Category: Martial Arts

Punch Your Way To Fitness

One of the things I miss most about training at my local karate dojo is dealing with the lack of a punching bag. I’ve written on occasion about the importance of actually striking something during training. This is important, because form is all well and good but the effectiveness of your strike can’t be achieved unless you learn how it feels at point of impact and get used to it. Further, your knuckles also need to develop; something that can’t be done through forms. Knuckle push-ups will only get you so far and won’t contribute to experiencing the impact. But I digress…

My point is, having a punching bag or a striking surface can be integral to proper martial arts training. I’ve been considering getting my own punching bag ever since we moved to Regina, but there’s always been a lack of location and opportunity. My basement had no spot to safely install a punching bag, and I had to deal with fact that my continued pounding would cause chaos for the rest of the family, upstairs. Not least of which is the fact that our basement was recently demolished, leaving a bare basement with no safe area to work out in.

My new toy! Note the indent on the right edge as I couldn’t resist kicking it, as soon as I had it up.

With the warmer weather becoming more prominent, the time has come to shake some of the cobwebs off and start doing more physical activity outside. As such, I decided to stop being such a cheapskate and purchased a punching bag. Although the garage was effectively full last year as we demolished and braced our basement, we’ve moved enough stuff back into the house that I now had the available space to set up a bag. It didn’t take me long to run out to my local sports outlet and purchase what I needed.

The punching bag stand is made by Century, which if you recall is the same martial arts equipment company that makes the karate gi that we wear at Kenpo. It only took about a half hour to assemble, with nuts, bolts and washers included for easy assembly. The stand is unfortunately required, since the beams of the garage would no doubt hold a heavy bag but likely wouldn’t last under the constant barrage of strikes and impact I would inflict upon it.

Interestingly enough, the sports outlet that sold the stand had no punching bags available. Since it was the last stand they had in stock, I gambled and purchased it, sans punching bag. I really wanted a 100-pound bag, but I knew I would have to do some searching in order to find one. The first place I stopped at was a local retail store, which I won’t name for liability issues but it involves the color blue and usually has a fast food or coffee outlet inside. Draw your own conclusions from that.

Anyway, I managed to find a nice little kit containing a 70-pound bag, bag gloves, hand wraps and binding cords. Not too shabby. I added it to my cart so that I had a bag with which to start training and made my way home. I figured I could wok on getting a heavier bag later, depending on how much time I actually put in on it. I lifted the bag up to the hook and my wife helped by attaching it. A few experimental punches and kicks told me I would be enjoying some garage time, this summer.

Despite the fact that I usually enjoy cycling and swimming, a punching bag offers a wide variety of workouts that one can perform. These can include circuits and drills and even workouts where you incorporate the bag as a “set,” meaning you go do a number of sets of other exercises and keep coming back to the bag. Nathan and I like doing a back-and-forth where one of us punches the bag for a straight minute while the other is on a jump rope for that minute. Then we switch. It makes for a wicked sweat. This is what we did yesterday. Little bugger actually held his own for the whole half hour!

It worked nicely!

Punching bags can be nice as they allow you to experience the impact of your strike and help to properly develop them. But it also works almost all your muscle groups, provided you maintain correct posture, stance and incorporate punches AND kicks into your workout. Last but not least, sticking it out on punching drills makes it so that you end up with a killer cardio aspect, as well.

I’ve been in a bit of a fitness slump in recent weeks, which I attribute to the fatigue of starting a new job and having no access to my actual karate dojo. So I’m looking forward to doing something that will allow me to work up a sweat and start building back some arm strength. With our basement renovation plans expected to happen over the summer, the next step will be to get a bench and some free weights. here’s hoping it’ll be a good summer… ☯

The “What’s It For?” Side Of Food…

I’ve been writing this blog for a few years at this point and I have some posts that I like more than others. And one of the best posts I feel I’ve ever written is one that describes the purpose and use of most vitamins and minerals that we get through our food. People usually focus on what they can eat that’s healthy, can make them lose weight or accommodates certain food allergies or aversions. But very rare is it do people take the time to consider what the actual nutritional aspects of food provide for the human body.

We ultimately consume food for two reasons: for energy, which we obtain through the consumption of calories, and nutrition. As a Type-1 Diabetic, I usually focus on the energy side of things, things carbohydrates are the form of fuel we obtain that affects blood sugars. But the nutritional aspect is important. Because if you’re taking in tons of calories but getting none of the nutrition, you could be causing issues for your body that nobody wants.

