Archive for May, 2015

Ninja Nutrition – Fueling the fire!

Thursday, May 28th, 2015

japan-food You know we have discussed many topics here on this Blog, and one item  that I get a lot of questions on is on Nutrition. For example “Sensei, what  do you eat to stay fit and have the energy level that you do?”, “Airyu, did  ninja’s eat snacks, what were they like if they did?”, “Is there an optimal  diet for a Ninja?”…etc, etc. So I figured it may be time to start putting out  more information on how to improve our nutritional plans to help  augment our training and lives.

 

First Topic the dreaded Weight Loss dilemma!

Did you know that people will eat up to 45% more food when served bigger portions! Holy crap, that can equate to a shit load of extra calories in a single sitting. What does this tell us? Well, if we are used to putting a large portion on our plates we will eat it even if we don’t need to or are getting full, it is what it is and we do it unconsciously many times a day. This extra calorie intake occurs in so many ways it isn’t even easy to keep track, we look at portion size, drinks we consume… those sodas and iced teas, frappachino’s etc. you talk about hidden calories, here is a big opportunity for you to start looking at. What that isn’t enough? How about those bags of chips, crackers, cookies you stick in your lunch, convenient yes they are but why add them to an already packed meal?

Ok, so what is the lesson here? As an adult we all make choices on what we eat and drink, both for necessity and for enjoyment, the caveat here is what you may be doing is sabotaging your training by taking in excess crappy calories that are not fueling the fire but instead just adding pounds to your frame.

So your Ninja Mission for the next week is:

Nutrition Journal – Start a journal that you track everything for at least 7 full days. That is everything, don’t sneak eat or drink and not put it in, don’t change your habits just because you are doing this exercise, as this is the basis for many new things you will be working on in the coming weeks, so be HONEST AND SPECIFIC!

Once you have this done, be ready we are going to start picking it apart and rebuilding your plan to help maximize your caloric intake to your outputs in training!

Bufu Ikkan

Airyu – “Living the Ninja Lifestyle!”

 

Ninja Rant

Thursday, May 21st, 2015

Hey Ninja Practitioners!

I hope your week is going well!

So from my last post till today, what did you do to prepare yourself for unexpected events? Did you train outside or run further than your regular run? How about a wind sprint or two?

What do you mean you didn’t have time to try anything??? WTF! This isn’t a children’s class you know. Each day put the time and effort into your training and life and amazing things will happen. It isn’t the long workout once a week, or the extra effort at work now and then that will make you great. DO you want to know what will?

It’s a secret…….but…..

It is the extra effort each day, each moment, each hour, each day it is mushin, living in the now! Not tomorrow or yesterday it is now. You need to cultivate being in the now and living every moment in this Zen like state. Win each moment, leads to each minute or hour and day! Think about how much you could gain if you could add a few hours a week to your practice or life?

Well do it, live in the now! Master the state of Zen.

Bufu Ikkan

Airyu – “Living the Ninja Lifestyle”

 

Expect the unexpected

Tuesday, May 19th, 2015
OCTAGON, 1980

OCTAGON, 1980

I love this phrase and still remember the movie the “Octagon” with Chuck Norris when the student falls through the trap door! But on a serious note, How do you train for the unexpected? Can you train for it, or even should you train for it? Well, Ninja Fans, the answer is yes you can train for dealing with the unexpected in many ways, both physical and mental, and I going to outline a few things to consider in your daily training and every day life.

Ok, so how do you train for the unexpected? Well how about doing the unexpected !! Sounds easy but you should know by now I am far from easy on myself or students, so lets add a few things to take your training out of the norm.

1) Train outdoors, not the safe dojo with mats, and gi’s on. Get outside and mix it up in the parking lot, stairwell, elevator, car etc! Real world baby!!

2) Train in different weather conditions, one of my favorites is deep winter training.

3) See that hill over there in the distance…. you got it wind sprints!

4) Weighted vest use.

5) New opponents. Yes, take on the biggest, toughest person in the school and have them beat the crap out of you until you can hold your own!

So, each day push yourself to go farther, faster, push your limits and you will physically be much more ready to deal with the “UNEXPECTED”!

Bufu Ikkan

Airyu -” Living the Ninja Lifestyle”

ps: Stay tuned for an update on where I have been these past few weeks!