Give the Gift of Health & Confidence

With the holiday season right around the corner, many people are writing in asking questions about our Fang Shen Do Products as well as great gift ideas they can offer to the people they care about the most.

Definitely a smart move.

Martial Arts is the gift that keeps on giving.

It's a gift that can:

• Potentially help save their life one day
• Give them an increased sense of physical well-being
• An outlet to relieve stress and tension
  
• A chance to learn tools to center oneself and strengthen the mind-body connection
• Boost Confidence and Self-Image
• Lose weight and tone the body
• Recharge your libido and optimize bodily functions.
  
• Eliminate aches and pains due to inactivity
• Stretch and re-align the body for improved posture
• Forces you to eat healthier, sleep better, and helps cut out excessive, destructive habits such as smoking, doing drugs or drinking and subsequently adding years to your life.
  
• Help set goals and give you the determination to follow through on them.
• And the list goes on and on.

Try getting 10 % of that in any other gift.

Think about it, for men getting after shave, a shirt, an ipod, shoes, or a watch pale in comparison to martial arts training yet millions of people will buy that stuff with no lasting effect.

Same thing for women. Jewelry, handbags, shoes, boots, or another jacket, it just seems to get forgotten pretty quick after it's all over.

Get a hefty return on your investment, give the gift of health and confidence.

Every Fang Shen Do school in your area is accepting new students and is ready set you or someone you love up for classes. Simply visit this link, find the closest school and call or e-mail them to get details on gift certificates and how to get started.

Or if your loved ones are already martial artists visit the product section and see how you can help them increase their skill and martial art prowess.


Sibok M

It's Louse Time! Very Easy to Be Lazy

If you're new to my list of focused, motivated, self-starters, Welcome.

(if you're not new jump right away to today's lesson below)

Every day I communicate to you the best ways to train and the kind of mindset it takes to get results either in your physical fitness or martial art training.

Friday is always what I call: "Louse Time". Modeled after Bruce Lee's strategy in Enter the Dragon. You know that part where he's having tea with the government agent but he's disturbed by one of his students and Bruce Lee tells the agent: It's Louse Time!

The agent replies with his British accent: "yes of course". Since I'm 6 years old that scene has always stuck with me and I'll be using that same strategy with YOU every week.

Friday is where I share with you Life Lessons and Direction given to me by my dad (and Sifu) every Friday.

Today's lesson is: Very Easy to Get Lazy

Especially when you've finally gotten what you were running after.

Have you had this happen to you?

It could of happened to me if I didn't have my weekly lessons with my dad.

Which is a good thing if you're also reading this blog post, it means you'll be reminded too.

Everyone is different but usually:

Some get lazy physically after they get married or when they have kids.

In martial arts it might be when you get a certain high rank.

Others get lazy AFTER they've finally gotten themselves in shape and lost the excess pounds they had to drop.

Some get lazy after achieving a certain level of success.

Whatever the reason might be, the reality is: IT HAPPENS.

It's important to realize this sooner rather than later.

Complacency always finds a way in.

Will you be ready?

Do not be a shadow of what you could of been or what you were.

Hold yourself to the highest standards possible in the areas of health and fitness. Stay excited about learning and acquiring new skills with child like enthusiasm. Be teachable and motivated to know there is still so much to learn.

After each success, stop to celebrate, then get back to work immediately. Realize that success isn't a one time thing. Each day should be evaluated as being a success or a missed opportunity.

Everything you have in your life, that which you are most happy or grateful about needs to be tended to and reminded that none of them are permanent unless you devote some time and energy to preserving them.

Master Yourself,

Sibok M

Karambit Training

Last Saturday we held a Karambit Seminar in Montreal at our St-Denis Location.





















Students were introduced to this ancient weapon used in Indonesia and in parts of the Phillipines.

KARAMBIT meaning "Tiger Claw" is a very simple yet lethal weapon.

The versatility in angles and grip positions is as simple as spinning the weapon through the ring in the handle which makes the Karambit one of my favorite close quarter weapons.

The principles and techniques are so easy to learn and doesn't require any special skill or years of training to be proficient with it.





















As soon as I got introduced to this weapon in L.A last summer I was immediately hooked.

It compliments so well what we already do in our hand to hand, trapping and grappling techniques.

In case you missed it there's another Karambit seminar being held in Ottawa, 335 Catherine St. tonight at 8:30 pm.

You can register for it here.

Master Yourself,

Sibok M

Fang Shen Do Channel on Youtube

I've just recently set up the Fang Shen Do Kung-Fu Channel on You Tube.

If you would like to subscribe to our channel and also view a demo I just uploaded you can click on this link: Fang Shen Do Demonstration

It doesn't have any sound for copyright issues but originally this demo was done to the sound of Static-X's "Get to the Gone". A completely Free-Style Demo with no preparation, the way we like to do them!

