Bear’s message dynamites an opening in his audience’s souls to the possibilities that God has for them. Bear’s life message as a world champion surfer, adventurer, EWTN TV & Radio host transparently communicates the challenges and thrills of the wild adventure found in abandonment to God's will.
Bear Woznick is the author of the Best Selling Books "Deep in the Wave - A Surfing Guide to the Soul" and "Deep Adventure - The Way of Heroic Virtue". Bear is also a two time World Tandem Surfing Champ and Legends Stand Up Paddle Surfing Champ - Adventurer. Sky Diver, Private Pilot, Ninja Black Belt, Distance Surfboard and Outrigger Canoe Paddler, Licensed in Scuba, Ran with the Bulls in Pamplona just to mention a few of his adventures. Tandem surfs with wife two or three times a week. This extreme sport involves lifting a woman of your head in accrobatic lifts while surfing. He is married and Father of four adult children.
Bear is the Host of EWTN's "Long Ride Home with Bear Woznick", a motorcycle based embeded documentary of men riding in a pack seeking to go deeper with God & to evangelize as well as the Host of EWTN's “The Bear Woznick Adventure Radio Show", heard by millions each week world wide on over 300 stations in nearly all 50 states. The Big Kahuna on Fox Network’s adventure reality show “Clean Break" and is a Guest star and stuntman on the television series, HAWAII 5 – 0.
Bear is an inductee into the Catholic Sports Hall of Fame; Surfed huge waves at Waimea Bay; Surfed a tidal bore in France for 12 kilometers ; Co-founded the professional International Tandem Surfing world tour; Develpped & coached hundreds of tandem surfers including world champions. Pedaled his bicycle from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean – San Diego, CA to Jacksonville, FL; Paddled the treacherous 30 mile open ocean channel between the islands of Molokai and O’ahu; Licensed Private Pilot; Licensed Scuba Diver ; Skydiver. Holds the very rare NINJA blackbelt and holds instructors licenses in several other martial arts forms; Has repelled off mountains and even out of his 25th floor Waikiki Condo ; Full on Waterman ; Sails ; Distance Outrigger Canoe paddles and surfs the outrigger canoe; Spear Fishes; swam many times with sharks; Many Ocean Rescues; Member of Knights of Columbus biker outreach Knighst on Bikes, Member of the Sons of Hawaii MC; Has his own CPA practice with a Masters Degree in Tax; Pursuing Masters Degree in Catechetics at Franciscan University of Steubenville; Novitiate Oblate at the Benectine Spouse of the Holy Spirit Monastery on O’ahu’s north shore.
A PARTIAL LIST OF TALKS: (These talks can work for just men or women or a mix.)
"THE 300 - INTO THE BREACH" | A QUEST FOR MANLY VIRTUE
Bear uses the story of the 300 Men of Gideon's Army and the 300 Spartans at Themopylae to inspire men to live a valiant life of virtue.Bear uses adventurous stories to bring each virtue to life and to give the audience traction in pursuing them. This can be given as short as one talk or as 7 talks over a period of days.
-Open ocean rescues for the Virtue of Justice
-Encounters with sharks for the Virtue of Self Mastery
-Peddling his bicycle across the USA for the Virtue of Fortitude
-Bear's son surfing eightyfive foot waves for the Virtue of Prudence
-Skydiving for the Virtue of Faith
-Paddling the treacherous 28 mile Channel between the islands of Molokai and Oahu for the Virtue of Hope
-The story of Eddie Aikau giving his life in an attempt to paddle for help when the Voyaging Canoe the Hokulea broke up in the treacherous Molokai channel for the Virtue of Love.
I HAVE COME TO BRING A FIRE AND HOW I WISH IT WAS ALREADY BLAZING: (This is meant to teach the lesson of detachment from our own agenda in pursuit of friendship with God.) Bear uses stories from scripture about fire and sword starting with the flaming sword in the garden of Eden, the story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac, the three young men in the fiery furnace, Jacob grappling with God. He uses his knowledge in several martial arts and his second degree Ninja Blackbelt to talk about this fight and then he ends with Elijah challenging the prophets of Baal to the Super Bowl of the Gods on Mt Carmel to send fire. This tells us how God works to teach us the lessons of detachment and to learn to cling only to him and not to be lukewarm nor to stand on one foot and then the other. But to choose this day whom you will serve.
