Author: Shawn

I am a practitioner of the martial arts and student of the Buddhist faith. I have been a Type 1 Diabetic since I was 4 years old and have been fighting the uphill battle it includes ever since. I enjoy fitness and health and looking for new ways to improve both, as well as examining the many questions of life. Although I have no formal medical training, I have amassed a wealth of knowledge regarding health, Diabetes, martial arts as well as Buddhism and philosophy. My goal is to share this information with the world, and perhaps provide some sarcastic humour along the way. Welcome!

Slowing Is Not The Same As Stopping…

I’m sure many of you have heard the expression that you don’t stop training when you get old, you get old when you strop training. The idea behind that is that when you stop maintaining your mobility and fitness, it can have adverse effects on your personal well being. Realistically speaking, the lessening of one’s physical health will also have an impact on the mental clarity, since the mind can’t exist without the body and vice versa.

A good example for this would be my dear mother. She’s spent her entire life taking care of others. Besides being a capable woman in her own right, it started with her caring for my ailing brother, who passed away at the age of 18, followed by caring for her elderly parents since she was the eldest daughter. Even as all of these people have passed away, she then began to dote and take care of my father, who unfortunately has a condition where his spine degenerates and has him wheelchair ridden. She’s always had someone to focus her attentions on. Once the smoke cleared and there was no one left to take care of, her mind slipped away.

Most people have been confused by this phenomena and don’t understand the connection between maintaining the body and maintaining the mind. While my mother has been in a state of hyper awareness for the majority of her life by virtue of caring for others, she’s never taken much care of herself. The result is her body has absolutely no ability to sustain her mind. As a result, she has slipped away. I just spoke to her on Sunday morning by Facetime and she thought my son was a little girl and had no idea who he was. Just a bit sad.

This is why it is so important to keep moving. In recent years, I’ve come to the realization that I can longer carry on in the same fashion as i have for the past few decades. My training in the martial arts has significantly helped in my battle against Type-1 Diabetes and has helped me out of more sticky situations, both personally and professionally, than I can possibly count. But there’s no chance in hell that I can do it like I used to. This was evidenced by a very unfortunate incident at a local karate dojo where I had a couple of my ribs fractured and my muscle wall crushed in a manner that I would have easily defended from in years prior.

It makes me realize that I need to slow myself down. This is not only important in order to accommodate my age, which will never stop, but to prevent unnecessary injury. BY the way, the older you get, the longer and more difficult it is to get over injuries and heal properly. But the important thing, if you paid attention and read the previous two paragraphs, is that you don’t stop moving. Slowing does not mean stopping. And the sooner you throw in the towel and say “screw it, I’m done,” the sooner your body will have difficulties accommodating your needs into the foreseeable future. And you need your body and your mind as long as you can manage it.

Slow down if you need to. Hey, we all get there. Do I think I could still kick some ass, if I needed to? You’d better believe it! Protect my loved ones? Anyone who would threaten the well being of my family would find out that even old dogs can still punch. But I recognize that maybe those two-hour karate sessions need to drop to only one hour. Maybe my 70-kilometres bicycle treks need to become 20 or 30 kilometres instead. I’ll never stop moving. I can’t. My health depends on it. But the manner in which I move and in what amounts are what make the difference. Food for thought… ☯️

Some Frosty Tips…

No, I’m not referring to “frosted” tips, as in what some may have done to their hair back in the 1990’s. I’m referring to frost, as in the icy shit that makes it impossible to see through my windshield in the morning. We’ve started to reach that time of year where, in Saskatchewan at least, the temperatures are starting to consistently drop, the weather is getting cold and Mother Nature is getting ready to dump a pile of white shit in our laps. That’s right, whether we Ike it or not, winter is coming!

If you can’t tell from the sarcasm, I’m not a big fan of winter. I enjoy there autumn just fine. Cool enough that I’m not sweating bullets constantly but warm enough that I don’t have to shovel snow. But once the weather requires maintenance on my part in order to get on with my day, I quickly lose interest. Winter wonderland, my ass! But I digress… By virtue of how long I’ve been writing this blog and given that winter keeps coming around, I’m once again writing about certain health tips that people tend to neglect or forget during the winter months.

