Hello again 😊

Simple, and short post to fill in these past years.

- Enjoyed trying out various Beachbody exercise programs.
- Enjoyed experimenting with yoga, and Pilates.
- Enjoyed extended bicycle trips  (as far as 57 miles in a day)
- Continued consistent training in Kyokushin karate.

- Tore my Achilles tendon in half earlier this year. It took months of rehabilitation in order to start walking again.  I still trained in karate through it all. ( just sat on the floor to do basics or knelt)

Planning on adding more walking to my regime in order to strengthen and speed up the healing process.

I've been a Nidan karate-ka for some years now. The black belt hangs in a familiar way on my waist. The Kata flows through me like a song of energy.

Why blog still? I asked myself. My answer: because I don't see many grey haired grandmothers training in the dojo, and perhaps my stories might encourage or inspire those who find themselves in the lifelong passion of the Martial arts.

The work outs from the Beachbody Programs are affecting my Karate!

Beachbody training has observably affected my Karate!!!!!
Last night as I was doing a pattern that I haven't done for a little while, I moved into a low position with a back fist.. and realized "Wow! I haven't been able to do this move in such a strong, and low stance before! I LOVE this feeling. Look how low I am.. at least 3 or 4 inches lower than I used to do it. I feel more flexible, and strong!"
As my brain delighted in that moment, I totally forgot the next move in the pattern. I knew that it was to the left, and that I had to move my left foot to get there.. but could not for the life of me remember what to do.
That doesn't happen often, and I'm sure that my face had that "deer in the headlights" look as I struggled to remember what I was SUPPOSED to do. I just awkwardly forced myself to move left, and well.. flailed my hands in front of my face in some sort of manner.
Things clicked in, and I was able to continue.. but this moment wasn't missed by my instructor to what appeared to be his entertainment.
Image from:http://www.joelbieber.com/2011/08/gotta-have-some-legal/

What you don't see..

My good friend, Sensei Paul, once advised me "Look at what your Instructor is NOT doing when he/she is demonstrating. You will get more from that knowledge."

I had NO clue what he meant at the time.  I knew that it sounded wise.. but I didn't understand the message.  Now I do.. 

I can think back on a funny moment when I was trying to learn my roundhouse kicks, and Sensei Walter came up to me with a puzzled face... "Funny", he said "I don't remember windmilling my arms like that when I demonstrated."  I wasn't even aware that my arms were flying around, and back and forth as I attempted to keep balance and do a proper kick.

The things that your Sensei is NOT doing is as important, or even MORE important than those that he/she is doing.

How did your Sensei close the gap between him/her and the opponent so smoothly?

How did he/she keep most of their body still while only one part moved when yours seems to sway, bump, and grind into position?

Why is his/her arm placed in that certain place, and not in the other place while yours seems to switch all over the place?

How is he/she putting so much power, and speed into such a little movement.

Their movements show an accumulation of experience, and inner understanding which comes from the years of doing this activity.  So.. when your Sensei goes up front and demonstrates something that you've seen demonstrated so many times before and you think that you know it.. stop for a second, and really watch what he/she isn't doing, and that you are still doing. Try to figure out what you would need to work on to achieve what they already have...

Having good posture..

Good posture is essential when performing Martial Arts.. but due to the fact that we are putting so much effort into our strikes, and moves, we tend to forget about our posture.

We don't realize that we are making our attacks LESS effective by ruining our posture, and even taking a chance that we might injure ourselves in our efforts.

How often have you found yourself curving your shoulders forwards when punching, or humping your back?  This means that you are sending the power with your arms.. you WANT to send the power with your whole body engaging the core, legs, and hip into the punch.  In order to do this, you need good posture. You need to keep your balance, and bring your body towards your opponent rather than your head and shoulders.

O.K.. this is a picture taken from a workplace safety website in Australia..Workplace safety, but the same concept applies in our whole life.  See how her head, shoulders, and upper torso are leaning forwards creating strain on her back and throwing off  her balance? 

Now she is more balanced, and can last longer at the chosen activity because she is using her whole body in the effort. The same for fighting, and sparring... If you want to increase your stamina, the power of your punch, and your ability to dodge, and move.. you NEED to start working on good posture.

