves4All #TruFit #Surfight #GuardianStrong #JoshuaTheJedi #AdventureMind https://www.instagram.com/p/CUBi6rKJUcU/?utm_medium=tumblr

Today is a victory! Some of you might not know that I have struggled with feeling good about my fitness and my weight + physique For a lot of my life. Most of it was mental, but I was also super scrawny from being in and out of the hospital in my teens. In 2006, I was 236 pounds with fat arms… No real muscle tone other than my shoulders. (Not ready to show you a pic of me back then just yet.) This morning I weighed myself and checked my fat percentage. I’m not where I want to be just yet, but I’m a lot closer. 176.8 pounds and 20% body fat. My goal is 175 and/or less than 20%. (Less than 2 pounds from my goal. Any reduction in fat loss hits my goal there.) Every time I get below 180, it never seems to stick. I know that I’m making healthier choices now, so this is only the beginning. I’m also healthier on the inside. I have rough mental health moments and days, but I’m learning the signs of PTSD spikes, and I’m finding ways to manage them, so they don’t slow me down quite as significantly as they once did. Scott Sigler, one of my favorite authors, and his wife/business partner, A (Yes that’s her real name), talk a lot about celebrating your wins. Today, I’m going to celebrate by going surfing. Please share some of your wins in the comments. Tell me something good in your life. This pic is from a surf session in cold and challenging waters this last Tuesday morning. Well, challenging for me. Could barely get to the outside. #GuardianStrong #JoshuaTheJedi #AdventureMind https://www.instagram.com/p/CUAxDvVpe1A/?utm_medium=tumblr

3 time national champ! On Tuesday June 15, I became the 2021 USA Surfing National Adaptive Surfing Champion in the VI-1 (blind) division. I also retained my slot on the USA Surfing National Adaptive Surf Team that I’ve held since 2018. So glad to get back to competition. (No Nationals in 2020.) Mad thanks to Coach John White from Tru Fit and Waves 4 All for having my back in the water. I couldn’t ask for a better friend and surf brother. Please check out our club: www..waves4all.org Also thanks to Uncle Joel and the crew at Surfight, Sifu Harinder Singh for Mind Boxing and the greatest nickname I could have ever asked for, Challenged Athletes FOundation, AmpSurf, and, of course, my lovely and deadly bride. Lots of other people to thank, but I think I’m hitting the character limit on my IG caption. 1st pic is of me and Aaron Paulk from Team Hawaii, who won the VI-2 (partial sight) division. We are holding the trophies just after receiving them. 2nd pic is of me and Coach John, just before the awards ceremony. @mauialohaaaron @expeditiontrufit @joeljitsu @surfightjj @sifusingh @aloya319 @cafoundation @ampsurf_us @usasurfing @isasurfing @onnit @athleticgreens #BlindSurfer #Surfight #GuardianStrong #SightBeyondSight #TeamUSA #Waves4All #inspiredsurfers #heroesofsport #getonnit #athleticgreens #ProfessionalAdventurer #JoshuaTheJedi #AdventureMind (at Oceanside North Jetty) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQUHV2iJKUj/?utm_medium=tumblr

Please meet the new woman in my life. Megan is now fully trained, and we are a complete guide dog team. Thanks to her raisers, to my trainer Lucy, and to everyone at Guide Dogs for the Blind for their investment in our success. Mad thanks to Andrea, my lovely and deadly bride, for giving me the space to focus on training with Megan and Lucy since May 12, especially for her taking a leadership role in working with our small group of Guardian Quest and Blind Community Martial Arts students. If you meet Megan, please resist the temptation to feed, pet, or talk to her, especially for this first month or so. You’ll probably get an opportunity to say hi eventually, but it’s really important that she has time to bond with me. If you are curious about how this whole process works, I’m happy to talk with you on an individual basis. Photo is of me and Megan together at my local YMCA on a bench just outside. I’m wearing black Chuck Taylors, black 501 jeans, and a plain black hoody with a USA Surfing pin on the right side of my jacket. Megan is a 64-66 pound female black lab. She is roughly 22 inches tall. She is seated to my left (the camera’s right). @gdb_official @aloya319 @gqdojo #GuardianStrong #TeamLoya #dogfather #Megatron #Megamillions #GuideDogs #GDB #LabLover #ThankYou #JoshuaTheJedi https://www.instagram.com/p/CPKNgskJMjb/?utm_medium=tumblr

