Why is it important for my child to get a Black Belt?

There are many reasons why someone should get a black belt here are three of the most important.

Personal safety and Education security

We live in a time when bullies pervade our school system. Characteristically bullies are mean spirited, cruel, and larger than children that they bully. Bullies usually don’t act alone, they form “clicks” of people who are willing to follow their lead. Bullies don’t always beat other kids up sometimes they enslave them by making them do their bidding: do their homework, give them money, give them parts or all of their lunch, allow them to look good when playing team sports like basketball, and in general make the act of going to school analogous to going to a suppressed country, where they are the “Supreme Leader” and normal kids are wards of the state.

A very troubling component of bullying is that a lot of children who succumb to it don’t tell people in authority that it is happening to them for fear of repercussions from the bully when the protector is gone.

Most children who become targets of bullies allow their grades to lapse to fit in with other members of the “click”;  learning is subordinated to surviving. Because of a child’s unwillingness to become a part of a “click” they could become social parishes.

Some kids who don’t become members of a “click” experience other forms of cruelty such as being humiliated, threatened, beat up, and more.

Bullies tend to avoid a conflict with a black belt because even bullies know what a black belt is and fear its wearer. And it gets better, children who are black belts tend not only to be, left alone by bullies but idolized by others, so much so that whatever they decide to do ( play an instrument, sing in the glee club, run for school President, get all A’s, etc.) becomes cool and other kids tend to want to be a part of it.

Resume

When your child comes of age he/she will invariably apply for a job and hopefully go to college. In this day and age ( not like when I went through my development ) there isn’t an employer or school administer on the planet that doesn’t know what a black belt is.

Black belts are highly sought after candidates for employment and schooling. The reason is that employees and administrators know that black belts have the skills ( discipline, perseverance, work ethic, etc.) to enhance their institution's reputation by being able to market successful model students.

Typically, when a black belt is offered a job it is in a management position because of their leadership skills. 

Station in life

By the time a student earns a black belt, they have acquired all of the skills necessary to get the things out of life that they want. This is a package of skills that the average person is unaware of: mental and physical discipline, the ability to get A’s & B’s, as well as the ability to set and acquire goals, an ability to finish what they start, a positive attitude, and a healthy work ethic.

 To become a success a person has to have all of these qualities, black belts do. It is for that reason that black belts tend to enjoy the better things that life has to offer when they come of age.

  As a child, I did not have a person in my life to steer me on a path to success, not because they did not want to but because they did not know-how. I was fortunate, not only did I make something out of myself, I cataloged how I did it. The cataloging of how I became a world champion allowed me to write my book DAGPAW Means Success A Parent’s Guide to Instilling Martial Arts Success Skills Into Their Child At Home, and reconfigure my style of teaching, and consciously keep my tuition structure at an affordable rate.

I do this because I believe that every child should be able to benefit from martial arts but not every child’s parents can afford it. The learning of martial arts can be cost prohibited at an average of $150. Per month. Martial arts instructors know what they have, most are not only teach kids how to win a fight, they are teaching them to be winners in life. They know that in the long run what a child obtains from being in martial arts is life-altering and more valuable than gold.

In closing, I’d like to say that, I know that these are difficult times. It is times like these when families pull back spending on “nonessential “ sports like football, baseball, swimming, tennis, and the like. To that I say this to you, martial arts is not a sport or a game to be played where winners and losers pack up and go home after an event, it is a way of life. Asian countries: Japan, Korea, and China place high demands on academic development all have mandatory participation in martial arts programs for free in their schools. They don’t do it so that kids can have fun, they do it to ensure a child’s future success.

Given this truism, I encourage all parents to think twice before dropping their child from their martial arts endeavors. I sincerely believe that finding a way to keep your child in a professionally run martial arts program is in the best interest of the child.

May you have everything that you want, and want everything that you have.

Mb

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Crisis in America: Childhood Obesity

Today in America most people are aware of three crises currently being acted out: the ravages of Covid19; the inequities of the Justice System; and the increasing loss of financial security followed by homelessness currently being experienced by millions of Americans.

There is one crisis currently being acted out that has so far gone under the radar. When it reaches full speed and citizens finally take notice the effects of it could be permanently damaging to the health and well-being of the youth of this country, childhood obesity.

From:

COVID-19 lockdowns worsen childhood obesity, study finds

Research finds obese kids under lockdown in Italy ate more junk food, watched more TV at expense of physical activity

Date:                June 3, 2020

Source: University at Buffalo

 Summary:

Lockdowns implemented across the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic have negatively impacted diet, sleep and physical activity among children with obesity, according to new research.

The study, published in April in Obesity, examined 41 overweight children under confinement throughout March and April in Verona, Italy.

Compared to behaviors recorded a year prior, the children ate an additional meal per day; slept an extra half hour per day; added nearly five hours per day in front of phone, computer and television screens; and dramatically increased their consumption of red meat, sugary drinks and junk foods.

Physical activity, on the other hand, decreased by more than two hours per week, and the amount of vegetables consumed remained unchanged.

