The past 3 weeks I’ve been readying myself for “The First Annual Deland Drink-A-Thon” or FADDAT for short. So as you can understand my weight and health haven’t been my main concern.  Couple those 3 to 4 drinks a day with less training over the past few months and I’ve realized that I’ve stopped taking care of myself in the way my body was accustomed to and now it is time to get my ass in gear.

So what is the plan you might ask… It’s actually simple, train and take in less calories than I output.  People try and complicate what weight loss is. That is not to say it is easy. My parents both ended up losing about 40 pounds each on a weight watchers diet where my father was allowed 1500 calories and my mother 1200. The problem was after they hit their target goals, the blew back up cus they actually started eating again.

You might ask…Marc aren’t you going to have the same problem. The answer is an assounding YES. But I should lose a good amount off the bat for a few reasons:

1. All those extra drinks in prep for a bing weekend are long gone…my liver thanks me (One of my friends is glad that this entire thing is over…he complained that his blood hurt)
2. I’m starting to beef up my training again so I will be burning more calories
3. My goals will allow my body to feel better, not just my self-vision as most people aim for

Anyway, the plan is to keep up the hard work and not get sidetracked by the usual obstacles people have when athletes start losing weight:

1. Injuries
2. Sickness
3. Depression

My plan for eating is simple.  High on protiens, low on the salt intake. Fats and carbs are GOOD and I will continue to eat them. Just time to cutback on the portions. I may also increase my physical output as I have been meaning to get into the gym to hit the weights. Anyway, everyone wish me some luck.  I’m out!!!

Hey peoples…

Here is the deal. Its been forever since I’ve posted and it is partially from other things going on in my life, but also partially from not knowing what to post next. I’ve been hitting all my regular sites and haven’t been getting ideas. My training has been going okay, but I’m finding it hard to work on some of the things I’d like to (running, weights, 540s). Truthfully I miss it and just need to buck up and get back on the wagon. Anyway, just wanted to throw out a quick post and get this stuff off my chest.

A lot of people are pretty taken with the Roger Clemens situation. I’ve put my idea of performance enhancing drugs on this blog before, but here is a point that is brought up by the hosts of ESPN’s Pardon The Interruption. It should be said now that I completely agree with what they are saying:

Question: Is Congress going to far with the Roger Clemens situation?

Wilbaum: You know what? Yeah, I think so. And I going to give credit to you for trying to convince me over a period of years that Congress should not necessarily be involved in these matters. There real life things going on that are bigger and more important than baseball. There’s conflict worldwide. There’s an education crisis in America. Loisiana and the golf have yet to be rebuilt. There are things so much more important than Roger Clemens. I think that you have convinced me, particularly now Tony. They’re talking about depositions, they’re talking about all this work. This is work. These are hours commited to Rger Clemens. No. I think they’ve gone to far.

Tony: I don’t think Congress needs to be in the baseball business. I think Congress needs to be in the school business, and the cost-of-cars business, and the war business, and the bridges and the roads business, and stuff like that. They’re now investigating Roger Clemens, like this is the House on Un-American Activities Committee. I would remind people, I think that Mark MaGuire is not in the Hall of Fame because of what happened before of a Congressional Committee. And I would think that a lot Congressman up there would have gladly gone to games where Mark MaGuire played and cheered him as he hit his 500 foot home runs and stuff like that. I’m not saying they can’t be involved with sports, but to me it’s a glad handing position to get involved with sports, to come in for the kill on something like this. And especially in an election year there gotta be more important (Wilbaum in background: have to be) things for sitting members of the House of Representatives to do than this.

I’ve been one for a little over a week, and I must say I don’t feel any different.  You know, so many people put so much emphasis on getting this belt that is the absence of color, they put such a weight of gravity on it that you almost think that once you’ve reached this milestone that things change. They really don’t.  I was about to type that I don’t feel any different before as I do now.  However, it isn’t true.  I actually feel sub-blackbelt now as opposed to a few weeks ago.  Reasons:

1. I started having ber and wine again. Not a lot, but a drink is a drink.
2. Injuries (toe, knee) have caused me to curb my training and do just teaching.

