A Sermon on Spirituality

Following on from last exciting instalment, I thought that tonight I would write about spirituality. Have you ever been on a night out with friends or a loved one when suddenly the thought occurs "I am actually at the end of my personality for today?" You are perhaps an introverted extrovert, or an extroverted introvert or maybe your soul is just looking for something else? That something else is what I call, your spirituality. I am not a fan of nomenclature as I may have written previously, and even less of a fan when it comes to labelling spirituality:  "I am a psychic medium soul retrieving Shaman, with level 10 skills in Rainbow sorcery"
Good for you. Keep up the good work, whatever that work entails. I am a very spiritual person and offer my respects to anyone who openly speaks of their spirituality but I suffer from internalised scepticism and statement like the one above, I usually find very hard to swallow. That is the problem with spirituality, it is easy to rubbish. That is why it shouldn't be thought about as a separate thing. In my experience and understanding, often the ones that talk so much about it; who easily define it, are either lacking a true understanding of it, or who are outright phoney (#notallmediums #notallshamans.)

I have followed spiritual teachings all my life, brought up by Christian parents I moved on to devour books about Buddhism, eastern philosophy, paganism then more modern philosophies, biocentrism for eg. I even battered around with Atheism for a while, but it didn't suit my desire for answers. I finally settled where I am now, which is not easy to define (see what I did there?) I have my practise which is both a moving meditation, in the form of Tai Chi and Boxing, and I have my still practise which involves surrendering my human sensorium to our more profound celestial nature. Fuck me, you might want to read that sentence again! Anyway, joking aside I use my spirituality to try to relate to not only others but to myself and my place here in our big glorious confusing as fuck planet. I do this because I see it as a catalyst for improving life and because I believe it to be absolutely inherent to our existence. I use my spirituality to also explore my masculinity. The idea of my spirit and the idea of my maleness for me go hand in hand. I have recently been reading Grayson Perry's "The Descent of Man" which allegedly tackles the operations of masculinity. I was told by a good friend that Grayson Perry is a very insightful artist/film maker so the book would be worth a read. It's not! It comes from the same repugnant idea that men are incapable morons that stumble from one disaster to the next, psychologically scarring people in our wake out of nothing more than insensitivity. There is no insight, only recycled misunderstandings of the things that drive a man. As a man I find safety and comfort in results. My exploration of spirituality and of combat sports has provided me with results. These results have made me feel comfortable in my masculinity and driven me on to explore more. Yes no doubt my maleness has pissed people off along the way, and of course I don't necessarily get it right all the time but I have aimed to do it with virtuous intention, both for myself and for others. It is natural for a man to want to fight, not toxic. It only becomes toxic when we fight for the wrong reason. Understanding spirituality gives you a better chance of having the right reason. Until next time, peace and love and have a look at this woman doing yoga at sunset! It has something to do with spirituality.........

A Sermon on Physicality

It's Sunday, so I thought I'd preach the benefits of a physical lifestyle. Not only that, but why meditation or mindfulness are intrinsic to it. I firmly believe that any human expression which involves the body is  by nature an extension of our spiritual self. Be it love making, power lifting or punching someone upside the head, if it involves a physical act then its root lies in spirituality. It is the human condition to exert ourselves to express our place in the world, through dance, movement, conflict or even on a more subtle level, simple gestures. All of these are extensions of our idea of self and therefore link back to what our beliefs may be, what we want to be in the world and how we develop interplay with our fellow humans. It blows my mind when I think that movement is effectively either a concentric or eccentric phase across muscle tissue that is sparked by a tiny bioelectrical pulse which is created deep inside the mind. Where that pulse begins who knows? Any extreme that the human body is capable of reaching, in any individual, is designed in the mind first and executed accordingly. We, as humans, are pretty amazing as are all species on our shared planet.

Physicality, much like learning a language, is vital to the core of  human existence. All the things that put people off physical effort usually lies with the processes at the beginning. The idea of doing anything for the first time comes with the burden of not knowing what to expect. Will it be hard? will I be able to do it? will I make a fool of myself if I fail at? I can't be arsed eating right, I can't be arsed getting up early, it will change my routine, it's all too hard, too much time wasted we think! Here's a truth for you, if you aren't doing those things now, you're wasting your time already, missing out on ways to express yourself fully. Getting started is genuinely the hard bit. Then it changes in time, your brain actually changes in time. The cognitive processes called executive functions improve, attention, memory, cognitive flexibility, reasoning, problem solving skills all improve. The brain and the body are so closely linked that physical training basically improves mindfulness. Most importantly inhibitory control gets better tuned and you can override habits, forming new ones, healthier ones. All of a sudden all those questions that first arose when you set out have been answered and you start thinking differently about what you are capable of. Stay motivated folks and keep the faith!