Go into a fighting stance in front of a mirror, send a couple of slow motion punches, and check out what you are doing with your upper torso.. Are you bending forwards? Are you rotating your shoulder, or keeping your elbows in?  Are your knees bent, or straight? All of these things will affect how well you can deliver, and last in a sparring session.

An update on my Beachbody Program Progress..

My Insanity Max 30 journey is coming to a close, and I am so thrilled with the results.

In December, I was feeling frustrated with the fact that I had spent years, and years of trying to lose weight, and trim up. I had counted calories, changed my diet, went on juice fasts, added extra exercises like running/cycling, etc to my week, and no matter what I did my body stubbornly refused to budge from 165 lbs. I had promised myself that this year was different. I was now 50 years old.. and if I don't get myself down to a reasonable weight now.. I'm going to find it even harder in the future. 

So I jumped into the Beachbody program Insanity with hope, and a "wait and see" attitude. RESULTS speak for themselves: I lost 8 pounds in just 2 months! That would have taken me half a year before.. IF it happened. But even better than this.. my blood pressure has gone down from 130/80 to 115/65. My resting pulse rate is now at 57 beats per minute. This means that my heart is not needing to work as hard to pump blood through my system. My family has a history of heart problems. I can't start to explain how having the knowledge that my system is working better, and more efficiently is helping me feel more confident about my future. I've lost 6 inches around my waist, and one inch around the rest of me.

I feel GREAT! I have so much energy, and I sleep soundly. The healthy eating choices that the meal plan offers has expanded my diet to include things that I didn't even know were good like apples with peanut butter. It's now my favorite snack!

I'm going to be starting another Beachbody program on Monday, March 2nd called the 21 Day fix. It's easy, quick, effective, and enjoyable. The colorful pre- measured containers help you to portion out your food in a creative manner, and there is so much flexibility to the food choices!

Usually people post a Before/After picture to reveal the wonderful results of this lifestyle change.. but I am going to do something different. My teenaged son took this video of me working out.. and I can see how much healthier, thinner, and energetic I am. I want you to see it too.

I'd like to invite anyone who is interested in joining me to post a comment down below, or feel free to email me, or  facebook message me. I will set up a Challenge group, and we will support each other through the month of March to lose weight, eat healthy, and feel happier.

Training our minds...

Attached to this post is a message from Mr. Steve Rowe 

"If we hurt our body we immediately set out to repair it. If we cut ourselves we clean the cut and put a plaster or bandage on it, but if we damage our mind and emotions do we do the same? Most of us have a daily routine to keep our bodies healthy, we put in good nourishment and then exercise it to keep it healthy and then neglect the state of our mind, we allow all the rubbish in, forget to nourish it and don't even think about exercising it healthily. We never think 'I've cut my hand, so let's get a knife and make that cut deeper and deeper' and yet that's exactly what we do when our mind and emotions get hurt, we ruminate on it and wind ourselves up into a really bad state. Mental problems and stress are just as likely to ruin your life and kill you as physical, so when you train, remember the balance is 50/50, you need to train your mind as much as your body. If your mind is troubling you you need to pay more attention to it, nourish it with good healthy input, cleanse it and train it for the future."
 
It isn't possible for me to say this message better than Mr. Steve Rowe did today.  Too many people hurt themselves by letting their minds roll and boil in negative thoughts.  Those kinds of emotions send so many stress hormones into your system, it's like beating yourself up from the inside.

I know first hand about this because I spent almost 50 years of my life struggling with depression, and self revulsion.  It has only been the past year that I took a hold of my thoughts, and decided that no more will I hate myself in the morning, feel rejected, and unwanted, and wish that I was dead.  That was then, and I'm not going to let it affect my now. 

Was it easy to stop the dark whispers in my mind?  No.  It wasn't.. but I found that changing my diet to become healthier, doing daily exercise to heal my body, and working on little self help tools that could interrupt the negative and impose positive has helped me immensely.  I learned that it is the same part of our brain that controls anger and sadness.. so when I would start to feel sadness, I would get "angry" at the emotion of sadness.. for some reason this would put my brain into a shocked neutral state where I didn't feel anything.. and that felt SO much better than feeling the horrid dark smothering depression.  In time, I started feeling "happy".. not a fake plastic happy that I would put on to make people think that I was normal, but an authentic happy where I actually was enjoying myself.

