Mr Elias Lazarus Waloba Chilembo
Copyrights: Simon Chilembo, 2012

In memory of my father, Mr Elias Lazarus Waloba Chilembo, I have, under the auspices of my Chilembo Warrior Moves, introduced a special award to recognize outstanding men who in their respective unique ways contribute to making this a better world to live for all. Most importantly, these men will be a direct part of my life in things I do and stand for. These men will be sources of inspiration and strength who in their own special ways help me be a better person today than I was yesterday; they will be my teachers, my mentors, my guardian angels, my advisors, my guides, my motivators, my coaches, my brothers, my friends, my family. This is a very personal award, a very personal journey. The recipients will receive a signed diploma.

The second recipient of the award (Saturday, December 10, 2011; Oslo, Norway) is my first senior-most Karate student, Eyvind Elgesem, 4^th Dan Shihan, for the Brother who is ever there, unswerving in his service and devotion to all he represents as a family man, a friend, leader and teacher of others; a man of honour and integrity carrying much wisdom and knowledge above his shoulders. Much of my growth and success in Norway I with humility owe to Eyvind’s special clarity of thought in his advice, support, and guidance of me and my ventures in Norway through the years. Waloba died in 1998; Eyvind and his family materially contributed to my ability to give him a decent and worthy burial. The emotional support I received from them I’ll carry the memory of with me to my grave.

Eyvind Elgesem
Copyrights: Simon Chilembo 2012

Chil-Elgesem Fight Squad: Elg, Eyvind, Simon, Fridtjof
Copyrights: Simon Chilembo 2012

Simon Chilembo
Founder/ President
Chilembo Warrior Moves Karate – Development

Oslo
NORWAY
June 21, 2012 

Simon Chilembo. Nesodden, 1989.

I’m going to talk about training by way of telling a partial story of my life.

I’ve had very specific reasons for wanting to train from my first school day in Lesotho in January 1965; then I was 4 ½ years old. That’s the first time I discovered rudely how physically small and vulnerable I was.

I still have a vivid recollection of how these other bigger boys and girls were all over me, stroking my head and pulling at my clothes as if to undress me. Later on, I learned that I was the only child wearing the finest clothes, was the cutest, and most charming of them all. Then, I knew I wanted to be big and strong so that I could protect myself from those overly eager people.

I couldn’t wait to be grown up so I could start weight lifting with the neighbourhood men who used to train in Thabong Hall, on the other side of the street from my home in Welkom … (Continued in the book: “MACHONA BLOGS – As I See It”. Order Simon Chilembo books on Amazon)

Simon Chilembo
6 Dan Black Belt Karate Master
Oslo
August 26, 2011
Follow @SimonChilembo

The Last King of Håøya. Simon Chilembo 2007

I am happy today, very happy. Many who know me well will know very well that I just love to receive attention. I thrive on attention. I’m addicted to praise for the good things I do well. I get a kick out of getting positive feedback.

Every time I’m told I’m good at what I do, I’m special, I’m unique, I’m The Best, I get an almost orgasmic sensation in my body; a blissful, ecstatic state of being. I get so profusely energized I all the time want to do more and more good things in the best way possible.

But I’m not essentially driven by a voracious need for attention and praise attendant to the recognition of the positive outcomes of my actions and activities. I am not an avid attention seeker. It’ll be hard to believe for some, but privately I am a very, very shy, reserved man. I’m shy to a point of arrogance to those who know me rather not so well. Things, circumstances, and people not making sense around me easily bore me over half way to death. I am a master of withdrawal when I have little to give or to gain in any given situation.

What motivates me most is not the end, i.e. attention showers and, or praise derived from the good work I do or have done; or simply the good man I am or have become. The thrill is in the process of getting things to work, learning new things, teaching new things, breaking barriers, overcoming evil and temptation along the way … (Continued in the book: “MACHONA BLOGS – As I See It”. Order Simon Chilembo books on Amazon)

Simon Chilembo

Oslo, Norway
November 22, 2011

A DISCOURSE ON FREEDOM: Part 2
LEADERSHIP – The Chil-land Case 

The national leadership structure of Chil-land is clearly defined, and is centred on the one all-powerful
President Big Daddy Cool-Chils, a.k.a. Prez Chils. He heads The Cabinet, all the ministries, as well as all the government departments

 PRESIDENCY

Prez Chils is by definition president for and of life by and from birth. He is destined to self-leadership neither by accident nor wish, but by design and creation. Although he as a younger leader was not entirely appreciative of the attendant responsibilities, duties, and obligations of his natural societal roles and functions, Prez Chils has grown up to be a beacon of freedom, as well as mental emancipation; making Chil-land a model country to be emulated by others.