Yoga was the name of the game today. Started off this morning with some DDP Yoga. Just winded things down with Black Swan Yoga via Day 3 of Onnit 6 Bodyweight. What was in between? Day 1 training with my new guide dog. 🐾 More on that when we complete our training on May 21. Sometimes the gains are found in slowing things down for just a moment. This doesn’t mean we shy away from adversity. It just means we are mindful for what is good for us to do right now. Photo descript for my blind brothers and sisters: I’m standing, my head buzzed. My full beard continuing to grow. My hands are at my chest in the namaste position. I’m wearing my black Punisher t-shirt, the skull very similar to that depicted in the Netflix show. A smile plays across my lips. @expeditiontrufit @surfightjj @sifusingh @gqdojo @alohaadventurer @cafoundation @surfwsa @usasurfing @isasurfing @marvel @onnit @diamonddallaspage @ddpyoga #BlindSurfer #Surfight #SightBeyondSight #GuardianStrong #heroesofsport #inspiredsurfers #getonnit #DDPY #TeamUSA #FutureParalympian #Punisher #MCU #ProfessionalAdventurer #JoshuaTheJedi #AdventureMind https://www.instagram.com/p/COzVBn6pLm7/?igshid=jue9ehhszk3d

How do I celebrate winning the WSA West Coast Championships? I start doing 3 a days. I hit up the noon gi class at Surfight. Later, I did Day 1 of Onnit 6 Bodyweight. Finished up the day with some DDP Yoga and Mind Boxing. I’m not training for the next contest. I’m training for 2028. I will be the first ever fully blind Paralympian in surfing. Everything between now and then is preparation. Thanks to my coach, John White, from Waves 4 All for having my back in the water yesterday. I’m humbled to make history with the WSA to be the first ever visually impaired West Coast Champion. Send me more blind surfers. I may be a Jedi, but I’m not the only one who can show what blind surfers can do. @expeditiontrufit @surfwsa @surfightjj @sifusingh @joeljitsu @usasurfing @isasurfing @gqdojo @alohaadventurer @onnit @diamonddallaspage @ddpyoga #BlindSurfer #Surfight #GuardianStrong #SightBeyondSight #TeamUSA #inspiredsurfers #Trufit #Waves4All #DDPY #getonnit #onnit6challenge #ProfessionalAdventurer #JoshuaTheJedi #AdventureMind https://www.instagram.com/p/COuInSTJTW_/?igshid=1niurli2m3ahl

This last weekend, I competed in my second surf contest of the year. WSA at Huntington Beach. My heat was Saturday. I won by default, as I was the only visually impaired surfer there. As stoked as I was to win, I’d have even more fun sharing the ocean with my blind/vi brothers and sisters. (Hit me up, if you want to get started.) Sunday was a practice for the USA Surfing National Adaptive Surf Team and some adaptiv surfers that are on track to make the team soon. The pic I put up in this post is from my second mock heat of the day. Thanks, Pete, for your photography skills. Thanks, John White, for having my back in the water. If you dig who I am and what I do, please give a follow to the IG account for my podcast, Adventure Mind: @alohaadventurer @expeditiontrufit @joeljitsu @surfightjj @gqdojo @sifusingh @surfwsa @usasurfing @isasurfing @stokeforlife @cafoundation @bajajerky @onnit #BlindSurfer #Waves4All #GuardianStrong #Surfight #SightBeyondSight #inspiredsurfers #heroesofsport #TeamUSA #ForcedMotivation #ProfessionalAdventurer #JoshuaTheJedi #AdventureMind https://www.instagram.com/p/CN8z3Gsphy8/?igshid=17w2y4t7ht6bg