A short while back, I treated myself to some moderately-priced media equipment, which allows me to more effectively make videos for my YouTube page. And by the way, if you aren’t a follower on my YouTube page, please take a few moments to jump over there and click the follow button. thirty seconds for you, great deal of help for me. You can find my page by searching “The Blogging Buddhist” in the search bar. But I’m getting off track here…
I had thrown a post up on my Facebook page (yes, I also have a Facebook page, which you guys can follow as well. Find it by searching, you guessed it, “The Blogging Buddhist”) asking if anyone would have any interest in having me do a live event where I could answer questions and chat about various topics I write about, such as health & fitness, Diabetes and martial arts. I said I’d base whether I tried it or not on how many like I got and I also posted something similar on here.
To my unfortunate surprise, the response had no pulse. I got a couple of likes through facebook, which was nice but I otherwise had no show of interest, whatsoever on either platform. While this is disappointing, to say the least, I’m still interested in trying it out and have friends who have made it work and look interesting (Thanks, Ricky!) so I’m tempted to try it, despite the lukewarm response. In all reality, many if not most people may not necessarily respond to some thing that requires their interaction with a posting, so I kind of get it. Maybe if they come across the Live event, they’ll be tempted to jump in.
With all of that in mind, I’ve decided that I will go live on Facebook this evening at 6:30 p.m. Central Standard Time (Saskatchewan time). The event will last somewhere between 30 to 60 minutes, depending on attendance and interest, and will cover various topics including what’s mentioned above: martial arts, Diabetes management, health & fitness (from the Diabetic perspective, especially). Come join me and throw out any questions you may have been wondering about. Hopefully, it’ll be entertaining for all. See you there! ☯️
Martial arts is pretty old… In fact, setting aside my personal preference towards karate, there are styles that are thousands of years old. In fact, I found an interesting webpage that has a list of the oldest recorded martial arts. You can check it out here. Please bear in mind that I don’t know how complete this list is and I didn’t research any of these styles, so take it with grain of salt. My point is, martial arts is not a modern thing. And it can be very difficult for someone from the modern world, even an avid practitioner, to consolidate ancient methods with modern mindset.
The key point is that you can’t “modernize” martial arts. You can bring martial arts INTO the modern world and it’s certainly good and important to be open to new learning methods. The issue and point of today’s post, is that unlike most things in this modern world, martial arts is not technologically driven. Nothing will be done for you. No steps will be taken on your behalf. There are no participation trophies in karate and if you’re part of a dojo that awards them, run in the other direction as they obviously don’t have your best interests at heart.
Karate and the martial arts in general, come from the heart. It requires a person to dedicate themselves, sacrifice themselves and their lives. Not in a deadly way, obviously but in in the form of their time, their leisure and their energy. I lost count of the number of times I was nixed by my peers in my younger years for choosing to go to karate instead of staying at a swimming hole during a hot summer day or leaving a get-together in favour of training. Non-practitioners would have no way of knowing and understanding this importance. But it exists regardless.
You have to commit your heart and spirit to the art, work hard and be willing to understand and accept that this ain’t a knitting circle; there’ll be injuries, fatigue, pain, slip-ups and misunderstandings and disappointments at seeing others progress where you may feel that you should have, as well. reasonably speaking and with no malice intended, if you’re unable to put your heart and spirit into your training and sacrifice what’s required, martial arts may not be for you and you shouldn’t even be iIN the dojo. Martial is particular thing that is set apart from traditional sports. Thos who complain and whine abut the process are not deserving of the result. ☯️
Hey folks, I’ve been blogging for a few years now and it dawns on me that I don’t often get many questions or comments on my writing (unless it’s something negative that usually isn’t commented visibly). Anyway, with my recent purchase of some new media equipment, I thought I would take this show live and actually do a Facebook Live event where I could answer questions as they come in. Topics of discussion would include health & fitness, Diabetes, martial arts and thoughts on general matters. I’d love to give this a go and see if it’s potentially something I could start doing regularly.
I’ve already posted about this on my facebook page (yes, for those who didn’t know I have a Facebook page AND a YouTube page! Y’all should go follow those right meow!) and this post will appear there as well. My plan is if I get a significant number of likes on this post, signifying people’s interest in participating, I would schedule the live for this coming weekend and post the schedule on my Facebook page. I could do one in the morning and one in the evening to accommodate folks who may not be available. I’ll leave it to all of you to determine whether this happens or not. ☯️
People say that you need to be motivated in order to accomplish one’s goals. I respectfully decline. I think you need to simply take a first step. The success of that first step will provide the motivation later and said motivation will help fuel one’s drive, which will in turn ultimately push you towards push you towards your goals.
