Brush your teeth; practice your energy

I bet you brush your teeth.
But why ?

Is it to make them look good ?
Or is it to avoid having them
rot away ?

People brush their teeth to prevent
problems in the future. It takes years to
get a child to understand that if he or she
doesn't take care of his teeth, they're
going to rot and fall out.

So why don't you have the same relationship
with your body ? People exercise to look good,
not for future health. You can look around
and know that as you age, your body
will begin to break down. First you lose
the ability to jump and run. Then your
balance gets weaker. Then you become
prone to injuries.

Young adults have a "normal" posture,
and "normal" walking gait. But middle-aged
people begin to show a "side to side,"
penguin waddle. Seniors are more bent
over, and take smaller steps.
Like oral hygiene, the body can be cared-for
in a way that makes it useful for a lifetime.

Back to TommyTheory:
"You can only exercise to the level you
understand."
So for many, jogging and weight-lifting are
what they understand. This kind of exercise
is beneficial when you're 25, not when
you're 45.
Others find out for themselves that
energy practice is a boon to the body,
and for sooth--
The Fountain of Youth.
Fu Tai Chi and QiGong are special exercise
that will keep you healthy and mobile
your whole life.

Brushing your teeth is like a health bank;
every day you contribute a few minutes
of time so that when you're old, you still
have your natural teeth.
Fu Tai Chi is exactly the same; 20 minutes
each day will extend your mobility much
longer than if you don't exercise or if you
jog, lift weights, or do most other forms
of exercise.

The next time you brush you teeth, take
a good look at your body and ask yourself,
"Why don't I take better care of my body ?"

The Mysteries of Kung Fu

There is an old Shaolin story that goes
like this:
A young man was accepted into the
Shaolin school. He showed up to his
first lesson excited to learn.

The old monk led the young man to
a raised pool and told him to slap the
water.

When the young man came back to
class the next day, the monk told him
to go to the pool and slap the water.
Day after day, this was the only task
he was given.

After 12 months, the young man became
so frustrated that he broke his instruction
and went to the monk who was eating
breakfast. The young man demanded
a lesson, slamming his hand down on the
heavy wooden breakfast table, which
immediately broke in half.

The monk looked up at the young man
and said, "you're ready for your next lesson."

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Sun Lu Tang is perhaps the most famous
XingYi Boxer in history. It is said that his
first teacher taught him how to stand for
his first lesson, and did not check on him
for one year. When he returned, he struck
Sun in the back and was surprised that
Sun did not lose his balance.

It is said that Sun's best student practiced
the stance for three years before he learned
anything else.

------------------------------------------------------

In the beginning of June, a young man came
to me asking for private lessons. In the very
first lesson, I saw just how clumsy and stiff
he was. But he practiced hard, and made
amazing progress. Two days ago, he came
for a lesson. I asked him how much he was
practicing. He said, "two hours a day, but
I would practice more if I was learning anything."
He had not noticed how his clumsiness had
waned, and how much stronger his stance
and balance had gotten.

Gentle Exercise

My father was a track star in high
school, and continued jogging
almost every day. In his 30's, he
was still a fantastic distance runner,
placing well in running competitions.
By age 42, his knees were done
and he had to stop running completely.

A female friend from high school
was also a track star. She, too, kept
running afterward, staying very "fit"
in her 30's, but suffering multiple
health problems she considered
"unrelated." To this day, she denies
she has any health problems, but
continues going to the doctor for
all sorts of issues.

At age 38, I can tell story after story
about "fitness" fanatics who felt they
needed their hard exercise-- running,
biking, weight-lifting, etc-- in order
to stay healthy and look good. But
the reality is hard exercise isn't that
good for you after age 30. Sure, you
can still do it in your 30's, but you're
causing yourself problems. And in
your 40's, the pain you feel from
hard exercise is your body telling
you "hard exercise is wrong for you."

Most generally, people exercise to
look good. But if you've read my blog
or listened to other health professionals,
trimming body fat is a dietary function.

So if you want to be healthy, and exercise
in a suitable, sustainable manner, you need
to exercise gently. Chinese calisthenics like
tai chi and QiGong gently work the entire
body, including the cardiovascular system
because they include super-special breathing
practices. They also strengthen the trunk
(build so-called "core strength") because
they include postural practice. Your hard
exercise has neither postural training or
breathing training.

If you're over age 35, you need to take a
good look around and see who USED TO
exercise hard, but can't anymore. You need
to look into the crystal ball and understand
in earnest that hard exercise is not sustainable.
In fact, it's not even what's keeping you looking
good.

Keep exercising hard, and you will plague
yourself with pain, health problems and
deteriorating joints.

If you don't exercise at all, you need to start.

Exercise gently, and you will live longer
and healthier. I beg you to listen to me,
and act now.

Your Feet Are Weak

When I graduated from high school,
I began pushing the limits of my
physical stamina. I jogged almost
every day, gradually increasing the
distance until I hit the six mile mark.

Then after my freshman year of college,
I started triathlon training. After one
month, my typical workout was a fast
20-mile bike followed by a perpetually
faster 10-mile run. This typically lasted
around three hours, which left me pretty
useless to do much else. When I rode or
ran with anyone else, I would leave them
in the dust. The catabolism ate down my
body weight to a mere 163 pounds.

In my sophomore year, I started lifting
weights and put on more than 30 pounds
of muscle. By the end of college, I had
gotten pretty big, but so was my appetite.
I continued lifting for 10 years, and did
some cross-training as well. In general,
my body was been equal to many world-
class athletes.