Play the song while watching for added pleasure.

Enjoy.

Sibok M

P.S. If you still haven't started your martial art training I encourage you to take advantage of our VIP Pass offered on the website. Find the school nearest you, then fill out the short form and hit "Sign Me Up".

Did you exercise today?

Last week I posted pictures from what I thought was my best day out in China.

On that same day, further out in Badachu Park, I came across this huge bell and thought:


















"Why not go up and hit it, see what kind of vibration it creates?"

The sound was pretty cool but not what followed.

I didn't notice the sign at the bottom, top and sides of the bell that (what I found out later) said in chinese, one hit 5 yuan.

As I was walking away, a lady started running after me: "you pay, you pay, you hit bell"

"I thought I could hit the bell?" I said.

"See, look the sign here" she replies in her broken english.

"You hit 5 times"...

"I was happy?" I blurt back.

"You pay NOW"

LOL

I ended up paying for it.

It reminded me of the expression "There is no such thing as a free lunch"

Same thing goes for your training.

"Ain't nobody comin' for ya"

In the end you're the one who will have to do the reps, the sets, the sacrifice, the sweating and fighting procrastination. No one will do it for you.

Which is why it's so rewarding in the end.

You create your reality.

You make it possible.

You're 100% responsible for it.

Did you exercise today?

Master Yourself,

Sibok M

P.S. Don't know where to start? Here's a good place to begin.

Nutrition Tips

What does YOUR diet consist of?


















While in Beijing, I was brought to a famous street, where food stands are lined up side by side, each offering their unique specialty.

This store was serving up something a little different.

Live Scorpions.

Skewered and still moving, people were lined up to sample these little critters.

I guess compared to us here in the west, this particular food doesn't look good but IS good for you. While most of OUR food looks good but isn't good for you.

This case is a little extreme but just look at the average North American's breakfast.

It's either:

1) Skipped all together
2) Cereal
3) Sugar laced coffee and a donut
4) Or even better a cream cheese bagel and a muffin.

Not to mention the junk that gets eaten during lunch time.

Yumbo! Makes for a very productive day.

Definitely not what our ancestors used to eat in the morning.

Whatever happened to water, fruits, nuts and protein first thing in the morning?

Large corporations are hard at work trying to tell you what to eat.

Use common sense. Eat what can be picked from a tree, dug up from the ground, hunted or caught in the sea.

Next time you visit the grocery store, focus on buying the food located on the outer walls of the store while avoiding most of the poisons found in the middle of it.

That coupled with an effective, short, dynamic fitness program as taught in our Station Training Kits and you'll be all set.

See what I mean here.

Master Yourself,

Sibok M

Relic of the Buddha

In past posts I wrote about my best training day atop a rock in the Badachu Park while traveling in China.

These pictures are from that day also.

You'll notice the hill behind the temple in this first picture.

The perfect spot to do my Neigong Training.


The temple you see there houses a relic of the Buddha.

















His TOOTH to be exact.

The whole process to get to see the tooth was a challenge.

Apart from waiting 4 hours in line and finding an appropriate gift to offer as sign of respect, fighting for position in what felt like being in a "mosh" pit to get in the front gate, once we got to the main doorway everything got really... quiet.

Definitely something worth doing if you're in China in the future.

I mean seeing the tooth was ok, but being there and thinking of the thousands of people (if not millions) who stepped into this place, revered the tooth, who held it, worshiped it, protected it over thousands of years.

As we stood at the very top level of the temple of light (the one you see in the first picture), all crunched up in this small room reciting words of respect in chinese, one word flashed in my mind and struck me:

BELIEF

"Whatever the mind of man can conceive and bring himself to believe, he can achieve"

All these wonderful temples and places I've visited were all built by men and women who believed.

When building and protecting YOUR own temple (i.e: your life and everything it entails), make it strong, beautiful, and rewarding.

Believe in Yourself.

Build a strong body and mind.

Set the example for others around you.

Use the fighting spirit of the martial arts to fuel any project or goal to its completion.

I'll be back with more tomorrow,

Master Yourself,

Sibok M

Have some Tea?

I snapped this picture of the master's tea set while in China.

















The tea ceremony was a daily ritual.

Actually 3 times a day to be exact.

Most of you know the benefits of drinking green tea and its antioxidant and detoxifying effects.

But did you know it's also a judge of character?

At least that's how I felt.

If I refused another cup I felt like it was a sign of disrespect. If I didn't drink from the cup the master had just given me I felt it was reflective of my unwillingness to learn.

No, would mean: not so motivated.

So I drank roughly 25 of them.

The tea like the neigong training was a gift.

Was I ready to receive it?

Even if I didn't like tea (which I do) you can bet I would of drank it anyway.

I know it's good for me.