Many people will fizzle out early in their goals and believe it or not, that makes a lot of sense. This happens for a variety of reasons and that’s why I wanted to use today’s post to offer up a short list of things that can potentially make reaching one’s goals difficult. Here we go…
1. Set realistic goals: This one should be simple… Actually, it dawns on me that I say that a lot but it should. A goal should be something simple and realistic. For example, if my goal were to become an astronaut, someone would need to splash me with a cold dose of reality. After all, I’m in my 40’s and nowhere near the shape I need. Not to mention that I have this little thing called Diabetes. For these reasons and many others, I would never be able to become an astronaut, making it an unrealistic goal. Diabetics may go into space at some point in the future but it likely won’t be in my lifetime. 2. Even if you set deadlines, take your time: Whatever you set goals about, it’s important to remember that you’re a human being with basic needs and requirements and you deserve to do things properly. Deadlines can be great, especially if there’s a reason for them. Someone wanting to lose a particular amount of weight so that they’ll fit into wedding attire is a good example. It’s better to do something slowly and properly then rushing it and potentially risk your health AND your results. 3. For the love of light, take breaks: Being on a deadline or having specific goals can actually be pretty stressful, even if you’re motivated. Don’t forget to allow yourself some breaks form your endeavour somewhere in that mix. If you’re on some specific weight-loss diet, allow yourself that small cheat meal. If you’re on some fitness journey, take break days. In fact, it’s been proven that people who allow themselves an indulgence here and there during diets will have better success and breaks days are a must in order to allow muscle recovery and better fitness results. 4. Don’t be discouraged, especially by others: This is a big one and a personal pet peeve of mine. Making it worse than the usual pet peeve is that I’m guilty of it, myself. If you’re eating a particular diet or trying a particular fitness routine, it can be hard to stay motivated if someone is telling you it’s dumb or it doesn’t work. My offence is that I’m a firm disbeliever in fad diets. The only genuine way to cut through fat is to burn more calories than you take in. And certain dietary choices piss me off, which is why I unfortunately belittle them when someone else mentions them. This is a horrible practice and one that I need to stop (and I’m working on it).
Whether your goal is to improve your overall health, undertake a new sport or workout routine or just to get healthier, goals will help get you there. Being smart about it and recognizing how your progress can be helped will go a long way towards helping to ensure that you cross that finish line. Having a partner in certain goals can be helpful, as well. After all, we tend to push harder when we have a workout partner, Either way, taking steps to ensure the success of your goals will lead to better health, better well-being and better Diabetes management. Food for thought… ☯️
In karate and in most styles of martial arts, we perform drills and techniques over and over with the expectation that it will instil muscle memory. That way, in a real scenario where one I attacked by someone else, the block and/or counter-technique will come naturally and without hesitation. If you have to take the time to think about how you’ll block and how you’ll defend yourself, it’s already too late. Although television and movies tend to romanticize long, fancy fights where both participants exchange blows back and forth, a real fight never happens this way.
Despite consistent training and muscle memory, a real confrontation leaves you with so little time to react and protect oneself that technique and smoothness go right out the fuckin’ window. Trust me, I’ve been there. When an opponent’s fist is coming at your face and you only have a microsecond to react. When you block, IF you block and I hope you do, it won’t be perfect. You won’t have the bone alignment or the proper arm position. But whatever you throw out there will be anything more than just taking the strike. And that’s the important thing to remember; it’s not about looking like Bruce Lee in his prime. It’s about blocking the attack in order to protect yourself.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t train consistently. It’s like stretching and warming up. Let’s agree that in a real fight, you won’t have time to stop and stretching out your limbs before getting into it. But if you stretch and train properly, your muscles will be prepared for the explosive movements that may come with a sudden need to defend oneself. The same can be said of one’s blocks. If someone takes a swing at you, as long as you can throw out something that will intercept that swing and keep you from being hurt, that’s all that matters. The muscle memory will still serve you but you need to keep it consistent. ☯️
They say a little competition is a good thing. I believe the expression is “healthy competition.” Although this can be fine as long as that competition is for the purposes of fun and is only a game. The problem begins when one’s need for competition extends beyond fun and games and drips into everyday life. If you compete against others in life, you’ll find yourself walking a very lonely path; even if you’re not alone.