Prez Chils is a sophisticated, cultured man of the world whose existence is entirely dependent on the perpetual smooth operations of the cabinet and all the relevant state departments. The latter are inherently interdependent both as separate administrative units, as well as contra Prez Chils’ divine pervasive nature. It is in no uncertain terms understood that no single unit of Chil-land administration shall or can survive at the expense of another; all must co-ordinate their activities in concert in order for Prez Chils to carry out his custodial duties optimally for all. It is also the President’s imperative to take good care of the entire administration, harnessing and sustaining all the necessary resources and skills throughout Chil-land’s yet-to-be manifest lifespan.

Endowed with enormous personal material and, most importantly, spiritual, emotional, as well as creative wealth, Prez Chils is renowned for his generousity and kindness. Material and spiritual abundance around the President all his life so far has shaped his and Chil-land’s enormous capacity for resilience, patience, and tolerance. Like many other people, Prez Chils has had his own share of trials and tribulations. But after every fall he, just like the Phoenix, has always risen again to be better and stronger than before. When the end of his and Chil-land’s allotted time on earth finally arrives, there are many Phoenixes ready to carry on the legacy. Actually, some have already begun!  Prez Chils lives and does what he has to do today so that tomorrow will be a better, more fulfilling experience for all on the globe. It is Prez Chils burning desire to demonstrate through Chil-land that it is possible to create heaven on earth for oneself in this life.

Prez Chils is a future-oriented lover of life living in the moment; he enjoys life with passion. He is a gastrosexual who just loves beautiful and luxurious things. Because he is not sexually attracted to other men, he is therefore heterosexual. Given his mental emancipation as mentioned above, some of his close homosexual friends and brothers know Prez Chils as a platonic-gay-straight-man; the latter because he has no qualms about showing openly normal recognition and affection for his homosexual friends, brothers, and sisters.            

The President is not married, has never been married, will get married when his future wife finally finds him. The man has just been too busy making Chil-land into paradise-on-earth to have time to make room for a Mrs Prez Chil in his life. If she is out there now, she may call The Prez’s number with her substantive proposal. There currently is such peace, harmony, and contentment in Chil-land that Prez Chils will give all proposals due regard and thorough consideration.

Simon Chilembo

Telephone: +47 97000488
Oslo, Norway
November 06, 2011

A DISCOURSE ON FREEDOM: Part 1

Simon Chilembo, 08/ 10-2011

(Dedicated to all Women and Mothers of the World through Nobel Peace Prize 2011 winners: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman)

So, wouldn’t it be cool if countries of the world had names with only three letters? If the vocalization is jazzy/ hip/ cool exceptions can be allowed. In that case China would be Chin; India Indi; Australia is already Aussie so that’s okay, and likewise is Zambia Zed. America is already Yuza; Canada would be Candy; and Benin Ben; Niger is cool as it is ‘cause Nig would probably choke you. To avoid possible passing out you might want to soften Nig with Niga. Sensitive sounds, we leave Niger alone! And Nigeria would then be Nige with that French accent “é”, Nigé. Chic, no? We can go on with Kenya as Ken; Libya as Lib even if Gaddafi’s women were never the most liberated. Guess what Brazil would be? Nice, no? But then again på Norsk ville vi da si, “Brasil er Bra!” And what about Madagascar? With Norway there simply would be Noway out once you are in.

Those countries with two names, or first names and surnames would present a bit of a challenge; same as those with long descriptive ones. What a relief that The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is no longer existent. Gave way to Rus, very nice. We had nice and smooth Zai, now it’s The Democratic Republic of the Congo. The DRC is still dry to the tongue; skip! Burkina Fasso, “The land of upright people”, takes the cake; Burk would be so cool. And then there is The Republic of South Africa, otherwise known as Mzansi4sho; Mza just spot on! There’s only one country I freak out for in this category though: Sim-Chilembzisia, People’s Republic of.

Sim-Chilembzisia, People’s Republic of, Chil-land hereafter, reliable information has it that the two creators of this land met in 1958 somewhere out there in the world, specifically Mza. After a series of negotiations and intercourses (details and intricacies of which by design can never be divulged) a seed was planted, and a whole, perfect, healthy nation state of Chil-land was born in the Rat Year of 1960. And the world would never be the same again.