I learned that being content is the natural place for our minds. Our brains struggle to get to a feeling of satisfaction, and contentment.  We just have to help them along by allowing the healing to happen.

Martial Artists have an advantage when it comes to controlling stress.. in my opinion.

On those days where you feel that all is turning negative for you, it's time to stop, take a couple of deep breaths, and turn the day around in your mind.

The more stress that you put into your body the more you make it difficult for you to become healthy, lose weight, and feel good.

Our brains send out a cocktail of hormones when we are stressed to help us survive that encounter. Since we used to need to react to stress with fight, or flight. ( either kill it, and maybe eat it, or run away, and not get eaten) our systems see all stress in the same way. 

Our bodies haven't adjusted to the new stress of getting cut off by another driver, or having to stand in a line up at Tim Horton's waiting to buy your coffee as the person ahead of you is having troubles finding their change.

75 to 90% of all doctor visits are based on stress related problems. Think of all of the good that you can do for yourself by lowering the stress level of your day!

First, you have to recognize that you are feeling stressed out.. Most of us are so accustomed to it that it may feel natural. Check to see if your muscles are tightening.. hands, stomach, neck, shoulders. Check your breath.. are you breathing more shallow, and quickly than usual?  We Martial Artists should be quite familiar with this feeling.. it can happen when you are pushing your body to do that one more kick in class, or facing the challenge of testing in front of your Instructor.

If so.. you may need to de-stress quickly. You can do so by deep breathing using your diaphragm. The fact that you are focusing on something OTHER than what is stressing you, that you are flooding your system with oxygen, and removing carbon dioxide, can help give you the best chance to change your stress level.

Again, Martial Artists have an advantage in this area as we are taught often about the value of proper breathing in order to maintain our stamina during a fight.  We train to Kiai with each strong effort thereby activating the diaphragm, and tightening our core.  Deep focused breathing should be easy for us to achieve in any circumstance... except if you are under water.. then I wouldn't suggest it.

Other quick suggestions can be found here: http://www.helpguide.org/…/…/stress-relief-in-the-moment.htm

Perfection of Character

Each day is a new opportunity to improve your life, and as the Shotokan Karate Dojo Kun encourages us to do.. "Seek perfection of Character".

What is Character? It is the mental, and moral qualities that you carry each day. It is how much you value the things around you, the people next to you, and yourself.

Do you think that you are important enough that you deserve to have a good day? How can you make today a better day for you and for others? How can you take something that had the possibility of being a negative thing, and turning it around so that it becomes a blessing for everyone? 

Nature does that action all of the time. Trees that die, and fall to the ground become homes to the animal life, and places for children to play hide and seek, and a place for moss, and mushrooms to grow. Nothing is wasted in nature.. not even empty space.

Changing it up...

I didn't realize how important it is to change my exercise routine.  It appears that your body gets used to exercise, and after some time will stop improving, and strengthening if you do the same thing over and over.

I LOVE Karate, and I enjoy training in Karate everyday. In fact, doing patterns is one of the ways that I de-stress, and relax my mind.  For me it is a form of intense moving meditation.  It feels right when I finish my kata, and I'm breathing strongly, and sweating from the effort.

However, I found that adding a different kind of work out, like the ones that I've been doing this month in Insanity Max 30, has helped me to get stronger, and faster and it is showing up in my Karate training.  My kicks feel like they have more speed, and control, and I struggle less to do footwork.

You can change up your Martial Arts training by adding speed, or weights, or switching the kata stances. For example, if the kata starts off in a front stance with a downblock, and goes into a backstance.. switch the stances around.. do a downblock with a backstance, etc.  Suddenly, you will have some interesting combinations. I know that I had to think for a good while to figure out how to do a Kata move with full intensity, and land in a totally different stance after turning 180 degrees.  But why not? If you have done the same basic kata for 10 years, it's about time that you play with it a little, and challenge your brain.  You don't have to remember how to execute these kata because you won't need them for tournament, or testing. The main goal is to confuse your body, and mind, and to force it to learn how to control your balance, and still achieve the same strong results. 