Just like the Neigong Training.

At first some might think it's too hard or it's too this or it's too that.

Not only is it good for your Chi Circulation but it'll strengthen your ligaments and loosen your joints as well.

It's also very beneficial to your organs, namely your heart, liver and kidneys.

I like knowing I'm doing something different than everybody else.

Taking my health in my own hands and making it MY responsibility is a great feeling.

Which is why I encourage you to do the same.

Noboby takes your health at heart like you do.

Do you?

For me the dumbest thing in the world is eating the wrong foods, drinking too much, smoking and not exercising then expecting a broken health care system to come in and fix you when you created the problem in the first place.

Staying healthy isn't rocket science. Smart choices in terms of what you shove down your throat, a bit of will power and an active lifestyle is a great way to start.

If the above is taken care of, which most of you it should be if you're on my list, start developing yourself from the inside - out with regular Neigong practice.

Master Yourself,

Sibok M

P.S. If you already own Neigong Foundation Work, smart move. Now start working from the outside - in with Station Training.

Exercise Induced Nausea

Here's another unusual sign I saw in China I had never seen before.

And as Garth would say from the 1992 Smash Hit "Wayne's World":

"If you're going to spew, spew into this"

Believe it or not, every month or so, someone trying out a class in one of our schools needs to regurgitate or needs to sit down because they feel a bit of nausea.

Actually it's quite normal.

The common causes of exercise induced nausea are:

• Working out on an empty stomach
  
  
• Over-training

• Dehydration
  
  
• Non-active lifestyle

It's very important when starting your martial art training that you go to your own pace.
Even if you know you can push yourself harder, gradually work yourself up to that level by scaling back a bit on the level of intensity and exertion you put into each exercise.

Then when your body is accustomed to the style of workout (i.e Intense Interval Training) you can start making significant gains in your level of fitness.

That doesn't mean you'll never feel nauseous.

Nausea can happen at any fitness level. It either means you failed to prepare your body correctly (food, water, etc...) before starting your workout or you know you pushed yourself to a whole other level.

The best way to train is with a proven, progressive system which is designed to automatically increase your endurance threshold consistently over the course of 6 weeks.

When that is achieved you're ready to step it up again.

And again.

And again.

There's no limit to what your body can do. You just have to stick with it.

No one wants to "spew" on their first training day that's for sure.

If you do, let it be a big wake up call to finally get yourself in the best shape possible, make the right food choices and live a healthier lifestyle.

Here's what we do.

Master Yourself,

Sibok M

Knife Defense Tactics

I thought this sign was funny.



























Before entering a pretty famous street in Beijing this sign and others like it were posted on an A-Frame.

Even if someone was carrying a weapon why would they reveal it?

And if they did, there was no place to drop the knives and guns off like in the wild west.

According to Police Reports most knife attack survivors, when asked to fill their report, never saw their assailant's weapon nor did they realize they were being stabbed or cut.

Most go to say they thought they were being punched.

Therefore most martial arts schools teach knife defenses all wrong.

Think about it, if you were the attacker bent on killing someone or seriously injuring them, wouldn't you also be very deceptive and sneaky to wait for the perfect opportunity to unleash your attack and be successful with it?

Knowing this makes preparing for a knife attack way more challenging. It's even more difficult to comprehend what goes on inside an attacker's mind and how someone could follow through with something so gruesome.

You only come to realize that if you want to survive a knife attack you have to be as ruthless and unforgiving as they are.

Your life will depend on it.

Your best reaction should always be, avoid any potentially dangerous situations at all costs, think ahead, remove yourself and walk away from any kind of dispute, and weary of anyone stepping into your safety zone.

The problem is you never know what can happen. Who knows what the future holds?

I'm sure the lucky ones who survived a knife attack wished they knew more about dealing with a knife and the ones who lost their life, well I ask myself "What if?"

Would it of made any difference? What if everyone who went to college, men and women, had a mandatory knife defense course to complete?

More and more people are carrying knives, hearing about knife attacks are very common in the newspaper, finding the reports and statistics for your city would shock you.

No approach is fool proof. There is no magic formula but spending some time educating yourself on the subject of knife defense is a very good idea.

There are many courses and DVDs out there on the subject of knife defense.

Here's the first step to what we do and if you like our approach there will be more volumes being released shortly.

Master Yourself,

Sibok M

It's Louse Time! Protect the Garden

If you're new to my list of focused, motivated, self- starters, Welcome.

(if you're not new jump right away to today's lesson below)

Every day I communicate to you the best ways to train and the kind of mindset it takes to get results either in your physical fitness or martial art training.

Friday is always what I call: "Louse Time". Modeled after Bruce Lee's strategy in Enter the Dragon.

You know that part where he's having tea with the government agent but he's disturbed by one of his students and Bruce Lee tells the agent: It's Louse Time!

