Get Moving and Control Your Diabetes

All of the experts say that in order to control the onslaught of type 2 diabetes three things are required:

1) Change of diet.
2) The loss of weight.
3) The addition of exercise.

Of these the most over looked in exercise. The reduction of abdominal mass is directly related to how we lower our A1C3 levels and control our rise and fall of glucose levels. Please check out this article.
(I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel. I will leave the details to the experts)

Great info Diabetes and Exercise on click the link!

Two Weeks To Go

Today is the official two week left to go mark. In two weeks we fly out of New York arriving in Montreal Canada.

For the last six months I have put in long hours of training. I was blessed to be accepted under the tutelage of the best in the world. Sensei Jadi Tention has patiently, and I mean really patiently, helped me make the adjustments from the days of old to a new and modern application of the art that I learned from Grand Master Sam McGee. Sensei Jadi has reawakened my martial arts fire. Amazing brother. Amazing training concepts.

When I started training waaay back in 1976 the dominant fight game was one where opponents slowly stalked each other. At that time there was no movement. The game was slower with more of a one shot kill mentality. Now the game is fast and diverse.

If you are not training in multiple disciplines you are behind the times. BJJ, MMA, boxing, wrestling all play a part in developing your ability to defend yourself. That's not to say that you are going to become a pro at all of them. But they all play a roll. You will lean toward one or two disciplines but don't neglect the others.

I'm putting together  a small video package that I can take to chronicle the trip. We'll see how it comes together.

Almost there!

Ok. So, I am not the most prolific blogger. I have been shamefully absent from the blog. But I'm here to update everyone on the last year's events.

As I originally stated when I started the blog I planned to meet and overcome a number of challenges.

Challenge #1: Get control of the whole diabetes thing.

That has gone pretty well. I'm not on insulin. Though I am taking Janumet. It has helped keep things under control. My A1C wouldn't go down. But that may have been my stubbornness to take the meds. Doctor smacked me in the back of the head and told my wife I was only taking half the dosage each day. Needless to say I was in the dog house for weeks. It seems like taking the full dosage has brought things down a bit.


Challenge #2: Loose some weight.

At that time I was 205lbs. Unfortunately, I gained even more weight and ballooned up to 215lbs.
Ah ha, there is a good story to this saga.

In January of 2012 I decided to train to try and make the World Karate Council America National team. This would qualify me for a chance to go to the WKC World Championships. I put in a bit of work. Didn't get too crazy. Pushed a bit harder. Went to a qualifying tournament given by Kieth McKinnly in Philadelphia. Won 3rd place kata and 4th place fighting. Not my best performances, but good enough to qualify for the national team qualification tournament held in Detroit during the month of June. I trained a little harder.

I got to Detroit and surprised everyone there when I won second place in the 42+ kata division where the other guys were ten years younger than me. In fact the first, second and third place winners were all over the age of 50. When it came time to fight things quickly went down hill. I weighed in a 215lbs! Ouch. This meant that I was fighting guys who were 6 foot 2 inches and better. It felt like I was fighting giants in a bowl of oatmeal. The world was moving in slow-slow-slow motion. I fought a guy named Jerry Roberts. Jerry is an old school fighter with years of experience like me. Jerry seemed like he was 7 feet tall. He hit me with a punch that felt like he had a tree trunk strapped to his arm. When the fighting was all over I sat down to talk with Jerry and he told me how he lost a lot of weight. He tad me how he was diabetic like me and had heart surgery too.

After that I decided that enough was enough. Yes I qualified to go to the world championships this October. But I refuse to go there and properly represent myself, my dojo, and the brother (World Champion Jadi Tention) who has trained me for the last year. I won second place in kata and 3rd place in fighting. Off to the world championships I go:)

As soon as I got back I started the "Engine 2 Diet"(at Jerry's suggestion). It is a fully plant based life style. To say that was a drastic change would be an understatement. Surprisingly it has gone well. I started at 215lbs and have gotten down to 185lbs! 30lbs lost. I feel great. I'm moving better than I have in 20 years.

I fly to Montreal Canada on October 1st to compete for a week at the world championships. Trip is a bit expensive and I have had some fundraising challenges. Still looking for donations (hint, hint, hint!). I pray that I can get it all together in time. only have two weeks left to raise $1500. I'm about to start collecting cans to redeem pretty soon, just joking. But anyone who wants to help out give me a call at 646 456 7520. Anything would be tremendously appreciated.

