Sunday Story...I'm FINE

Fine…Freaked Out, Intense, Neurotic, Emotional

Stress is a funny thing. We need stress to perform well. Too much stress will degrade our performance. There is a fine line between too much and not enough. This is true in so much of our lives.

Pressure creates diamonds from coal. Stress gives us champions and heroes, ordinary people doing extraordinary things. As the old saying goes…when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Stress helps us by giving us deadlines and standards to measure ourselves against. Living a life with no stress would be boring and mundane.

Stress will also kill you. In a very bad way. Heart attack, stroke, or mental breakdown can easily be imminent in high stress situations. At the very least stress will cause you to do and say things you would not do or say under normal conditions. Too much stress affects your life negatively across all aspects…sleep suffers, exercise is less effective, food doesn’t digest well, your mental attitude is confused, and you are prone to getting sick (which adds even more stress).

So what to do about stress? How do we know when enough is enough and too much is over the top? Most of us don’t have built in stress meters. Or do we? When you aren’t sleeping well your stress meter is going off. When the food you eat all tastes like sawdust your stress meter is hitting the redline. When you catch a cold at the drop of a hat or you seem to be sick too often your stress levels are getting out of hand. If the simplest things create a huge off the hook reaction in you…ding ding ding!

So whatcha going to do Willis? Because if you don’t get out of that funk, that funk is going to kill you. I recently went through one of the most stressful times of my life. It was one of my own doing, but that’s a story for another time. Stressor #1… I moved my business after 5 years in the same location (moving is always stressful). Stressor #2… I put people in charge of that business since I was going to move to Dallas TX. This was a sudden decision for everyone. Stressor #3…I moved 1600 miles out of the area I had lived in for 25 years and the house I had lived in for 5+ years (that whole moving thing again). Stressor #4…I was opening a brand new business in a new town in a new way with a business partner I had never worked with before. Stressor #5…in the month leading up to the move my diet got worse due to time constraints, my rest fragmented, again, due to time constraints and finally my workout program started to break down. Stressor #6…I drove for 3 days, eating the best I could on the road but it wasn’t good. This is a fair bit of stress, all at once. When I arrived in Dallas I was sick, really sick. My digestion was a mess. I needed a root canal. I was tired, bone tired. I was off balance, I didn’t feel grounded. It took 3 weeks to get things under control. It has taken about 3 months to get back to where I feel 100% and back to myself.

How did I do it? By doing exactly what you would expect. I started eating right…good quality food, consistently. Getting to bed at a decent time. Getting my workout program back on track. I am fortunate enough to know that I re-charge my internal batteries by spending time alone. I also got back to my Tai Chi K’ung practice…a meditative movement practice I use to balance my breath and body into harmony ( I have a dvd available if you want it). I can’t imagine how long it would have taken to come back without these practices. This is why you must do these things now, in times of low stress so that they become habits. Then, in times of high stress, you will fall into good patterns because you are habituated to do so.

I keep my stress levels as low as I can. There are things I can’t control that cause stress, granted. But poor diet I can control. Drinking too much I can control. Not sleeping well I can control. Exercise and training I can control. Staying in balance and recharging my batteries I can control. Stress management comes down to this: Control the things you can control. Let the rest go, you can’t control them anyway.

I wish you a stress-free holiday season. Love people where they are. Wanting them to be something else isn’t going to work anyway. If you need nutrition or exercise help reach out to me and let’s get you on track in person or remotely.

Namaste
John
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.martialartsnevada.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
john@crossfit-odyssey.com

Sunday Story...The Aging Athlete

I will admit it…I am an aging athlete. I am fighting tooth and nail to maintain muscle mass, improve speed, get healthier, move more easily, and do what I can to slow the aging process. What I am about to tell you is a distillation of what I have learned so far. This by no means the gospel according to John, it is what works for me and I believe it will work for you. That being said, listen to your own body, take into account the damage you may have done over the years, and above all, don’t do anything stupid. As a matter of fact that is #1…

Don’t do Stupid Stuff.
As much as I would love to get one of those flying squirrel suits and base jump off a cliff somewhere it probably isn’t going to happen. About 25 years ago I went scuba diving with a friend in Bodega Bay California. I had never been scuba diving before. The sea was rough and it took more than 15 minutes just to get past the swells and into the water. The visibility was about 3 feet and I had no idea what I was doing. Stupid. And if I wasn’t such a strong swimmer who knows what might have happened. Not a runner? Don’t try a marathon next Saturday. Assess your abilities, get help when you need it and think a little bit ahead. It will go far.