The agent replies with his British accent: "yes of course".

Since I'm 6 years old that scene has always stuck with me and I'll be using that same strategy with YOU every week.

Friday is where I share with you Life Lessons and Direction given to me by my dad (and Sifu) every Friday.

The purpose of Louse Time is to challenge a belief you might have or make you look at your training or life in general from a different perspective.

Today's lesson is: Protect the Garden

My dad shared something profound with me this morning.

It's an important life lesson he's talked to me about before, just in a different way.

It has to do with Protecting your Garden.

Yes I know this is a good time of year to prepare the soil of your garden before winter and to make sure it's ready for the spring but that's not what I'm talking about.

My dad is talking about the garden that is growing between your EARS.

The garden you should be constantly tending to, cleaning up dead or diseased foliage (old ideas), removing debris (clinging to the past), leaves (things left undone), stakes and row markers (finding new goals), dead roots (trusting your own instincts), and any fruits and vegetables that may be spoiled (If you don't like the results you've been getting, change your approach).

Most of you have no problem with protecting your property, your home or your car.

But something way more valuable is often forgotten.

Never forget to protect...

Your Mind.

Control what goes in. Enhance what comes out. Avoid Stinkin' Thinkin'. Read inspiring books, Turn off the TV and the radio, screen who you talk to and hang around with - ultimately blocking out all bad seeds, and listen to your own intuition when making decisions. In most cases it's always the right one.

The quality of your thinking is in direct proportion to how much happiness, love, and success you'll get to attract and experience.

Master Yourself,

Sibok M

P.S. What do you do with all that waste?

The same way throwing disease or parasite infected waste into the compost could potentially spread the disease to your garden next year (old habits die hard), you'll want to either throw it away or burn it (replace the old habits with new ones). Start by making better health choices when it comes to food and drink and follow a proven system to get you fit, FAST.

Get started here.

Secret to Progression

Seeing these old, used up stairs at the Great Wall reminded me of the secret of progression.

Time and Repetition.





















Both lead to results depending on your point of view.

Some activities and habits slowly destroy your body while others inject it with youth and vitality.

Which ones are YOU engaging in?

People often write in to ask how fast will they get results in their fitness level if they follow the instructions contained in our Station Training System, or "When will I be able to do a full split between two chairs the way Sijo, the Founder, is performing it on your Flexibility Series?". Some also ask: "When will I feel the chi coursing through my body as explained in your Neigong Program?".

Same kind of questions I guess I asked myself when I took that picture: "How much time did it take to dent the slate on the Great Wall steps to erode them that way?

Time and Repetition.

Talking about how fit you will become or the levels of strength you will attain won't get you anywhere. Waiting to find the best time to finally start taking care of your health will lead to you never starting in the first place. Dreaming without doing is a waste of time.

Every day that goes by where you fail to take action on your goals is an empty day. An opportunity lost to find fulfillment and a deep feeling of accomplishment in your life.

Act now.

Master Yourself,

Sibok M

The view was awesome, the feeling was amazing

Mixing the energy bubble a top a great rock on the Western Hills (Badachu)


















It took us about an hour to hike up to this area and the view on Beijing and the surrounding hills and temples was breathtaking.

Out of all the places I visited during my trip, training in this area and the memory of it, as well as the feeling I experienced while doing my training here, will surely be one of the most memorable moments of my trip.

In Fang Shen Do we encourage our students to anchor important moments you go through either in your training or in life in general.

An anchor helps recall past experiences you can use in the present moment to snap yourself in a specific state at some other point in your life. You can relive a feeling you had in 3, 6, 12, 24 mths from now just by calling upon that anchor.

Think about a moment in your life where you felt the happiest, the most confident, or the strongest. With the right anchors in place you can get to feel that way every day.

We all live with anchors or associations, some of those can be positive while others can be negative.

I count on the positive anchors I've set to keep myself motivated, happy, thankful, and energized every day. These over power any negative ones that might creep up.

Music can be a source of empowerment or it can put you in a sad, depressed state so be weary of what you listen to.

Starting something new might bring some anxious feelings, butterflies in the stomach, these can remind you of past failures and stop you from following through or they can fill you with excitement knowing you're going to learn something new.

Sitting on the couch to watch TV might help you relax, unwind and disconnect or it can serve to remind you that lying down catatonic doesn't help you in any way to grow and reach the goals you've set for yourself.

These are just basic examples. Think of all the associations your mind has made since you were born.

Which associations do you have about exercise?

Waking up early.

Reading.

Drugs.

Relationships.

Smoking.

Etc. Etc...

The good news is associations and habits can be changed or replaced in 21 days or less.

Are you ready to make exercising a positive starting point to make other key changes in other areas of your life?

Here's how I'd like you to get started.

Master Yourself,

Sibok M