So, what do all of these vitamins and minerals do? Each one can serve a purpose and provide something for the body, and I compiled a list about two years ago that walks us through all of them. It’s a bit of a long read, but the good news is the list is mostly in alphabetical order, so you can go straight to the vitamin and/or mineral you’re looking for. And without further ado, here’s the regurgitated list:

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.

These are really just the major ones and there are plenty more. But these are the common ones that you’d be looking for in your food and your multi-vitamin. There’s a lot of mixed opinion about multivitamins, with some believing that you get nothing out of them and some swearing by them. Although we’d like to think we get everything we need out of our daily meals, such is not always the case and a multivitamin can help. My doctor has always sworn by them, so I make a point of taking a daily capsule. This can be of particular importance, especially if you’ve had a lazy day where your meals may not incorporate everything your body may need. ☯

A Pressure Cooker Of Opinions

One of the benefits of having trained in the martial arts for as long as I have, is that I’ve mostly seen it all and have almost tried it all. You’ll note that I don’t make a point of saying I’m “good” at it all… Martial arts is a marathon, not a race and there’s always something further to be learned, experienced and discovered. So, I’ve seen a lot and the important distinction that needs to be made is that not everything that’s taught is effective. And this is where pressure points come in.

I’ve written about pressure points before; in fact, it may have been in recent months. Age and the drafting of daily posts tends to make one forget what they have written the month prior. But it’s always a good topic to cover, especially for new students or practitioners who may be interested in learning karate or martial arts. In simplest terms, a pressure point is where you use one or several fingers to strike an area of the body where it will cause pain, compliance and/or dysfunction. Although knocking someone out is a very real possibility in a fight, things like the Vulcan nerve pinch, which render an opponent unconscious with a mere touch, aren’t actually a thing.

The thing about pressure points, is that they’re what I tend to refer to as a “support mechanism.” What I mean by this is that they aren’t intended to be used on their own. Usually, one would need to deliver a strike or two and get control of the individual BEFORE trying to hit a pressure point. Although there are some pressure points that you can access through an actual strike (hitting the groin is a good example), these are the rarer ones. Although learning them is all well and good, and I should point out that I’m a big fan of drills in class, the use and execution of pressure points in a real life situation is a whole different ballgame.

Picture this, if you will… You get into a situation that has escalated to the point where it appears that the need to defend yourself is imminent. You no longer have the option of walking away; at least not without getting struck from behind and getting injured. So, you square off against your opponent and try to evaluate what your first move should be. Here’s the thing: it should DEFINITELY not be a pressure point. The dojo environment allows you the opportunity to feel around, locate the pressure point and practice using it.

That’s all well and good, but one needs to recognize the fact that every person’s body is different. Some people will be more sensitive to certain points than others and what worked quite well on your partner in the dojo likely won’t have the same effect on an opponent in the street. Especially since your dojo partner will just stand there and let you grope around for the pressure point. The opponent on the street doesn’t plan on standing still. In fact, if you walk up and try to access a pressure point, you’ll likely be flattened on your ass before your finger jabs ANYTHING.

I like pressure points as they can be very handy as a control mechanism through pain compliance. And they’re sure fun to poke lightly when I’m wrestling with my son. The best part is seeing him trying to duplicate the effect on me. But they should never be used as a standalone technique. Should you miss, can’t locate the specific point you’re trying for or a particular opponent has a body type or muscle tone that won’t let you access a point, you could place yourself in a compromised position where you face serious injury. Food for thought… ☯

Clash Of The Styles…

If there’s one thing that everyone knows, regardless of whether they’ve studied martial arts or not, is that there’s a HUGE family tree spanning several thousand years when it comes to the martial arts. Different styles, different schools and different families can sometimes make it difficult to know and understand if one style is better than the other or which one you should pursue, if you’re looking to do so. The reality is that there isn’t so much one style that’s better than the other; it’s about how it’s taught and how it works for you. I’ve written about this on a few occasions.

It can be difficult two schools of opposing view come face-to-face, especially if they happen to be training in the same complex or their respective dojos are on the same city block or something. It’s reminiscent of those old, corny kung fu movies where you’d always get one clan or style that would be feuding with another. “Our kung fu is stronger than yours!” I used to love those movies. No stunt doubles or CGI, just clean, semi-realistic fighting fun. It was a guilty pleasure of mine as a kid. But I digress…

If we were to use generalized terms to describe TYPES of martial arts, we can easily classify them under four categories: Traditional, Modern, Weapons-based and Hybrid. I’m sure that some fellow martial artists would divide these categories differently, so I should likely point out that this is a personal perspective and not necessarily something official and/or recognized. But when I hear of any given style, I usually find myself able to place them in any one of these four categories. Still with me? Good. Moving on…

Traditional martial arts describes “pure” styles that were developed at the start of of a specific martial art’s existence and usually involves a lot of protocol, ceremony and tradition. Further, they rely on training methods that many mainstream fighters consider ineffective, such as forms. It can cover a variety of methods including striking, grappling, pressure points and joint manipulation. In my experience, I’ve found that teachers of a traditional art tend to be the most difficult and inflexible, claiming their style to be the best one and everyone else’s is junk. They’ll usually discourage their students from exploring other styles and learning or adapting techniques from elsewhere as it would “cloud” their own techniques.