Get Some Sleep.
Many of us, me included, grew up thinking sleep was for sissies. I used to brag about being able to function on 4 or 5 hours of sleep. I also drank a couple pots of coffee every day. I was wound so tight I am lucky I didn’t explode. You need 7-9 hours of sleep every night. It is a habit and one that is easy to develop.

Work Your Butt Off.
In the gym. As I age I am fighting a couple different battles simultaneously. These are things that will happen if we don’t do the work. Hormonal changes and the declining muscle mass are battles waged both here and in the kitchen. The work in the gym is critical to maintaining both muscle mass and bone density…use it or lose it. And the 30 minutes on the treadmill at 40% of your max heart rate sort of work isn’t going to cut it. You need to get your heart rate up, your blood pumping and your breath gasping. You need to pick up heavy stuff. You need to move large loads over long distances quickly.
Mind what you eat and eat what you mind.

Eat real food.
It is simple. Don’t eat processed crap. If you eat in a restaurant eat in one where they source real food…this means non-gmo, no pesticides or herbicides, no added hormones or antibiotics, food grown in its’ natural state (do chickens live in small cages with no beaks or pigs with no tails?) This isn’t real hard but it does take some consciousness. When you eat, be mindful. Take your time concentrate on the food as it contributes to your health and well being. Stop texting and emailing for a few minutes and enjoy the company you are in…even if you are alone.

Learn new Stuff
Your brain is a tool to be used. You need to exercise it just like you exercise your muscles or it is going to atrophy and be less useful (can you spell dementia?) Spend time learning new stuff…new games, new skills, and new languages (no, you aren’t too old), make new friends, do things you have never done before (see rule #1 though!) Turn off the T.V., it is not your friend and it is not going to help your brain be healthy.

You are choosing, right now, how you are going to age. You are making decisions that will show up in 10 or 15 years in your quality of life. When you are 60 or 70 years old it is going to be exponentially difficult to make the changes and it is going to take a lot longer to have those changes be effective. On the bright side doing something at any age is better than doing nothing!

Get started today. Call me for class time or to get going with a remote coaching program!

Namaste

John Mariotti

www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.martialartsnevada.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

Sunday Story…Dateline Dallas

Since my announcement that I was moving to Dallas, Texas back in July I have not been writing my Sunday Stories. There was just way too much to do to get here…moving my residence after 25 years in the same community, moving Relentless Martial Arts to a new, larger facility, creating a team of committed and dedicated volunteers to keep that business open, and then showing up here in Dallas.
I am in Dallas now. I got here the weekend before Labor Day so this marks about 2 months and things are settled enough for me to start getting more consistent in writing these stories again.

Dallas is an interesting place.
I have never lived in a large city like this; I spent a month in NYC once and 3 months in Austin TX and I did live in San Jose for a brief bit and the SF bay area, but on the outskirts. After 25 years in the small town of Fernley, this is a very unusual place for me to be. And large it is…there are about 8 million people in the greater metroplex area and 1.2 million in Dallas proper (isn’t Google grand!). It also covers a large geographical area. It has all the problems a city of this size has…traffic issues, difficult to navigate at times, hard to get the down low on things, and lots of people. In addition, it has all the benefits you would expect as well…tons of things to do, restaurant and shop venues of every stripe and many diverse and interesting people. Dallas has lots of extremely large churches and a huge number of universities.