"The tragic COVID-19 pandemic has collateral effects extending beyond direct viral infection," says Myles Faith, PhD, UB childhood obesity expert and co-author on the study. "Children and teens struggling with obesity are placed in an unfortunate position of isolation that appears to create an unfavorable environment for maintaining healthy lifestyle behaviors."

"Recognizing these adverse collateral effects of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown is critical in avoiding the depreciation of hard-fought weight control efforts among youths afflicted with excess weight," says Faith, chair and professor of counseling, school and educational psychology in the UB Graduate School of Education.

What is obesity?

Obesity is a medical condition in which excess fat has accumulated to an extent that it may have a negative effect on health.

What are the mental and health issues brought by obesity?

 Obesity is correlated with various diseases and conditions, particularly cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, certain types of cancer and osteoarthritis.

What can be done?

Feed growing children appropriate portion sizes

The American Academy of Pediatrics explains that toddlers don’t require huge amounts of food. From ages 1 to 3, every inch of height should equate to roughly 40 calories of food intake.

Encourage older children to learn what various portion sizes look like.

Build early relationships with healthy foods

Encourage your child to try a variety of different fruits, vegetables, and proteins from an early age. As they grow older, they may be more likely to incorporate these healthy foods into their own diet.

Eat healthy foods as a family

Changing eating habits as a family allows children to experience healthy eating early on. This will make it easier for them to continue following good eating habits as they grow into adults.

Encourage eating slowly and only when hungry

Overeating can happen if you eat when you’re not hungry. This excess fuel eventually becomes stored as body fat and can lead to obesity. Encourage your child to eat only when they feel hungry and to chew more slowly for better digestion.

Limit unhealthy foods in the household

If you bring unhealthy foods into the household, your child may be more likely to eat them. Try to stock the fridge and pantry with healthy foods, and allow less-healthy snacks as a rare “treat” instead.

Incorporate fun and exciting physical activity

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that kids and teens get at least 60 minutesTrusted Source of physical activity daily. Fun physical activities include games, sports, gym class, or even outdoor chores.

Limit your child’s screen time

More time spent sitting in front of a screen means less time for physical activity and good sleep. Because exercise and sleep play a role in a healthy weight, it’s important to encourage those activities over computer or TV time.

Make sure everyone is getting enough sleep

Research suggests that both childrenTrusted Source and adultsTrusted Source who don’t get enough sleep may end up weighing more. Healthy sleep habits from the National Sleep Foundation include a sleep schedule, a bedtime ritual, and a comfortable pillow and mattress.

Know what your child is eating outside of the home

Whether in school, with friends, or while being babysat, children have plenty of opportunities to eat unhealthy foods outside of the home. You can’t always be there to monitor what they eat, but asking questions can help.

Original Post: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200603194444.htm

A Weight Loss True Story

A little over two months ago, I started a weight-loss club. Its purpose is to give people who have something in common (losing weight) a platform to communicate the goings-on with their diets.

 The kick-off of the program was strong. I encouraged everyone to engage in some kind of aerobics every day to lose 2 ½ pounds in a five day week.

 For the first couple of weeks, things were going nicely and everyone was on target. By the third week though, reports started coming in about members “plateauing”. “Plateauing” means that you are stuck at a weight and can’t get any movement forward. Research shows that “Plateauing” is a huge source of frustration for people who are dieting, and is the number one reason why they stop.

While reports of plateauing continued to come in, I was researching how martial arts workouts impact the body. While I was not able to find any information about karate, specifically, I did find a wealth of information about the kind of workout that karate workouts are comparable to, anaerobic.

Anaerobic exercises cause oxygen overflow. ( Before I studied how a body metabolizes food, I used to call heavy breathing “oxygen debt” but when you think about it you are breathing rapidly and deeply taking in too much oxygen - not enough oxygen which would be debt.) Sprinting causes oxygen overflow, doing karate patterns is a form of sprinting.

Other forms of sprinting that never crossed my mind are shadow sparring, rope jumping, and certain sit-ups and calisthenics. After a little more research, I modified certain areas in my “ Fighting Fit” workout to make those portions of the workout more anaerobic pronounced.

Quick, fast, and in a hurry, I introduced my new workout concept to the class. In short, the “Fighting Fit” workout was going to be two workouts in one: 20 minutes of aerobic exercises and another 20 minutes of anaerobic exercises (plus the usual 10 min warmup and 10 cool-downs ).

Not only were we able to break through plateau stages, but people reported losing up to three pounds in a workout.

Two Day Calorie burn while lying in bed:

One of my weight loss club members is named Anika. She reported a huge increase in metabolic activity after I reformatted the class: appetite suppression, loss of more calories after each workout, and increased energy during the day.

In the first week of October, Anika, sadly, reported that she had hurt her back and neck sleeping in the wrong position and had to take a day or two off from working out, and rest in bed (that was on a Monday). I did not get (and didn’t expect to get) a calorie loss report from her while she was bedridden. On Wednesday, I received a text from her that, because of her increased metabolism due to the anaerobic workouts, she had lost 2 ½ pounds while lying in bed.

