Your Martial Art's Checklist

Whether you're new to martial arts or have been training for years, this checklist will ensure that you continue to improve your martial art. 

Relaxed Tension

If you play an instrument then you know that if the string is too tight it will snap and if it's too loose, it won't play the right sound. It's the same with our training, we have to find the correct balance of being relaxed and concentrated. Too relaxed and our movement will be sloppy and lack power, too tense and our movement won't flow and we'll tire easily.

Breathe Correctly

Breath is what brings our mind and body together. Try punching and breathing in at the same time, it feels unnatural doesn't it? Correct breathing helps us to pace ourselves and gives more power to our movements. Always do Qigong breathing when doing Qigong ( unless you are pregnant) , always work with your breath and movement together. If you're running or going through a training drill and you're out of breath, simply pacing your breath with your steps can bring your breathing back to normal.

Are You Training Hard Enough?

A smith puts gold through the fire so she can mould it into the shape of jewellery she wants. Our martial art's is the fire we put our mind and body through so we can mould ourselves into the martial artist we want to be. If it's not difficult, if it's not challenging then there can be no transformation.

Alignment

During your training, check into your body, are your shoulders relaxed, is your body in correct alignment? Check your stances in the mirror. Our bodies want to find an easier way to do something and this can lead to bad habits that we're not aware of so even if you think you know your movement, don't stop from checking up on yourself.

Be Your Own Teacher

At the Shaolin Temple, as disciples we would be taught something very quickly by our master then we would have to go away and master it by ourselves. We weren't allowed to ask questions, we weren't motivated by our master, we had to find the motivation and the drive from our own selves. In the West there are teachers, books, DVDs, lots of information on the internet so the guidance is there, the only block is, are you putting it into practice? 

For more information about training with Shifu Yan Lei's Shaolin DVDs please visit shifuyanlei.com

Public Talk at the University of Virginia on Friday, January 17

This Friday, I'll be giving an invited lecture at the University of Virginia, my undergraduate alma mater.  I was kindly invited by a medical student named Robert Abbott, and it worked out well because I was already traveling to Charlottesville.

The talk will be titled "Why Do We Overeat?  A Neurobiological Perspective".  Here's the teaser:

Obesity is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in industrialized nations, yet this is a relatively recent phenomenon.  In the United States, increasing obesity prevalence has paralleled a gradual increase of daily energy intake.  Why do most Americans eat more than we used to, and more than we need to maintain a lean state, despite negative consequences?  This presentation will touch on the neurobiology of action selection, the neurobiology of energy homeostasis, and why our central nervous system hardware may not be up to the task of constructively navigating the modern food environment.

The talk will be attended by medical students, but I also hope to have some doctors and researchers show up, as well as people from the broader Charlottesville community.  It will be a thought-provoking talk regardless of your background, and it will touch on some of my own work.

The talk will be held in the main medical school auditorium, MEB 3110, on Friday, January 17 at noon.  You can find driving directions and parking information by following this link.  You'll probably have to park in a parking garage, either the Lee Street or Central Grounds garage (directions in the link).

For a map of the UVA health system, follow this link.  The Medical Education Building is number 44 on the map, and the talk will be in room MEB 3110 on the 3rd floor of the building.

See you there!

Statins increase risk of diabetes by 32% in patients with impaired glucose tolerance

This study was published in the British Medical Journal 9 December 2013;347:f6745 

Study title and authors:
Role of diuretics, β blockers, and statins in increasing the risk of diabetes in patients with impaired glucose tolerance: reanalysis of data from the NAVIGATOR study

Lan Shen

 

This study can be accessed at: http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f6745?rss=1

 

The objective of this study was to examine the association of various drugs in patients with impaired glucose tolerance with new onset diabetes. The study lasted five years and included 9,306 patients. (If you have impaired glucose tolerance, your blood glucose is raised beyond the normal range but it is not so high that you have diabetes. However, if you have impaired glucose tolerance you are at risk of developing diabetes).

 

Regarding statins, the study found that statin use was associated with a 32% increased risk of new onset diabetes.

Healthy World Cafe will be open Wednesday, Jan. 22!

Take a break from your day and head down to Healthy World Cafe for lunch Wednesday, Jan. 22. We'll be open from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. serving up healthy, locally sourced eats at First Moravian Church, 41 N. Duke St., York.