While there isn’t quite snow on the ground yet, it’s important to remember that colder temperatures can have some adverse effects on one’s body. First and foremost, one needs to recognize the importance of dressing in layers. I’m sure everyone has heard this a lot but what does it actually mean? Realistically, it’s more than just piling on several. Layers of clothing to ensure you’re warm. In fact, if you layer up improperly, you can end up just as cold and maybe open yourself up to sickness.

Here’s the basic rule of thumb.You should have a moisture wicking layer against your skin. Think under armour or something similar. This allows any warmth-related perspiration to be wicked away from the body. Otherwise, the evaporation of that sweat will cause cooling and your core temp will drop, which could lead to conditions like hypothermia. The next layer should be your insulating layer. This is where you could use your cotton or other insulating materials. And your outer layer would of course be your coat, jacket or similar garment that will block wind, rain and over all cold.

A pair of gloves is always recommended. Extended periods outdoors would be better served by insulated mitts, since the huddling of your fingers will help maintain warmth. But at the very least, gloves. There’s nothing that sucks worse than scarping windows with bare hands. And since I mentioned hypothermia in the previous paragraph, I should touch on the difference between that and frostbite. Hypothermia is basically the dropping of your body’s core temperature to the point where it can’t sustain itself. Frostbite is exposure to cold that causes ice to form in the tissues. That’s an over-simplification, of course, but the difference is basically one happens on the outside and one happens within. Moving on…

Next is the sun. It always amazes me how people tend to forget that the sun’s rays cause the same damage at 30 degrees than at -30 degrees. If outside in the sun during the cold months, remember to wear sunglasses and apply sunscreen to any exposed skin if you’ll be out for prolonged periods. Nothing is more embarrassing than getting a sunburn in the winter but it can happen. Ironically, you actually NEED some sunlight. Exposure to sunlight promotes the creation of Vitamin D in the body. During the winter months, people tend to spend increased time indoors and out of reach h of natural light. So, while one needs other protect oneself from the harmful effects of the sun, it needs to be counterbalanced with some time outdoors to ensure proper Vitamin D levels.

And the last point I’ll touch on of course, is the Diabetic aspect. I don’t need to tell any of my readers who have Type-1 Diabetes that just about everything affects blood sugar levels. Periods of time in the cold weather, at least for me, will increase the effects of any activity or exercise I may be doing. For example, my blood sugar will drop just as drastically for ten minutes of snow shovelling as it would for an hour of weightlifting. So it’s extremely important to monitor your blood sugar, keep some fast-acting carbs on you at all times and be cognizant of how your blood sugars respond to the weather.

That’s it! There’s no getting away from the winter weather, unless you live in a tropical area but I’ll confess I’d take snow over hurricanes and floods any day. Take good precautions, stay hydrated and hopefully we can all get through this thing called winter in one piece. Food for thought…☯️

Keep Your Finger Off The Trigger…

Ah, triggers! For almost fifteen years, I kept the title of today’s post at the forefront of my mind, as a mantra, during my law enforcement career. Obviously in this context, a trigger is referring to a small device that releases a spring of some sort to set off a mechanical function, like pulling the trigger for a gun. But the actual meaning of a trigger for the purposes of today’s post, is something that may spark negative thoughts or emotions and cause the a nice cornucopia of reactions from the person who is “triggered,” including anger, anxiety, fear or sadness.

The thing about triggers is that everyone has them. In recent years, there’s been significant headway made in relation to people’s mental health and how to address it. Part of that is having individuals identify and recognize their triggers and to know how to deal with them. While that can be significantly important in terms of one’s personal health and growth, there are very important detail that comes to mind that many not be popular with folks but I promise it isn’t intended to offend; it’s simply a truth: your triggers are not my problem.