Basics are basics, and why shouldn't we mix and match our stances, and strikes. Who knows what will be needed if we were ever in a self defense position? You might end up pushed up against the wall, and have only enough room to send a backfist in an awkward angle. It might be nice to know that your body is capable of adapting, and reacting.

Why I want to help others become healthy, and happy

I wanted to explain why helping others achieve good health, and fitness is important to me.  My childhood was spent laying in bed coughing day and night with severe bronchitis. I missed 80% of school, and had difficult eating because of the constant coughing. I spent my childhood underweight, and sickly with delayed physical skills.  In my adult life, I bounced in the other direction overeating on junk food until I was near 200 lbs. In my late 30's I started to add exercise, proper food, and positive attitude in my life.  Depression was a daily thing for me until just last year when I started working on myself, and healing.  I believe that anyone can be the victor over the things in their lives that hold them down. I am now a Black Belt in two Karate styles, and a Beachbody Coach.  Feel free to message me, facebook friend me, or email me at supergroup7@beachbodycoach.com

I started up a facebook page which combines my new lifestyle

Many of the Martial Arts skills that I have learned have been helping me in my efforts to eat a healthier diet, and work out.  I wanted to share my experience in how the Beachbody program, and how Karate can complement each other so I started a facebook page.  Feel free to visit it anytime, and click "like" while you are there.

Post by Mireille Clark.

Something NEW in my life...

So... I turned 50 years old last September.. and I decided that the best gift that I could give myself would be to become more healthy, and to lose the weight that I've been carrying around for so long now.  It's not like I haven't tried for the past 6 years to lose weight.  I have done the counting calories everyday making sure that I didn't go above 1400 calories a day.  I have drank the 8 to 10 cups of water per day. I have controlled my portions and ate 5 smaller meals rather than 3 big meals.  I have even done the Juice cleanses... but my body insisted on staying at the same weight.

One thing that I noticed through all of my efforts was that I wasn't able to provide enough daily nutrients to my system despite the fact that I had changed my eating to include mainly fruits, vegetables, and healthy foods.

I decided to try something new... I bought the Beachbody Insanity Max 30 Challenge Pack that was on sale in December.  It offered a free month's worth of their Meal Replacement drink called Shakeology.  So for the price of the Shakeology, I was able to get the work out dvd's too.

Yes.. the picture did intimidate me... however, I checked out the video on youtube, and I thought.. "Hmmm.. this workout reminds me of some of the things that I've done in Karate.. I think that I might be able to do this.."

Insanity Max 30 Youtube video

So 3 weeks ago I started...  I took  my "Before" pictures like they suggested as best as I could using a mirror propped up against a wall to reflect my image.. Wow.. I don't like seeing that in the mirror.. I can tell you:

Like I said, I'm only 3 weeks into the 2 month program, and I'm astounded by the results already.

I have lost 5 pounds.
I have lost 4 inches around my waist, 1 inch around my hips, 1 inch around my thighs.
My blood pressure has gone down from 130/80 to 121/64

What is amazing is that I'm not hungry on this meal plan. I am still working my job as a food server which is very physically demanding, and then going to Karate in the evenings for 3 hours, AND doing this workout.  Sure.. I did add a few points of carb, protein, and oil to compensate for the higher caloric output... but not that much.  I have been drinking the Shakeology everyday. It takes a little bit of time to get used to the taste at first, but I found it to be delicious.  I am able to walk away from the foods that I used to crave. It's hard to work as a Food server and be surrounded by cakes, cookies, and various desserts, and not want to have some. I know that this was my biggest weakness. However, ever since I started on this program I have been able to walk past. Is the temptation still there? Yes.. but it's not as strong.. and there is something in me that can say "Tell you what body.. wait about 15 minutes, and if you still want that cookie.. I will eat it."  Guess what?  I get so busy working during that 15 minutes that the urge to eat the cookie disappears, and I realize that I worked the whole day without having any desserts at all.  The most amazing thing is that I don't feel bad about it.  I don't feel like I'm still needing it.. or wanting it.. I feel full.