Modern styles are ones that are pretty recent in their development and often include the combining and amalgamation of one and/or several traditional styles. Although there’s nothing inherently wrong with modern styles, they often boast a slew of benefits when compared to traditional styles, even when this is not always the case. It also won’t necessarily be a combination of a pre-existing style but can be something created by someone else, using previous martial arts training as a starting point. Jeet Kune Do is a very good example, with his foundational use of Wing Chun Kung Fu as the starting point, although JKD is seen by many as more of a philosophy than and specific style. But an applied philosophy, if nothing else.

Hybrids are a different type of creature. These are the ones that usually a mixture of something that’s pre-existing. What differentiates them from the modern category? Mostly the fact that a given school will provide certifications for any of those combined styles. Although Kyojushinkai (a modern style) is a style of karate developed by combining various other deeper-rooted karate styles, one would only train to achieve belts IN Kyokushinkai. But hybrids will allow you to achieve belts in various styles. For example, if you work out in a dojo that trains in karate and judo and the instructors can/will issue belts in either of those disciplines. Although some options can be nice and it can be useful to add some variety and incorporate techniques from other styles, trying to achieve belts in two styles simultaneously can be confusing and difficult. And many new age styles of “academies” actually follow this practice.

Weapons-based is pretty straight forward. We’re talking your Kobudo, Kendo, Iaido, Kyudo, Escrima… Anything style of martial art that primarily teaches the use of some sort of hand-held weapons. Are any of these four inherently better than the other three? Not necessarily. I would say it depends on what you genuinely hope to get out of your martial arts experience. Each one has their benefits and disadvantages. Traditional styles can be very rewarding. I study and train in a traditional style, myself. But it can also be pretty restrictive if you’re training under someone who doesn’t allow the flexibility of exploring techniques outside of the existing curriculum. Modern styles can be more accommodating but may lack some of the traditions and history of a traditional style.

Hybrid styles or schools, I would say, carry the most disadvantage. This is a personal opinion of course, but hybrid schools can “muddy the waters” for a beginner trying to properly train in the martial arts. Although variety is the spice of life, it can be very difficult to properly master one style when studying many in tandem. If you happen to join a martial arts academy that carries this hybrid philosophy, my recommendation would be to choose ONE discipline and stay with it (unless you hate it or it doesn’t work for you) with some cursory or occasional visitation to the other styles in order to gain some variety.

Take all these descriptions with grain of salt. As I’ve often written before, the choice of style and training method has to work for you. It can be frustrating, but it can take trying and training with a few different schools before you find one that suits your purpose and goals. And be wary of instructors who bad-mouth or speak negatively of other schools or dojos. Respect and positivity should be ever-present values in ANY dojo. If those don’t exist in a given school, you likely won’t have a good experience, regardless of what your training goals may be. Train hard, my friends. ☯

Taking A Little Respite…

I’m an incredibly long way from what I would consider to be lazy. Between my continued efforts towards fitness, Diabetes control and giving my maximum in everything I do, I very rarely sit still. The fact I have difficulty sitting still in general tends to help, as well… But once in a while, even the most dedicated person needs to take a step back and throttle back on life and take a rest. And mental exhaustion being a very real thing, it can lend a heavy impact on one’s motivation.

A couple of weeks ago, I found myself skipping karate classes and performed personal workouts a lot less than usual. I’ve had the pleasure of throwing a couple of quick, 10-kilometre bike rides into the mix, which was nice. But with the warmer weather coming along, the opportunity for different and increased number of workouts is becoming a thing. The recent heavy snows we’ve had in Regina notwithstanding, of course. But a severe lack of motivation has unfortunately thrown a monkey wrench in my otherwise rusty gears.