The goal of life should be to eliminate suffering; suffering in one’s own life and suffering in other peoples’ lives. If you compete against others for the purposes of personal advancement, comparing yourself to others or for gain, such as money, popularity or status, the only outcome will be suffering. Status in life means nothing. And let’s not mistake status for success; those are two very different things and success can be measured by the efforts and goals you set for oneself. Status is how outside people see you in relation to personal gain. Not so great.
Back in the 1990’s (yes, I’m old) I had my wisdom teeth removed. While I was laid up for a day or two on Tylenol 3’s, I rented a handful of movies to watch. Yes, this was back during a time when you had to actually walk into a retail location, provide your personal information and borrow a playable tape (not DVD) in order to watch it at home. Anyway, I decided to binge on a particular series and rented every Rocky movie I could find. I was a pretty big Sylvester Stallone fan, so it was a no-brainer. There were four movies out, at the time.
When I got to Rocky IV, one of the things I was most amazed with was the soundtrack. One would think that I would have been inspired by the lesson behind the movie, but you can only watch Stallone lose, train and make a comeback then finally defeat one’s enemy before the movies kind of all blend together. Anyway, there’s a song by Survivor called “Burning Heart.” The song was released in 1985, the same year as Rocky IV came out. The movie has some undertones that’s suggestive that the message relates to the Cold War and if I had to guess, I’d say that the song was written specifically for the soundtrack.
Anyway, there’s a particular line in the song that speaks to me and has done so ever since. It goes, “In the warrior’s code, there’s no surrender. Though his body says stop, his spirit cries NEVER! Deep in our soul a quiet ember knows it’s you against you; it’s the paradox that drives us on.” And that’s the message: the true competition is against yourself. Work to be a bit better than you were the day before. Set goals and fight to complete them. As long as you have moved one step closer today than you were yesterday, you’re competing the RIGHT way. But as soon as you compete while comparing yourself to anyone else, the only possible result will be suffering. And that doesn’t work for anybody. Food for thought… ☯️
I was busy re-arranging my home office last weekend and happened to clear everything from on top of my barrack boxes. For those who may not know, barrack boxes are large, foot-locker style boxes used to store clothing and personal effects while going through basic training. In this context, I had the boxes issues to me while I was a cadet for six months at the RCMP Academy. I kept the boxes and they’ve served me well over the past decade and a half for storing certain belongings that either I don’t want damaged or can’t have out in the open.
Once I had cleared off the stuff I had sitting on top of the boxes. I decided to explore them and take a little walk down memory lane. I found photographs, weapons of varying sizes and types and most of all… I found my karate belts. All of them! Nathan walked over while I had them spread out and I could see he was confused by the display before. “Dad, why do you have so many karate belts?” Why indeed, son… Why indeed…?
All the belts to have adorned my waist since 1989
I could get into the whole history of belt ranks and how they came to be, but I want this to be a light-hearted, nostalgic post. I’ll keep it simple by saying that the coloured belt system was introduced in Japan by Master Jigoro Kano, founder of Judo. He noted that some systems used ranking systems and adopted the belt ranking system as his own, which has become the standard in Japanese martial arts and all over the world.
If we look at the photo above, it’s a bit deceiving in that I did not wear all of these belts consistently through the years. In fact, the third belt from the left is my original white belt (if you couldn’t guess from the yellowing). The very first white belt is one I got with a replacement gi. The second one is a belt I borrowed from Sensei when I was at the rank it shows and had forgotten my belt at home. He didn’t want it back so I held onto it.
Unlike other systems with multiple belt colours, you may notice that there are only four belt colours present. The average student begins with a white belt, of course. Over the first couple of years, they acquire a green stripe for reaching certain milestones. When they’ve reached a key point and are ready to test for green belt, they get a solid green bar as seen on the third belt. once they graduate to the rank of green belt, they‘ll train at this level for a couple of years, depending on the student. When they reach a certain skill level and are ready to test for brown belt, they get a solid brown bar as seen on the green belt above.
From there, a number of years will elapse with the students training consistently. Black stripes will be awarded based on skill, much as it was during the white belt rankings. After the third black stripe, the student will express their desire to test for black belt; there is no black bar. And of course, once the student passes black belt, rankings are no longer shown (depending on the style, some will show gold bars for individual dan rankings).