So, what do I mean with that last statement? Simply put and as I mentioned earlier, everyone has triggers. However, and as time has gone by, people seem to be inclined to believe that you should know what their triggers may be and to avoid them. This is categorically false and is a logical impossibility. For example, if we’re sitting at the office in the middle of a meeting, how am supposed to know that you’re allergic to the sound of paper (that’s a real thing, you can Google it)?

My point is that if you tell me about this particular quirk of yours and I decide to be an asshole and do something that triggers you in spite of what you’ve revealed, shame on me. If you get triggered by something I say or do and you lose your absolute shit on me despite the fact I didn’t know, shame on you! No one person can be expected to know what may offend or trigger you. It is, in fact, your responsibility to take a moment to tell someone, “Sorry, but I’m not comfortable with that.” Otherwise, it’s kind of hard to hold the offending party to task for it.

While it could be easily understood that some people may actually not be comfortable with revealing their triggers in all circumstances, that doesn’t resolve the issue you may face if someone triggers you without being aware of it. That person should be held responsible for your reaction, especially if you never revealed the issue to them. It comes back to the old saying, “I can only control my words; not how you react to them.” By that same token, I can only control my ability not to offend or trigger you based on what you choose to share with me. It all comes down to you. Food for thought… ☯️

The Most Unlikely Calorie Burn…

I had someone ask me the question a long timeworn doing a workout recently that had me quite floored, considering my exercise routine is almost non-existent lately. As a matter of routine, I usually spend a period of time post-workout in meditation, as it tends to lower one’s heart rate, lower blood pressure and allow me some recuperative time before grabbing a snack and hitting the showers. For the most part, I tend to save my meditation sessions in my RunKeeper app, not only because the option is available, but it helps me keep track, which is the entire point of the app. I noticed, not for the first time, that the app calculated that I had burned 31 calories during my meditation. This raised the important question: does one burn calories while meditating?

The very short, high level answer without much research is yes, yes you do. I can say this with some confidence as it’s a basic premise that any movement of the body will burn calories. And even as simple an act as breathing or normal bodily functions will burn calories. This doesn’t mean it can be substituted for actual diet and exercise, of course. Otherwise, every couch potato in the world would look like fuckin’ Jean-Claude van Damme in his prime.

For example, I apparently burn about 46 calories for 30 minutes of meditation. Alternatively, I would burn a little over 300 calories for cycling for the same amount for time. Those numbers will vary based on age, weight and how far you travel on the bike during those 30 minutes, of course. But it makes for a significant difference. There was a study released somewhere back in 2016 that estimated that the average person burns about 4.5 calories per minute from meditating. I can’t seem to find the article I read it in. Really have to start saving some of this shit as I find it.

According to an article posted by WebMD, states “meditation […] can lower high blood pressure. It can also help you manage stress, which drives some people to eat.” Disappointingly, the article doesn’t provide a great deal of any thing more related on how meditating can burn calories but rather goes into details on how one should meditate. So there doesn’t seem to be a lot of research or information surrounding whether the action of meditating itself burns any measurable calories or rather has the after effect of lower blood pressure and better control over eating, which brings in less calories.

Ultimately, it’s one of those things that’s just up in the air and there isn’t much to support using it as an actual calorie burning tool. Meditation should first and foremost be used as a means of cantering oneself, finding one’s inner peace and balance and as a supplement to reducing the suffering in one’s life. If you should so happen to burn a few calories while doing it, that’s just a pinch of calorie-free icing on a gluten-free cake. Food for thought…☯️

Movember 2024

Hello, dear readers. I’ve never been much of one to ask others for anything and certainly, my blog has never been intended as a means of making or raising money. In fact, I often find it mildly amusing when I’ve seen blog writers not only have PayPal links on their pages to fund their blog but some who try to do it as a living and actively ask readers for funding. I mean, if it works for them, good for them, I guess. It’s just not something I’ve ever been able to get on board with. But I digress…

My point is, once a year I set aside my reluctance to put a hand out and I raise funds for one of the moist important charity initiatives (to me): Movember.