The People
The people here have been great in my experience. They are relaxed in general and very helpful when a stranger asks questions about their city and what is out there. My experience is that people are polite and courteous. Until they get behind the wheel of their car. Then all bets are off. However, let’s be honest…is that any different where you live? I found people here to be accepting and interested in the how and why people come here. In the neighborhood where our studio is located, there are lots of cosmetic dentists, plastic surgeons, gyms, laser hair removal places, spas, and massage therapists. There is a theme here that people care about their appearance. They are also very concerned about their children’s educations. Both charter and private schools (run by all those churches) abound and one of the first questions people ask is where someone went to school (high school, but often elementary as well) and how was it? Perhaps I am meeting people who, predominately, grew up here in Dallas and in many cases whose children are attending the same schools they did.

The Weather
I got here in August and it was hot and humid...over 100 degrees a number of times and humidity in the triple digits as well. I didn’t think it was oppressive but I can get where that might not be for everyone. Some folks keep the air conditioning on frigid. This fall has been very pleasant…about 80 degrees during the day and 50/60 degrees overnight with an acceptable level of humidity. Just to my taste. It rains from time to time and when it does, it pours. Raindrops the size of softballs and coming hard and fast like a staccato guitar solo. Then it stops. Good weather so far, in my opinion.

The Odyssey…CrossFit and Martial Arts
I will touch on this more in coming stories but suffice it to say we are open and teaching classes. We had some glitches and challenges that delayed our opening by about 3 weeks but those were easily overcome with patience and perseverance (OK, easily might be a bit of an exaggeration). We have a number of great athletes joining us every day for CrossFit and the Martial Arts end of things is quickly ramping up. We have a great facility to work in and the community at Preston Center Dance has been wonderful to work with. I am excited to see what the next few months bring.

Overall
I like Dallas, I am enjoying the people, the environment, and yes, even the challenges living in a big city brings. I even enjoy my small fourth floor apartment with a great view of the downtown Dallas skyline. Granted, I have only been here for 60 days, but so far so good!

More next week!

Namaste
John Mariotti
www.crossfit-odyssey.com
www.martialartsnevada.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

Sunday Story...Change is a coming

Change is coming to Relentless Martial Arts

What follows below is the letter I sent to my students and athletes yesterday. For those of you following this blog, it will continue. I may be a bit hit and miss over the next few weeks so I ask your understanding. If you have any questions feel free to call or write me.

After close to 20 years of teaching martial arts here in Fernley, I have decided to move to Dallas TX. Rather than close the doors a consortium of highly qualified teachers and students have decided to step up and continue the work this school has been doing in the community these last 2 decades. We will be moving the school to a (yet to be disclosed) new location. Wendy Tustin (soon to be 3rd degree black belt), Rick Lauk (soon to be 2nd degree black belt), Richard Lynn (soon to be 2nd degree), Scott Dalton (soon to be 1st degree)and Dennis Clark (soon to be 1st degree) will be leading the TaeKwon-Do side of the school, with Mr. Clark spearheading the After School Martial Arts Program. Matt Waipa, a Charles Gracie Team Purple Belt and Naron Antone, a Charles Gracie Team Blue Belt, will run the Brazilian JiuJitsu program. Dani Northington and Linda and Brian Pike will head up our FIT program. Working together Dani Northington and Linda Pike will also lend their years of organizational expertise in coordinating all three of these divisions and the resulting paperwork and administrative details.

I remain the overall leader of this venture. I will continue to guide the martial arts teaching, visiting several times a year to assist in the administration of tests and curriculum development. I will also be behind the scenes guiding and developing the FIT program into the premiere strength and fitness program it has already become.
I have been teaching here in Fernley for 17 years. Throughout the years, I have grown, changed, learned and formed friendships here. I have been deeply affected and I have not come to this decision lightly. As a matter of fact, it took a very unique opportunity to pull me away.

I have had thousands of children and adults who have earned belts in TaeKwon Do ranging from the basic white belt to advanced degree black belts. About 50 of you earned black belts. I couldn’t be more proud of your accomplishments.
Together, we have done many outstanding community projects ranging from the community garden (which donated over 2,000 pounds of food to our local food bank), to 15 days of kindness, to helping send care packages to our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have also produced thousands of acts of kindness over the last 7 or 8 years since we began the Acts of Kindness project. I like to think that we have made our world and Fernley a better place to live and play. None of those things would have been possible without you and your efforts.