It is now my firm belief that increasing metabolic output is monumentally important for people over 40 who are desirous of losing weight. Don’t just take my word for it. This year commit to losing weight after the holiday season and join one of my super fat burning programs. You’ll be glad that you did.

How I lost 15 pounds in six weeks working out twelve minutes a day at age 60.

As an exercise instructor, I read articles and papers on fitness regularly to stay current on what’s happening in the industry. In late July, I came across an article in a women’s magazine called “The Nest” about Jogging VS. Sprinting and Metabolism By Andrea Chrysanthou.

The article caught my eye because I am in my late sixties and have become increasingly aware of weight creeping on because of my metabolism slowing. The obvious question is,” since I am a kickboxing instructor, why didn’t I just use my kickboxing routine to get the unwanted weight off?”  The simple one-word answer is burnout. I have been doing kickboxing since I was 21 years, and while I have no problem teaching others how to do it, I would rather be raked over a hotbed of coals than do a kickboxing routine one hour a day for, on average, twelve weeks to lose the amount of weight that I want to lose (30 pounds).

In her article, Ms. Chrysanthou spoke about something called Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) which is acquired by doing several sprints for 30 seconds to 1 minute. This forces your body into oxygen debt which is anaerobic and is the opposite of aerobic. A very basic idea of what EPOC  does is that “EPOC increases the Metabolism and causes it to burn calories for up to 14 hours after a workout”.  The other thing about the EPOC concept that sold me was that as I continued to research increasing metabolism function it kept popping up, article after article. I decided to give it a try.

At my age (and due to a hip replacement that I had 20 years ago) the thought of sprinting was not very appealing to me, but after thinking about it it occurred to me that doing a karate pattern as fast as you can be the same as sprinting and a bonus was that it took exactly 30 seconds to do.

Using very basic karate techniques I devised a ten-minute workout that combined light weights (to stimulates muscles and maintain tone), blocking routines, punching routines, a stance routine for leg strengthening, and a very basic pattern that I would do eight times to bring on EPOC. I also modified my calorie intake with something called “Caloric Deficiency” which I will explain later.  I did the workout for six weeks every morning. The results were exceptional. Here is the blueprint of how it went.

Caloric Deficiency

Caloric deficiency is a fancy way of saying, cut back on calories. I knew that to lose weight I had to modify my eating, so I monitored what I ate normally for two days, counted the total amount of calories, and cut 500 calories out.

BodyKarate

The next thing that I did was made sure that my workout did what I wanted it to. On the first day of my program, I weighed myself when I got out of bed. I went through a routine I had developed that took a little over ten minutes. When I completed the workout I had lost 2 ½ pounds. I allowed two pounds for water weight, that I would probably gain back during the day, and decided that if I could keep half of a pound off every day I would safely lose 10 pounds a month. The trick was, knowing that my metabolism had slowed, how do I do it?

Knowing my body, I decided, after having cut back on calories, not to compound eat, and not to eat after 6 pm. (Compound eating is when you stuff yourself so full at a meal that your body doesn’t have time to digest what you’ve eaten before you eat again. Eating just before you go to bed has the same effect as compound eating (your body doesn’t have the time to burn away the calories before you eat again in the morning).) Instead, I decided to eat 5 small meals a day instead of three large ones 7 am, 10 am, 12-noon, 3 pm, and 6 pm.

My meals consisted of Oatmeal or bran flakes, yogurt, or fruit for breakfast; banana or apple at 10 and 3; a sandwich for lunch; and baked fish and vegetables for dinner.

Note: Sometimes when I was running late, I would stop by Mc Donald’s and get one of their oatmeal’s for breakfast. It’s really good! It comes with diced apples and raisins.

To make sure that I didn’t sabotage my program by being stuck on the road, getting hungry, and going to McDonald’s I did a little research at 7-Eleven and found that they have three low-calorie sandwiches that I could choose from for $3.99- $4.99: “Smoked Turkey and Monterey Jack”, “Tuna fish” or “ Egg salad”.  Note: There is one caveat with the “Smoked Turkey and Monterey Jack” sandwich, I threw away the cheese. Cheese and other dairy products are hard for your metabolism to digest, being such they undermine the EPOC burn.

In the mornings, after breakfast, on my way to my appointments, I stopped by 7 Eleven and loaded up with my banana and apple, and my sandwich for lunch.

The Workout

For the weight lifting portion of the workout and the anaerobic portion of the workout, I Performed the beginner, white belt, pattern (wcrbkarate.com/white belt patterns).

The amount of weight that I used was ten pounds. (I recommend between 3 and 10 pounds depending on your conditioning, nothing higher.) The purpose of weight lifting in this program is to stimulate the muscles to help burn calories as you exercise, not to build muscle.

Using the dissected portions of the pattern, the belt blocks and counters (wcrbkarate.com/whitebelt blocks and counter), I was able to isolate the following muscles and give them a light work out with the weights: shoulders, deltoids, biceps, triceps, pecs, trapezius, lats, glutes, hamstring, quadriceps, and calves.

After the weight lifting portion of the program, I reconnected the dissected portions of the pattern and did the complete pattern as fast as I could eight times with a minute rest in between. I did this every day of the week except for Sunday. At the end of six weeks, I had lost 15 pounds.