I feel exhilarated!!!  Finally.. something that is helping me achieve my goal to be at a healthy weight.  It used to take me a whole month sometimes to lose just one pound.  It's helping my Karate training, too.  The program seems to complement my Karate training.  Last karate class that I attended.. I felt energetic, and full of speed.  The five step combination that we needed to do just flowed out of me smoothly.. I don't know if it is because I'm working out everyday, or if it's the different kinds of exercise that I'm doing in the Insanity program, or the fact that I'm stretching more often.. but I had no problems with meeting the demands of Karate class on Friday.  I almost felt like I was moving like Jet Li, or Jackie Chan for a moment there because it just flowed so smoothly.. ha ha..

I just HAVE to share this with you, my friends, and readers.. because I'm not even finished the program and I have decided that I want to make it available to anyone who might be interested in it.

If you want to check it out.. just send me an email, and I'll help you get a look at it all:

supergroup7@beachbodycoach.com

I promise you that I will update this Blog with the results when I finish the full session of Insanity Max 30. It sure does look like I'm going to love what happens!!

On the path to Nidan

These past months have been demanding as I prepared for my Nidan test.

I have put forth much effort towards being able to perform at my highest level all the while knowing that one cannot "cram" for this kind of test, and that it was the years and years of consistent training that has built up my solidity to the point where I could face this challenge.

I am built up by the support of my close family, Sensei, dojo mates, friends, supervisors at work,  and co-workers. I so appreciate their positive energy.

Going to work with a limp, and bruises from my efforts brought up the question from one of my friends of "Why does it have to be so difficult?" The only answer that I could provide at the time was "It wouldn't be a second level black belt test if I showed up and was asked to blow up a dozen balloons, would it?  The test has to pull out the best in me.. and well.. since I have accumulated skills and knowledge, the best will be very difficult."

I have watched many a belt rank test now, and realized that it is the consistency of training that shows, or doesn't show.  If a student puts forth an honest, and constant effort to practice over and over as they learn a skill.. their body just knows what to do, and how to do it. This goes for learning a piece of music, or kneading bread, or crocheting, or striking a pad with a spinning back kick.

Those students who think that they can show up to a test, and pull a rabbit out of their hat at the last moment are deceiving themselves.  An experienced eye can see the awkwardness of the moment.. the stiff "almost wishful" sudden effort of someone who is trying to make their body do the movement that it isn't familiar with.  They aren't fooling anyone but themselves, and if these people "pass" the test it is by the tolerance of the testing panel... but the truth is that they have not accumulated the necessary skills for that rank level and therefore will suffer even more the next time that they attempt to test for a higher rank.  If a child did not learn the skill of  how to multiply and divide numbers at elementary school, they will be sorely disappointed when they have to start working with fractions in Junior High, and nearly inundated with sorrow when they hit algebra in High school. Therefore, someone who could have done well in their efforts finds themselves flailing because of a lack of a foundation.  The question becomes "will they be willing to humble themselves, accept the truth that they need to work on simple things that they thought they knew, and improve their position so that they CAN achieve a higher rank with the necessary abilities?"

This isn't a shameful thing. It takes courage, inner strength, and a willingness to do what it takes to improve.. and that is something that I could and would respect in a person.

How to Invest In Yourself

At first one may think that he is speaking about careers, and business, but listen on, and you will find that the main message is to change the way that you think about what you are doing so that you can achieve success, and happiness.  This can apply to anything from relationships to Martial Arts training.



I can see how understanding the "why" that we do so many middle punches can improve the value of our efforts especially for those of us who have been training for many years. When your experience starts heading into decades of sweating on the dojo floor, and you might start to feel the dryness of the repetition, this is when his encouraging video helps you to regain focus.  However it can also help the beginner student who is confused by the training, and doesn't understand the emphasis on perfecting the movement, perhaps thinking "a punch is a punch, who cares what angle, speed, or target.." missing out on the multiple uses of a middle punch simply by negating it's importance.



The main idea is how much value you place on the activity, or investment.  It isn't the behavioral changes that are important.. that is short term.. it's the reason that you chose to change your behavior.