Chil-land is today, and will be for at least another 80 years, the best country to be on earth. Although constrained by normally accepted international codes of conduct within the confines of the laws of the lands, as well as global governance institutions; and paying due regard to Natural Law constrictions, Chil-land is the most free, the most democratic, and the most liberal country on the globe. To top it all, the nation of Chil-land is endowed with a tremendous supply of numerous vital natural resources, as well as an enlightened manpower base with superlative production and life skills, including phenomenal creative potential.

The concept and manifestation of freedom in Chil-land are clearly understood by the entire citizenry, and, above all, the entire political and administrative leadership at all levels and functions of society. Freedom in Chil-land is neither taken nor understood to be an end in itself; freedom and its attendant attributes are not arbitrarily defined by any one individual or groups of individuals.

No one owns freedom; freedom is for all. Freedom is not static, it is dynamic and moves the times. Freedom is an indispensable motor and catalyst for progressive change, growth, and all-round positive transformation of society in and with time. Freedom lives today for today, is not afraid of the future because freedom eliminates fear of and for the unknown. Freedom enables fantasy and creativity so that free citizens of today can always find various ways of seeing into the future. With the latter skill polished to the highest levels and growing all the time, Chil-land citizenry lives the future in the present for an ever-bright future for all.

Simon Chilembo, 08/ 10-2011

 Freedom facilitates boundless creative abundance, if not material. Hardly surprising therefore that Chil-land is a self-sufficient, self-reliant nation with a constant surplus of most, if not all, basic and strategic resources for a long-term sustainable comfortable and productive life for all. In Chil-land, freedom bounty is neither right nor entitlement for a few arrogant, self-centred myopic so-called heroes of the struggle so familiar elsewhere, destroying their own countries and people’s lives. Freedom bounty is to be variably enjoyed by all people according to each their own needs, wants, and preferences. Chil-land heroes are made by the people to serve the people, facilitating the people’s ever-uplifting total freedom experience and growth. Heroes Are (NOT) Hard to Find in my beloved land, Chi-land.

By extension, freedom implies compassion and generousity. Therefore, a large part of the production surplus of Chil-land is used to help other not as fortunate but receptive nations to enhance their own experience of freedom if already attained, or assist in the necessary feasible and functional processes of attaining it where it’s still lacking.

If by definition freedom is an ever-current phenomenon taking and guiding free societies into the future without fear today, it implies therefore that freedom is an anti-thesis of a formally oppressive and suppressive past. Freedom does not come without; freedom is an expression and manifestation, as well celebration of liberation from tyranny, poverty, and ignorance. In Chil-land, absolutely all understand that those living in the past, to the extent that what they value with and from the past negates full freedom experience as conventionally defined and accepted by the progressive world here and now, have a bleak if any future at all.

Simon Chilembo
Telephone: +4792525032

Simon Chilembo, July 2010

I don’t go around with a nagging need to explain, justify, and to defend myself, or apologize for being me. Neither do I go around with a need to be recognized, approved, accepted, acknowledged, understood, or liked.

I am that I am; thinking, feeling, and doing what I do the way I do it all because that’s just the way it is; that’s me living out the best of my intentions from the outset. I’ll never go changing to try to please you; if you so choose, love me just the way I am. Take me or leave me, as you wish, in accordance with your democratic choice prerogative in a democratic society.

If I don’t choose to withdraw and disappear from your world, I’ll always pounce hard on you though the moment I detect unfairness and non-justness directed towards me: my person, my values, and my beliefs.

In an active verbal communicative interaction process, be condescending in any way towards me, and you are guaranteed to see and feel the full wrath of my verbal and body language fire power. You see, my physical dimensions may not match up to those of an American Football player’s, but my ego is the size of the highest mountain, and my passion for things I stand for goes deeper than The Black Hole … (Continued in the book: “MACHONA BLOGS – As I See It”. Order Simon Chilembo books on Amazon)

Simon Chilembo
Oslo
Norway
September 13, 2011

The thoughts below are inspired by Facebook correspondence with another special Brother-Friend of mine from 30 years ago, Edem Djokotoe. Edem inspired me as gifted writer and journalist already at that time when we first met as students at UNZA.

I dedicate the article to welcoming ‘Msholozi , H E President Zuma, on his official State Visit to Norway today.

In Norway, just like “… in the ghetto, only the strong survive” . I’m from the ghetto, and this is my country, so I know.

With the prevailing enormous wealth of Norway you’d expect there to be no weak people in this modern-day Canaan, land of milk and honey. The weak I shall define as those who for various reasons live, if they don’t perish at all, on the fringes of the conventional modern society. They will be experiencing various personal, health, and material issues rendering them inadequate to participate in normal day-to-day societal building and development activities; living in varying degrees of misery and poverty. Or they may indeed be outwardly functional, but lead such eccentric life-styles that add very little value to society; all this within their rights as citizens living in an open and democratic society, where the ethos of The Right to Choose is paramount to human existence.

