I have a totally different approach to teaching martial arts. I don’t believe that a teacher/trainer has to be on their students’ backs, screaming at them all the time, like those exercise or extreme weight-loss infomercials on TV. I’m sure, if you wanted to, you could have joined the Armed Forces or a military bootcamp class, where a drill sergeant screams continuously at you. So what happens when there’s no one behind you, pushing you to exercise? Everyone chooses how they want to train, but my philosophy of fitness is to exercise for life.
In this book, my eating or training methods might not seem all that rigorous to some of you, but you’re going to be surprised—if you follow my program properly, you will get into the best mental and physical shape of your life!
Our bodies are not made to take too much abuse, especially as we age. We must practice caution when exercising, and even with our eating. Any drastic measures or quick-fix solutions are not the way to go. Exercising and eating properly is a habit you want to engage in every day of your life.
When you last saw yourself in the mirror, were you happy with the way you looked? And right now, are you happy with the way you feel about yourself?
If the answer is no, then what are you going to do about it?
Do you want to continue feeling like this? Aren’t you sick and tired of how you let yourself go, and how you’ve come to this point in your life?
For many people, when they feel that the task is too great, they don’t even bother to attempt it. That’s often the case when it comes to getting into shape. People often feel that they are fighting a losing battle, and admit defeat before the battle even begins.
I’m sure all of you know the progression of a child’s development. In the beginning, they can hardly move or sit up; then they learn to roll, then they start to crawl; then, to everyone’s amazement, they take their first steps.
Tell me what happens next?
They might stumble, they might even fall. But then the child gets back up, makes another attempt at it, because they know that one of these days they’ll be able to do it. Even the child knows that walking feels a lot better than crawling, and there’s no way they’re going back to crawling.
Everyone can do it—it doesn’t begin with huge giant steps, it starts with small ones. But you must have an open-minded, positive attitude. It’s going to be tough, of course. There will definitely be setbacks. You’ll have your bad days, but I can also tell you, you’ll probably have many more good ones.
Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts. But the sooner you get started, the easier the journey will become. Every step you take, regardless of how small they are, will be “giant” steps in the right direction.
Life is constantly changing, whether you like it or not. When you were young, the only thing that mattered to you was yourself. As you matured, you acquired knowledge and developed friendships and intimate relationships. Then came reality, that new job followed by a promotion, or perhaps a new start-up business. While this was happening maybe you developed a serious relationship, which resulted in marriage. Maybe you decided to have a child, then perhaps another one or two. Then came school, and all the activities that your children were involved in. Before you know it, your personal time becomes less and less. When does your time ever come again? “Probably never!” you might say.
You’re right, it could easily be never, if you let it. I talk to so many parents at my martial arts centers, and my usual question to them is, “Why don’t you train with us? You know, this is not just for kids.…” or “Do you exercise regularly?”
Unfortunately, the answer from most of them is the same. “I have no time between kids and work,” “I’m too old for this,” or “I’m way too out of shape for exercise.”
It’s so sad for all of these dedicated parents—for them, their lives are basically over, and the worst thing is that most of them are not even 40 years of age. They think about their childhood and how fun it was. Now all their focus is on their jobs and families—they don’t feature in the equation.
Tell me how ridiculous that is! Not even 40 years old and they’ve already given up. Don’t they understand that they, as parents, are the most important thing to their kids?
As parents, we want the very best for our kids. But what happens if we’re sick, and even worse, if we are no longer there for them? When are we going to realize that our health is more important than our jobs?
I look at life as a constant juggling act. You have to be able to adapt to the constantly changing equation, but at the same time not forget about yourself. Please exercise regularly!
CHAPTER 3
Finding the Fountain of Youth
There are lots of people promoting workout programs that they say will get you in the best shape of your life in a very short amount of time.
Others say that they’ve developed the perfect diet, where you’ll drop a dress size in just a single week. Some claim that you are what you eat, and that juicing is the only way to go. Many say you have to go vegetarian or totally vegan.
And of course, there are those that say, don’t even waste your time. There’s botox, collagen, cellulite creams, massages, steam and sauna rooms, you name it, we’ve got it. Just come to our spa for a week and we promise you that you’ll feel brand new.
Then there are plastic surgeons that ask why even waste a week when we can make you brand new in a few hours? Just lie back and relax, we’ll remove that unwanted fat from anywhere in your body. Want a bigger chest or breasts? Why not let us take care of your abs and butt at the same time with some implants. We’ll have you looking great and out in a jiffy.
Maybe I went a bit overboard with the above comparisons, but all these things do happen, every day. Turn on your television set and watch some of the talk shows or infomercials. On one recent show, they were interviewing a doctor while he was performing a live liposuction, and the crazy thing was that the patient wasn’t even overweight!
A few months back, a middle-aged couple that I know decided to purchase one of those short-term, quick-fix programs. After doing one session, they told me they were aching for a week, and they had to have massages just to relieve some of the soreness; they never tried doing the program again.
My philosophy has always been if it makes you happy, then it’s no one else’s business. But one important thing I’ve learned in my 40-plus years in the fitness industry, is that there’s no quick fix when it comes to taking care of one’s health and fitness. It should be something that we’re concerned about on a daily basis, just like eating and sleeping. If you didn’t have a meal, aren’t you constantly thinking about food? If you didn’t get a good night’s sleep, don’t you feel groggy throughout the day? Do you ever lose your cool or get stressed out easily? I can tell you that’s definitely because you don’t exercise regularly.
Sure, it would be great if we were born into a super rich family, or had the looks and body of a supermodel. I don’t know how many of you are that lucky, but I for one can tell you that I wasn’t that fortunate. Everything I have in my life I owe to the confidence I achieved through Taekwondo. I had to work for everything. Do you think people who are born into wealthy families, or are just naturally beautiful, really appreciate what they have? If you said “yes,”