Honestly.. check out his 166 videos.. ( ... not all at once :-) )  I know that I'm going to do so.. and leave a comment.  It might just change your life.. and for the better.

My Blog has slowed down greatly, but let me explain

When I started training in Karate everything was shocking, alien, and new.  From how one enters the room, to how one stands, to how one reacts, etc.  It really is a totally different culture with unique expectations, and experiences, and I wanted to document the progress of understanding Martial Arts  from white belt to black not only for myself but also for my various internet friends who have supported me throughout the years that I had met on various Martial Arts forums.  This was the reason that this blog existed.  Also, whenever a friend and I had questions about philosophy, technique, or patterns, I would post my answer on the blog.  I wanted to share those family moments that I had enjoyed when my husband, and children trained with me, and reveal the positive effects of Karate training.  I was a stay at home Mom with some personal time in my day to dedicate to reaching out to the virtual community.

However, now that I have been living as an established Black belt, and my ability to participate on Martial Arts forums has been restricted due to work, family, and training, I find that I'm having more and more difficulty contributing to the Blog.  It's not that I have learned "everything", and so there is no more progress.  It's the opposite.. I've learned that there is so much that I do not know; layers of information that cannot be put into words, but must be felt in action in order to understand.  It's the difference between knowing what a good chocolate cake should look, and taste like, and being able to bake one.  My knowledge is now part of the energy of my movement, and even videos or pictures cannot do that justice. 

I have also found the answer within myself that I have read in Sensei Gichin Funakoshi's Autobiography wherein he refers to all "karate" being the same.. that there is no difference in styles, or schools.  I used to be confused about that idea especially as I would watch someone fight in a tournament, and I could almost pin point that the manner in which they fought showed off a certain philosophy.  However, that is tournament fighting, and not "karate".  ( Wow.. I'm sure that I have opened a bag of snakes with that sentence!)  Let me explain...  Tournament fighting has rules, referees, time limits, space limits, etc.  There is a space there where one can use various techniques, and applications, but karate is survival where one faces a severe deciding moment in life and the result is never a trophy.  As Sensei Gichin Funakoshi said "When two tigers fight, one is certain to be maimed, and one to die."  When one is faced with this situation, all revolves around the thought that one wants to be the one to walk away from the confrontation alive.

I met a wonderful Kyokushin student just a month ago who came from Rwanda, and who had lived through the violence, and chaos of the Hutu/ Tutsi conflict in 1994. It was his experience of watching a Kyokushin Black Belt successfully defend the village from imminent death from a group of killers that spurred him into wanting to gain these skills in his life.  I also met another courageous woman over 40 years old facing the tough training of Kyokushin, and doing her best despite all of the complications, and demands that this new experience is challenging her to overcome.  Her main enemy is herself as she struggles to survive as a student in a situation that reminds her that she isn't 20 years old anymore, and that each exercise is only possible if she relies on her will power rather than her body.  For me, this is karate.. and style or school doesn't matter.

Slow but sure

This year has been one of challenges.  However, it is in finding the strength to seek answers to problems that one develops and grows.  Perhaps that is why nature gives us more challenges as we age, it could be to help us to grow.

I've been limited as to my "off class" training time, and yet, now more than ever I have felt that my training needed to be boosted.  There is only so much that I can grasp mentally, I know that my body needs to feel the movements, and strengthen with confidence in order to apply the movements, but that comes with practice.

Balance with the various demands of everyday living needs to be there also because it does me no good to improve on my Karate, and watch my home life, or work life disintegrate... or to have an immaculate home, but find myself out of shape and unable to enjoy it.

I have found that there is no easy answer.  I have to flow with the demands of the day. Today I will meet the obvious needs of the house and family, and attempt to include some training at the end of the day ( if the weather is kind enough to stay sunny).

But isn't that what Karate is about?  We have to balance expansion, and contraction. We give, and take, sometimes putting force out, and sometimes deflecting and letting the force go.  I think that the key is consistency.  We keep all of the elements in mind as we chose which path we will take at this moment. As long as we keep working towards our goals, slowly but surely we will achieve them.