The Science of Violence

I was born in 82 I arrived too late for Bruce Lee and way too early for UFC. I don't fall into the "Millennial" category and when folks talk about the current generation they aren't referring to me. I'm a bit of a middle child of history. I grew up with cartoons like He-Man and Thundercats, I was around for the second outing of Joe 90, Stingray and Captain Scarlet my childhood still filled with good guys and bad guys. The journalists of my epoch have been concerned and reported about everything up to and including cold wars and warm winters. In Martial Arts my generation missed out on the icons but I believe we got something better. In my lifetime huge leaps in progress have been made around Sport Science, sport performance and efficient training methods. Throughout history we have been interested in the enhancement of all these things but it is during my time we really got a hold of the subject matter. Despite this the combat sports were very slow to take on the new ideas. When was the last time you did resistance training to improve your technique? I think this is what we mean when we refer to the "Old School". Back in the day there was a much greater emphasis placed on pure tenacity, doing something because it hurt. If it hurt it had to be good for you and built character? Don't get me wrong, I fully understands the need for the occasional blow out and character building, but as I gain more and more experience in more efficient uses of time, coupled with my long lasting injuries, it is natural for me to pause and think was it all truly worth it? Structured progressive overload is the only true method to develop the body. You can do something a million times over but will receive no benefit beyond a certain point. The human body adapts relatively quickly and will plateau. Doing something for the sake of doing something or because it hurts isn't really the best way to consume your time. Progressive overload also hurts, but by including the structured rest time and safe exercise technique it really is the way to go for improvement.
I think martial arts were particularly slow to take on board the science of it all. This is endemic of a pastime that holds a certain psychology and prideful outlook. It is steeped in tradition and although I do put great stock in tradition I wouldn't do it to the detriment of progress. It wasn't so much unable to jolt itself into the modern methods more unwilling to. That being said, there are many traditional practices which have fallen by the wayside, left untaught by instructors who did not fully understand them which also hindered the progress of MA. What I refer to here, in this blog is beyond those things and refer purely the physicality of combat sports. The basis for any human system of combat is grounded most firmly in human athleticism. You can defeat an opponent with a better strategy but if your strategy doesn't have to take into account failings or frailty on your own part then your strategy can be all the stronger. Work your body, make it better, your strategy becomes all the easier to execute. The science of violence is a beautiful thing to gain an understanding of. Moreover into the realms of self defence, the greatest misnomer within Martial Arts, where we can actually teach people useful things by using the science or psychology of conflict resolution and verbal de-escalation techniques. Science and strategy are like Yin and Yang, if you really want to see results from your Martial Arts I suggest you strengthen both.

Yang style Overhaul

Happy New Year everyone. I've begun a new training programme, after cutting the weight and getting myself in a place to move forward I've decided to focus on purely functional developments. It is a different way to train from that which is more commonly practised, let me explain. The Posterior Chain is the large group of muscles on the back of the body:

• Multifidus (spine support)
• Erector Spinae (back and spinal extension)
• Gluteal Muscles (hip extensors, femoral rotation)
• Hamstring Muscles (hip extension, knee flexion)
• Gastrocnemius or Calf (plantar flexes ankle, knee flexion)
• External Obliques (back and spine support, in tandem with anterior core)

As you can see from the list above, the posterior chain is pretty much the parts of the body vital to movement itself. The muscles across the front of the body are sometimes referred to as "Mirror Muscles": pectorals, abs, biceps when trained make your physique more pleasing to the eye and of course have a functionality too but much of our strength, power and balance originates from within the posterior chain. So the programme breaks from the traditional up/down split ie one day chest/back, one day legs etc and puts more emphasis on large compound movements while focusing on one aspect of development.

One day strength training
One day hypertrophy/muscular endurance
One day power training (that I find most fun)
One day speed agility training
One day general conditioning mostly through calisthenics

I'll be mixing this through with general boxing training and Tai Chi. Folk keep asking me when I post videos to the Breakthrough Facebook page to include videos of kicking technique. Truth be told my long term hip injury really limits me these days after finally being diagnosed with osteoarthritis. Any volume or intensity of kicking leaves me in a lot of pain for several days so I avoid it as much as possible. This programme works a lot on hip extension so I may find I improve in my mobility but as a realist I won't hold my breath!

What I also find interesting about this programme is the potential for improved energetics. The posterior chain is of course across the back so very much on the Yang surface. So we have the Large and Small Intestine, the gall bladder, the bladder, the kidney, the triple warmer meridians plus the governing vessels. These all respond to internal work but any degree of movement across them will activate them. The meridians are all going to be stretched, twisted manipulated etc throughout the normal exertions. Yang surfaces are traditionally though of as our energetic armour protecting our more sensitive meridians. GV 14 "The Great Hammer" is a vital point to the entire Yang Meridian system and a great place to improve health throughout the body in general. I look forward to "Yanging" it up! The programme is based around a 6 week training schedule, I'll keep you posted.
 