The only difference I’ve had so far is what other people think of me. There have been a few reactions to it so far from the people that have seen me train or that I help to teach:

• a little more respect from the students that are close to black belt
• congratulations from students parents
• shock from students that weren’t at the test, and this has been said to me after the new belt is viewed. “You’re not a Blackbelt!”- that is by far my favorite

In the midst of writing this blog, I was speaking to my friend in regards to the same topic. My friend Randi basically told me the following:

Randi: i’m sorry that you don’t feel different doing your blackbelt, but the thing is, you did all of that training so you knew you were ready for it, so basically you were doing the same thing before, but now you gotten certified for it. and you know not many people make it as far as you and have the strength to do so. i saw you breaking those boards and i saw a smile at one point.

The truth is, that I think that my friend is right. I’ve heard that 1 in every 10,000 people can become a Blackbelt.  At another school 1 in 400 that starts as a White belt becomes a Blackbelt. I don’t know if these ratios are correct, but being one of those select few, doesn’t feel like I’ve accomplished anything.  Its more like I’ve still got more to accomplish.

I ran over to one of my favorite blogs today to see what the author had brought to table this week. Low and behold it was about how he didn’t care for what he saw in Tae-kwon-do. Click here to check out his post:

My Response:

Please don’t take this as an incidiary rant. First Tae-kwon-do translates loosely to “way of fist and foot,” but a more literal translation is the “way of breaking with hand and foot.” It should be pronounced Tay as opposed to Thai, however, the names of Taiwan as well as Muay Thai (being completely unrelated) have lead English speakers to incorrectly pronounce the name (sort of how Americans say Ae-LOO-min-num [Aluminum] as opposed to the way it is pronounced in Great Britain Alloo-MI-num.Secondly, you are looking at taekwondo in its more “evolved state,” as a true sport. To understand why it evolved into this you must look at the origins of the martial arts.

The styles that form the basis of tae-kwon-do were formed so that peasants could fight off invading foreigners with horses. Combining the knowledge that the legs generate the most power in the body and allow you to jump high if trained correctly, a basis for the art was born.

True Tae-kwon-do centers in on correct techniques for upper and lower body striking. However, in sparring (staying close to the roots of Tae-kwon-do) points are mostly scored by kicks to the chest, stomach, and head. Points can be allowed for punching to the body, however,they must have showed to take the person being struck “off-balance.”

As for what is better in a fight, against anyone, seasoned or not, whoever is smarter will most likely win. As there are those that suggest the smarted thing would be not to fight, whatever to them. You can ravage youTube and find videos of Tae-Kwon-do Vs. Karate | Muay Thai | MMA | Kung-Fu (They are all pretty much interchangable) and you will see both styles winning.

I like to think for practical defense, that a Tae-kwon-do practitioner would look less threatening. (Assuming they are using a more sport related sparring stance without bouncing) They would be less menacing, not instigating by placing their hands in an aggressive stance (how it is seen in court), and might even have a jump on their opponent being ready from this stance. Coupled with the fact that ALL practitioners are taught to counter attack effectively might be enough to help one walk away from a fight unscathed. (Hopefully)

I will be the first to tell you I have heard more stories of TKD practitioners doing stupid stuff, like trying to kick knives/guns out of peoples hands and paying the price for it. When it comes down to weapons, we are taught to handle them as if they are in a sense “fire.” Focus on slapping/pushing away with the arms at all times and subdue the attacker at the same time.

I hope I haven’t rambled too much, but I just want to end saying, there is no supreme martial art. Whoever is faster, smarter, better and/or stronger, should win in a fight, but that isn’t always so. Thanks for taking a look at out sport and I hope some day you decide to try it out.

December 3, 2007 9:39 AM