USK Karate Academy Technical Tip Series - Offensive Hip

Weekly Tune Up 3/25/2011

Getting Comfortable with Uncomfortable

By Master Instructor David Alvas, Director

Learning how to embrace discomfort for the opportunities it possesses is invaluable and life changing. We get so caught up in trying to make our lives comfortable that we forget what we have to go through in life to earn comfort.

No soccer team has won the world cup without grinding through countless workouts. No football team has won the Super Bowl without experiencing tremendous challenges. No baseball team has won the World Series without overcoming the odds. We all have to do things we don’t like or aren’t used to in order to get to our destinations.

Let’s take a brief look at why we, as a species, have such a hard time with doing the uncomfortable. We all have ego. Ego is what tells us what we are good at and what we are not good at. It also tells us what will make us look good and what will embarrass us. It tells us that we are too old or too young to try something. Anytime we are faced with something that we don’t perceive to be “normal” to us, we get a knot in our stomach and our ego kicks in and says ‘don’t do that!’

Ego also controls judgment, a built in self-sabotaging mechanism that tells us that we are better or worse than someone else. Judgment is one of the strongest negative energies that repels us from trying new things. It also happens to be one of the hardest things to remove from our consciousness, and therefore, when it is removed, gives us the most potential for achieving our goals. It’s a simple rule: the harder something is to overcome, the more light (joy, happiness, prosperity, abundance, etc.) it brings in to your life when you conquer it.

If we are not trying new things, we are not abolishing our ego. If we are not doing the impossible, then we are judging ourselves.

I have seen people with no legs run marathons. I have seen blind people walk around a room like they have 20/20 vision. I have seen children with autism lead a professional symphony. Why? Because they decided to, and had no space in their lives for judgment and ego.

Don’t concern yourself with what others think. Sometimes, don’t concern yourself with what you think! Just do it. Especially in tomorrow’s tournament.

All the best,

David Alvas

Weekly Tune Up 3/10/2011

Follow up to Master David Alvas’ “Raising Children” Tune Up

Part II:

10 Secrets to Get Your Kids to Eat More Fruits and Veggies

So, what else can you do when your child refuses to eat anything green and seems to subsist on chicken-fingers and French fries alone?

1) Educate your kids about nutrition. The more they know the easier it will be to guide them into making good choices. Remember how smart kids really are. Don’t sell them short. If they enjoy sports, are interested in beauty, or want more energy, teach them how the foods they eat will help them do what matters to them most.

2) Make food preparation a family affair. The more you involve your kids in the preparation and selection of meals and snacks, the more willing they are to try healthy foods. Even a simple trip to the grocery store to allow them to pick out the fruits and vegetables for the week (each child in the family should get his/her own choice) can make a world of difference. Let older children find recipes online that sound good to them using healthy foods. Allow them to choose how the vegetable of the day is prepared and even help in the preparation.

3) Have a make-your-own smoothie party. Fill bowls with various ingredients, such as berries, mango, spinach, broccoli, flax or chia seeds, and let kids pick what they want. They can even turn the blender on! They love to be in control!

4) Make your own salad. The same trick will work for salads. But don’t just include lettuce. Use seeds, fruit, dried peas—anything goes!

5) Let them dip. Make a dip like hummus or use a healthy store-bought version and watch them eat string beans, carrots, celery, cucumbers, and any other veggie that you cut into strips for dipping.

6) Make veggie and fruit shapes. Thinly slice carrots and cucumbers and use tiny cookie cutters to make shapes. Everything is more fun when it’s in a shape (think silly bands).

7) Make a vegetarian soup at least one night of the week. Pureed soups are great because you can’t see what’s in them (kale is easy to use this way). You’ll be amazed what they’ll eat when it’s been whizzed in the blender or mixed with an immersion blender.