For those who are unfamiliar, Movember is a registered charity in canada that holds an annual challenge as a way to raise funds and awareness for prostate and testicular cancer, which is diagnosed in more than 1.4 million men globally, each year. Myself and several of my work colleagues have participated for the past few years and have raised tons of money to help support those afflicted with the conditions and to fund cancer research. While we always set a modest goal of only $500 for the year, a little help can go a long way and your donations would do just that.

I know times are tight, everyone has bills and financial obligations and everything seems to be constantly getting more and more expensive. But I can’t stress enough how even the smallest bit adds to the overall pile and can help.

Donating has never been simpler. You can donate directly online by visiting the Movember website and clicking on the black “Donate” button at the top. Select “Find a person or team” and just type in “Shawn Cook” and you should see my ugly mug pop up. Fill out the donation form and you’ve done your part. You can even get a tax receipt, if wanted.

I don’t wander social media much at all these days but hopefully I have a few people on my friends list that will step up and provide a donation. Every little bit helps. Here the webpage: Movember Canada. No pressure and no expectation here, folks. But if anyone wants to contribute and make a donation, please know that it will be sincerely appreciated. ☯️

Stick A Needle In My Eye, Why Don’t You?

As soon as even the slightest suggestion of sticking a needle into an eyeball is made, most people’s reaction would be utter disgust and horror. In fact, sticking any object into a human eyeball is often a focus of many horror movies and shows. So it often takes people by surprise when I mention that for roughly the past 8 years or so, I have been periodically getting needles in my eyes. This is as a result of a little-known condition called Diabetic Macular Edema.

I’ve written about this before but for my newer subscribers or long-standing ones that may not read every post I write, Diabetic Macular Edema (DME) is a condition where fluids builds up beneath and around the macular of the eye and cause4s swelling. While this condition usually occurs in the elderly diabetic population, it’s usually caused by high blood sugars that damage the blood vessels behind the eyes. Since I had a less-than-ideal childhood control over my blood sugars, I’ve developed it much sooner than expected.

DME can be treated by a number of different medications, many of them administered through injections directly into the eye. In my case, I receive a medication called Lucentis. The first time I attended the ophthalmologist appointment for injections, I was scared shitless. Needless to say in my eyes? Are you fucking kidding me??? The worst part was having those weird little clockwork orange clips strapped into my eyelids and the fact I can still see and move my eyes when this is happening.

Originally, I was getting these injections every four weeks. As time went on, that period of time was increased. Last week was my first time of attending an injection appointment after 11 weeks and I’m pleased to say that my eyes had no evidence of swelling or DME symptoms whatsoever. As a result, my ophthalmologist has increased the next appointment to 12 weeks. He’s at a loss because apparently, as one gets older, the eyes should be getting worse, not better. But for some reason, my eyes seem to be adjusting and healing much better than expected. I’ll chalk that up to weight loss, improved blood pressure and cholesterol, all of which can contribute to DME symptoms.

It’s not often I get a positive win where Diabetes is concerned. So I’ll definitely take the win here. The big takeaway is that when you consider all the possible side effects of Type-1 Diabetes, like organ failure, amputation and, you know, death, a treatable condition like DME is pretty manageable. But it also speaks to what I often say about the importance of maintaining one’s health, eating properly and monitoring your blood sugars. Your body is like a house of cards; pulling out one card can make the whole thing tumble. Food for thought…☯️

Eating For Two, Even If You’re Just One…

I love a good dose of nostalgia. I have many great memories from throughout my life and I although I don’t dwell on the past, I do tend to visit there often. For example, when the Cobra Kai series came out, and with a cast of the original Karate Kid actors, I was delighted and excited because it brought back all the feel good emotions of the 1980’s when I watched those movies for the first time. But nostalgia is not only limited to movies and shows. No, no, no. It can also apply to one’s food…

Before moving on to the actual topic of today’s post, I need to point out that everything I’m about to say is strictly my opinion. This should in no way reflect your own view on the restaurant chain I’m about to bring. Which is, McDonald’s… I grew up in an era where McDonald’s;d’s restaurants were the place to go. Fast, cheap and delicious fast food that had a varied menu that had a little something for everyone. For me, that little something was a burger called the Arch Deluxe.

