Taijiquan - Cultivating the Mind, Body, and Spirit.

I’ve always had an affinity for Asian culture which was rooted in an early love for the martial arts. I studied a few different martial arts from childhood on, including Tae Kwon Do, Karate, and Taijutsu through the Bujinkan system. While I learned valuable lessons from each of these experiences, my ultimate goal through training in the martial arts was self improvement, discovery, and awareness.

Due to this I eventually came to learn the art of Taijiquan (or T’ai Chi Ch’uan) under my Shifu, Shi Deru who is a 31st generation master of the Shaolin Temple and direct disciple of grandmaster Shi Suxi, a former abbot of the Temple. (translation: tai = “supreme”, ji = “ultimate”, quan = “fist” *note: While there are various similar translations, this is the one I’ve encountered the most.) In the three years I’ve been his student I have been exposed to various forms of Qigong, Yang style Taiji, Chen style Taiji, and Yang sword Taiji.

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Many people consider Taiji as nothing more than a form of exercise, and while it is an excellent form of exercise, it is important to understand that Taiji is a martial art, and the movements are based in fighting techniques and applications.

Taiji is more than just a “kata” or pre-arranged sequence of movements. It is a system in which the movements are synchronized with breathing, as well as intent, to integrate the mind, body, and spirit. This is an important point about Taiji; basically when we practice Taiji it is, as my Shifu told me, a microcosm of the Universe. In the Universe everything is in motion and everything is connected.

When we practice Taiji, and synchronize our breathing with the movements to become totally present in the form, we cultivate energy and instigate it’s flow through the body connecting every aspect of our being. It is the same thing, just a smaller scale.

This is the reason Taiji has often been referred to as a moving meditation. We use the movements to bring our attention into the present moment, then we synchronize the breathing with the movements to engage every aspect of our being with the form the same way that we use our breath as an anchor in seated meditation. When our mind becomes distracted during seated meditation we simply bring our attention back to our breath-and in Taiji practice we bring our attention to every inch of the movement we are performing.

Coordinating the breath with the fluid movements of the Taiji form is essential if we are going to experience the benefits from this art. The best way to learn this is by first learning Qigong.

Qigong (or Chi Kung) means “energy work”, and is a practice for aligning the body, breath, and mind for health, meditation, and martial arts training; and has it’s roots in Chinese medicine, philosophy, and martial arts (from Wikipedia). This practice of cultivating energy has a very positive impact on Taiji, and due to the complexity of the art of Taiji, Qigong is where beginners should spend most of their practice as they begin to build proficiency in the Taiji movements and forms.

The basic principles of Taiji, according to Mantak Chia, are:

1. Concentrating the mind and chi.
   
2. Relaxing in movement while distinguishing the full (yang) from the empty (yin).
   
3. Keeping the body rooted to the ground and the center of gravity low.
   
4. Keeping the bone structure aligned with the forces of heaven and earth and transferring the earth force through the bone structure into a single point of discharge.
   
5. Allowing the chi to circulate and move the muscles, bones, and tendons in slow, coordinated movements without ever pushing the physical limitations of the body to extremes and moving smoothly and continuously with total body integration.

Chia further states that the benefits from learning and practicing the Taiji forms and postures are:

1. They open and undo energy blockages in one’s energy channels.
   
2. The slow and gentle taiji movements stretch one’s energy channels and keep them supple and strong.
   
3. The rhythmic movements of the muscles, spine, joints pump energy through the whole body.
   
4. Taiji is an exercise that gives you more energy than it uses up.
   
5. After taiji you feel relaxed and invigorated.

To me the purpose of martial arts study is for self cultivation and improvement, and not for combative or sport reasons. Don’t get me wrong, I admire and respect those who participate in the combat sports, particularly those that bring the traditional side of their martial arts training into the combat arena by displaying respect for their opponent, their sport, and themselves.

Consider this point, in his book, “The Shaolin Monastery”, Meir Shahar makes the point that the empty hand techniques with the fighting monks came about long after the development of the weapon techniques, particularly the staff that the fighting monks were quite fond of. This indicates that the empty hand techniques had no application on the battlefield against staffs and bladed weapons and instead were used as a form of mind, body, and spirit cultivation.

I can honestly say that the two things that have had the most positive impact on my health and well-being have been adopting a plant-based diet; and adding meditation, Qigong, and Taiji practice to my health and fitness training. I have written extensively about the benefits I’ve experienced through many blog articles, as well as in my book “Abundant Health: Fitness for the Mind, Body, and Spirit”.

