I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them. –Kurt Vonnegut My son spent a lot of time in speech therapy as a young child for Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). You wouldn’t know it now,…
Growth comes at the point of resistance (Josh Waitzkin)
Skills come from struggle.” Steve Magniss and Brad Stulberg, In their book Peak Performance, Magniss and Stulberg explain “just-manageable challenges” as ways to push limits and expand a comfort zone, and constantly to improve. “Just-manageable challenges manifest when you take on something that makes you feel a little out of control but not quite anxious or overly aroused. What you’re after is the sweet spot, when the challenge at hand…
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Beginnings and hurdles
The biggest hurdle is often the first on the course, whether it’s waking and rolling out a yoga mat or lacing up running shoes, or walking through the door to something new. With tae kwon do, I’d summoned the courage necessary to walk through the door into my first class, feeling pretty good about it, and found perhaps that wasn’t the highest hurdle. I had 300 more to go. Every…
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new blog series: the tapestry of martial arts
Writers are often told, correct or not, to write what they know, write what they love. As spring approaches, I’m going to write a series of blogs that both reflect something I’ve been learning a lot about over the last decade, and also ties in to my fiction writing. (My cozy mystery is coming along at almost 60,000 words so far!) What’s the topic? Martial arts. Tai chi. Qi gong.…
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the ancient health secrets of martial artists
How can it help me? Why would an athlete with an injury, a runner dealing with runner’s knee, your Grandpa with a bad back, your Aunt with shoulder pain, care about all this martial arts remedy mumbo jumbo? Because they spent CENTURIES developing ways to: Strengthen themselves for training Prevent injuries Treat new injuries Care for chronic issues and ongoing pain Martial arts are ancient. Sources suggest that…
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Top Five Topicals for martial artists (and anyone who works out!)
The top five topicals for hard-training athletes (martial artists, kickboxers, CrossFit enthusiasts) Basically you have two kinds of “remedies” with ancient roots in martial artists but so helpful for anyone who works out and has aches or pains. External, to use topically on a joint, muscle or area that hurts, aches or needs TLC Internal, to take internally, like a liquid, decoction, tablet or capsule. (Later, we’re going to…
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astronauts and cottonballs
Last night, I sat with family and friends and listened to Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space. She’s awesome (MD, dancer, engineer, Lego figurine, the list goes on), and so was her presentation. She had so much of value and substance to say about many things. One thing was exactly what I needed to hear, though. She was asked how she dealt with people who were negative or…
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the yin and yang of competition
Competition is tricky. A balancing act. Being 100% non-competing or always competing can be difficult. For me, competition lures me in. In the realm of Ayurveda, I’m a pitta (with some kapha) and once I get into competition mode it can get…fiery. As I face my third taekwondo tournament, the first two not having gone so well, with last place my average finish (sigh) I’m not sure how I want…
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A historical component of martial arts: herbal medicine
After trying for a third time to be a runner (do your joints talk to you? ‘Cause my knees just piped up a disgruntled don’t you ever do that again!), I had to deal with the runner’s knee pain and inflammation. The pain varied and moved all around my patella, hurting when I moved, hurting when I didn’t move. Going down stairs or hills was especially precarious. To go to…
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When the Army asks you to army crawl, they let you wear shoes
It’s been a while since I regaled you with tales of my flops and foibles and mess-ups in class. I’ve been in a pretty good groove for a few weeks. Then I decided to go with another parent to Taekwondo Day Camp while our kids were there. (Are you already laughing? You should be. I didn’t even do a camp like this as a kid.) They do taekwondo but…
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