I get a kick out of how my brown belt has soaked up so much blood, sweat and tears that it’s faded to a colour almost matching the green belt. That’s both entertaining and gross. But there’s Uechi’s belt system in a nutshell. I’ve kept all of my belts because they show me the journey I’ve been on and where my martial arts road is leading. And they make neat souvenirs and conversation started with my son. ☯️
Motivation is a funny thing and I often categorize some of my posts (this one included) as a “motivation” post, but that’s usually because I hope that it’ll motivate you. But the thing is, motivation means different things to different people, depending on their perspective, how they train and what values they attach to such things as motivation.
Some people believe that you need to be motivated to start doing something good for yourself. Okay, let’s examine that concept… Normally, motivation is defined as a general desire or willingness to do something. But how can you desire doing something if you’ve never experienced it before? In order to take that first step towards better health, better fitness and overall goals, I would argue that you need WILL. So long as you have the will to take those first steps and push yourself towards a goal, progress and success will motivate you to continue on.
That feeling of motivation comes almost as a reward for pushing through the difficult, initial steps of any goal you set for yourself. Some may argue that you need to be motivated to start. I respectfully decline. You need to have the WILL to start. Motivation comes later. And once that motivation comes, it’s important to recognize that it should be geared towards a positive outcome. If your motivations are for the defeat of others, you’ll never succeed. If your motivations are geared towards status, image or ego, you’ve failed before you started.
Have the strength of will to make a start. It may suck, it’ll likely hurt and may be difficult to accomplish. But if you can rise up and push yourself enough to take those first steps, progress will motivate you and push you further. Chicken or the egg; you can’t have one without the other. Food for thought… ☯️
This is my third time posting this material and no, I’m not being lazy. I consider the consumption of vitamins and minerals to be an important part of maintaining one’s health. It’s no surprise that modern nutrition is sorely lacking in most people and with every reposting of this material, I’m reminded of the importance of taking a steady multivitamin on a daily basis; a fact my doctors keep reminding me of, as well. So, bearing in mind that I’m not a doctor or nutritionist, here’s what I posted all the way back in June of 2019. Enjoy!
One of the key reasons behind the consumption of food is to obtain carbohydrates for energy. The human body requires energy to carry on normal functions and, well… stay alive! But what else do we get from the food we eat? A proper diet will also include a number of vitamins and minerals that we require to maintain proper health, growth and energy levels within the body. We’ve all heard about getting enough vitamins from a young age. I remember getting my Flintstones vitamin everyday as a kid.
But if you’re like most people, you’re likely wondering what these vitamins are for and what they do. My goal is to cover off the main ones here:
Vitamin A: This is an all-around vitamin that provides a number of functions including but not limited to the proper health of various bodily functions, tissues and helps to fight chronic disease and is known to be good for the eyes.
Vitamin B: This one is a bit complicated, as there is a large grouping of enzymes, vitamins and minerals that fall under the “B” category. In general, B-vitamins are used for energy production, immune function and absorbing iron. Some them include B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B9 (folate) and B12. There are a few more that I can’t recall, but B12 is considered amongst one of the most important of vitamins overall because it helps you turn food into energy.
Vitamin C: At some points, this one has been referred to as the sunshine vitamin. I’m thinking that’s mostly because people’s main source of Vitamin C is from citrus fruits. But this vitamin also helps with iron absorption, immune function and is a natural antioxidant that helps with the elimination of free radicals. Eating citrus fruits are also what sailors used to eat on long voyages to prevent scurvy.
Vitamin D: This vitamin helps with the strengthening of bones and teeth. Our bodies are designed to self-generate this vitamin naturally through exposure to sunlight, but obviously that needs to be done in small doses. Modern life has created an environment where more people spend their time indoors, away from the sun. So supplementation becomes important.
Vitamin E: A pretty straight forward vitamin, this one helps with proper blood circulation and clear skin.
Vitamin K: This vitamin is essential for blood-clotting. In order words, if you’re deficient in this vitamin, small cuts or injuries can cause excessive bleeding that can become dangerous.
Folic Acid: We hear people speak about this one as being necessary during pregnancy. And they would be correct! Folic Acid helps to prevent certain complications during childbirth but is important to everyone for proper cell renewal. This one is also known as Folate, or Vitamin B9 (as listed above).
Calcium: Most people should be familiar with this one. Teeth and bones, people! Teeth and bones! Good calcium levels are required to keep those body parts healthy.