In upcoming blog articles I will dig a little deeper into the art of Taiji and talk about some of the different styles and benefits.

Thanks for reading, and if you have had any experiences in meditation, Taijiquan, Qigong, or any of the other internal arts, please share in the comments below!

-Scott
scott@extreme-fitness.org
www.extreme-fitness.org
www.scottshetler.com
www.plantbasedperformance.org

A Return to Minimalism.

"It's not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away the unessential." -Bruce Lee


If your training has hit a plateu do not think about what you need to add, instead think of what you can take away. When you cut out the excess you can put more effort into the training movements that matter!

While I've always leaned toward a minimalistic approach to the way I train, as well as the way I train my clients, this is about as minimal as you can get - and simply amazing!

http://memolition.com/2014/01/30/shaolin-monks-training-18-pictures/

Health & Fitness Tip!

True health & fitness comes from integration, NOT isolation. Forget about isolating your biceps with endless sets of biceps curls. Instead, integrate your mind & body for improved health & fitness.

The easiest way for busy people is to combine an energy cultivation exercise like joint mobility & qigong; a vigerous physical exercise like kettlebell training; and a relaxation practice like stretching or yoga and seated mediation in equal 20:00 increments into a "power hour" and perform daily.

To learn more about integrating the mind and body for true health, check out my article here:

http://extreme-fitness.org/3/post/2013/07/true-health-integrating-the-mind-body-and-spirit.html

I hope your 2014 brings you abundant health & fitness!

-Scott
scott@extreme-fitness.org
www.extreme-fitness.org
www.plantbasedperformance.org
www.scottshetler.com

Living with purpose in 2014!

This isn't going to be a typical "set your New Year's Resolution" article. I'm not a fan of waiting until a specific time to make a change. I believe if you want to make a change, the best time to start is right now, instead of waiting until a later now moment. There's never a perfect time, if you feel you want to make a change, just do it, don't wait until the first of the new year.

That being said, the New Year brings a feeling of change. Even though we go about our personal and business lives constantly setting goals, accomplishing goals, and setting new goals; the feeling of change associated with the New Year is a great time to evaluate the previous year and look forward to what's coming down the road.

This should be done with the focus on the bigger picture. I am not saying short term goals are not important, they are, without a doubt. However, short term goals are stepping stones to a larger goal. What is your larger goal? For me I believe the ultimate goal is to determine your life's purpose.

When you realize what you are here to do, it makes all the rest of the stuff simple. If you know your life's purpose, all you have to do when considering smaller goals is ask yourself, "is this goal in alignment with my life's purpose?" If it is, then the goal is worthy of your time. If it is not, let go of it.

This works on any scale, whether it is a business goal, a personal fitness goal, a healthy goal, etc.

In business, if your goal is to get more customers and you are considering attending a workshop that deals with sales strategies for businesses, then it is probably worth the investment to attend the workshop.

If your fitness goal is to run a marathon, and you decided to focus on building a 3x bodyweight deadlift in the weight-room, you are doing your goal of running a marathon a disservice. While supplementing your marathon training with strength training is a good idea, trying to build a huge deadlift directly conflicts with the goal of running a marathon.

If your goal is to improve your health and prevent disease, and you're trying to decide between a green smoothie and a Snickers bar for a snack, it's pretty obvious which short-term goal is in-line with the greater goal.

This begs the question, why then do we waste so much time? Honestly I think it is because we do not have a defined longer term goal. This makes just coasting and wasting time very easy.

Consider that this lifetime is relatively short. You will not be here in this current incarnation for very long. If we are lucky, we will have 90-100 years (or maybe a little longer) to experience this lifetime. Why wait until the end of it to decide what the legacy we choose to leave behind is?

I suggest that for 2014 instead of trying to decide which deal of the day gym membership to get, or what diet to follow that will give me a 6-pack in 12 easy short weeks; we spend a day, or more, with ourselves get quiet and take a long look inside. What is your higher self trying to tell you? What is it you are drawn to? What are you really here for?

Once you have that defined, you will know deep down what you should be doing every day to get there.

I wish you nothing but health and happiness for 2014 and I sincerely hope, if you haven't already, you realize why you are here and what you are here to do; and that it helps and inspires more people than you can possibly imagine!

In Abundant Health,

Scott

scott@extreme-fitness.org
www.extreme-fitness.org
www.plantbasedperformance.org

Jay Z and Beyonce: Vegan Power or Celebrity Hype?

