Girl Scout Troop 337 visits WMMA

Self-Defense Seminar

Woodstock, IL - March 15, 2009 - Girl Scout Troop 337 took part in a two hour self-defense seminar at Woodstock Mixed Martial Arts. Troop Leader Donna Warner joined in as Black Belt Instructors Kurt and Carolyn Schulenburg provided a tour, lecture and physical workout for the girls, demonstrating the need for vigilance and a proactive stance about safety in Woodstock.

The tour portion was a walk about the Square, highlighting potential danger areas and showcasing safe havens as well. The speaking portion highlighted the need for a mixture of awareness and common sense as the first line of self-defense while the physical workout showed the girls how strong they could be in a panic situation.

The girls learned how to escape from a variety of common holds and how to punch and kick effectively. Culminating with elbow strikes, the girls were delighted when each broke their own 12" X 12" X 3/4" wooden board.

Participating were troop members Danielle Hurmis, Leah Warner, Jolene Warner, Madison Schnulle.

If you're interested in a FREE Self-Defense Seminar for your group, please call Carolyn Schulenburg at 815-334-9662 to arrange a date.

The Schulenburg Family's Woodstock Mixed Martial Arts, formerly known as the Young Hong Karate Institute, has a long history of providing self defense in Woodstock. Offering classes in Mixed Martial Arts for all ages, WMMA prides itself on being a Character Development Center, actively teaching social skills such as responsibility, honesty and trustworthiness to all students. WMMA is a Family School where the Focus is on Fitness and Fun, where the whole Family can enjoy an exciting and healthy workout.

Call us at 815-334-WMMA (9662).

Tabatas

I discovered the Tabata Interval a couple of years ago... and it's a GREAT way to burn calories, lose a little fat, gain a little muscle and work up a sweat!

Basically, Izuma Tabata and some colleagues at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports over in Japan tested all sorts of athletes on treadmills and came up with a paper entitled "Effects of moderate-intensity endurance and high-intensity intermittent training on anaerobic capacity and VO2max".

Um. Right. What does THAT mean?

Moderate-intensity endurance means that we're not running 26 mile marathons. They tested for shorter runs.

High-intensity means that when they were running, they were sprinting!

"Anaerobic capacity and VO2max" means that they were measuring both strength and endurance.

Putting semi-pro runners on treadmills, Tabata and company had them sprint and relax for a whole bunch of different intervals. One minute on, two minutes rest. Five seconds on, ten seconds rest. All sorts of times were experimented with.

They came up with the most efficient interval for developing BOTH strength and endurance for the average human being. It's now called the Tabata Interval - or simply "Tabatas" and refers to exercise where you work full out (sprint!) for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds... and repeat 8 times for a total of 4 minutes.

Believe me, 4 minutes doesn't sound like much, but there's a reason that these intervals are the best: they're killers! Last winter, I tried them on my stationary bike - wow! What a workout! There was many a day when I only managed 6 or 7 of the repetitions, becoming completely exhausted after only 3 minutes or so.

Another great thing about Tabatas is that you don't have to run. You can ride a bike, do pushups, situps, just about any exercise that you can imagine. The secret is to work full out - to sprint - with whatever exercise you're doing. And do so for 20 seconds with only a 10 second rest in between.

Watching a clock - it's truly amazing how the darn thing slowed down while I worked and sped up when I was resting. Stupid clock.

I've since written a couple of musical tabatas, fun little ditties that alternate between 20 seconds of thumping and 10 seconds of restful sounds. They're kind of fun, and we've used them in both MMA classes and kickboxing.

Our BootCampers will soon experience tabatas, too!

Getting In Shape

Trying to find a title for today's blog was tough. Yes, it's about getting in shape. But "Getting in Shape" sounds like something you choose to do this afternoon, or plan on doing next week. It sounds like an entry on your To-Do list, a task that gets checked off when it's completed.

The bad news for those trying to get in shape: you're never finished.

The good news? Well, if you're going to bother at all, you've got to make it a lot of fun. That's good news because many of us never even considered the possibility that diet and exercise could be remotely classed as "desirable" let alone "fun"!

Mrs. Schulenburg and I have just finished teaching and participating in two month long Fitness BootCamp classes. We're also still involved with our ongoing Fitness Kickboxing program.

We both lost weight. We both gained inches where we wanted to... and lost them where we wanted to as well.

Now... are we both "in shape"? Are we finished? Is it pie and ice cream time?

No. We have plenty of miles to travel to reach our long term goals. But our short term goals? Yes, we've reached them - and even surpassed them!