Coming soon!

New Year’s Resolution Kickboxing and BodyKarate Gift Certificates!

Every year people make a New Year’s resolution to lose weight. This year why not help a friend (or yourself) guarantee the loss with a Kickboxing or BodyKarate Gift Certificate?

Kickboxing and BodyKarate Gift Certificates will be sold in introductory sessions and 10-pound monthly increments. Classes will be done virtually.

This year give the gift of extended life, the gift of health, a “New Year’s Resolution Kickboxing or BodyKarate Weight loss Gift Certificate”.

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Self-Care For Busy Business Owners

by

Katie Conroy

We get it — you are an entrepreneur. You have projects to take care of, work to delegate, and new clients to acquire. As such, this leaves very little time for yourself. Unfortunately, when you fail to invest in your mind and body, your employees, clients, and, worst, your family, don’t get you at your best. WCRB Karate offers insight on how to care for yourself while you balance your personal and professional lives.

Exercise

Making time for exercise is an obvious must for everyone. And, according to the American Institute of Stress, exercise is one of the top five activities you can do to reduce stress. Carve out an hour a few times each week to focus on physical fitness. A quick run, some time in the pool, or kickboxing or karate class are all excellent ways to get your heart pumping, your pores pouring sweat, and your head back in the game.

Eat well

You may think of food as simply something you eat to keep yourself moving. While this is true, the foods you eat can have a significant impact on how you feel. Eat too much of the wrong things and you’ll gain weight and feel slow and sluggish. But, the right balance of nutrition and your body will operate at peak. Master Batiste suggests, among other things, making a point to eat breakfast and adding protein to every meal.

Eliminate negative energy at home.

You may not realize it, but your home may be brewing negative energy. According to real estate agency Redfin, bad mojo can cause tension within your family and can even inject negativity into otherwise healthy relationships. Fortunately, a few small steps, such as cleaning and reducing clutter, can go a long way toward improving the overall mood of your household. Something as simple as opening a window or painting in brighter, vibrant colors may help, too.

Save time.

Time is the most vital asset you have. Don’t waste it. You can do simple things, such as invest in a pressure cooker to reduce cooking time or paying to outsource time-consuming services (pressure washing the house, cleaning, data entry). You can use the time you save to do something nice for yourself, such as meditate or give yourself a quick massage to loosen stiff muscles and to reinvigorate your mind and body. Although you may have to pay to have some responsibility taken off your plate, if you can make more money in the time it would take for someone else to do the job, then it is an investment worth the cost.

Boost your energy naturally.

We all love a quick cup of coffee or a Red Bull during the afternoon slump. However,there are other ways to enhance your energy levels so that you can be more productive at work (and thus less productive when you just want to relax). Drinking water, adding essential oils to a diffuser, and keeping the curtains open to let the light and are all great ways to give yourself a little more pep when you need it most.

Remember, if you do not care for yourself, your cup will always be half empty. You will not be as effective as a business owner, and your personal life may suffer as well. The good news is that you do have time for self-care. Make a point to exercise and eat right every day, and look for ways to purge negative energy, increase your positive energy and stamina, and save time on those tasks that don’t preserve the best parts of you.

Master Rodney Batiste has honed his teaching skills for decades to bring you the best in martial arts. Visit WCRB Karate today for more information on in-person or virtual classes.

Karate vs Aerobics it’s a Knockout!

A ten-minute Karate workout burns more calories than 60 minutes of Aerobics.

Find out how

Fact: Karate and Tae Kwon Do workouts can, Boost your metabolism and increase your testosterone to burn calories up to 14 hours after you’ve finished exercising.

In late July, I got interested in, exactly, how martial arts workouts impacted the body and decided to do some research to find out.

Unfortunately, I could not find anything written by anyone in authority to explain how or why people who trained in Martial arts Classes, specifically Karate and Tae Kwon Do, can lose weight.

Although I was not able to find any information about how Karate worked, I was able to find information in a comparable sports activity “Sprinting”. Before I convey my findings to you let me first make a point very clear that although sprinting is typically associated with very fast running, actually sprinting is any physical activity that causes your cardiovascular system to exceed 80% demand for oxygen thereby throwing the body into oxygen debt.

The scientific term for what sprinting does to the body is called anaerobic or anabolic; The scientific term for what jogging does to the body is called aerobic or catabolic. There are many sports that have a form of sprinting: running when you run fast; swimming, when you swim fast; biking, when you bike fast etc..

In a Karate or Tae Kwon Do class sprinting is done when you do rapid-fire punches, kicks, or patterns. Unlike aerobic exercise, anaerobic exercises can only be done for short periods, between 30 seconds and one minute.

Before we get into what I have discovered about running let's discuss the different way that a catabolic/aerobic workout affect the body from an anabolic/anaerobic workout.