To all of you, I hope our time together has been well spent. I have enjoyed being your teacher, coach, mentor and friend. Some of you I have known for a very long time; I have seen you learn and grow and become stronger and better with each passing day. For those of you I have not had the pleasure of spending a long time with, I apologize that our time has been too short and hope I have managed to impact your lives in a meaningful way.

If you want to shift your TaeKwon Do training, please call Grand Master Grasso at 775-813-1150 and he will welcome you at his school in Reno. For those of you interested in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, please call Gary Grate at the Reno Gracie Academy at 775-830-4279. And for you CrossFitters, I highly recommend Battle Born CrossFit. Call Alena at 775-745-5144. Every one of these organizations is top notch and will be expecting your call.

I do have remote coaching and teaching programs available and there are some openings at this time. Call me at 338-2412 to discuss with me if this option is right for you.

I apologize to any of you who feel saddened by this decision. And I ask you to continue your training and keep doing the good work you have started.

Every beginning has an ending and every ending is a new beginning.

This is true for all of us.

I welcome people to stay in touch via my weekly blog at http://sunday-stories.blogspot.com/. My email will remain utffernley@gmail.com and my phone number is 775-338-2412.
Your friend,
John Mariotti
Namaste

Sunday Story...On Being Better

Sunday Story…On Being Better

In my TaeKwon-Do classes we always talk about Indomitable Spirit. We define this concept as “facing your fear and going ahead anyway.” This is also how many people define courage. That quality within us that has us getting up when we get knocked down. This is the stuff heroes are made of…that spirit that has those heroes fighting insurmountable odds, facing unconquerable opponents and attacking life head on in the face of sure defeat.

Today a hero was born. She doesn’t know it yet but a hero entered the world today. Today I witnessed Indomitable Spirit manifest in the world. Today I saw self-esteem grow and be displayed like a peacock fanning his feathers.

This morning at approximately 9:40AM west coast time Linda Pike started her 2nd Tough Mudder. For those of you who don’t know the Tough Mudder…here it is in a nutshell…run 10 or 12 miles up a mountain, face 20 or so obstacles like crawling in mud while getting electrical shocks, humping over (and under) huge logs placed 10 or so feet above the ground, climbing up a 14 foot wall and jumping off into a pit of muddy water, carrying a large log up and down a hill, and jumping in to a trough of ice (lots of ice) water and swimming under a barrier to the other side, and a whole bunch of other torturous tests.

Tough Mudder is not a race. Tough Mudder is a challenge. A challenge to you to help your teammates get through the course. A challenge to you to face your fear and go ahead anyway. A testing ground for courage and indomitable spirit. A challenge to you to emerge with a new attitude and a fresh smile born of accomplishment.

Linda Pike became a hero today. A mere 10 months ago she ran a very similar course and walked past/avoided over ½ of the obstacles. Today she defeated each obstacle. Today she faced her fear of heights. Today she faced her fear of water and not being able to see. Today she faced self doubt and negative self-talk. Today she faced down decades of demons telling her what she couldn’t do. Today Linda Pike became a hero.

Linda Pike looked into the maw of fear and defeat and snatched her self-esteem, her self-worth out of tthe grasp of those demons and like the warriors of yore shook victory from those steely cold unfeeling hands. Today Linda Pike stepped up and got counted among the heroes. She worked hard over the last year, of that I have seen. She showed up, picked up weight, learned new skills, sweated and yes cried once or twice on the road to this morning’s victory. But all those hours in the gym were a minor contribution to the display of courage and indomitable spirit I saw over 4½ hours today. What happened today was the blossoming of a new persona…one who believes in the aristocracy of effort and vision. This hero will view any obstacle as surmountable. This hero will step up and girding her loins, strapping on her weapons will step on to that battle field of human endeavor and fight tooth and nail to achieve victory.

Linda Pike I salute you and your performance today. You are my hero.