It was squat day today at the gym and my strength trainer, Scott Shetler, always provides me with various types of motivation to help me push through our intense workouts. Just as I was getting warmed up to step into the cage and turn up for ten sets of squats, he shows me the recent online article about Jay Z and Beyonce partaking in a three week vegan challenge. 

http://pitchfork.com/news/53212-jay-z-and-beyonce-pledge-to-go-vegan/

As I read through  we discussed what a good thing this was but Scott pointed out how there were so many haters and vegan purists chiming in on the comments as well as the negativity that they were spewing about the article. People were questioning the authenticity of Jay and B's choice to go plant-based like it was some big Illuminati ploy to undermine the true vegan agenda.

We both felt that those notions were ridiculous of course, but also symptoms of much deeper issues. Haters just can't recognize a good thing.

As a fellow hip hop artist, who is currently vegan, I can totally relate and resonate to his choice to try it out and see how it works for him and his family. With all the poppin molly references, sippin syrup advocacy, swimming in pools of alcohol advertising, and chronic weed abuse promotion that hip hop has become the modern day vehicle for, it’s refreshing to see health addressed positively from icons of Jay Z and Beyonce's status in the game. Jay is an uber relevant hip hop artist and yet also a maturing man in his forties who even his critics can’t deny has made successful decisions that have catapulted him to a position of great influence in popular culture; not just in hip hop, but in many sectors of entertainment, business, and lifestyle. Jay has been a trendsetter, a leader, and a pioneering force in pushing the presentation, perception, prestige, and power of hip hop to unprecedented levels of achievement; and Beyonce, just as much so in her phenomenal career.

With all of the hip hop artists and entertainers that have died from health related illnesses you would think that there would be a greater show of appreciation; if for nothing else that two members of our community are striving for healthier lifestyles and that in itself is good because it's good for them. It’s also good to get a break from the same old negative news that we hear about so much these days from the effects of the lifestyles of the rich and famous and unhealthy. But also, it is even that much more meaningful because they chose to share their journey via social media, which in this day and age has the potential to encourage millions and millions of people to perhaps dig into this notion of how beneficial plant-based eating is and maybe encourage many to research and see if it could be of benefit to them.

When Jay Z said 'change clothes', sport jerseys went out out of style and button downs came in. When Beyonce sang her lyric “let me upgrade ya", it cleverly coined the concept of being an asset and contributor to your partner's development and success in a relationship.  I know the power of the partner upgrade from my own experience. My wife is a nutritionist and holistic health counselor and was instrumental in my healing and shift to healthier living. It’s so important and powerful to have that unified spousal support for positive lifestyle changes and to help one another sustain those changes. I think their support for the vegan lifestyle is highly commendable and necessary. And it matters.

It should be no secret that I’m a huge fan of both Beyonce and Jay. We have worked together on the dead prez song "hell yeah" and have shared the same circles in many regards for years but I, like I'm sure millions of other people, admire Jay even more today for his leadership as a man of family, marriage, and fatherhood; and how he has literally laid a blueprint for the success of a maturing hip hop artist.   

Now, I'm certainly no advocate for Jay's alcohol promoting ventures, to keep it all the way 100, nor am I trying to overlook anything that critics may find contradictory, no one is perfect in the eyes of another. There are enough people standing in line to point out others’ faults and contradictions. I got my own to keep track of. But I just feel that when a person takes a step in a positive direction to improve their health, that it is worthy of supporting and celebrating; later for the haters.

Hip hop is a global phenomenon with the power to literally move the masses of people. So many of the negative aspects of the culture get put on blast and so, in instances like these, it is an opportunity to appreciate the positivity that hip hop is capable of in the right hands with the right messages. This is why I created what I call the first ever "fit-hop" album, The Workout, which fuses veganism and hardcore fitness training with authentic hip hop lyricism and hard core beats into one seamless lifestyle. I think that the notion of hip hop equating to degenerative lifestyles of poor health, drug abuse, and early deaths has gone way too far. My album The Workout, is just another example of how hip hop can respond positively to the health crisis in the US, as well as around the world, and help influence a healthy shift towards practical, proactive solutions in the lives of everyday people.

According to holistic nutritionist and vegan Afya Ibomu (who just happens to be my wife) "Eating a well balanced plant based diet decreases the risks of cancer, obesity and heart disease, saves animals from unnecessary mistreatment and slaughter and decreases the harmful effects that the meat industry's air and water pollution has on the environment."