8) Remember that food preferences are formed by one’s environment and taste is a learned phenomenon. In fact, studies show it take 8-15 times before a child accepts a new food. Try a different way of preparing the same food. Once you find a way that your child likes that food, you can branch out and experiment with it because their taste buds have already adjusted to it. Food preferences and tastes are formed early in life, so it is important to introduce your children to a variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

9) Don't make excuses. Don't say, "My kid only eats chicken fingers." He/she is not purchasing those chicken fingers with his/her allowance. You make the rules in your house. You purchase the food. Don't buy the junk! Kids are born with survival instincts. They will not starve themselves. True hunger is difficult to deny, and when children are faced only with healthy food options their natural hunger will drive them to eat the healthy foods available, without bribing, coercing or any other schemes. Scientific research shows that children most often take on the eating habits of their parents. Once they realize that there are no other options, they will eat, and then they will begin to change their habits. So will you.

10)Lead by example. If you permit only healthy foods in the house the entire family will learn to eat properly. You can't tell your children to eat broccoli while you are eating French fries. You must show them how to eat by doing it yourself. The entire family needs to eat the same foods at mealtime. The food that is being served is the only option. Include a number of choices so that children maintain some feeling of autonomy in what they eat, but NEVER make a separate kids’ meal or allow them to order off of the kids’ menus at a restaurant. Mealtime is a communal, family time—a time to come together. Let that attitude be reflected in the sharing of the meal. Kids’ menus are rife with terrible food. Stay away from them an order from the sides for your kids or share what you order (the portions are usually too big for one adult anyway).

About the Contributing Authors: Frustrated by the lack of a healthy, smart, cool role model for their five and six year-old children, Hillary Feerick and Jeff Hillenbrand created the Mitch Spinach children’s book series. They decided to combine their expertise (Jeff holds a BS in Exercise Physiology, and Hillary holds a BA and MA in English) to teach kids about the importance of eating healthy foods and reduce the number of children struggling with weight, chronic colds, ear infections and other nutrition-related problems.

The Secret Life of Mitch Spinach was written in collaboration with renowned, board-certified family physician, Joel Fuhrman, M.D., who specializes in preventing and reversing disease through nutritional and natural methods.

To get kids on the right track with healthy eating, pick up a copy at USK Karate. You can also learn more nutritional information and order online through this link: https://www.mitchspinach.com/affiliate/337.

Weekly Tune Up 3/3/2011

Follow-up to Master Alvas’ “Raising Children” Tune Up

Part I: Are We Unknowingly Making Our Children Sick?

As parents, we want what is best for our children. We are, as Master Alvas has pointed out, the custodians of their future, even if preparing them for the world at large means enforcing rules. We take the role of protecting our children very seriously, and we would never intentionally harm them. We read to them at bedtime, insist that they wear their seatbelts, but when it comes to food, somehow we falter.

In fact, we have failed so significantly to nourish our children that the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has predicted that this is the first generation of children that will NOT outlive their parents. We notice that our children are frequently ill, suffering from recurring ear infections, runny noses, stomachaches, headaches, allergies, asthma, strep throats, attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADD or ADHD), and even autoimmune diseases. The doctor prescribes yet another round of antibiotics. All this is normal for children —right?

Wrong! Our children have gradually become “picky eaters” and only eat pizza, pasta, hamburgers, chicken fingers or candy and chips. The busyness of today’s world overwhelms us; we shuttle kids from school to activities, trying to get the homework done and find ourselves with no time to prepare proper meals. We rely on fast-food or frozen foods instead of providing our children with the nutrition they need without realizing the effect that food can have on a child’s developing body. As a result, the number of obese and overweight children has tripled in the last thirty years, and the number of cases of type 2 diabetes (a disease once called “adult onset diabetes”) has increased at an alarming rate.

But what if our children are not overweight? Is this pattern of eating junk food in place of fruits and vegetables really setting our children up for disease? The results reported by the 1992 Bogalusa Heart Study, which studied autopsies performed on children killed in accidental deaths, confirmed that most children and teenagers already had significant plaque buildup in their arteries! Unfortunately, heart disease often goes undetected, giving it the common label, the silent killer. American children consume less than 2% of their diet from natural plant foods such as fruits and vegetables. Amazingly, about 25% of toddlers between ages one and two eat no fruits and vegetables at all. By the time American children are 15 months old, French fries have become their most commonly consumed vegetable! They move into adulthood eating 90% of their calories from dairy products, white flour, sugar, and oil.