In an August 2019 story in Healthline entitled Catabolism vs. Anabolism: What’s the Difference, Ashley Marcin writes:

Medically reviewed by Daniel Bubnis, M.S., NASM-CPT, NASE Level II-CSS — Written by Ashley Marcin — Updated on August 6, 2019

• Hormones

• Bodyweight

• Exercises

• Bottom line

Overview

Your metabolism involves a set of processes that all living things use to maintain their bodies. These processes include both anabolism and catabolism. Both help organize molecules by freeing and capturing energy to keep the body running strong. These phases of metabolism happen simultaneously.

Anabolism centers around growth and building — the organization of molecules. In this process, small, simple molecules are built up into larger, more complex ones. An example of anabolism is gluconeogenesis. This is when the liver and kidneys produce glucose from noncarbohydrate sources. 

Catabolism is what happens when you digest food and the molecules break down in the body for use as energy. Large, complex molecules in the body are broken down into smaller, simple ones. An example of catabolism is glycolysis. This process is almost the reverse of gluconeogenesis. 

Understanding anabolism and catabolism can help you train more effectively to lose fat and gain muscle. Rest is also a part of the equation. Your metabolism is at work even when you’re sleeping. 

Hormones involved in catabolism and anabolism

Your hormones play an important role in these processes. Different hormones in the body are associated with either anabolism and catabolism.

Anabolism involves the hormones:

• Estrogen

• Insulin

• Growth hormone

• Testosterone

Catabolism involves the hormones:

• Adrenaline

• Cortisol

• Cytokines

• Glucagon

On the face of it, the clear distinction between Catabolism and Anabolism is catabolism break molecules down, anabolism builds molecules up, but there is more! If you look at the hormones involved in anabolism you’ll see the hormones used to build molecules up (testosterone and growth hormone) are important building blocks in the development of muscle which is an active body part and burns calories simply by existing. As an added benefit the increase in “estrogen” could improve libido.

 Ms. Marcin also writes:

If you do a lot of anabolic workouts, you’ll tend to shed fat and maintain or even gain muscle. Muscle is more dense than fat, so your body weight and body mass index may stay higher despite a leaner physique.

Catabolic workouts, on the other hand, may help you shed pounds by working off both fat and muscle. You’ll weigh less, but you’ll also have far less critical muscle mass.

Continuing my research, I found an article in “The Nest” a magazine for women entitled “Jogging Vs. Sprinting and  Metabolism” by Andrea Chrysanthou she writes:

Calories Burned During Exercise

Minute by minute, you’ll burn more calories sprinting than you will be jogging. A 140-pound person will burn 9 calories running at a pace of 5 mph and 24 calories sprinting at a pace of 12 mph. But while it’s obvious that in that minute you’ll elevate your metabolism and burn more calories sprinting, this calculation is deceiving. Most people can only sprint for very short periods, while they can sometimes jog for hours. Depending on how long you jog, you’ll keep your metabolism increased and burn more calories while jogging than while sprinting.

EPOC

When considering which exercise is a better option, you have to look at how it affects your metabolism after your workout ends. Because sprinting is so intense, your body develops an oxygen deficit during the exercise. Your metabolism then has to stay raised after the exercise is over to restore the oxygen to your bloodstream. This is referred to as EPOC or "excess post-exercise oxygen consumption." This so-called after-burn is minimal after exercises with lower intensities such as jogging but becomes significant with exercises of high intensity.

EPOC And Calories

EPOC is what makes sprinting the clear winner in the metabolism-boosting race. A 2012 study conducted at Colorado State University found that just 2.5 minutes of sprinting raised subjects' metabolism and burned an extra 200 calories after the exercise ended. Another study published in the September 2011 edition of the journal "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise" found that EPOC can keep your metabolism raised for 14 hours. Considering the after-burn after longer periods of jogging is minimal, sprinting emerge as the long-term better option for boosting your metabolism.

Armed with this information I hypothesized that because of EPOC sprinting seems to be a much more efficient way to boost your metabolism and increase muscle while losing weight. The metabolism-boosting part became particularly interesting to me because as a man in my 60’s I have noticed that (due to my metabolism slowing) my body doesn’t shed weight as easily as it did when I was in my 20’s and I find myself having to work two to three times as hard to get the weight off. Additionally, I’ve been suffering burnout from being inundated with mandatory kickboxing since my early 20’s and was looking for a fresh way to lose weight and not have to spend hours working out doing it. It occurred to me that because Karate is a full-body workout of precise moves, a Karate workout should be at the upper level of the EPOC burn of approximately 14 hours after the workout. This I found to be extremely appealing: 14 hours of caloric burn for about 10 minutes work!

People who know me know that I am a big believer in stimulating muscles with light weights before and during a workout so that they can assist in the burning of calories in my kickboxing workout. Being consistent with this theme I did two things: devised an anaerobic all Karate workout that capitalizes on the EPOC concept and I modified my Fighting Fit Kickboxing program to make a combination of aerobic and anaerobic so that my aerobics students can have the benefit of the EPOC after-burn.

During August I used the 10-minute Karate workout to lose weight; I lost 15 pounds in six weeks and am on my way to losing 30 in twelve. I must say for the record that I also modified my diet, but, again, the exciting thing is that I have only been working out for a little over 10 minutes a day.