Menu:

-- South American Squash and Quinoa Soup

-- Chunky Potato Soup with Dill

-- Swiss Chard Frittata

-- Baked Corn Tostadas with your choice of Toppings:

• Chili Chocolate Glazed Pork (GF)
• Beans, Corn and Barley (VG, VGN)
• Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cilantro and Lime (VG, VGN, GF)
• Cilantro Lime Rice (VG, VGN, GF)
• Salsa Criolla (VG, VGN, GF) 

-- Winter Salad Bar

-- HWC Signature Dried Fruit and Oatmeal Cookies

Of course, our menu is always based on what's available from our farmer friends, so stay tuned for updates!

At Healthy World Cafe, we always feature our "eat what you want, pay how you can" philosophy. The ability to pay should never be a barrier to accessing delicious, unprocessed, healthy food.

Housekeeping items worth noting:
-- PARKING: When coming to the cafe for our Wednesday lunches, please DO NOT park in the private lots surrounding 1st Moravian Church.  You may park on the street (metered), or you may park at First Presbyterian Church at E. Market and N. Queen Sts., and walk one block west down Clarke Ave. to First Moravian (enter on north side).

-- TAKE OUT: Take out orders for lunch are available by e-mailing your selections (by 10 a.m. Jan. 22) to healthyworldcafe(at)gmail(dot)com.

-- VOLUNTEERING: In order to better respect our volunteers' time, we split the Wednesday lunch into two volunteer shifts: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and noon to 3 p.m. Feel free, of course, to sign up for both shifts, if you wish.

If you can't volunteer for an exact shift, hey, we understand that, too! We love that you're still eager to help out when you can. We would just ask that, after signing up through VolunteerSpot, that you'd send a quick email to sarah.e.chain(at)gmail(dot)com and let us know when to expect you. That makes it easier for us to plan out volunteer duties.

Check out a calendar of other upcoming events as well. 

7 Actionable Tips To Live Your Best Martial Art's Year Ever

Make A Goalless Goal

Shaolin Training doesn't underestimate a person's strength of body and mind. The masters knew how much we could achieve and they wouldn't let us get away with anything less. The first goal young disciples have when they come to the Shaolin Temple is "Never Give Up." Once that statement is made, it's like sitting on a plane and knowing the destination is Beijing. We don't need to think anymore about where we're heading. Our mind is no longer caught up thinking maybe I should head to Chicago or London instead. There's no way we can get off the plane, so we let go and focus on the journey. The goalless goal is another way of simplifying our life.

Brush Your Teeth

Research shows that the brain is pliable. Forget about willpower, it runs out quickly. This is why it's  important to train at least 4 times a week and if possible at the same time. Training like this changes the pathways in the brain and makes training a habit rather than something you have to make yourself do. Do you need to make yourself brush your teeth in the morning?

Sharpen Your Knife

Shaolin Training encompasses the fitness of a fighter coupled with the internal training of a Zen master. You're not training in Shaolin if you don't train both the Yin and the Yang. If you do another martial art, you still need to train in both of these in order to balance your body and prolong your martial art's life. A professional cook must sharpen her knife in order for it to be functional. Qigong is the sharpening of the knife. Kung Fu is the knife being used.

High Intensity Training

High Intensity Training  has been used by Shaolin Martial Artists for hundreds of years. Recent research has shown that high intensity training is a more effective workout than longer moderate workouts. Not only that but high intensity training is the only way to keep your metabolism high for several hours afterwards which means you keep burning calories. Moderate exercise doesn't do this.

Once you're able to keep up with my Shaolin Workout DVDs then you need to move onto Shaolin Circuit Training and Shaolin Bootcamp. Interval training isn't easy. To be effective you must use a large percentage of your aerobic capacity. You need to get your mind to accept new limits by pushing yourself, safely. High Intensity Training challenges the body to it's maximum.

Get Bored

In order to perfect your martial art you need to repeat the same movement thousands and thousands of times. Don't allow pride to get in your way. Practice the movements that challenge you and you find the hardest. You have to work hard, often, and consistently in order to see results.

Stretch Dynamically 

Why are Shaolin monks so flexible? Because we do two types of stretching: static and dynamic. The Shaolin dynamic stretching we do are the five basic kicks, and the five stances from Shaolin Workout 1. This opens the hips and warms up the leg muscles. When our muscles are warm we then statically stretch our legs.  A flexible body is a relaxed body, centered and more in tune with itself. Flexibility improves posture, makes training easier and helps the Qi to flow around the body.

Be A Disciple Of The Bodhidharma

The Bodhidharma taught us how to use martial arts as a meditation. Each person who learns from me, either in person or with my DVDs is also a student of the Bodhidharma. In the West we tend to over complicate things. My master never allowed me to do this. Coming from a Zen Temple meant I wasn't allowed to ask my master many questions because if he gave me answers then they would be his answers and this would cloud my direct experience. Keep  your training simple Combine internal with external, Qigong with Kung Fu. Practice movement and breath, breath and movement, train intelligently, don't over complicate. Just do it. This means you a disciple of the Bodhidharma. This means you are training in Zen.