The short term goals may come as a surprise as they didn't necessarily involve scales and tape measures. Our short term goals were to change our lifestyle - a little - so that exercise and proper nutrition were the base line that we return to. In other words, when a particular program or class is finished, it's not bon-bons and the remote control. It's having fun with kickboxing, taking walks as the weather gets nicer and planning our next healthy meal.

Getting in shape IS a lifestyle change. It's a choice that we're making to live as healthy as we can. It doesn't mean that either of us are aiming to become rail thin models (ha!) but rather that we're more comfortable with the genes that we were dealt and happy with the choices we make about activities and food.

Our next Fitness BootCamp starts the first week of April. Come join us as we learn about nutrition, what to look for on food labels - what to look out for! - and enjoy three exercise classes per week that we go out of our way to make fun.

Yes. We have fun. You'll have fun. That's the only way we're going to make it something that you'll stick with for the rest of your life.

Youthful Secrets #1

There are a lot of health and fitness gurus and nutritional experts out there who will be glad to sell you the "Secret to Staying Young". Our TVs are awash with ads for concoctions to grow hair here or remove it from there, skin and facial creams and... uh... other products to restore youthful vigor.

There are diets left and right, all Protein, no Protein, all Carb, no Carb. Eggs are good for you - eggs aren't good for you - and, by last survey, eggs are good for you once again! Each fad diet promises that you will lose weight, get in shape, add years to your life. All for $19.95 plus shipping and handling.

The best thing about those exercises devices that store under your bed is that... they store under your bed.

Nobody talks about mental health. I don't mean those sad, depressed individuals (but they'll sell you some pills...) or those serious issues that do indeed need proper doctoring. I'm talking about you and me - the so-called "normal" folks that are getting older one day at a time and somehow living to tell about it.

From a physical standpoint, I always teach older people to work on keeping their legs in shape. To do so, you will need to do a combination of weight bearing and aerobic exercises that will keep your heart strong, work the lungs - even take care of the back and stomach muscles. Don't worry about the rest of you, focus on legs!

From a mental standpoint, I explain that when your legs are in shape, you'll have the strength and dexterity to get down on the floor and play with the grandkids.

And there's the important part, the Secret of Eternal Youth: Playing. With the grandkids. On the floor.

As adults, when we play, we tend to do things that we enjoy. Too often, the same things, over and over. It's tough to jump in with new games, unfamiliar ideas or strange directions. But when we play with the grandkids, suddenly we're swept up into a world of imagination that our ossified brains haven't visited in years. We are shown new toys with new uses, bright colors and defined shapes that go together in so many ways.

This then, is the fountain of youth, this is how one truly stays young. Don't sit by yourself and pine for worlds that might have been. Instead, be young. Play young. Don't be afraid to imagine, to dream of worlds that might yet be.

There are always more choices to be made: which ones will bring you to the Best You that you can be?

(Picture used with permission - that's Grandpa G. (aged 76) and Grandson C. (aged 2.5) playing with blocks!)

Focus on Fun, Family and Fitness

It's important - particularly in hard times like the present - to not get too caught up in the Gloomy News of the Day. Yes, we've created a horrible money situation in this country. Yes, we're going to be paying for it for years.

No, we don't have to think about it every second of every day.

And we certainly can't base our lives on doom and gloom.

There are always hundreds of choices to be made by each one of us, every day. From huge decisions like re-financing the mortgage to mundane ones like which toothpaste to use. Each one of these decisions contributes to our character - some more, some less. But "who we are" is ultimately determined by the sum of all of these choices.

Are you the Best You that you can be? You've made the choices that brought you to where you are today. Is this where you want to be?

No matter what your beliefs concerning the After Life, we all know that we have the current one for an average of 70 or so years. Far less for an unfortunate few, a little longer for some of us as well. I've always liked the mantra "Live Each Day Like It's Your Last - One day, it will be!" (The cynic in me always asks, "Why would I want to spend today in a hospital bed dying?" Stupid cynic misses the point!)

Are you focusing on having fun with your days? Are you finding the joy of living - or are you trudging through to the weekend, the summer, that next vacation? How much of your life do you truly enjoy - and how much do you simply waste?

Why?

My last post on commitment bemoaned the fact that true commitment is lacking in so much of today's society. It's not something that's talked about very much, almost as if we're afraid to wear such a label in public. I think one of the things that we really have to commit to is having as happy a life as we can, to enjoy the ups and learn from the downs, to share as much of our fortune, knowledge and outlook with others as we can.