Then at age 31, I started Fu Tai Chi with
Grandmaster Victor ShengLong Fu.
I had to let go of most of my experience,
and my education, such as the university-
level kinesiology and the weight-training
techniques I learned from the early-ninety's
Mr. Michigan. Everything was just so
different.

Now I've been studying and practicing hard
with Fu for seven straight years. My balance
has increased so much that I can't even explain
it, other than to say my feet have reorganized
themselves.

My right foot, which has always been a little
weaker than the left, has gotten bigger, stronger,
and now the ball and big toe hurt all the time.
They have new calluses and ache from the new
way I walk, stand and move. This is not the
kind of ache you get from wearing fancy shoes
with heels; this kind of ache tells me that the
way I used to walk was babying my feet,
instead of strengthening them.

The age-old tenets of tai chi say,
"the root is in the feet." When you begin to
practice the slow twisting movements of
tai chi, your ankles will twist and your feet
will begin to clutch the earth in the same
way a tree does, or the way an eagle grasps
a tree branch. Your feet will get amazingly
stronger.

Shut Down and Shut Up

By the end of the 2007 summer, I had
gotten a little pudgy. My restaurant
had a beer license, and I loved to drink
MY beer when I was there. I practiced
my tai chi every day, so even though
I looked soft, I was still pretty capable.

Dustin came into town and demanded
that I go on a whitewater river trip with
him the next day. I said I had too much
to manage with the restaurant, and that
it was out of the question. He convinced
me with a check for $15,000; so I packed
for a week off the grid, and left with him for
Cataract Canyon.

The subject of volleyball had come up, so
Dusty brought his net and I brought my ball.
All the way to Moab, Dustin and Scotty
mouthed-off about how they would beat
everyone and anyone in a game. I have
always thought trash-talking was really low
brow, and unsportsmanlike, so I said nothing.

But the bullshit didn't stop. Two days on the
river, and you would think these guys would
have something else to talk about-- but no.
These guys would not shut up !

I asked this tall young guy, Brandon, if he
could play, and this only seemed to fuel the
trash talk.

"Remember that last trip ? We beat everybody !
And then, just the two of us beat everybody
at the same time ! Muah ha ha ha ha ! We're
gonna kick yer ass !"

We landed at the beach at Brown Betty rapids
in the afternoon on the third day. We guy-wired
the net for tension and got some air into the ball
with the clever use of a ballpoint pen.

Dustin and Scotty are both short, but superbly
athletic. When they take off their shirts, the
muscles just ripple under offensively-tanned skin.
When I took my shirt off, a pony keg of beer
sloshed beneath a blinding moon-tan. I believe
this was a big part of their confidence, not to
mention that these two had played a lot together.

Brandon didn't have a lot of volleyball experience,
but he could really move. When it was my shot,
I placed the ball all over the court, and ran them
into oxygen debt. At one point in the second game,
they were both bent over, sweating and breathing hard.
I told Brandon loud enough for them to hear,
"Look at 'em, they're exhausted."

Rare was a set from Brandon that was good enough
to spike, but I did punch a few right down their throats
for good measure. Mostly, I fed them pain with my
serves. I heard Dustin whine, "Man, that stings."

We beat them three straight games. These two rock-hard,
deep-tan maniacs stood there with the most bewildered,
disbelieving looks on their faces. I stuck out my belly as
far as it would go and laughed punishingly as I grabbed
two fistfuls of fat and did a little dance.

Dustin never talks about that day.

Big Salad Bowl, Small Dinner Plate

Yeah.

Meat & Vegetables

Lots of kids don't want to eat their
vegetables. With taste buds all over
their little mouths, vegetables can
seem bitter, or spicey or just gross.
I for one could not stomach raw
tomatoes because they reminded
me of garbage. Mushrooms tasted
like dirt, and olives were just
crazy gross.



But when you get to be an adult,
veggies start tasting better and better.
Onions become a staple of flavor.
Artichokes seem delicious. And
things like sliced cucumbers and
avocado are a delicacy.


So many men are really into their
meat. My brother in law won't eat
vegetables, only meat. And he likes
it spicey... which comes from hot
peppers...


Think of it this way. When you go
to Subway, the breads are good,
and you order your favorite meat.
But what really excites you is having
the plastic-gloved clerk load up
your sandwich with fresh veggies.
You know exactly what you want
when you walk through the door.
And it's the veggies that give your
sandwich the awesome flavors.

"Lettuce, tomato, green peppers,
yellow peppers, jalepenos, cucumbers."


Raw vegetables are alive. When you
chew a piece of red bell pepper, or
onion on a burger, you're eating a
living organism. This does a number
of good things for you.


The people of Okinawa live longer
than anyone on the planet. When I was
there, I asked a bunch of them why.
Almost every time, the answer was
that they eat a lot of seaweed, and
small amounts of pork. Each of them
seemed to think the small amounts of
pork is very important.


I don't recommend vegetarian or vegan
diet. The reason human brains have
so developed is because of eating meat.
2 million years of protein has turbo-charged
our cerebrums. Conversely, our early
ancestor Australopithecus was vegetarian,
and became extinct about 2 million years
ago.


The point of this blog is merely to suggest
a ratio of meat to vegetables.


Try to eat mostly vegetables and small
amounts of meat. In fact, you can probably
eat all the vegetables you want (although
corn is pretty high on the glycemic index).
Eat fruit, but remember that fruit is generally
more sugary than veggies. And eat some
meat. Okinawans recommend pork. Sometimes,
my body craves beef; so I'll eat lean beef,
but not too much of it. Eating fish seems
to help me lose body fat. I eat poultry, but
try to keep that in check also.


Go buy a nice red or orange bell pepper
and eat it like an apple.