Namaste
John
“Teaching Focus, Inspiring Transformation”
www.martialartsnevada.com

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Sunday Story…Work First

Go get your Webster’s dictionary out. Look up three words…results, success, and work. We all know what these mean…I’m mostly interested if you notice the order in which these words appear. Results show up first, then success, and lastly work. This is the only place that this occurs.

Work always comes before success or results. If you don’t work nothing else matters. If you aren’t willing to sacrifice, plan, deal with frustration and pain then you aren’t willing to work. You need to work to get results. It really is simple.

Too many of us focus on results we want. The goal we have in mind. I want to weigh 125 pounds, I want to dead lift 500 pounds, I want to be at 12% body fat. These are all results. These are all goals, the results we want from the effort we expend. But they should not be the primary focus. The primary focus is the work.

Work is what we do to get results. Work is what is required to get the results we want work is what we do to be who we want to be. Work is the glue that puts the results together to build the life we want to live.

I often say there is no “magic pill.” Well, I am wrong…the “magic pill” is work, and work includes sacrifice. Work includes doing some things you don’t want to do. Work requires that you stay on task as you move through the cycle to get the results you want.

We can’t just show up and think the work will get done. We need to be intentional and focused on doing the work. Results and met goals are the products of focused intentional effort also known as work. Results and success follow work not the other way around.
Forget about the results. Forget about the goals. Get your laser beam focus on the right work, the correct effort and the results will be there. Most people miss this part; they are so focused on the results, the end game that they forget about the mindset that it takes to get to that part of the game. Don’t be that guy. Don’t lose sight of the work and how you do it. That focus, that intention, that single minded effort to doing the task at hand with nothing else in mind.

This doesn’t mean that results aren’t important…they are. That would be a mistaken belief but so is thinking that results are the only things that matters. Work matters and work comes first before results and before success. Laser like focus on the work at hand yields the results you crave and need. Keep your priorities in order.

The only place success comes before work in in the dictionary.

Namaste

John

“Teaching Focus, Inspiring Transformation”

www.martialartsnevada.com

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Sunday Story...Family Ties

Sunday Story…Family Ties

I spent this past weekend visiting my family. We all have family. Some families are big and expansive, others are smaller and more compact. We generally don’t get to pick our family. They are the ones we come with, even the ones we marry into. I suppose mine is average if such a thing is possible.

The reason I am writing about this today is the juxtaposition between birth and death, the beginning and the end, alpha and omega. I have a grandson just 6 months into his life and my father at 80 slowly nearing the end of his.

One happy and joyful being passed from relative to relative, played with and playing, rolling over and discovering a whole new world.

The other, well, hardly moving or speaking.

2 journeys…beginning and ending and beginning again. Most of us can’t remember our first 3 or 4 years. My father can’t really remember these last few years either. He will be gone at some time in the near future. My grandson has been born at a time when his life span is expected to exceed 100 years to parents that are already concerned about his nutritional intake.

My father was the first of his family to graduate from college. It was quite an accomplishment and one that set me on the path to a college education as it has my children and now my grandchild. As a matter of fact he already has a college fund.

My father’s journey has been long and in many ways tiring. He and my mother raised 4 boys and have generously given to all of us and all of their grandchildren. Now they are great grandchildren to cherish.

My family is not close geographically. We come together infrequently and enjoy the time we have. My parents raised their children to be independent and able to enjoy lives we built. We were very fortunate to have been born at the time we were born and to the people who raised us. I hope my children and grandchildren have the same good fortune. I hope my father realizes the fantastic job he and my mother did in providing the life they did for me and my brothers. And I hope our newest member gets all of that and more.

I feel sad in seeing my father in the sunset of his life but I hold dear of the memories of strength, integrity, and perseverance he provided. I feel happy in my grandson’s prospect and hope to give him the same example my father gave me.

This shifting of time, this beginning and ending of times is all part of the process we all experience. It is one of the things that all of us humans get to do in some way or another.

Enjoy the process on both ends and in the middle. Life is about what happens in the dash…the dash between your date of birth and date of death.

Namaste

John

“Teaching Focus, Inspiring Transformation”

www.martialartsnevada.com

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