New Year's REVOLUTION

Christmas is over and the gym reopens tomorrow! It's a funny time, the space between Christmas and New Year. Sort of like coming up for a short breath before plunging back into a tempestuous sea, except the sea in this case is a maelstrom of alcohol, chocolate and relatives opinions. The gyms are about to get mega busy as many among us delve into ill-fated fitness kicks. It's enough to put the lesser inclined right off! DON'T BE THE LESSER INCLINED, don't wait for the new year or next week or the next Monday to start something new. Start as soon as you can, make new habits. You'll feel weak no doubt, physically I mean. In TCM we associate strength with tendons which in turn is associated with the liver. You've just spent days punching your liver in the liver, it doesn't like you. You want to change things? Do you want to lose some weight in 2017? It's pretty common to think like that around now. Why not go into 2017 already on a good thing? Start now with the fitness. It is easier than you think and you don't need a gym. Not at first anyway, which is good. In about a months time you will need a gym, by then the lesser inclined, the weaker among us won't be there. They'll have sacked it off. You don't get fat overnight and likewise you don't get fit overnight. There isn't a short cut. You have to do it all for yourself, which makes it all the sweeter. 4 weeks from now you will notice a difference, 4 weeks after that your family and loved ones will notice. A further 4 weeks from that everyone will notice. That might put people off instantly but I am only trying to be honest with you. This is a reasonable time scale to expect results.

Take this challenge. This is how I began my programme, it's fun and achievable. Four times a week-five if you can face it, but never work more than two days back to back without a rest. Do 12-14 rounds of HIIT 40sec on 30sec rest.

eg
40 sec High Knees full effort
30 sec light shadowboxing
40 sec Mountain Climbers full effort
30 sec light shadowboxing
40 sec Burpees Full effort chest to floor
30 sec Light Shadowboxing
40 sec Push ups full effort
repeat x3 working to x4

Takes you about 17 minutes. Do it first thing in the morning before you eat. What to eat? Not just what but when. 3 full meals a day. Eating every 2-3 hours. On your training day eat the carbs within the hour of working out, Carb sources are bread, bagel, pasta, rice, potato or oats. Avoid them the rest of the time. Eat clean food you have to cook. Turkey, Chicken, Beef, Salmon and Tuna. In general construct your meal like this:

Protein Source 300g (see above)
Fibrous veg x 2 (90g per veg)
Greens 130g (beans, broccoli, asparagus etc)
Sauce 50g (sour cream, yoghurt, cottage cheese, soy, sweet chilli etc)
If you trained take the carb source of your choice 70-80g
If you have a rest day complete your plate with an additional fat source, foods like avocado, nut butters, nuts or seed, feta, mozzarella, eggs same again 70-80g.

Obviously this is not a detailed nutrition plan and I am by no means a nutritionist. There are plenty of online resources and experts that you can and should consult if you are serious. I offer this to you purely as general advice that more importantly is "Shit you can actually do". Cut out crap food, we all know what that is! snacking twice daily (on nuts, fruit or protein based snacks) plus the increased meal frequency tends to mean you don't eat for the sake of it. Satiety levels are very pleasing eating like this. Cut out sugar in tea/coffee and of course avoid alcohol. Drink water, genuinely at minimum, 3 litres spread throughout the day and green tea anytime. Does it sound hard? It isn't really. It's a good start and you will look and feel better. That is what is most important. Small steps taken with conviction are better that huge leaps taken haphazardly. My strongest advice I could give would be for you to take on an actual programme. Spend the money and invest in yourself.

I can only wish you all a less turbo-shite time in the year ahead. Like I said small steps.....

Get With The Programme

I think that we can all agree that the year 2016 was a giant own goal we will all be glad to see the back of. I wouldn't want to try to trump people with the misery we all faced, but this year was very difficult for me, it included the loss of my father and the break-up of a long term relationship. Between personal and world events I began to opt out of it all for a while, losing sight of the things that keep me happy. Not particularly handling my grief so well, I began to neglect my self. My diet, my exercise, my sleep to name a few, resulting in the embarrassing photo below as I ballooned to 80kg.  It took a while and even though I am still working through some stuff I kinda got my act together about 90 days ago and tried to seize back control of the one thing that is genuinely my own and my responsibility. My health!

