As a martial arts instructor, I feel I have a responsibility not only to others but also to myself to stay in top physical condition. The Bible states, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, Who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19). These are big words, and as a Christian, I want to treat my body with respect and honor, and not fill it with constant alcohol, nicotine, or foods with processed sugar, for example.
I try to eat foods with high nutrient content. For example, I try to get my proteins from chicken. My wife and I buy the whole, cooked chickens every week from our local grocery store, and I also eat a lot of chicken breasts. My wife loves broccoli so I eat a lot of that as well, mostly in whole-wheat pasta. I also eat salads, pretty much every day. My salads are usually spinach salads, complete with tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers. I also try to have regular fruit consumption to ensure that I am getting my carbohydrates from good sources. Don’t get me wrong; I also enjoy junk food. But I try to watch how much I eat, and make sure that my eating is consistently healthy.
In terms of physical exercise, I practice Kenpo Karate diligently pretty much 7 days per week. In fact, on the average month, I will only take 1 or perhaps 2 days off from my training. My workout routines are quite intense. On some days I will practice all of the Kenpo forms, both slowly, and then full out. On other days, I may just work all of the sets to isolate my basics. On a given day, I might just focus on kicking techniques. Thus my focus would be on Kicking Sets 1 & 2, which believe me, can get extremely tiring, especially when you try to have a knack for detail, and you are giving it your all. Still on other days I may just work the self-defense techniques. Depending on time availability, I could work as many as 100+ techniques on a given day.
I don’t lift weights. Perhaps if I had more time, I would. But I truly feel I get more that enough resistance training. Here are a few ways I train resistance:
(1) By working my techniques over and over on a resistant uke
(2) By practicing my weapons forms (some weapons are extremely tough on the arms and upper body, particularly the tonfa, saber, sai, ect.)
(3) By doing a LOT of push-ups.
As the summer season hits, I highly recommend training outside, and on different terrain. Train barefoot to toughen up your feet, as well as with shoes on to get a better sense of realism and feel. Just make sure to drink lots of water to avoid dehydration.