Iron: This helps to build muscle tissue naturally and helps with proper health of the blood. As an interesting sidebar, it’s also what makes your blood red through the reflection of light!
Zinc: Immunity and Fertility. I’m a little unfamiliar with this one and haven’t had the opportunity to research it a great deal.
Chromium: This one is near and dear to my heart. Because it helps to control blood sugar levels. Chromium is what helps all the systems of your body to get the energy they need when they need it. Some traditional medicine practitioners will suggest Chromium supplements for Type 1 Diabetics who may have difficulty in maintaining proper levels.
Magnesium: This one helps your body to absorb all the other vitamins and minerals. It also acts as something of a relaxant to muscle tissue and play a role in proper muscle contraction.
Potassium: This mineral helps with the proper hydration of your body and helps to control blood pressure.
There are many others of course, but I’ve tried to cover off the main vitamins and minerals required for a proper diet. We get most of what we need by eating regularly and including a variety of healthy foods. A lot of people take a daily multi-vitamin, which is fine. But unless you are experiencing symptoms or unexplained illnesses, there shouldn’t be a need to actively try and take added amounts of anything. Your medical practitioner should be able to advise you if further supplementation is required. For example, patients who are recommended to take Folic Acid and Iron during pregnancy.
Obviously, all of this is extremely important; not only for proper health and fitness, which is important to me, but to help with Type 1 Diabetes as well. Taking a daily multivitamin can help to ensure that your body gets everything it needs, in combination with carbohydrates, lean proteins and fibre. My wife Laura originally gave me the idea for the post I wrote in 2019 when she asked about B-vitamins. Every time I re-post this material, I think of her. The credit for this post is all her! ☯️
Most people don’t like to sweat. And that makes sense, right? It’s uncomfortable from a dampness standpoint. Humans have an instinct to try and stay warm and dry, and being all wet from sweat tends to contravene that. And it’s considered somewhat taboo from a societal standpoint as well. It’s seen as gross, especially if you it’s seen on someone in a work or social setting. And last but not least, depending on one’s body chemistry and what cocktail of bacterial cultures may be living on you (depending on one’s personal hygiene), it can lend for some rather pungent odours.
From a fitness and physiological standpoint, sweating is not only important but also beneficial to the human body. there are a number benefits to heavy sweating, including the release of toxins, alcohol and other waste byproducts of the body, which helps with detoxifying the body. It also helps with the overall beneficial increase in blood circulation, which has a whole score of other benefits outside of the sweating aspect. But besides being gross and making people think something’s wrong with you, what are some other benefits of sweating?
According to an article posted by HealthLine.com, heavy sweating during exercise can help to potentially reduce the amounts of heavy metals in the body. This is important for the detoxifying process. This is also true for the elimination of certain chemicals that can be harmful on the body in the long term. The sweating process is said to be an excellent elimination route for these chemicals. Sweating also helps with the elimination and removal of certain bacteria from the body, which can be beneficial.
People usually view sweat as a nasty thing but it’s actually a natural and necessary function of the body. Sweating is the body’s primary way to cool down, which is why we tend to do it when we exercise. It also happens when we’re sick as a result of having a fever. When that fever breaks, sweat will appear. The idea is that when the warm sweat evaporates on your skin, it cools your body temperature. All the other potential benefits mentioned above are just icing on the cake. Although sweat contains traces of ammonia, urea and salt, it doesn’t smell bad, in and of itself. The odour typically comes from whatever your sweat mixes with.
As with all things in life, sweating requires a balance. If you sweat too much, it can be a sign of low blood sugars or certain nervous system and thyroid disorders. If you sweat too little, you can potentially face dangerous and life-threatening overheating of the body. This can also be a result of dehydration. If you don’t sweat normally and consistently when exercising, it should be addressed in order to prevent further issues.
If you see someone at the gym who’s completely drenched while working out, don’t judge and keep your comments to yourself. Either they’re pushing as hard as they SHOULD, since a workout isn’t a workout if you don’t sweat through it, or they have a condition that makes them sweat excessively, such as hyperhidrosis. If you find yourself sweating in awkward and inappropriate times, like in the office with huge pit stains on your dress shirt, there are several treatments and prevention methods you can talk to your doctor about, in order to stem the problem. The important thing to remember is not to sweat it (see what I did, there?). ☯️
The Blogging Buddhist 