How could I forget? 2013 tradition completed

In January, at the very first class of my dojo, my students and I completed my New Year's tradition:

We did:

213 middle punches
213 front kicks
13 Kihon Sono Ichi

This was a wonderful moment for me.  I don't know how they felt about it,  but I was happy to share this experience with them.  The whole class was dedicated towards this effort, and there was something unifying by having each student count out a set of 10.

Maybe something positive happens in the human psyche when a group works on a repetitive task as a unit, such as rowing a boat, or hauling a log, or moving together in synchronicity.  I know that I appreciate good team kata performances where each member precisely hits the same mark/technique as the other.  To realize and understand the complexity involved to achieve this feat brings even more admiration.

I love watching this following video of Russian Women performing Seienchin to music.  Although, I found that having to keep to the beat of the music tending to change the "feel" of the technique presented so that it had more of a dance look to it, I did see that they were also capable of showing the fullness of the movements.

http://youtu.be/6CBFOfh3gk8

New Year.. New opportunities... New Goals

Last Year's Goals were as follows:

a) I want to focus on improving my Saiha Kata, and Seienchin Kata.

b) To help cope with the increasing sensations of stiffness, and pain in my knees/elbows/ankles/wrists I have started taking Ginger supplements in my diet. It is my goal to find other ways to support my body so that I can continue to train into my golden years. I'm hoping that by next New Year's I will see an improvement due to the aide of the Ginger.

c) Review: I would like to work towards rewriting my notes, and creating a more complete library of the information that I need to know, want to know, and even added on extras of Martial Arts information that just interests me. 

Details: http://www.supergroup7shodan.blogspot.ca/2011/12/my-new-years-goal-2012.html

Well, I did work on my Saiha, and Seienchin Kata for the year, and improved my knowledge of them.  Applications of the various movements started to make sense, and I feel far more confident in hitting the "spot"on each movement.

I found that increasing my consumption of Ginger did not improve my situation.  However, through the guidance of my Sensei, I did remove MSG, and Glucose-Fructose ( High Fructose Corn Syrup) additives from my diet.  I noticed that I started losing weight ( 12 pounds) without any other diet change, and much of my stiffness has cleared up.

I did not have the time to work on my library of information. That is a big chore, and it involves too much dedication to dig through everything right now.  Family, work, and training is foremost.

New Years Goals for 2013

a)  This year I have been working one of history's classic Kata:  Naihanchi ( Naifanchi) or also known as Tekki.  It is my goal to improve my performance of this Kata, and learn from it's lessons.  Sensei Gichin Funakoshi has said that he spent 10 years working on it, I'm willing to put forth my little efforts.

"So important was the Naifuanchi kata to old-style karate that Kentsu Yabu, the martial arts instructor at the Okinawa Prefectural Teacher's School, often told his students "Kata wa Naifuanchi ni hajimari, Naifuanchi ni owaru" (Kata begins and ends with Naifuanchi) (Gima et al, 1986)." website

b)  I have been neglecting the internet Martial Arts forums due to all of my various life challenges from work, home, and hobby.  So, I thought that I would return and visit various places now and then to reconnect. I may only have a few minutes to offer.. but I will make a strong attempt to add this into my life because I find that it helps me expand my knowledge, and thinking as I train.

Women's Self Defense - Blogging Carnival

Why “Women’s” Self defense?

I want to focus on the concept that women may need a different kind of self defense mental training than men.  We cannot escape the fact that women usually have less physical strength as men, and considerations should be taken when thinking of the best counter to an opponent who is taller, stronger, and faster than you, but this could also apply to a shorter, less strong male. Place a well trained fighting woman against an out- of- shape man, and I think that I could safely place my bet on the lady. 

What mental issues would a “Women’s” self defense want to address?