The Arch Deluxe was a burger offered on McDonald’s Canadian menu sometime in the mid-1990’s and was discontinued after the turn of the millennium. It featured a quarter pounder patty but what made it so spectacular was the “secret” Arch sauce, which I found out years later was just dijon mustard and mayonnaise. But still, it had a flavour I just couldn’t get enough of, and also featured a peppered round bacon slice. What wasn’t to love about it?

Considering it came out around the time I graduated high school and I had my own car, it wasn’t unusual for me and some friends to make our way to the nearest McDonald’s to indulge. And since this was years before my carb-counting, I would easily eat one along with a 20-pack of McNuggets (yes, you read that right) as an evening snack. Ah, to have the metabolism of a 20-year old again… But I digress. Given its size and content, it boasted a massive protein hit, which was great for the young man training handily in the martial arts.

I was sincerely bummed out when it was discontinued (especially since I was working at a McDonald’s at the time and had easy access to them). So, imagine my surprise a little over a month ago when McDonald’s launched a new burger called “the Big Arch.” I was overjoyed and looking forward to a hit of culinary nostalgia, until I researched this burger and got slapped in the face with a severe dose of reality. Once again, this is not a slight against McDonald’s or this new burger and you should definitely make your informed decision on whether you try it or not. Because the reality is that I didn’t try it. I didn’t get to taste it. And here’s why…

This big bastard… I mean, burger, boast two quarter pounder patties instead of one. It’s got three slices of cheese as well as other ingredients that raise the carb and caloric count significantly. Sitting at 57 grams of carbohydrates, it likely wouldn’t be so bad, in and of itself. The problem comes in the form of 1030 calories. That’s just a bit under half of a person’s caloric intake for the day. Pair that with the fact the burger contains 88% of one’s daily fat intake and 86% of one’s sodium intake, there was no human way I could eat this burger.

I would imagine that for a non-0Diabetic who isn’t on Ozempic and makes a combo out of this bad boy will easily cross the halfway mark for their daily caloric intake with just one meal. And the nail in the coffin is that I don’t think the arch sauce used on this burger is the same one as the original Arch Deluxe, which is hugely disappointing, since it was one of the standout ingredients of the original. The result is that despite having hit the menu over a m,both ago, my most recent visit saw me order my piddly Junior Chicken sandwich, which still sits at 36 grams of carbs despite only having 380 calories.

It goes without saying that Diabetes sucks big time and prevents a lot of things in my life. But somehow I think that even if I wasn’t Diabetic, I would a diffuse time in justifying eating a burger that would basically punch both my kidneys in the nuts with the amount of salt. All in all, when it comes to the Big Arch, I’ll have to enjoy my pinch of nostalgia through someone else’s eyes. Such is life…☯️

Stop And Smell The Roses…

I’ve always kind of been the type to push himself a lot, especially when it comes to my work. For the most part, I never stop, unless I get sick and even then, I end up powering through if my illness takes a bit more time than I’d like. This instinct has served many of my previous employers well through the years. Even though most employers make a nice show of telling staff not to come into work when they’re sick or to make sure they take their vacation time, it’s very seldom a happy thing when staff are absent from their post for any length of time. It can make for a scenario where even people who aren’t as much of a “go getter” as me question whether they should actually take time off or not. But in the interest of one’s health, let me tell you… You absolutely should.