I’m a big advocate of pushing oneself, and of making an effort to workout, even when you don’t feel like it. Given the nature of Diabetes and the effects it has on a person’s body, it’s no surprise that there are days where either the body or the mind simply don’t want to put in the effort. I had both my body AND my mind gang up on me in recent weeks when I’ve skipped the majority of my workouts. Even while acknowledging that I should have been doing something, I just didn’t want to. To use the vernacular of today’s younger generation, I can’t even…

And you know what? That’s okay. Even if it may feel like you’re being lazy, stepping back and taking a break from your fitness habits can have a lot of benefits. Yes, yes, I know… The benefits of doing SOMETHING definitely outweigh doing NOTHING. But here are some quick benefits that I’ve noticed, whenever I’ve taken a break:

  • You Can Relax: I think we can all agree that being “switched on” all the time can take a toll. There is such a thing as over-training, and it’s important to recognize that point. Taking a break week can let your body fully recuperate and allow you to relax a bit and maybe focus on other interests, such as reading or playing with your kids;
  • You Can Regroup: Honestly, there’s something to be said for having the time to just sit back and contemplate things. Whether you want to take the time to meditate, focus on work or even come up with some new workouts, taking a break can allow you the time to figure it out. Personally, I get bored of doing the same workout over and over and I like to design new circuits and try new things. Otherwise, I feel my fitness is becoming stagnant;
  • You Can Heal: Constantly working out can be taxing on the human body, and even more so when you’ve reached my age. Even though you can continue to work out with mild injuries (with limitations), it can be nice to allow some extra time for the systems on your body to reset themselves and for any outstanding injury to heal completely.

Given the particular life changes and adjustments tat have taken place within my household in the past week, it’s no surprise that I continue to be exhausted. Like many people, I’ve spent the last little while hibernating at home while COVID-19 has marinated on the outside. The result of this has been that waking at 5 in the morning every day is no longer something I’m used to. I’m slowly getting adjusted o it, now. But I’d be lying if I said that I haven’t been sneaking off to bed as soon as my wife and I get the kids down. Surprisingly, my blood sugars have fared quite well during all of this. I think that can be attributed to routine, since I eat my meals at pre-planned times and don’t snack or eat outside of those times.

As one always does, I’ll adjust. I usually find that taking a “lazy week” once in a while will allow me to reap all those benefits mentioned above. The important thing to remember is not to go on some sort of junk food bender while you’re sitting around doing nothing. And I’m definitely not saying that you should do this indefinitely. Or often. Especially since a sudden change in your level of fitness and activity will play hell with even the best balanced blood sugars. But if you allow yourself the occasional break, it can even help improve your mood and energy levels for when you DO get back to it. And one always needs a little time to adjust to any new routing. Food for thought… ☯

Rules Are Meant To Be Imposed, But At What Cost?

We live in a society of rules, with the regulation, application and enforcement of said rules being a dominant trait in the modern world. If you don’t believe me, just try to walk through a populated street without a facial covering right now. I, myself, have always been a firm advocate of following rules. But sometimes I can’t help but ask myself if the overall cost is worth the reward in relation to some rules and how they are imposed. If you live in the world of martial arts, the existence and in fact, necessity of these rules can be like swimming through murky waters without a flashlight.

I always refer to my karate as a “traditional” martial art. And what’s usually meant by this is that our students follow traditions and training methods that are as original to the style and methods of when karate was created as possible. When I used to train in Sensei’ dojo, everything was done pretty much on par with how the Okinawans developed it and how they still do it to this day (or at least as they were still doing it in 2001 when I was there, last). But as time has gone by, certain rules and regulations have become part of the martial arts world. I always like to say that it only takes one idiot to ruin things for others, and this is where I’m going to vent about some of those.

Setting aside for a moment that karate is a fighting art… Yes, it is… YES, IT IS!!! As much as I prefer to focus on the “art” aspect and not so much the fighting, the reality is that karate teaches you how to fight. And unlike most traditional sports where contact with another person CAN occur, karate is something where contact SHOULD occur. If you’re in my dojo, contact WILL occur. I bring this up because there seems to be a growing number of dojos that have abolished physical contact; and I don’t mean because of CoVID-19.

When I came up in the dojo, we used to have many practices that involved things that could be painful. Body conditioning, checking, semi-contact and full contact sparring… There were plenty of activities that had the potential to bruise, pull and crush muscle tissue. And we sometimes got injured, albeit lightly. But it was a common understanding that this is something involved with learning a combat art. Like Mr. Miyagi mentioned in the first Karate Kid movie, it’s difficult learning karate from a book. Training in a combat art without striking and/or being struck will leave definitive gaps in one’s ability to properly learn their respective art.

In recent years, there’s been a tapering of such practices, especially since society is quickly developing the inability to let things go and become offended and affronted by almost everything. In the final years before he closed his dojo, Sensei halted all body conditioning and sparring was a rare thing, except with other black belts. His reasoning was quite simple; when new students would get those first whacks on their forearms or legs, they’d soon quit. In my day, we toughed it through because the end result was worth the momentary pain.