Norway is indeed a relatively safe haven. But the country does also have its own share of societal growth and development challenges. I’m going to argue that at the individual level, Norway is a very hard country to live in for all. I’m going to show that indeed only the strong survive here.

My point of contention is that compared to the extreme wealth out here, there just are too few people in the land for the not-so-resourceful individual to live up to the corresponding pressure attendant to effective maximum exploitation of the wealth for the benefit of all. For some individuals the concepts of Division of Labour, and Comparative Advantage just can’t work. Given the way in which the Norwegian society is organized with regard to low population statistics vis-à-vis the extremely high level of opulence, labour is just too expensive for many an average citizen. Therefore to survive in Norway you have to be a Super Person.

Here is my description of your strong, survivor Norwegian Super Person:

• Jack/ Mary of all trades. You do a lot of things for yourself, or alone to make your world go round here. Easy to crack for many after a while when they necessarily have to combine professional lives with competing domestic/ family needs including hobbies and other social and spiritual needs. Much pressure could be eased here if it were to be an accepted and affordable norm to outsource for private/ personal assistance for some of these things where obviously applicable and deemed necessary.
• Man-Woman/ Man-Woman in one. Gender roles questions can be too tough for many here. To survive here you have to have a clear idea of what you are, what you want to be and live accordingly. Thanks to different interpretations and applications of politics of Equality of the Sexes, things have fallen apart for many here too.
• The affluent society itself as a collective necessarily exerts its own pressure on the individual. You shall always (strive to) be the best in your field in order to achieve lasting recognition, and thereby enjoy endlessly the resultant benefits of your own private wealth creation. The day you wake up without the fire and drive to perform and deliver, the affluent society then is likely to dump you. Those who for various reasons fail to regenerate themselves in time are likely to fall out completely. And if even Society through relevant institutions also fails, giving due regard to the choices the individual makes him/ herself, then starts the cycle of misery and poverty. It may not only be material poverty, but, probably most important, poverty of the Soul, Spirit, and Mind.

The really tough, strong, and smart Norwegian Super Person overcomes above challenges through, among other things, maintenance of workable if not strong family links, as well as establishment, maintenance, and sustenance of strong and long-term social networks and relations. Arguably one of the most decisive survival mechanisms for the Norwegian Super Person is, living out the dreams The Affluence Democratic Society facilitate, he/ she has the ability to escape to other parts of the world where Division of Labour, and Comparative Advantage work very well for richer people. For a long-weekend to a fortnight to whatever a year, our wealthy heroes from Norway can forget the stress and hassle of our country, enjoying life to the full i Syden or wherever without any worries; coming back home re-vitalized and energized for yet another round of exciting round of day-to-day personal, family, and professional challenges.

COMPASSION made in South Africa

Though not perfect, naturally, the Norwegian society does have functional systems and checks, as well as institutions to help those who for whatever reason fail to make the Norwegian Super Person mark. In my world money can buy and fix everything, but not everything is money-purchasable. Money can create and buy all sorts of things, services, and institutions for the people; but even all the money in the world cannot buy or substitute the crucial human factor, compassion.

STRONG made in Norway.

I see the expression and application of compassion as a two-way traffic. We shall naturally show and give compassion; at the same time we must be open to receive, acknowledge, and thrive on compassion ourselves. The weak and, by extension, non-resourceful in Norway may be so because one of the things they lack in life may be a conscious and deliberate knowledge and skills of how to deal with compassion. There are of course Norwegian Super People who do not manifest much compassion in most, if not all aspects of their lives too, thinking and believing money can and will always buy them into happiness and success, as well as control and power in life. Unfortunately, sooner or later the worlds of the latter do come to collapse also. It is in my opinion these rootless, non-compassionate people of our own who are the real threat to the Norwegian society. We can, and we shall overcome them by continuing with the open, multi-ethnic society Norway has become. Let’s love one another more, make more children, and keep inviting even more people from abroad to come work and live in Norway. The country with a large, colourful population can get even more out of its awesome wealth and people. We run away too much from Norway while somebody, a child, is sitting in a corner somewhere in the country crying for help. When some of these unheard, unseen children grow up without compassion they cease to cry; they become loners, move in silence, only to make us aware of their presence in some of the most out-of-the-ordinary destructive ways. But then again, because Norway is ever So Strong, all Norwegians will breathe, eat, drink, and live compassion in time.

Simon Chilembo
Oslo, Norway
August 31, 2011
Tel.: +4792525032