First and foremost, let me slap you in the face with a small dose of reality. Speaking only for myself but generally speaking, I’m out of the house for work purposes at least 10 hours a day. By the time I leave the home and get to the office, put in my 8-hour day and make my way home, that’s my 10 hours. We have a pretty structured daily routine that involves eating supper and cleaning up, which averages about two hours. Okay. Then, depending on what day of the week it is, we follow a showering/bathing schedule for the boys, I help with laundry and cleaning and whatever other chore may be required that day, which usually leaves an hour, if I’m lucky, to just sit and veg out in front of the television with my wife. Conceptually, we could be using that hour for something productive, like exercising, taking our boys outside or sitting at the table with a drink and good conversation. But by this point, we’re usually both so burned out from the day that we’re in bed shortly by 9 pm (if not before) to grab what hopefully ends up being 8 hours of sleep. Only to do it all over again the next day.

I’ve often heard it said that one must work to live, not live to work. While it would be far better not to have to work to live either, one must also admit that there must be some outlying purpose to life besides sitting at home, so work can be okay. But the important thing is to make some time for yourself and keep that time for either personal self-development, training, relaxing or just straight up doing something for oneself. The important aspect to bear in mind is that there’s a huge difference between being “off work” and actually relaxing. You can be at home doing nothing but still not relaxing. While sitting in front of the television binge-watching your favourite show can be relaxing on occasion, when it becomes the habit and part of the only hour to have free to the entire day, you may be stuck in a repeating loop that you’ll be unable to work your way out of.

What I mean by this, is that it’s important to change up what you do with your down time so that you don’t become stagnant. I’ve had a rough go in recent months, between my use of Ozempic, weight loss and lessened energy levels, I’ve moved away from my usual fitness regime and favoured resting up on the couch with my evenings so that I don’t turn into a bag of absolute smashed ass at the office the following day. The problem is that doing the former does not prevent the latter.

Through my studies, I’ve often held the belief that all life is created from energy. So a simple equation to life can look a little something like this. Everything alive moves. Movement creates energy. Energy sustains life. Life creates movement. It’s a simplistic view of how we maintain ourselves but the reality is that as soon as you eliminate any one of those three, the other two will falter.

If you stop moving, you won’t maintain your energy and you’ll die much sooner. This is why it’s so important that one makes the time to keep some movement going in one’s life. While one may feel it’s better (and usually easier) to just rest up with the precious little time one has in their day, taking time for some self-care and actually entertaining distraction can be important.

Last week and completely out of the blue, I decided to take the week off. At least the first half. Thursday and Friday I had my eye injections, but more on that in another post. I’m one of those people who carry over more vacation time than he takes, so I figured I should end that cycle and take some time off. No plans, no destination; just pure, unadulterated time off. And I’m happy to say that I did absolutely nothing.

Most people would assume that vacation time means you need to travel, visit family or do something specific. But there’s something to be said for just staying at home, kicking back and maybe doing a few things in the house you’ve been putting off. Despite travelling to Saskatoon for my eyes on Thursday, it was a good week of sleeping in and relaxing. And sometimes you need that. ☯️

Alive And Well, And Still Hitting The Keyboard…

Hard to believe the number of years that have gone by since I started this blog. Originally, it was a means to an end; intended to help me maintain my writing skills while continuing to build my writing acumen and researching various topics that interested me. Unlike most bloggers, I started this through the lens that I was doing it for myself. It didn’t matter how many followers I had or how much or how little I wrote. As long as it held my interest and I wanted to continue , I was accomplishing the goal.

Originally, my intention had been to write primarily about karate and Type-1 Diabetes. After all, these were the topics that I was deeply versed in. Over time, I started to include topics related to Buddhism, health & fitness and nutrition. All of these things tied together in some form or another, lending credence to their inclusion. And of course, there’s no denying that I frequently make a point of writing my opinion on a variety of topics, whether they relate to my primary subjects or not.

Over time, I started making small goals for myself, challenges, if you will. I started by challenging myself to write about something on a daily basis. This may sound easy in concept but it definitely wasn’t. trying to figure out something to post daily was often very challenging, resulting in my seeking opinions from others as to what they would like to see posted and even topics they’d like to see me cover. In a way, it got me to come out of my little shell and consult with others, as well.