But now, there a number of different reasons why dojos have reduced or eliminated contact with students except for the occasional sparring match with senior belts, which often and usually includes the dojo’s insurance policies. Yup, that’s right! Most modern karate schools have “sport insurance” where an injured practitioner can be compensated for specific things, based on the circumstances of the injury. I think that this is a fuckin’ joke as it relates to karate… I don’t understand how you can properly learn WITHOUT some form of injury. But I’m old school.

I once read the stipulations of a particular dojos insurance policy that read (and I’m paraphrasing) that the policy wouldn’t pay out if the injury was found to have been caused by an intentional strike. FOR A MARTIAL ARTS DOJO!!!! Every strike is intentional… So this policy was restrictive to the proper teaching of the school and would not even cover a martial arts-related injury. This is just one type of “modernization” that is slowly eroding the fabric of traditional martial arts, which makes me sad since I’ve spent my entire life training in one.

An easy comparison is to look at it this way: If you join a knitting circle, you don’t expect to get a black eye. It wouldn’t make sense, as it has nothing to do with the skills you’re practicing and using. But if you join a FIGHTING ART, the safe assumption is that you’ll be getting struck at some point. Imagine someone going into boxing with the expectation that they’ll never get hit? Same kind of dynamic. The problem is that some person at some point, made a big stink after getting struck/injured while training and it caused a shit storm from the insurance and/or liability standpoint and many modern dojos have had to adapt.

As I mentioned earlier, this kind of adapting or “modernization” is slowly killing traditional martial arts. And if it continues in this direction, “contactless” dojos may become the standard as opposed to the exception. If that happens, most arts that have seen their teachings watered down in recent decades will suffer even further. And this is one of the reasons why I’ve opted not to bother opening my own dojo where I am. I would never allow myself to teach karate in any other way than how it was meant to: unfiltered and unabridged. The last thing I would need is some snowflake suing me or my dojo because they couldn’t take a hit… ☯

Oh, There’s An App For That…

I know that I’m usually the first to rag on people’s addiction to technology and their smart devices. That being said, I also acknowledge that my health wouldn’t be what it is today, if not for advancements in the technology that make things like my insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor possible. So, I’m also the first one to swallow my words when technology works in my favour. Maybe that sounds like a double standard, but what are you gonna do? It’s my blog! Moving on… Anyone who reads my blog on a regular basis is also aware that I’m a big fan of fitness, exercise and maintaining one’s health. And these are all things that can work great in tandem with said technology.

It seems not a week goes by without hearing someone say “Oh, there’s an app for that…” And that’s usually pretty accurate. From finance to planing and organizing, dieting to social media, smart devices have pretty much opened the spigot on the market for programmers to put out an app for just about everything under the sun. This includes health & fitness. Now, I’m usually one to endorse working out and maintaining one’s health ‘au natural,” if you will. This means that I have no issues working up a solid sweat by using a small square of floor space and using nothing but my own body weight in order to work up a solid sweat.

All this being said, I’ve also gotten into the routine of enjoying a number of different apps on my phone, which I use to track fitness and health habits in my daily life. Most of you know this already, as I use one particular app to prominently track my walking, running and cycling workouts. And since I’ve always used an iPhone, these apps will be ones that are available through iTunes and the App Store. I can’t speak to what equivalents may be available for Android users. But without further ado, here are my top five apps that I use to help improve my health & fitness habits:

  • LibreLink: Of course, I have to include something directly related to Diabetes, here. This is a free app that works in conjunction with the FreeStyle Libre, which as my Endocrinologist puts it is the “poor man’s CGM.” The FreeStyle Libre works by being injected into the tricep and held in place by an adhesive and can be read by specialized software. If you’re old school and don’t have access to a smart phone, you can purchase the Librelink Reader for roughly $50 (depending on the pharmacy you shop at) but you can definitely save the cost by using the app. Simply hold the phone up to the Freestyle Libre and it will read your sensor glucose, same as a CGM would. The app is fantastic as it allows you to input your age, weight and a bunch of other stats and will show you trends, graphs and even has an A1C calculator based on the readings held in its memory;
  • Noisli: If you have a whole bunch of brain-burning acronyms attached to your name like I do, sleep can be a fleeting thing. And even more fleeting when Diabetes issues keep you up as well. It can be difficult to find something to help you sleep that doesn’t involve medication or gets drunk. That’s where Noisli comes in. This is a free “white noise” app that allows you to use and customize a wide variety of sounds to help you drift off to la-la land. Sounds include rain, thunder, wind, rustling trees, leaves, trickling and dripping water (those ones would make me need a diaper overnight), crackling fire and even some more eclectic sounds like the background of a coffee shop and a train clacking on railroad tracks. The aspect I enjoy most is having access to white, pink and brown noise, which are all varieties of a static-like sound that are designed to help calm your mind and help you drift off. I actually did a full post on white noise, which you can read here. My favourite aspect of this app is that you can combine any combination of those sounds and even save them as specific profiles so that they’re available the next time you open the app, without having to combine them all together every time;
  • My Water Balance: If you guys aren’t tired of hearing me say how important it is to stay hydrated, you haven’t been paying attention! This app is a fun little program that allows you to set goals and track your daily intake of fluids. You can input your weight and hydration goals and the tracker will keep a tally of how much you’ve drank throughout the day. You can download the free version, which tracks the basics like water, coffee, tea and a few others. I’ve paid the small amount to download the full version, which has a batch of additional options and lets you track just about every type of beverage including, ahem… wine and beer! The app suggests how much you should be drinking based on your age and weight, but you can also set your own goal. The only downside is you have to manually enter the amount of fluids you drink, which can be problematic if you’re using a glass at home and don’t know how much it holds;
  • Seconds Pro: This app is actually called “Seconds,” but I forked over the added money to get the Pro version. This app features an interval timer that you can program yourself. in other words, you can develop your own circuit timers using your own, chosen exercises. Not only does it let you customize your workout, it also connects to your device’s music library, meaning you can link your favourite workout playlist and have it play in conjunction to the circuit you’re doing. Now, paying for the Pro version does have it’s share of increased features and functions, including different TYPES of circuits and certain tracking features. I purchased a Lightning to HDMI cable and I used to run this app directly to the large, flat screen available at one of my postings. It was incredibly handy to help keep my workouts on point. But the last benefit I’ll mention, is that the app’s voice over means you don’t require a screen. The app will tell you when a timer count is ending, what exercise you’re on and when the workout is done. Think Siri, but for fitness; and
  • Runkeeper App: This one was saved for last because it’s my overlord of fitness… I use it to track everything else. This app has features that allow you to enter your age, weight, height, fitness goals and what units of measurement you want to use for everything (metric or imperial, etc…) Then, you can use the GPS function to track your distance, speed, mileage and calories burned for trackable activities such as walking, running and cycling. It also allows you to manually log other activities, such as swimming, elliptical and even yoga and meditation (yes, meditating burns calories. Read about it here). The basic app is free and you can join fitness competitions, add “friends” through your contacts or Facebook (provided they’re also using the app). I use it to log ALL my activities including weight workouts and karate sessions. There’s a paid or “Pro” version you can sign up for, but it comes in pretty costly at $13.99/month, which may be cheaper than a public gym membership but more than a person is willing to pay on an app. I’ve been using the basic version since 2017, and it’s suited my purposes quite well. In fact, if you’ve read any of my posts on my cycling goals, the images that I feature are usually screenshots from this app.

There you have it, folks! My top five apps that I use for health and fitness. This is the part where I point out that I am in no way being compensated for speaking about these apps, nor do I endorse them specifically above any others that you may have tried/like. In fact, I’ve tried a score of others. Some have been as simple as a library of different exercises. Some have been so over-the-top complicated that I removed them from my device within the first week. The important thing is to find some helpful apps that work for you and your lifestyle.

I don’t endorse technology all that often, so mark this day on your calendars! Actually, besides the technology used for my pump and Diabetic supplies, I usually don’t endorse technology at all, haha. But since society as a whole is normally tethered to their smart devices, it only makes sense to use them to benefit our health & fitness. I find that all of these apps are somewhat subjective to the user. I think the five I’ve listed are fantastic and even if I’ve removed some of them on occasion, I always seem to come back to them. There’s plenty of good, free apps out there so don’t be afraid to install a few and try them. Worse that happens is you don’t like them and remove them. ☯

Time To KID Around, Part 1 (The Martial Arts Aspect)

Children can be a wonderful addition to the household and they certainly add a touch of colourful chaos to the overall home dynamic, which is well-demonstrated by my son Nathan’s usual behavioural issues. Today is the first of a 3-part post on children as they relate to the three big pieces of my life: martial arts, Buddhism and Diabetes. As a general rule, I’ve never been a fan of trying to force or coerce children into the martial arts, usually preferring to train kids that actually WANT to be there. But when it comes to those first few, formative years when kids don’t really understand the difference, the best one can usually hope for is to show them little pieces, bit by bit, and hope that they’ll have an active interest. But it doesn’t always work out that way.