While we have educated our children about the dangers of smoking cigarettes and the use of recreational drugs, we just don’t realize how damaging eating foods on the kids’ menu really is! In fact, The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently stated that more people die today from eating a diet full of junk and processed foods than from cigarette and illegal drug use combined. We wouldn’t allow our children to sit at the table, smoking and drinking, but we don’t think twice about regularly giving them cola, fries and cheeseburgers, foods that are shockingly more harmful. Many parents do not grasp how detrimental these eating patterns really are. Although we would never mean to do anything to hurt our children, every day we are unknowingly causing significant harm.

Because the modern childhood diet creates an environment for cancer to emerge at a later age, trying to prevent breast, prostate and other cancers in adults may not be possible. In other words, childhood diets create adult cancers. That’s right: when our children don’t eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and instead eat processed foods and junk food, the groundwork may be laid for cancer and other diseases.

The good news is that scientific research has demonstrated that humans have an extremely powerful immune system. Our bodies are self-repairing, self-defending organisms. Ear infections, strep throats, allergies, attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADD or ADHD), and even autoimmune diseases can be prevented by sound nutritional practices early in life.

However, WE have to take control. We must realize that making excuses such as “my son only eats chicken fingers and French fries” is a form of negligence on our part. Children’s eating habits are DIRECTLY influenced by our own and are completely dependent on what we feed them, because—remember—they don’t do the food shopping. As the guardians of our children’s health, we are also the guardians of their eating habits. We have the power to save our children from a life of disease if we choose to provide them with food that will nourish them properly. The truth is that all of our efforts to give our children the best of everything will be in vain if they lead lives of poor health. We need to transfer the passion, discipline, and love that we put into rearing our children to the breakfast, lunch and dinner table.

Stay tuned for Part II:

10 Secrets to Get Your Kids to Eat More Fruits and Veggies

About the Contributing Authors: Frustrated by the lack of a healthy, smart, cool role model for their five and six year-old children, Hillary Feerick and Jeff Hillenbrand created the Mitch Spinach children’s book series. They decided to combine their expertise (Jeff holds a BS in Exercise Physiology, and Hillary holds a BA and MA in English) to teach kids about the importance of eating healthy foods and reduce the number of children struggling with weight, chronic colds, ear infections and other nutrition-related problems.

The Secret Life of Mitch Spinach was written in collaboration with renowned, board-certified family physician, Joel Fuhrman, M.D., who specializes in preventing and reversing disease through nutritional and natural methods.

To get kids on the right track with healthy eating, pick up a copy at USK Karate. You can also learn more nutritional information and order online through this link: http://www.MitchSpinach.com/.

Weekly Tune Up - Vacuum of Opportunity

By Master Instructor David Alvas, Director

This week, my staff has been teaching some great classes. They have been focusing their lessons on perspective. I found this inspiring and want to elaborate on this in a more specific fashion regarding failure.

Failure is not a “thing” you can put your hands on. As a matter of fact, failure doesn’t exist. Just like black is the absence of all colors, failure is the absence of success.

When a person fails at something, it almost always is painful. This pain makes us feel like we have a vacuum inside of us, sucking away at our happiness. But if we change our perspective, and look at a vacuum as an attraction, something pulling into our lives, and not just empty space, a vacuum becomes an opportunity.  It becomes an opportunity to attract.

So, when you fail at something, you automatically start attracting something. What you attract is up to you. If you make excuses for your failure and become defensive about it, you attract further failure. If you look at failure as an opportunity for growth and success, that is what you will attract.

Just as outer space is a vacuum with boundless opportunities, so is failure. Failing creates space inside us for growth. What you fill that vacuum with, that space, is up to you.

This week, spend some time looking back at what you failed at and find the opportunity. It could be a mean thing you said, a complement you never gave, or a test in school you did not pass.

All the best,

David Alvas