I suggest that the key is looking at how women think, and react.  “  Historically males and females have been under different selection pressures which are reflected by biochemical and behavioural differences between the sexes," said Dr Joohyung Lee, from the Prince Henry's Institute in Melbourne. "The aggressive fight-or-flight reaction is more dominant in men, while women predominantly adopt a less aggressive tend-and-befriend response.  Dr Lee and co-author Professor Vincent Harley, propose that the Y-chromosome gene SRY reveals a genetic underpinning for this difference due to its role in controlling a group of neurotransmitters known as catecholamines.....The authors propose that SRY may prime organs in the male body to respond to stress through increased release of catecholamine and blood flow to organs, as well as promoting aggression and increased movement which drive fight-or-flight in males. In females oestrogen and the activation of internal opiates, which the body uses to control pain, may prevent aggressive responses." ( You can read more of this article here:)

What is this “Tend and befriend” response?  From what I’ve read it seems to be a inner desire to seek out supportive relationships.  In the dojo I’ve seen more than one woman react to a self defense exercise of being attacked by looking around at the people around her to see how they are reacting. Sometimes she might start smiling, or even laughing.  This is a normal animal behavior to show submission, or to show forth a non-threatening posture, and to ask for acceptance from the aggressor in the Primate world. To learn more about non-verbal submission click here.  It may be a subconscious non-verbal reaction of our primitive brain to attempt to befriend ( if possible ).

This does not mean that women cannot be as aggressive, or even more aggressive than men.  It will depend on the stimulus, and reason that the woman chooses to show aggression.  Also, a woman will tend to show the aggression in a less open and physical manner.  It has been shown that women lean towards fighting with their words, or in subtle hidden ways, more than openly with their fists... unless it is towards someone who is in a close relationship with them.  “Virtually all sociological data shows women initiate domestic violence as often as men, that women use weapons more than men, and that 38% of injured victims are men.”  http://divorcesupport.about.com/od/abusiverelationships/a/male_abuse.htm  When it comes to child abuse, nearly 58% of perpetrators were women, and out of that number 80% were the parents of the children.  Website

However, being aggressive, or taking the initiative to attack may cause some gender conflict in the female psyche unless viewed from a perspective that not only allows it, but encourages it.

I would suggest that a women be guided towards thinking of protecting her friends/family in a self defense situation rather than focusing on protecting herself as a source of inner strength.  This could take into advantage the natural desire of the “Tend and Befriend”.  Thoughts like “My friends/family NEED me, I am protecting those that I care for, I have to survive this moment”  may put her mind into a different status.  It allows her to tap into her emotional side. One doesn’t want to lose themselves into the emotions as a clear mind is necessary to act quickly and effectively, but finding a core “reason” within oneself for why we are choosing to do to them what they meant to do to us is extremely helpful.  We don’t want to become distracted by this inner motivation. I would offer that in our everyday average complacent society that most people ( I’d like to include men in this as they are not immune to distraction) are not living in the mental alertness necessary for self-defense. How many people walk down the street, or even drive a car occupied with their cell phones, etc, and do not pay attention to their environment?   Distracted driving has contributed to 80% of collisions.  Guess what?  Women are more likely to engage in distracted behavior then men.  They will fix their makeup, brush their hair, change songs on the MP3 players, take pictures, eat, adjust their GPS devices, text, even change clothes as they drive.  There seems to be an illusion of “safety” that gives these women the idea that everything will be o.k.   It would be best not to allow the emotions and thoughts to get between you and your goal of survival.  Instead find your core reason, and use it as an inner source of power, and don’t let distractions get in the way of self-defense.

Zumba is fun

I have had my first experience with the Zumba, and I loved it.  It is a nice combination of dance, exercise, and fun.  The music is catchy, and lively. It's just hard to frown when you are flinging your arms around, and moving to happy music like this.

Take a look:



Yes.. it's not a Martial Art.  True... but I don't mind trying other things just for the variety... It's great to see that I am able to meet the challenges of these workouts thanks to all of my Karate training.

I also enjoyed the experiences I had with Mr. Billy Blanks Tae Bo workout tapes.  He actually mixes Martial Arts movements with exercise.  This workout really gets the sweat going, and gets you breathing.



The only problem that I had was that I kept doing the punches/kicks with Karate technique which made me move a little differently sometimes.. but I just shrugged, accepted that change, and kept going. 

Next, I want to try some Pilates workouts, I've heard that they are fantastic. I found a video on youtube that I might just try:



Summer is a great time to try out new things, and stay healthy. I wish you all the best in your training.