For me, as I grow older, staying in shape is what provides the energy for that commitment. That's why our school says Focus on Fun and Fitness. It's about creating or re-creating your self, making the best decisions possible in your life, sharing who we are, having immense energy and a powerful, optimistic viewpoint - becoming the best we can be.

Yes, we have problems. Does anybody believe that these problems will be solved with a negative outlook? By dragging one's self through each horrible day? Will our heroes sit at home, whining and moaning? Will we focus on the Bad News, the terrible tidings of the whole world? Or will we work to make our own Family, our own community, a little better with a positive outlook and a Focus on Fun and Fitness?

The Nature of Commitment

Martial arts, like any great passion, involves a bit of commitment. One does not excel at the piano or tennis by never practicing chords or serves. In my lifetime, I've seen an increase in apathy, in trust and in commitment.

As a school owner, I'm very aware of people not being able to honor commitments. There are always perfectly good reasons for quitting, for backing out of a commitment, for giving up on martial arts. The word "money" comes up a lot. The word "time" does, too.

In an era where nobody has a car payment of less then $300 per month (and most people own two cars!), it strikes me as strange that spending $600 on those payments, plus insurance plus maintenance is pretty much of a given - yet we won't spend a fraction of that on keeping ourselves or our children in shape!

And how much do we all pay for cable TV or Internet. Or cell phones for each kid?

When it comes to time - the best medical minds today insist that we get 50 minutes of exercise 5 times a week. I heard that on the news yesterday. According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day (or 28 hours/week). And yet, there's no time for fitness in their lives.

Let's be honest - there are a fair amount of people who decide that martial arts isn't for them - or maybe even that the way we teach it isn't for them. That's okay; we can't be all things to everybody and I certainly understand trying something new in order to decide if I like it or not. But don't tell me it's a time or money issue!

Commitment is something that comes hard to modern Americans. We've heard that slightly more than 50% of marriages end in divorce. In 1985, marriages lasted, on average 9.4 years. Today they only make it about 7 years - although some claim this is because of the rise of "starter marriages". Google it if you're curious.

Some might say that this shows we're better informed, more independent, and feel more free to make life changing decisions. I think it's because we've become a society of consumers instead of producers, one that wants exactly what we want and we want it NOW! And we want it until... well, we're tired of it. We wouldn't want to commit beyond that point, would we?

(Hmmm. I wonder if that's related to the fact that in 1970, the whole world owed us money... and 40 years later we owe money to the whole world.)

Are you teaching your children commitment? I do my best at the karate school, to teach my own children and my students. We hold to Black Belt as a tangible, achievable goal, one that will take at least 3 years of committed work. Twice a week. Three years.

If they, as kids, aren't up to it, are you? Parents don't like to force their kids to do anything anymore. There is so much of life to choose from. Why do something you don't like to do? Why make children keep their commitments?

One of my favorite authors, Robert Heinlein, once wrote:

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

I believe in this for my students. To do all of these things well takes commitment. I want my children's marriages to last longer than 7 or even 9 years. I'd like to see them with flexible options for the future, with the ability to work hard at something - not until they get tired, but until they've done their best... and maybe a little bit more. I believe in commitment. What do you believe?

What's The Difference?

I was having an interesting discussion last night with a fellow martial artist about the differences between Martial Arts Schools. His point was that, no matter what the particular art is, be it kung fu or karate or MMA, that the important thing is that you are LEARNING. Learning something, anything.

On one hand, I agree. I definitely think "any martial art" is better than "no martial art".

At another level, I look at it in a more selfish way. If I were taking the class, I would want the best teacher possible. My time is valuable and I don't want to spend a lot of it "not learning" in all the ways that bad teachers are capable of providing.

We've all had teachers who don't even know our names, who are more concerned with sounding "professional" than finding out what a student needs. We've all had teachers where the curriculum, the lesson at hand, was more important than the student.

We've all had teachers who were so wrapped up in themselves and the sound of their own voice that they never bothered to listen to ours.

Unfortunately, the model for most traditional karate schools is one where you don't ask questions, you don't imply that you didn't understand the teacher. The teacher is perfect, the teacher knows all - and it is disrespectful to even question him.

I think that's where we're a lot different than most schools. We know the students' names. We try and find out their goals. We encourage their questions.

Yes, this means that we get the occasional student who wants to derail the education process with inane questions, but we've found that most of our students are truly interested in learning more and performing at the best of their abilities.

Yes, questioning our "supreme authority" by having the audacity to question our knowledge is a little non-traditional - but we like it.

The best teachers always have a thirst for greater knowledge and it's amazing how our students can come up with different ways of looking at things, different paths to the same goal.

Keep those questions coming. This is the best school around... but only because we're always getting better.