This holiday season I will be selling “New Year’s Resolution” weight loss certificates that you can give to a friend or use yourself. If you would like to take advantage of an exciting new way to lose weight with maximum efficiency don’t miss this offer!

Is Your Workout Giving YOU What you NEED?

When I was in my twenties I engaged in a lengthy discussion with my cousin about exercise. I recall how he totally denounced the need for him to go to the gym because, as he said, he got enough exercise working around his home mowing the lawn,  cutting down trees, landscaping, etc..

 That was a long time ago. I didn’t know much about exercise then and, frankly, I had forgotten that discussion, until today.

 Before I get into the meat of the subject here is some need to know information on the matter. My wife and I both have iPhone and it’s companion watches. The watch, by using a pulse sensor, is designed to use body rhythms and blood pressure to extract incredible amounts of workout information.

Together, we were able to download an exercise app that gives the details of any workout that you can think of: running, golf, swimming, tennis, kickboxing, even disc golf; it gives you things like total steps, total distance, calories burned, heart rate while working out, heartbeats per minute and more! It is great!  Now… here is one of the most intriguing things. The watch gives you the capability to not only sync workouts with someone else, it allows you to see their workout results without them being around you. That’s right! I could be in California and my watch would tell me that my wife exercised and burned x amount of calories, walked x distance, etc.

Now to the point of this article. This morning I snuck out of the house intending to get some golfing in. I had completely forgotten about our coupling of watches, (not that it matters).  I played nine-holes wrapped it up and went on my way. About noon I was talking to my wife about something and she said, “You know, you should never have to do another workout again. You burned the same amount of calories playing golf and as I did when I did my mile walk and calisthenics. At first, my natural instinct was to say something like, “ Golf? Who has time to play golf? We’re in the middle of a pandemic and I’m out here trying to find a way for us to survive.” But then I remembered the coupling of the watches and said, ‘’that’s interesting”.

Note to self: Write a letter to “Apple” and try to get them to make an I’m at work app that burns the same amount of calories as golfing!

I’ve learned a lot about exercise since I debated my cousin forty years ago. When my wife brought to my attention that she burned the same amount of calories walking and doing calisthenics I was happy for HER not so much for me, because I did not get the same amount of benefits as she did. For me to get the same benefit as she,  I would have to do another type of exercise that would bring stress on my muscles: push-ups, sit-ups, squats, or weight lifting. The reality of this is that her workout was enabling her body to combat fatigue, loss of reflexes, loss of muscle tone, and muscular deterioration (which causes skin wrinkling) better than the mind; my exercise covered the heart mainly and legs mildly.

To understand these better let us take a look at the thing that wreaks the most havoc on the human experience, gravity.

Here is a brief article on the effects of gravity taken from the Utah Education Network:

Gravity, An Agent of Erosion

Gravity is an agent of erosion. Rocks break apart only when a force makes them do so. Gravity is one force that helps break down rocks into smaller pieces. This never-ending force works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. It has done so for millions and millions of years.

Water running down all the mountains and valleys is pulled down by the force of gravity. The wind is ultimately a result of air molecules being held to Earth's surface due to gravity. Water, wind, and ice working under the influence of gravity are the greatest sources of erosion on the surface of the Earth. The effects of gravity combined with wind, water, and ice create many types of geologic features. Many of these geologic features are so unique and beautiful that they have been given status as State or National Parks. — Utah Education Network

What the article doesn’t mention is that the pull of gravity also has a deleterious effect on muscles over a long period. Muscle wrinkling, sagging, loss of tone, and texture are all caused by the constant pull of gravity which results in loss of energy and fatigue.

 When we are young, our muscles are like flower pedals pushing out against the force of gravity. As we get older (in the late thirties) the process stops and or bodies hold steady until about late forties, early fifties. After that (because of the pull of gravity) muscles begin to atrophy.

Atrophy is defined as the partial or complete wasting away of a part of the body caused by poor circulation, loss of hormonal support, disuse, and lack of exercise.

 The Word Exercise Means: Activity requiring physical effort, carried out to sustain or improve health and fitness.

For your body to benefit from an exercise, the exercise must be target-specific. To put in plainly, a cardiovascular exercise will not improve muscle tone, and lifting weights will not improve your cardiovascular system. In order for your exercise to benefit either of those body parts, your exercise must be designed for it. I have been in the health industry for forty years; in those years I have learned that body longevity maintenance falls into four categories: muscle tone, cardiovascular efficiency, flexibility, and mental acuity.

People tend to exercise in one of those groups, doing things like chess, puzzles, or other board games; lifting weights or calisthenics; yoga; or running, biking, or swimming. Rarely do you see someone engage in all four of those maintenance groups. What then is the determining factor? Time and lack of knowledge. A lot of people feel that they just don’t have the time to do more than one sport, others simply don’t know.

Martial Arts is the king of exercises. It is the only exercise that gives you benefits in all four maintenance groups. In China millions of people get up at the crack of dawn, many of whom are in their eighties and nineties, to exercise in the Kung Fu system known as Tai Chi.