I recently shared my story of transformation from being a young hip hop artist with a poor diet and self destructive lifestyle suffering from gout in my leg to a plant-based martial artist, runner, and fitness enthusiast; and how the healthy shift re-inspired my commitment to hip hop, in my trainer Scott's book Plant-Based Performance: A Compassionate Approach to Health & Fitness.

http://plantbasedperformance.org/store.html

Scott is a vegan himself, a former kettlebell sport and powerlifting competitor, a student of qigong and Taijiquan, and a trainer to many elite athletes; and he offered these comments on why veganism is gaining more and more popularity.

"I think one of the reasons we are seeing such a “boom” in the popularity of plant-based diets is due to the fact that many of the myths associated with them, such as: you cannot be strong, build muscle, perform well athletically, be healthy, etc.; have been completely debunked. The stories featured in my recent book, “Plant-Based Performance: A Compassionate Approach to Health & Fitness” are firsthand accounts of the benefits of plant-based nutrition from 78-year old Ironman competitor and cancer survivor Dr. Ruth Heidrich (who was also featured in the book “Born to Run” and on the documentary Forks Over Knives); top UFC MMA fighter and Season 6 Ultimate Fighter Champion Mac Danzig; “the Plant-Based Dietitian” Julieanna Hever; vegan strength coaches Sabina Skala and Mike Mahler; and many others. 100% of book sales go to benefit Mercy For Animals, a 501(c)(3) dedicated to preventing cruelty to farmed animals and promoting compassionate food choices and policies. "

It goes without saying that Jay Z and Beyonce are two powerhouses of pop culture. Their embrace of the vegan lifestyle, whether for a trial period, or a lifetime, is a positive step not only for their own lives but for all those who their actions impact and influence. In the article about the power couple's vegan shift, Jay asked for assistance from any pro-vegans, so I'm putting together a care package with a copy of Plant-Based Performance, the Workout, and my wife's book The Vegan Soulfood Guide to the Galaxy. My homies have teased me with the nickname 'Jehovah's Fitness' because of how much I knock on metaphorical doors about the good news of health! But Hova himself, getting down with vegan power; with the celebrity hype to spread the wealth of health? Now that's the new Gangsta!

by

Khnum "stic of dead prez" Ibomu
with Scott Shetler, NSCA-CPT

Less Meat, More Fruits and Vegetables Cut Diabetes Risk: Study

*Scott's note - this blog is a repost from www.ctvnews.ca.

A large-scale new study finds that cutting down on meat and dairy products in favor of fruits and vegetables could dramatically reduce the risk of diabetes.

Dr. Françoise Clavel-Chapelon's team at the Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health in Paris found that animal products, including meat, cheese, and egg yolks, trigger stomach acids linked to the disease. Yet fruits, including acidic fruits such as lemons and oranges, reduce the stomach acids before they can cause harm to the body.

"A diet rich in animal protein may favor net acid intake, while most fruits and vegetables form alkaline precursors that neutralize the acidity," said Clavel-Chapelon.

"Contrary to what is generally believed, most fruits such as peaches, apples, pears, bananas and even lemons and oranges actually reduce dietary acid load once the body has processed them."

The study involved nearly 66,500 women (from the French center of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) over 14 years, with findings showing that those with acidic diets were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

Scientists gave the subjects PRAL scores, referring to the potential renal acid load in their diets, with those with scores in the top 25 per cent having a 56 per cent greater risk of getting diabetes than those in the bottom 25 per cent.

Meats can have a PRAL value as high as 13.2, cheeses 26.8, and fish 10.8. In contrast, fruits and vegetables have negative PRAL values.

The findings, announced this week, appear in the latest issue of the journal Diabetologia.

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Stay Strong AND Healthy,

Scott
scott@extreme-fitness.org
www.extreme-fitness.org
www.scottshetler.com
www.plantbasedperformance.org

Musashi's 21 Maxims.

Miyamoto Musashi: ?, 1584 - June 13, 1645

Wisdom from arguably one of the greatest warriors of all-time, Miyamoto Musashi.

Musashi’s 21 Maxims

1. Accept everything just the way it is.
2. Do not seek pleasure for its own sake.
3. Do not, under any circumstances, depend on a partial feeling.
4. Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.
5. Be detached from desire your whole life long.
6. Do not regret what you have done.
7. Never be jealous.
8. Never let yourself be saddened by a separation.
9. Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself nor others.
10. Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love.
11. In all things have no preferences.
12. Be indifferent to where you live.
13. Do not pursue the taste of good food.
14. Do not hold on to possessions you no longer need.
15. Do not act following customary beliefs.
16. Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful.
17. Do not fear death.
18. Do not seek to possess either goods or fiefs for your old age.
19. Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help.
20. You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honour.
21. Never stray from the Way.

Stay Strong and Healthy,

Scott