When Nathan was a toddler and started scooting around under his own steam, he started imitating the karate movements he’d see me practicing, and started to wrestle and smack me when we’d play on the floor. As some time elapsed, we started to broach the subject of self-control and trying to differentiate the difference between play fighting and harming someone. Not an easy task, when it involves a small child. But critically important towards making the child understand that this self- control is important towards ensuring they don’t grow up to be a bully.

Nathan and I in 2017

One of the more fun aspects has been sparring. Nathan loves to roughhouse and will often try to jump me as soon as I come down to his height, even when we may be doing something completely unrelated to martial arts. It’s a nasty habit I’ve been trying to break in him, but lately he’s been enjoying putting on the gloves and practicing some techniques with me. The photo above shows some playing around that we had started doing a few years ago.

But in recent weeks, I’ve been focusing more on his ability to block and strike, keeping his head up and his eyes open and not allowing himself to simply flop down to the floor when a strike comes towards him. He’s been doing pretty well, and one can’t blame him for squinting his eyes or lowering his head when someone with five times your mass is coming at you with a large, gloved fist. But teaching him balance, footwork and the ability to keep his eyes open so that he can see what his opponent is doing (me) has been going well.

Father and son, hitting the mats

Some people question the idea of having a small kid spar, but control is of the ultimate importance when teaching a young kid something like sparring. Control on the kid’s behalf and control on the teacher’s behalf, as well. It stands to reason that I can’t belt him with solid shots the way I’d do with any of my adult counterparts in the dojo, but he’s still learning a lot of individual skills that will not only apply to karate but any sport or physical hobby he may choose to pursue as he gets older.

Sparring with Nathan is excellent training for me, as well. His random, chaotic movements keep me on my toes and ensure a certain level of development as I work to try and block effectively when I have absolutely no clue where he might swing next. It’s been a great combination of fun, sweat and learning, albeit without him necessarily realizing that he’s being taught something. Maybe he’ll eventually snap out of it and realize, “Hey, this is great! Show me more, dad…” Until then, I ensure that there’s no pressure or coercion towards karate on my part so that he isn’t soured by the idea. ☯

Never Back Down, Except When You Do…

Most people like to act tough, especially those who are trained to fight. There’s a “never back down” mentality that kicks in when someone aggressive is challenged, but real fights never quite turn out the way we see it in the movies. For example, one of my favourite movies that just came out recently (recently, being a loosely-used term) is Creed II. The movie has the kind of inspirational tone one would expect from a Rocky spinoff; the protagonist is defeated by a larger, stronger opponent and is laid up in a hospital with severe injuries. Once he recovers, he goes on this wicked training montage to train and build himself back up before defeating the antagonist in an awesome rematch.

It’s very 80’s, which means I absolutely love it. Despite the unrealistic nature of it. Most people who suffer such injuries will usually call it quits and step away from fighting such opponents. Even in the most traditional of styles, we see a sort of expectation that you’ll hammer forward, even when the odds are against you. I’ve never been one who much felt this way, which makes sense when you recognize that I live my life trying to eliminate suffering and propagate peace. But even Sensei used to say, “If you’re going to fight, make sure you win…” I believe he was mostly referring to competing, which our school never did (officially). But it certainly applies to how we train.

I’ve always been a firm believer in drills. Correction and repetition are important in order to establish muscle memory and make it more likely that your body will react properly in a “real fight” scenario. But you’ll notice that the majority of dojos practice these drills by stepping forward, stepping into the opponent or meeting an attack head on. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s also important to perform drills where the practitioner is stepping BACK. Most schools or dojos don’t recognize this, but it can be extremely important if you find yourself in a real fight.

Stepping back while performing drills holds many benefits. The first one is that it can be helpful in better positioning yourself to block an incoming attack. Sometimes a strike may be close enough to be effective against you without leaving you any room to block properly. Another benefit is that you may need to back away in order to set YOURSELF up for a particular attack. Although one needs to recognize that a real fight scenario likely won’t leave you with enough time to “plan out” an attack, a preferred technique that you’ve worked extensively may need some setting up.

The last point is that there is no shame in stepping away from a fight. If you can avoid the fight altogether, that’s always the best option. But if it means protecting yourself or someone else, avoidance isn’t always an option. This is where backing up or “tactically repositioning” becomes important. Maybe you need that little bit of space to examine and reevaluate the situation in order to make a proper decision. When you get right down to it, backing away isn’t cowardly but quite smart, in terms of finding a way to win your confrontation.

Never back down? Well, I’m not saying you should always quit or give up. You should never give up. But backing down is not the same as giving up. I’ll always be more than happy letting some ‘roided douchebag think he’s the tougher one, if it means I walk away uninjured and safe. As long as I can do without it being at the expense of someone else’s safety and/or wellbeing. The lesson here is that in very much the same way as a karateka should be ambidextrous in his or her techniques, said techniques should also be practice stepping in or stepping back. ☯

Can There Be Hatred In Honor?