I am going to chronicle the whole experience on Facebook. Send me a friend request and I'll add you to the dojo group. Remember to mention that you are friending me because of this blog post.

I'll keep everyone up to date.
Talk to you all soon!

I'm Back At It

Well, it looks like I'm back at it. The tournament tour beckons me once again. I will keep everyone updated on my progress.

Oh, and thanks to all of you who have commented recently. You were part of my decision to give it another try

Oh well. It was good while it lasted.

So my quest to storm the karate circuit has taken a drastic change of course. I had the unfortunate news that I will need to have surgery to replace a torn acl in my right knee.

I have known for four years that there was a small tear in the acl, but it recently tore again. The resulting damage has put my knee out of commission. 

I'm looking at doing the operation in June. Great orthopedist named Dr. William Schell will perform the surgery. 

The good thing is that I won't have to live in constant pain anymore.

More to come soon.

Oh, sorry about the lack of posts. Life has been busy. 

Shh. Do you hear that?

I found this when I visited Julieanne's blog "Be Inspired Today".

"A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin;

it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that a thousand so people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world...

He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story.

Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at a inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musician in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?"

Do we recognize the jewels in our midst?

Do we rudely laugh them off?

Do we tolerate them just to make them go away?

Or do we recognize that they may be the one who can give you the answer to the question of a lifetime?

Are they the angel's that are sent to guide us, while we foolishly ignore thier guidence?

Will we wait until they are no longer among us and we cry lonely tears of sorrow wishing that we had only listened for one moment more? 

Listen to your Sensei and all of the teachers around you. Listen when you think you know it all. Even listen when you believe that no one can tell you anything or show you anything that you haven't already seen. It is from the darkness of black that we are born or re-born and to where we will all return. Your journey to black belt is a hard and long road.

In fact, it is where it all begins.

Train hard. Listen harder......

Read the Washington Post article.

Basic Stances

A note of concern. We have allowed the world to tell us that there are differences that matter. I'm taller so I'm better. You're stronger so you are better. We have become a fractioned Goju world. And while I am not saying that this is going to be a big "kumbya" moment, we must study our past and come to grips with it. Someone said "you can never know where you're going if you don't know where you came from." (If someone knows who said that tell me so I can give credit where credit is due). 

These are basic stances that we have taught and learned to date. Yet most are unaware that there are stances within stances. Slight changes and shifts in focus and intent can change form one stance to another:

There are two varieties of horse stance:

Kiba Dachi - Horse Stance: 

The feet are parallel and wide, weight is central and low, with the back straight and the knees and feet pointing slightly inwards. This stance is not used in all styles because of the strong tension is requires in order to keep the feet parallel and knees spread wide. This is the horse stance that USA Goju practitioners have been taught.

Shiko Dachi - Horse Stance : 

Same as Kiba-dachi but the toes face out at about 45 degrees. You have often heard us say that this is the "Okinawin" type of horse stance.

Sanchin-Dachi or Boxing/Three Battles Stance: 

The stance is fixed and tensed with one foot moved forward until the toes of the rear foot are on the same horizontal line as the heel of the front foot. The legs and buttocks should be tensed upwards, while keeping the weight low and the knees bent inwards. This stance has strong tension in the legs and is the basis of the kata Sanchin Breathing kata.

Zenkutsu-Dachi - Front Stance: 

This is a long frontal stance where the weight is mostly on the front leg. It has the exact same height as shiko-dachi, but the rear leg is completely straight at the knee and extended back. The front foot is placed frontal (toes facing forward), the rear foot is turned out 30 degrees, never 90 degrees as seems natural to newbies because this precludes any forward motion. The heel of the rear foot rests on the ground. Zenjutsu-dachi is one of the most common stances in kata. 

Nekoashi-dachi - Cat Stance: 

All weight rests on the back leg, which is bent. The rear foot is turned at about 20-30 degrees out and the knee sits at the the same angle. Only the toes of the front foot rest on the ground, positioned in front of the back heel at about the same distance as the front foot of moto-dachi. There is no weight on the front foot, and there is no bend in the ankle joint - front knee, front shin, and the rise of the foot (but not the toes) form a single line.