For more information on the Shaolin Warrior graded series of DVDs click here

If you do 1 thing this year make it this one: Awaken the Energy Matrix Of The Body

It's possible for a person to be fit and not healthy. No matter how many weights you can lift or push ups you can do, your energy will waver if your internal energy isn't strong.

It's true that aerobic exercise has been shown to prevent memory loss, heart disease, diabetes, depression and obesity. Weight training stops our muscles from shrinking as we get older. But what about our internal organs? Because we can't see them, we tend to only think of them when something goes wrong. But it's the internal organs that govern the body. They are the key to living young and having excellent health.

Most people who do intensive exercise, for example professional footballers, age rapidly and burn out when they are in their thirties. Shaolin monks and disciples do as much exercise but do not age or burnout in the same way. This is because we practice Qigong.

Qigong exercises the internal organs through stimulating them and getting rid of energy blockage.  Qigong has a regulating effect on the bodies energy. If a person's metabolism is too fast, it will slow down, if it's too slow, the body will shift accordingly. Too much stress leads to an increase in cortisol which leads to fat gathering around the belly.  Qigong balances the hormones helping the stubborn visceral belly fat to melt away.

Going through life without practicing Qigong is like driving a car and never topping up the air in the tyres. The air is our Qi, it gets us places. Take the air out of the tyre and the car will go nowhere, take the air out of our bodies and we die. It is as simple as that. On a basic level Qi is breath, it flows where the blood flows, but on a deeper level it is the energy matrix of the body and when we do Qigong we optimize it to get the most out of ourselves.

When the Bodhidharma came to the Shaolin Temple he found the monks were weak from sitting meditation so he developed a unique system of Qigong to energize the monks and help them gain enlightenment.

While our goal may not be to become enlightened, we can use this simple but effective system today to have more control over our energy levels . Life is about energy. When we love something or feel passionate about something we have a lot of energy. Our love for martial arts gives us the mental energy to keep training. The Qi in our bodies gives us the physical energy to keep training. The more energy we have the more we can get out of our life. All you have to do is 20 minutes practice of Eight Treasures Qigong 4 - 5 times a week and within a month you will see the benefit.

Shaolin 8 Treasures is taught in 2 DVDs,  Instant Health: The Shaolin Qigong Workout & The Way Of Qigong Volume 1

Free e-Book and Ideal Weight Program 2.0 Announcement

I'm happy to announce that we're releasing a free e-book titled Why do We Gain Fat, and How do We Lose it? An Introduction to the Science of Body Fat, by Dan Pardi and myself. This is a slimmed-down version of the longer, fully referenced e-book we offer as part of the Ideal Weight Program. In it, we provide a succinct overview of the science of body fat gain and loss, and the evidence base for our program.  It also contains a schematic that ties together the various concepts in visual form. You can download it from the Dan’s Plan site by following this link to our program overview page.

Ideal Weight Program 2.0 Upgrades

Over the last year, Dan and I have been working hard to improve the Ideal Weight Program, both in response to user feedback and our own ideas for development.  Here are some of the new features we offer in 2014:

1. Four-week meal plans and shopping lists for the FLASH diet and the Simple Food Diet, as requested by Ideal Weight Program users.  This is in addition to the recipes and cooking guides we already provide.  
2. The Protein Unit system.  Research suggests there's an optimal amount of protein for appetite control and fat loss, depending on your height, weight, gender, and physical activity level.  Our fat loss diets are high in protein, but how do you know you're getting the right amount?  We've created a calculator that does it for you automatically, and explains how to apply your personalized Protein Unit value easily and intuitively using real food. 
3. Diet plates.  These are visual guides to following our diets, based loosely on the intuitive USDA MyPlate design.  
4. Cheat sheets.  Put these on your fridge to remind yourself of your diet and lifestyle guidelines, and daily protein unit goal.
5. Updated guidance.  We've refined a few things in the diet guidance documents. 

At a time of year when many people want to shed excess holiday pounds and start down a leaner, healthier path, we offer the Ideal Weight Program 2.0.  The program comes with a 30-day no-questions-asked refund policy so you can try it without risk.  We think you'll love this program, but if it doesn't work for you, we're happy to refund your purchase price. 

Financial disclosure: I receive a portion of the revenue from the sale of the Ideal Weight Program.  I do not receive revenue from the sale of other products associated with Dan's Plan or the Ideal Weight Program (such as the Fitbit, cooking tools, and other programs).