Research has proven that the practice of Tai Chi improves blood flow, massages the intestines, exercises the mind, controls high blood pressure, and more!.

 Isn’t it time that you gave joining a martial arts class serious thought?

 If you haven’t already, consider enrolling in a class with your son or daughter. It’s a great way to bond and benefit.

 May you have everything that you want, and want everything that you have.

MB

New from WCRB Karate: Virtual Fitness Classes for Adults

THE FITNESS YOU CAN FEEL

The Fighting Fit Super Fat Burning Kickboxing Workout:

            This is not your average kickboxing class. It is the workout program that World Kickboxing Champion Rod Batiste used to get into shape for some of his biggest fights.  Studies have shown that this workout can burn up to 1000 calories per workout. Workout includes A Kickboxing routine, rope jumping, Shadow sparring, Calisthenics lights weight, and more!

The Ten for Ten Workout:

            This workout is designed to boost your energy level from zero to ten (with 10 being the highest) in ten minutes or less. Timed strategically, it’s the perfect way to start your workday, boost your energy and get rid of stiffness while working at home, or complement a cardiovascular workout that’s devoid of toning exercises like running, swimming, walking, hiking, biking and more! This workout is specifically designed to combat, fatigue, lethargy, and clouded thought, and can be done anywhere. This is a full-body workout that exercises your entire body. We even have an exercise that will help stimulate thinking.

Design A Program:

            This program is for self - motivated people that do not have the time or the desire to engage in group activities. One of our fitness professionals will have a meet and greet with you on “Google Meets”, “Zoom” or a platform of your choice. During the meeting they will gather information about your exercise goals: weight loss, muscle tone, get in shape for the event, whatever the occasion. Using the information gathered from you our professional will design a program that will help you achieve your goal in the shortest amount of time. The program comes with a weekly monitoring system, and a beginning, midpoint, and completion structure.

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MB’s Weight loss Club

Lose up to 30 pounds in twelve weeks with MB’s

HABIT BUSTERS weight loss club  

  Our goal is your success!

 Tired of the same old rubber band diet?  It’s time to join MB’s Health change Activated by Belief In Tackling the cause of unwanted habits BUSTERS weight loss club!

Featuring:

• Weekly seminars on the causes of unwanted habits and how to change them

• Daily workouts that burn up to a thousand calories

• Daily weight loses checks

• SELF – Discipline training

• Professional Goals setting and accomplishments training

• Weekly weight loss goals planning

• Tri-weekly group conferences

• Crisis phone call partnering

• Workout buddy pairing

• Eat this! instead of that! Replacement recipes

I AM INTERESTED!

Fill out the form below for more information:

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EARLY BIRD SPECIAL ENDING SOON!

The Discounts for signing up for Virtual Karate and Kickboxing are coming to a close on August 29th. Grab you spot now before it is too late.

School maybe still closed but the kids and YOU need to get exercise!

CLICK BELOW to SECURE YOUR Family’s Health

SUMMER BREEZE

IN THIS ISSUE, WE WANT TO CELEBRATE STUDENTS WHO MADE IT TO ANOTHER RANK - VIRTUALLY

The summer of 2020 was deadly. Not so much as the virus is concerned (we all know that), but for goals setting and accomplishment. Martial arts are known for instilling into their practitioners a host of benefits: Discipline, Academic Excellence, Perseverance, Confidence, Self –Esteem, Self-Control, and more! Everyone knows this to be true. Very few people, though, know exactly how it works.

             On average, when a parent goes into a martial arts facility and says to the instructor, “I would like for my child to have more discipline.” What the Black Belt professional typically does is gives the applicant an “Introductory Class”. The class is designed for the instructor to see where the applicant is on an imaginary scale of having discipline.  (The scale usually ranges for 1 -10 with ten being the highest).

            From there the professional has what is called an “Extension Conference”. The conference is designed to explain the findings of the instructor to the parents of the applicant. The instructor will cover things like attitude, potential, innate ability, and desire. These are the tools that the instructor has to work with. From there the instructor will recommend an amount of time to which the parent can look forward to realizing the stated goal, in this case, discipline.

Here is what people don’t know:

           Martial arts tend to speak of time in relationship to belts: three months – Gold Belt; six months – Green Belt; nine months – purple belt etc. In most “Extension Conferences” when an instructor mentions a belt (length of time) the parent immediately equates it to money and assumes that the instructor is trying to get the maximum amount of money out of them.

           What the instructor is doing is explaining the amount of time it will take, not only for the instructor to instill the benefit into the applicant but the amount of time that it will take for him/her to keep it.

Example:

           Let’s say that you walk into a martial arts facility and say to the instructor, “I want my child to do better in school”. The instructor recommends, and the child goes through, an introductory class; after the class, when the instructor has the information that they need he and the child’s parents have the extension conference and he recommends an amount of time.

Item One:

             The amount of time rarely matches from one student to the other. One student may need six months to achieve the stated goal, while another may need nine or twelve months.