I embarked upon a diet and exercise programme. It is the first time I have tried anything like this; but one character trait to my advantage is that I am generally a well disciplined person, for some obvious and some less obvious reasons my discipline had faltered. It was a great relief to get back to work, not only did the process improve my body, more importantly it allowed me an outlet to take all the "shitty" things that were wrong and focus on putting something right. Basically that's what this blog post is about. Things can only be in the trough for so long before they begin the ascent to a peak, sometimes however you need to take the initiative. Give it and yourself a good kick up the arse! If you are lucky someone else will do it for you but failing that take my advice: wake up tomorrow look in the mirror and ask yourself quietly and privately "what part of your life can you slap back into functionality?" Nothing got beyond your reach, you just grew tired. It's ok. That  happens on a daily basis to everyone in your life. Some chat about it openly, others, like me, let it sit and brew. It grows like some kind of malign elephant in the room, people around you know something is not flowing right but you just don't talk about it. Eventually the time comes when you realise the room where the elephant sits is in your fucking house and it isn't welcome anymore. So you do what you can. Each has a talent or a gift, if anything mine is my tenacity. When I have a clear purpose or intention it is impossible to take me away from it. For the past 90+ days I have eaten 3 meals a day, 2 snacks, drunk 3 litres of water. Prepped food, washed tupperware, plates, saucepans countless times. Dragged my arse out of bed at 6am been in the gym by 7am completed hundreds if not thousands of reps, push ups, pull ups, burpees "Arnold Curls"(the most painfully exquisite exercise ever). Over the past 12+ weeks I have shaved off 8Kg bringing myself down to a much healthier and happier existence. The 8 kilos is great but above that I took the reigns again, got back a bit control. Tightened up, sharpened up but more rewarding than that I brightened up. I am ready for the next challenge. I feel good and won't stop. Getting myself back in shape has stirred me to further development. I feel the past 90+ days have brought me to a point which would be a good starting point to begin a greater development. 

If people are interested I would like to write about the actual programme I followed. What I learned along the way, what was hard, what was easy, what were the bits folks don't talk about. If you're interested leave a comment.

Merry Fitness!

Experiencing a "Yin" Master

One of the things I particularly enjoy about Martial Arts training is having new experiences. Maybe meeting a new person, learning a new technique or perhaps getting a new perspective. It happens often on my Martial Journey and last night was no exception, although very different. Despite training for 20 years I had never had the privilege of training with a female Master. This isn't something I avoided; it's just that they're not as common in the Martial World. A Master is a Master in Chinese Martial Culture and as such they are called Master, not Mistress; however Master Faye Yip asked to be addressed only as Faye. Her opening words being thus, made me warm to her immediately.

I am no stranger to ladies in Martial Arts, in fact my most senior student happens to be one, so I am aware of the troubles women face in the Martial Arena. My senior has told me the horror of a time I had left her to take care of my kickboxing class. A new student had introduced himself to one of the male junior grades assuming he was the instructor! OOPS! An understandable misassumption  given the context or an unforgivable error, you can decide? Regardless we all make assumptions. I made one last night, a workshop around health Qigong led by a female; I had not expected as many men to be present but the majority of the class indeed was male. Obviously this wasn't even worth noting for Master Yip.

We began with quite possibly the greatest warm up exercise I have ever taken part in. Master Yip did the usual: feet shoulder width apart, relax shoulders, head on an invisible string pulled up. Then it became very different: "you are standing on a boat, as the boat rises through gentle waves in your mind rise with the movement of the water. Coordinate the gentle lifting of the arms, the gentle inhale of breath. Exhale and allow the arms to float back to your sides each time." Honestly I could've done that all night, I have never felt such peace and tranquillity. From the very outset Master Yip put me in a place I don't often go.

I am a man, I am completely at ease with my masculinity. I disapprove of the general constraint placed on men in more recent years to adhere to a diluted, soft and more easily managed maleness. It has caused a crisis in masculinity. Through its societal reinforcement it has caused bigger problems for both men and women. Yet here in a simple warm up exercise a divine female energy cut right through my fortified male armour and reminded me of my place in the world. It was for me, that profound. Through her gentle guidance I found a great strength. I was at ease, softened and many things that have been on my mind of late, dropped away.

A Male Master, although of equal value, would not take you there direct. A warm up is a mechanical process that must be undertaken to avoid injury, yes very true but Master Yip expressed a more expansive idea about the form in which function can take. I think that the female mind can do this with ease. A male seeks the usefulness, utility and straightforward thinking that methodically unveils the many layers that makes up the practise. A woman appreciates the emotional depth that the unveiling of the layers will eventually lead to and moves there as her base of operations. I have learned this particular set of movements that the workshop was on twice before, both times from male Masters. Master Yip approached it completely differently. It was more based on thoughts, feelings and more descriptive than visual. Her phrasing within the teachings was totally different. For example, something that springs to mind, instead of saying "OK, let's do it one more time" she said "OK, I want you to experience it one more time." Although very subtle that particular way of expressing it implies a completely different outcome. It was an excellent workshop and a great pleasure. I will seek her out again. It reminded me that sometimes the receiving of the actual information is not as important as the method in which it is given. On a deeper level the gentler approach employed by a woman can move a man to greater level of self awareness. It is a strong catalyst that will solve our problems.