DEEP CALLS TO DEEP AS THE WATER ROARS: As world champion surfer, Bear has had his share of big wipeouts. In this talk, he goes through every stage of surfing from paddling out, to waiting on the wave to paddling for it and riding it as a metaphor for the contemplative life. Bear even uses the anatomy of a big wipeout that he had to give hope to those who are going through the dark night and how it is meant to bring us to a point of surrender and to just loving God for who He is not out of fear and not out of what he does for us. It teaches us to love God for His sake, to love others for His sake and to love perhaps even ourselves in a sense of self forgetfulness for God's sake.
Bear share how dark it is in a big hold down. How no amount of struggling helps. You just have to surrender to the power of the Wave but then when it releases you, the only way you know which way is up is to swim towards the light. He also shares that in God there and there really is no darkness at all, but in the Dark Night his love is shining so bright that it blinds us and it seems dark. So no matter how dark a place you are in have hope and release yourself to God.
GO DEEP OR GO HOME: (This talk challenges us to an hour a day of prayer.) When people ask Bear what it takes to ride twenty foot plus waves, he tells them his 20/20/20 rule. You must be able to hold your breath for the two minutes and twenty minutes that it takes for the sun to set when it first touches the ocean. You must be able to paddle your surfboard twenty miles without stopping. You need to be able to dive down twenty feet grab a boulder to weigh you down and run twenty meters under water.
Bear shares how Aloha means to give breath. And that this is what the essence of prayer is; to receive the breath of God's Spirit. He shares that the people of Hawaii are more people of the water than of the aina (land). And so we experience daily that we should not take breath for granted. He shares about scuba diving one hundred twenty feet deep and running out of air and needing to trade off oxygen tanks. Then he challenge speople to the 20/20/20 rule of prayer. If you want to go deep with God, one hour of prayer each day is the minimum. He shares different ways they can do this. They can pray twenty minutes three times a day or any combination in order to pray the total sixty minutes all at once.
Bear shares the rosary, the Liturgy of the hours, Lectio Divina, Mass, the Divine Chaplet and other ways they can commit to a disciplined pattern of prayer and devotional reading. He ends by challenging them to make that commitment for sixty minutes per day for sixty days and see where it leads them. He challenges them to go deep or go home.
DEEP WARFARE: Bear uses his extensive martial arts and Ninja blackbelt skills to challenge men to be the Spiritual protector of their homes. He starts with the story of Adam and Eve and how Adam blew it. He should have been there to protect her or after she fell to rescue her, but instead he just copped out. Bear uses the scripture "He trains My hands for war. By thee I can crush a troop, by thee I can leap a wall, by thee I can bend a bow of bronze." He talks about how we are to train for spiritual battle so that when it comes we are prepared. We are to be on the look-out. We are to pray for our families and for their protection and to be on the alert of the subtle ways the enemy seeks to invade our families.
As a Benedictine Oblate he talks about the St Benedict Exporcism Cross and how to battle demons.
Bear talks about the weapons mentioned in Ephesians 6:16 emphasizing that there is no protection mentioned to shield your back. We are to be on the attack we are to resist the devil and he will flee. He talks about how we are to lead by example and be the spiritual leader in our homes. He challenges them that leaders are readers and that they must “study top show themselves approved.” Then he challenges men not to lose heart by, Looking at Gideon's small army. A small committed group of men once turn the world upside down in the apostles and this small army he is raising will do it again. He shares about the weapon of the rosary and then challenge men to prayer and study.
GO DEEP OR GO HOME: The most radical thing you can do in life is abandon yourself to the wild adventure of God's will. Bear shares some of his more extreme adventures like running with the bulls on the bloodiest day in the history of the run. Paddling out at Teahopu’u on what has come to be known as Bloody Sunday in the surfing world. He talks about how when you catch a big wave you have to want it with all your heart and paddle with all your might but how when you drop in you really abandon yourself to the power of that wave. Then he challenges people to step out of their comfort zone and into the danger zone of the wildness of God’s will.