The title of today’s post poses an important question: Can you have honor while simultaneously hating another person/thing? The easy answer would be no. No you can’t. And the reason is quite simple. At its core, honor suggests a level of respect that you can’t achieve while hating something. This brings us to the question of whether you can respect a person or thing while hating them, but I don’t want to fall too far down the rabbit hole. Rather, the subject of today’s post is to focus on a strange phenomenon that I’ve seen in the martial for decades. I’m talking about the tendency to dislike and/or hate styles that are not our own. And it happens much more than one thinks.

I first ran into this phenomenon in the late 90’s, early 2000’s when I met a guy who had mutual friends within my small group of associates. We got to chatting one night and it was discovered that he also studied karate. I was a brown belt at the time and somewhat in the prime of my physical abilities, such as they were. But we got to discussing karate in greater detail and he revealed that he studied a style called Kyokushinkai. For those who may not be familiar with this style, it’s one that was developed and founded in 1964 by Masutatsu Oyama and loosely translates as “the ultimate truth,” making it less than a century old and one of the youngest styles of Japanese karate, with the exception of its own off-shoot styles.

When he asked what style I studied and I answered Uechi-Ryu, he asked if that was a style descendent from Naha-Te. I replied that it was and he sniffed and hitched his pants up and said, “Kyokushinkai incorporates Naha-Te as well…” He went on to explain the premise of his style involved constant, full-contact training to overcome the fear of being struck. I was always one to prefer learning to effectively block to PREVENT being struck, but that’s just me. But he showed a visible level of disgust at the fact I would study anything but the style he was in, and his bravado showed that he thought very little of MY karate.

Now, don’t get me wrong… Kyokushinkai is an effective style of karate, despite the fact that Master Oyama created it by bastardizing and combining elements from Shuri-te, Naha-Te, Tomari-te, Goju-Ryu, Shotokan and Shito-Ryu. Quite a colourful soup bowl, which rather goes against the whole premise of “One life, one love, one style” that most Okinawan karate practitioners believe in. But the style even practices Sanchin, one of the basic katas associated with my style, proving that most styles of karate share a background or ancestry that can be measured.

There’s a big difference between feeling one’s style is the better one and openly disrespecting and disliking another. I sincerely felt that the other martial artist disrespected my years of training and hard work with his belief that his style was “superior” and “the only real school of karate.” The boasting and the bravado went against what I was taught as a martial artist and what’s more, ended the friendship before it truly began. He might have been a great guy, overall. But when the first thing you have in common becomes a thorn in your foot, it’s a little hard to carry on.

Truthfully, one needs to understand that there is no such thing as a “bad style.” Simply a style that’s better suited to the practitioner. There are plenty of reasons why I would never practice Tae Kwon Do, but it can be easily argued as an effective martial art. In fact, one of the few combatants who genuinely rang my bell but good, was a practitioner of TKD, and he was more than quite good. The same can be said of any style, unless you refer to one of these jokers “knocking” people out by waving a hand at them… That shit’s crazy! But I digress…

A good analogy that I’ve enjoyed using to explain this to others, is one that I’ve used in martial arts circles and in my professional life. Imagine you’re installing a new bathroom in your home and the time has come to run water lines into your shower. In order to do the necessary plumbing, you’ll contact a plumber versus an electrician. By the same principle, you’ll contact the electrician to install your lighting and electricity as opposed to letting the plumber do it. Both are trained professionals, capable and necessary in their respective fields. But what they do is inherently different. Neither one is better than the other; just different.

This analogy applies to the martial arts, as well. All schools, styles and types of martial arts are different. No one style is better than any other; just different. I’ve been studying Uechi-Ryu for 33 years, this year. But I’ve trained and practiced in Kobudo, Kenpo, Kendo, Judo and Tae Kwon Do. No one will ever convince me that any of those styles are better than mine. But I can respect that they’re just as good, in their own way and offer a different perspective into an art I’ve studied for most of my life.

This is why it’s so important to respect other schools and styles and to understand that if you tried it and didn’t like it, it isn’t because it was inherently bad. It simply wasn’t for you. This is without including the whole McDojo element in the equation, of course. But if one is to have true honor and respect, then genuine dislike and hatred for other styles can’t be something one permits oneself to feel. After all, this isn’t a bad, old-school kung-fu movie. Dojo rivalries were never really a thing on Okinawa, and that’s where karate was founded. It would be reasonable to think that it should exist today, either. ☯