Donate to a worthy cause

Despite all the training you put in there is still a chance that you'll get injured. If you've ever attended a national AAU, USAT (formerly USTU) or even a NCTA event you'll have noticed they had the Best of the Best when it came to Medical services. Those services were provided by Bare Essential Sports Medicine. 

I've been associated to the competitive Taekwondo Circuit since 1986. I can tell you from experience that it's fantastic to have individuals who understand your activity and have the knowledge to take care of your injury, should you incur one. Too often I had a coach who didn't have a medical background that told me to "walk it off". I once popped my achilles tendon in football. That was a horrendous injury, my coach, told me to see the Athletic Trainer (AT). The AT had me soak my foot in ice water, taped it up and told me to stay off it for a couple of weeks. My coach however, felt that it should be good to go by the next day. When I wasn't able to practice he punished me by making me run. Every day I couldn't run he simply added to my "total". It was no wonder our team had several losing seasons with brilliant coaching like that. 

So when the USTU had the sense to bring in Trish Bare Grounds and her company Bare Essential Sports Medicine over a decade a go, you can't imagine the relief that went through me. Knowing that there was experienced medical staff who practiced TKD themselves and would understand our pains was fantastic. 

Trish and her staff volunteer their time and donate a lot of services to the athletes. They never get enough money from the host event to cover all of their costs. The staff members themselves pay their own to the events to ensure the athletes are provided the best coverage. 

I'm asking all the athletes of Taekwondo and other sports to please donate to help cover their costs so they can continue doing what they do best. 

Please go to the PayPal link near the bottom of this web page: Bare Essential Sports Medicine

Have a safe and great holiday!!

If you want to learn anything...

You must admit you don't know everything...

This was a great quote I came across on a T-shirt site of all things. But, despite it's origination, it has value in its meaning. I'm always in search of knowledge. The insatiable need to know more, to understand why, to comprehend something well enough I can make an informed decision about whether to integrate it or reject it. In my 35+ years of being associated to martial arts I've had the opportunity to study with a great deal many instructors who among many attributes increased my thirst for more knowledge. 

Take for instance, the Kukkiwon-sponsored Poomsae seminar held recently in Dallas, Texas. Sponsored by the United States Taekwondo Committee (USTC) Taught by Grandmaster HWANG, In Sik. Watching this gentleman, who turned out to be 59 years young, brought to mind another saying. Whatever you can do I can do better. 

There were a couple of highlights of this seminar. Besides hanging out with my Korea-Masters tour group and being around so many great people and Grandmasters, my wife received a Letter of Appreciation from the Kukkiwon/World Taekwondo Academy for her hard work at the seminar. Apparently she stood out among her peers in the 3rd DAN group with her work ethic and determination. Not to shabby for someone recovering from pneumonia. Way to go!

The following information was part of a press released found in Dojang Digest written by David Martin 

On December 6-7, 2008, the United States Taekwondo Committee hosted an International Taekwondo Poomsae Seminar given by the Kukkiwon (World Taekwondo Headquarters) at the Holiday Inn Hotel, 2645 Lyndon B Johnson Freeway in Dallas, TX. This event was also sponsored by the Korean Cultural Center of Los Angeles.  132 Taekwondo Black Belts attended.  In spite of the Holiday Season, as well as the ailing economy, only 30 of the participants were from the Dallas area, and over 100 traveled from the rest of the United States and Canada to take advantage of this opportunity.

Kukkiwon Director General Hyun Sup Park, and Chairman of Kukkiwon's Education Committee Grand Master In Sik Hwang attended and were impressed by the leadership of the US Taekwondo Committee and the ability to have such strong support for this event in the face of our weak economy.  Director General Park said "I have traveled all around the world for Kukkiwon International Poomsae Seminars, and I was very touched by the enthusiasm and sincerity of the participants in Dallas.  After the turnout of this International Poomsae Seminar, the Kukkiwon will plan more events like this in the United States."

With a big room for all participants to warm up together as a group, individual groups were also broken down according to rank and rank appropriate material was reviewed.  Participants were so impressed with the information and knowledge presented that Chairman Hwang received an unexpected token of appreciation from the seminar participants at the seminar's Closing Ceremonies.

The US Taekwondo Committee would like to thank the following for their hard work and dedication in making this event a success: Mr. Sung Woo Park (Korean Cultural Center), Mr. Bruce Harris (Captain, 2000 Olympic Taekwondo Referees), Mr. Sergio Chavez (USTC Referee Committee Chairman), Mr. Richard Saks (USTC Referee Chairman Vice Chairman), Mr. Song Hon Cha (former US National Team Member) and Mr. Julian Vazquez.

Great things in small packages...

This past weekend some very close friends, whom I would really consider family, brought a new member into this world. I'd like to announce the birth of Max Lowell Harr-Robins, a 20 1/4" 8 lbs 9 oz bundle of joy. Mom, Dad and son are doing great. Max has some great parents and will be well taken care of loved. What a wonderful 'present' for these parents this season.

Getting stronger....

I saw Transporter 3 this past weekend. An excellent action movie and easy on the eyes for the ladies.... 

Unfortunately after viewing the movie I felt the need to start working on my pushups again. Of course after the wife got done viewing Transporter 3 she also  spurned me into working on my pushups too with statements like "Jason [Statham] has a very nice muscular chest....", "that's a lot of beef....."

Okay, so now I realize I need to work on my conditioning and put some muscle on my chest too. I can take a hint when I hear it. Different martial arts requires different builds. For me, I found that in Taekwondo/Karate I do best when I keep my weight in the mid 170's and by bodyfat in the 9-11% range. I'm five foot 9 most days, so I'm not a lanky build by any stretch of the imagination. I'm unable to add a lot of mass but I can improve the density of my musculature. I'm sure many of you have questions about this. Instead of explaining it all I recommend you go out to Dragondoor.com and read the forum. Or, better yet buy some of Pavel's books like Power To The People, or a book on Kettlebells. 

So in order to get my pushups back up to snuff I've decided to practice something called "ladders" and GTG "Grease-the-Groove". You can find more detailed information about this back on the Dragondoor.com website/forum.

I'll be working on my Pushups alternating through flat, finger-tip, knuckle, wrist, clapping, etc. by doing reps of 1-5 in sets done every 90-minutes through-out the day. The basic concept is you do 1 rep, rest 2 seconds, do 2 reps, rest 4 seconds, etc. until you have done 5 reps. This works great too if you have a partner and alternate who is doing the pushups and who is resting. It's not an endurance excercise. It's about generating power if done properly. Work on your mechanics and make the muscles work. 

Give it a shot and see how you do.

Happy training!