All In The Name

For many of us the names of karate techniques have had a confusing journey. This is especially true for martial artists from the US. Depending on where we were trained and what our lineage happens to be, we could have had a strong or weak translation of  stances, strikes, blocks, and kata. 

Over the next few weeks I will attempt to bring a bit of clarity to the nomenclature of Goju technique and kata. I am working on a few diagram type visuals to assist in these definitions. Look for a post soon.

It's Personal

Kata is a very personal practice. For years I believed that it should remain the same. Remain a sttic practice. We strived to keep the kata looking the same way as when we learned it. But time is the best of teachers (youtube helps a little too).

I remember back in the 1970's, there was a karateka who went to tournaments who had MS. He would go out and do the most amazing kata demonstrations. Mind you, he had little use of his feet and legs, and had to walk with two crutches. I never remember anyone saying that his kata did not look like everyone else's. Why? The answer is that it was the strength and, more importantly, the spirit he brought to the floor. His martial art belonged to him. He wore it like a friendly coat. It was not contrived. Nor did it seen to be made up so he had something to do that resembled martial arts. He was karateka. He was beautiful.

Kata is a very personal relationship that you have with ourself. Whether you do a hard or soft style of martial arts, it is the study of the nuances of kata that round out your development. It is the study of the origin and root of kata that give it meaning. The myriad of bunkai (application) for kata all depend on how you interpret the kata. Kata is a dance one has with one's self. It is "dancing like no one is watching."

Live in the moment that kata reveals to you. Live in the kata. Dance like your life depended on it. Someday it just may.

"I come to you with only Karate, Empty Hands. I have no weapons, but should I be forced to defend myself, my principles, or my honor, should it be a matter of life or death, of right or wrong, here are my weapons, Karate, my Empty Hands."

What are we?

Ever since attending a recent karate tournament I have been puzzled. What are we doing?  

As I watched the tournament unfold, I kept asking myself one question. What has our martial arts world become? Yeah, I understand the ideology of bushido. I understand the concept of samurai honor. But what I saw that day and at most tournaments doesn't resemble that at all. I asked one of my brother martial artist' what did he see going on? We agreed that we saw a lot of yelling and screaming and little substance. Form without substance. Then we asked ourselves "is this a martial arts tournament or a sports competition"? If it is a martial arts tournament where is the martial arts?  Kata has turned into one long kiaaaaaaaaaah. A guttural yell that has gotten so bad that it makes chi and kiah sound vulgar. I saw one kata where the competitor either screamed or growled on every single movement of the kata. Kumite hasn't faired any better. Kumite doesn't resemble kumite. Sport karate has turned kumite into a double slap match. Everything is thrown to the head. Nothing to the body. There's only three kicks used: lead leg roundhouse, lead leg hook kick, and a jabbing sidekick. 

Tournament rules have been so twisted  that the fight has become a game of tag (to the head). Or better yet, a game of who can dive across the mat first. You can't sweep. You can't grab. All you're left to do is swat at the kicks and throw the double slap. The points are awarded, not for the use of controled contact, but for anything that makes contact. 

In the under belt divisions they can't hit to the head. When they make to black belt divisions they are let loose to try and knock each others heads off. 

I was talking with an elder of the world of martial arts the other day about the state of martial arts. He said quite a few things. There were a couple that stuck in my head. 

"Sport karate has taken the art out martial arts of competition." 

While we were discussing competitions in general he posed this question: 

"If you don't do kata, and all you do is fight, what will you have when your days of fighting are over?" "Will you be just another washed up fighter with nothing but old "war stories" of days of glory gone bye?" "It is the study of kata that allows you to remain youthful and continue your training."

I am taking the step to stay as close to the traditions of old as possible. My focus is to guide kohai to be the well rounded martial artists. That all kumite come from the technique of kata. Teaching students that there can be no kumite if there is no kata. 

 

Where have we come from? 

Where has the martial arts gone? 

I know it's out there somewhere.

What do you think?

Leave a reply.

Do not remain silent.

Peace.

"I come to you with only Karate, Empty Hands. I have no weapons, but should I be forced to defend myself, my principles, or my honor, should it be a matter of life or death, of right or wrong, then here are my weapons, Karate, my Empty Hands."