As I got into the groove to post daily, I started to challenge myself with numbers. Let’s try posting for 100 days in a row without missing a single day. Done. Let’s try a full year. Done. Let’s even try posting for 1,000 straight days in a row without missing a day. Abso-fuckin-lutely done! After that, I decided to take a step back and focus on other projects, train at some other dojos and work on myself a bit. I also have a day job that, you know, I should probably not ignore. So I took a break for a while.

As the months have droned on, I’ve slowly started to return to this blog, writing more frequently than I have in the past year. It’s not that I really have more free time to do so or more opportunities but I have come to recognize that I still enjoy it. And when you find something you enjoy, it’s kind of hard not making the time for it. What’s been nice is I seem to have a slight increase in followers in recent months. I’m no online influencer or anything but even if all of these folks only read the occasional post here and there, it’s nice knowing that someone is seeing my words and possibly gleaning something from them. I’ve even received a few reader comments recently, which is always nice to see.

It’s been nice to get back to something that’s essentially become familiar and comfortable. While I don’t think I’ll ever go back to writing a post on a daily basis, it still nice to see increased followers and some engaging by some of them. It shows me that while I’ve been doing this for myself and I enjoy it regardless of the outcome, there are still some folks who are getting something from it, as well. ☯️

The Rusted Tools In Your Box…

The world has evolved into an environment where people will typically pick up the phone and call someone if they need something in their homes repaired. Everything from our vehicles, our property and even our bodies are typically repaired or healed by outside individuals. And more and more, as time goes by, it seems that this is the way of the world. But it wasn’t always so. I grew up with the remands of the generations that kept their own tools, worked on their own cars and repaired their own homes.

During my youth, I got to experience the watering down of this societal trend. My grandfather had a basement full of tools and a pretty comprehensive workshop. As a carpenter and a blacksmith, you can still see some of his handy work floating around my home town as things created back then were built to last, even when they were made of wood. The thing is, he used all of his tools daily, and kept them all clean, oiled and maintained as needed otherwise ensure that they lasted and were of use for their intended purpose.

Next, we have my father. A well-meaning man, he was never very handy with repairing things himself. Put him in front of a computer and he’d turn into an operator from the fuckin’ matrix… But he wasn’t very adept at getting past anything more than hammering a nail to hang a photo frame. Having been directly raised in that environment, I fall very much into this same category. My point is he had a number of very handy tools available within the home. The problem is he never used them.

The result is that within a very short number of years, those tools began to rust, corrode and erode, rendering them all but useless and in some cases completely destroyed. There was nothing more heartbreaking when I had to go home to close down my mother’s apartment than having to scrap a bunch of tools that had succumbed to the passage of time and had become absolutely useless. I mean, I wouldn’t have been able to fly a bunch of steel tools back to Saskatchewan anyway, but it was still a shameful waste. Those tools would have been better served in the hands of someone who would have used them and maintained them properly.

So believe it or not, this post is actually related to karate and the martial arts. So I’m going to bring us back to THAT. Learning different styles and techniques has often been compared to having multiples tools in your toolbox. Much like a traditional tool (hold your jokes, I’m not referring to myself), if you don’t use your techniques and train consistently, you’ll get rusty. You’ll become ineffective. Your tools will basically be useless. Only if you maintain them and work with them, will your avail;able tools continue to serve you well and protect you, in the event you need them.

Somehow, in my head, I always feel as though I could be responsive and hold my own in the event of a fight. At least part of that is true because the knowledge is still there. The light willing, that’ll never go away. So knowing how to protect and defend myself, knowing how to execute techniques and perform my katas and train effectively… Those are the things that never go away. But like the hammer that sits in the toolbox for twenty years, it may still be able to hammer a nail but it won’t keep the rust from setting in. The same can be said of us. Train hard, train consistently and keep your tools maintained. As the old saying goes, you don’t stop karate and get old; you get old when you stop doing karate. Food for thought… ☯️