Item Two: 

             The amount of time that you are recommended will usually have an extension period attached to it. It is the extension period that is critical to the habitual use of the benefit to be acquired. If you were to ask any psychologist about the making of a habit they will tell you that the key to developing a new habit is the time of use. If you have ever learned a new language you know that it’s “use it or lose it”.  Can you learn a new language? Yes! But if you don’t use the language regularly for at least a year, you forget it; the same thing for weight loss, sports activities, etc.

              Instructors know this so they (if they are professional) recommend an amount of time for goals accomplishment that includes an extension period.

This is why martial arts professionals can charge a premium for their services and get it. They are extremely good at knowing time frames and delivering on a contract!

At this point, you may be asking, “What does this have to do with my child and their karate lesson?”

NOTHING!  

If you have signed your child up in a class just to experience martial arts along with a host of other things.

EVERYTHING!

If you are serious about giving your child the gift of self-determination of their wealth, lifestyle, and future!

The pandemic has caused a serious problem with continuity! This, if not checked will stymie your child’s development and acquisition of DAGPAW. That’s a bad thing. The good thing is that the pandemic allows your child to learn how to overcome obstacles that might present themselves as your child moves towards accomplishing their goals.

Why you should take advantage of virtual learning in a sports activity and enroll your child.

I started taking karate before it was a business, 1968. I have always believed that instruction is a personal thing with a give and take flowing atmosphere between teacher and student. When the pandemic hit, I believed that all martial arts instruction would have to be put on hold until the student and instructor can meet in person again.

Because of student’s requests, reluctantly I began giving instructions in kickboxing and karate virtually. On the first day of virtual teaching, I immediately recognized several benefits that were not there in an open classroom.

In one of my virtual classes, I had about 18 students. As I began teaching I noticed that kids that normally have subordinate personalities took more responsibility for their actions. Additionally, I noticed that all, students focused, tried harder, and demonstrated more determination to get things right! While I understand the importance of social contact with children, it appeared that without the social part of the learning environment children concentrate more on the learning aspect of class activity.

I believe that in the short term this is a tremendous opportunity for your child to acquire the skills that I mentioned above and transfer it into the regular class when school opens again.

All of the kids with their photo above demonstrated these skills and was able to move up a level in rank in half the time that they would have in a normal setting.

     Congratulations to the virtual Summer class of 2020

Fall classes are enrolling now. Enroll early and receive a handsome discount.

A Call to Arms

In this issue, I would like to bring to your attention the reason why it is more important than ever for your child to return to karate.

If I were to sum up the reason why it’s important in one sentence it would be this: We owe it to them. In Africa, there is a saying” It takes a village to raise a child.” That sentence cannot be more true, especially now. WE, the adults, in our communities are caretakers and stewards of our children’s future. They are not capable of making important decisions about their futures on their own, so it is up to us to establish a pathway for them to succeed and provide the means for them to follow it.

There may be some of you that say,” My child is not an animal. He or she is a human being with a will of their own; I won't make them do anything thing.” To that, I say, ”Do not quibble over the term MAKE we make our kids into the things that we want them to be all of the time: we make them Christians, we make the Jews, we make them polite, and we make the contributing members of society.”

What we do not always do is make them successful. The single most important reason why parents do not make their child successful is that they do not know-how. It is for that reason that parents who know that they don’t know how to make their child a success bring their children to someone who does, someone such as me.

It is my job to instill into your child the skills that they will need to become anything that they want.

I came from a New York ghetto and became a World Champion!

You all know my story, it is one of overcoming hardship and poverty to become a World Champion. The key to my story is not that I became a world-famous kick-boxer, it is that I became a winner in life, a successful business owner, and s highly respected leader in my field. It is in that vein that I established my business to give the skills that I gained (DAGPAW) to kids so that they can have what I never had, a fighting chance. Sure, I became a World Champion, but most of my journey was by luck.

What I want for the kids that I am blessed to work with is to take the luck out of it.

The pandemic is providing us with a huge opportunity to teach kids how not to walk away from a goal just because it gets hard. This is a silver lining that we must take advantage of.

Arlington, will not be offering an on-site karate class this Fall, because I chose not to teach one, here’s why: I was contacted by the class coordinator and asked if I would like to offer a class this coming Fall. Initially, I said yes, but when we got into the details of how the class would work several setbacks became apparent: The first setback is that classes would have to be held outside. My feeling is that the Fall is not the best time to conduct outdoor classes because weather, invariably, would become an issue. The second setback is that classes had to be limited to, not more than, ten people. This meant that a majority of my students would not be able to take the class and because I work with all of my students on goals accomplishment I did not want to have only the lucky few be able to continue their development.  

Although, I did give the possibility of teaching class serious consideration, and I could not see how I could overcome the hurdle of not working with a majority of my students and therefore let all of the gains that we have made together fall to the wayside. Because of the difficulties caused by the pandemic, I am offering a virtual Fall session, specifically, to keep our kids on track with the accomplishments of their goals. I look forward to working with your child again this Fall. Sign up can be done on my website: wcrbkarate.com. Sign up early and receive a generous discount.

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DAGPAW Means Success: A Parent's Guide to Instilling Martial Arts Success Skills Into Their Child From Home

By Batiste, Rodney

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