Letter to Eric from Uncle Emmanuel

Friday, April 26, 2013

Dear Eric,

How's my favorite nephew named Eric doing?  To answer your question from your letter: I would love to visit you sometime and jump on your trampoline.  That sounds like so much fun!  In fact, next time your Aunt Jessica and I are in Utah I promise we will come down to see you and jump on that trampoline!

It sounds like you are a very busy boy with lots of friends to play with, and that is great!  Sometimes I even wish I was a kid again :-).  But enjoy every minute of it kiddo!  You've got a wonderful family, and great, loving parents and of course...the trampoline! :-)

I like the Gold Ranger too.  I like all of the Power Rangers.  I like it when they work together to beat the bad guys.  If you notice when you're watching them, they each have their own individual talents and when they work together to combine their talents and skills there isn't a villain they can't beat.  Being able to work on a team is a very important skill to develop.

I love spelling also!  I used to love competing in spelling bees when I was in elementary school.  Keep up the great wrk and keep getting those great scores on your spelling tests!

I have been busy with a new business I'm working on.  It has taken a lot of my time in the past couple of weeks which is why it took me so long to respond to you.  I apologize, and will be more timely with my next letter.

Besides hanging out with your Aunt Jessica and our dog Charlie, I've spent a lot of time doing different drills fro the various martial arts I practice.  I practice Brazilian or Gracie Jiu-Jitsu (which is a grappling martial art) and Filipino Kali ("Kali" is short for the Filipino words "KAmot" and "LIhok", which roughly translated into English is "body in motion").  I have lots of fun doing both!

I had a pretty bad wrist injury that lasted for almost three months and so in order to stay sharp I had to train without using that wrist.  At first it was very challenging but I was able to strengthen other parts of my body because I could not use my right arm, and particularly my wrist.  It is now almost 100% better so I will be able to return training regularly at the academy.

(Pictures of Emmanuel with Charlie in his training area in his house)

Sometimes our dog, Charlie, likes to interrupt my drilling sessions, so I'll stop to give him a hug :-)

When I'm not training at the academy I train in my basement where I've set up a training room for exercise and martial arts!

I hope we get to know each other more.  I really enjoyed your last letter and hope you enjoy mine!

Till next time...

Your Uncle,

Emmanuel Soltes