Hello!

Last Year my friend Lexie Neonakis (http://www.lexneon.com) suggested that I do more meditation & moon mantras & start focusing on a business plan.

I didn’t do any of these … Until Now… sheepish grin: n_n

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There will be lots of changes coming to Soon Martial Arts Method in the coming months.

I have put together a new Twitter page & also Facebook in order to stay connected with what will be happening.

I’ll be going to Denver, CO later this year to work on some new demonstration videos for the website, which will be produced by Matt Hollstein of http://916groove.com

July 25-26 will be: a Seminar with Grandmaster Samuel Kwok of Ip Man Wing Chun / Head Wing Chun instructor in the UK & Europe…

I’ll be attending, if you are interested please see this link:

http://www.idmnj.com/seminar/wing_chun/Samuel_Kwok_07_2009.html

http://twitter.com/kalasarpayoga

Updated frequently (more frequently than this blog).

“Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness.” ~ Joseph Pilates

I read that just a few minutes ago and felt I needed to write a few words on this.

I think it’s safe to say every person understands the need to exercise in order to stay healthy.

One thing I have noticed through my experience training in a number of different methods of martial arts and physical fitness styles is that not every one (or group of practitioners) defines “Physical Fitness” the same way … and everyone has a different definition of what exactly is Fitness.

When I was in my mid-20s I weighed between 230 lbs to 250 lbs. This was because I was unhappy with my life and simply ate too much food and drank too much alcohol.
At the same time… I had this over-inflated ego from doing martial arts and thinking I was a tough guy.

It was a miserable combination. I was UNHAPPY.

So that quote from Joseph Pilates really hit a chord with me when I read it.

I was good at doing martial arts… so I got lazy because my ego thought it was great enough that I no longer had to work hard to accomplish things.

I was a fool.

I remember going out for a run back in 2002 when, after going just 2 blocks, I had to stop because my feet hurt from all the weight I was carrying, plus I couldn’t breathe (I was 230lbs around this time) .
I realized at that point… “You Have Some Serious F*cking Problems Dude”.

So… anyway … getting back to the quote from Joseph Pilates:
“Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness.”

How do you define Physical Fitness though? To some people physical fitness is a definition that some State Board of Health or other governmental or medical association gives a rating to… and they think “Oh, that must be physical fitness since they say so.”

I don’t follow other people’s Ideas or Definitions on what is Physical Fitness.

To me… it is: How Am I Feeling On a Daily Basis? I exercise 7 days a week, follow a balanced training regimen that keeps me from over-working at part of my body over the course of the week, eat a Balanced & Healthy Diet with a LOT of Whole Grains and Animal Protein (I also haven’t taken any vitamin or mineral supplements since 1999).

When I told one person I did about 1,600 push-ups in one day, he blurted out (without even thinking first): “You’re gonna injure yourself!”… this was coming from a guy who never exercised. He was making an assumption based on books and magazines he’d read that convinced him that a human being could not possibly do 1,600 pushups.

If you can train every day, not let Office Work drive you crazy, be patient and forgiving to people you interact with on a day-to-day basis (NO YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE JESUS)… I mean, yeah, you are allowed to make mistakes… as Long as you are making a Real Effort and Seeing Results from one week to the next and one month to the next… you are making progress.

When I was 230lbs. and I made the commitment to get myself back in shape, I told myself, no more reading books or magazines on fitness… no more taking bad advice from people trying to sell you one B.S. product or another… I would listen to my own body and judge myself accordingly.

“Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness.” ~ Joseph Pilates
… This is True Wisdom.
Believe in Yourself.
By Gregory Soon
http://www.gregorysoon.com

 I’d also like to include a comment I received from Gary David* on the above article:
Gary David at 1:20pm March 20
Hi Gregory. . . First, I notice the leap you made when you realized: “You Have Some Serious F*cking Problems Dude”. I see that as a leap of meaningfulness triggered by facing the affect of shame. Shame can overwhelm, or be a gateway to learning. As for fitness, it is a word that has no general definition. Its meaning relies on the context in which … Read Moreit is used. Same with the words happiness, and body. Here’s my take:
If “body” is used in a scientific way, it is a body bounded by theory. If it’s a body viewed as an object, fitness depends on shape, feeling “good” or “bad” — pride or shame. Its boundary is the skin. The body as actually experienced is a “felt” or feeling body. Its boundary is attention. The degree that we can give interested-attention will determine the extent of what we can feel, and how far the body will “extend.” In that felt body, there are no objects, only movement, change, and other qualities. Fitness, then, indicates fluidity in dealing with change in affect.

* Note: http://www.jennerator.com/movingbodyresources/aboutus_teachers.asp#david

Just wanted to post very briefly that I am back training at New York Aikikai

It’s exciting for me as I had (for personal reasons) left the Dojo back in 1999.

It’s been a fun first 3 days back seeing old friends and training again.  It will take me a few weeks to get back into the swing of things at the Dojo, as so much has changed (but also a lot is very familiar!).

Yamada Sensei has been very generous and kind to me over the years and that’s why I’ve always thought of going back and seeing him again (which I never did until this past December).  He told me to train hard and enjoy the training, as that’s really what is most important.

I hope to train hard, train well, and continue to grow at New York Aikikai, and am very happy to be learning from Sensei’s knowledge and experience once again. 

My Friday night training (Beginner’s Level) is still in progress, every Friday at 6:30pm at Moving Body Resources, I’ll post another update on that at a future time. 

In the mean time, my focus for 2009 and beyond is to train and progress at the Dojo.

Keep Moving Forward!

Excerpt From: http://astro-theology.net:
Kundalini Energy
Kundalini energy, known as Prana, Chi, and Ra-Sekhem, flows throughout thousands of “nadis” or energy channels. If any of the channels are blocked or over-sensitized, a disbalance can arise, causing illness in the mind and physical body.

There are three most important channels through which the Serpent Power flows. In India these are known as the Sushumna, Ida, and Pingala – Muata Ashby (Serpent Power) In ancient Egyptian mythology and yoga these two opposites are known as “Uadjit” and “Nekhebet” or Isis and Nephthys, or the “Two Ladies”…The serpents Uatchet and Nekhebet are equal to the Ida and Pingala respectively…They are both related to the left (lunar) and right (solar) nostrils…The interaction of these two forces…cause movements in the Life Force energy that is available to each living being and supports their practical existence in the physical realm – Muata Ashby (Serpent Power)

Cleansing Ritual (Misogi)
This is known in Sanskrit as the Bhuta Shudhi, in which the elements of the body are cleansed. The subtle body’s cleansing is called Nadi Shudhi. This process is known to take months, years, or even lifetimes.

~~~~ My Words: ~~~
Each Lifetime is a process in which we are here to clear the karmas of past lifetimes, in other words, clearing out negative energy that we have built-up through our past lives.

In Physical Reality, an example of Stuck Negative Energy would be Obesity… people consume too many calories (energy), so the energy builds up as fat because the energy has nowhere to go. Too much of this fat becomes useless and accumulates and causes health problems such as heart disease.

Energy is not a “magical” force, it just requires a different way of understanding the knowledge… Ancient Cultures had this knowledge, it was slowly eradicated with the rise of Christianity.

I have not posted a Workout Blog since the New Year (both Western and Eastern New Years). I’ll start posting them randomly just to show that I’m not being lazy.

I will also post on my Youtube Channel exactly how I do some of the more complicated exercises like “Sun Salute Push-Ups” and different variations of 8-counts, 6-counts and what they look like.

Thursday January 29, 2009:
Morning Workout:  7:25am to 8:30 am:
925 Full Repetition (no cheat) PUSH-UPS: 45 Sets of 20-21 Pushups
Evening Workout: 7:40pm to 8:37pm:
630 Full Repetition (no cheat) PUSH-UPS: 30 Sets of 21-22 Pushups

Friday January 30, 2009:
Morning Workout: 7:30am to 8:22am:
577+ Full SQUATS with 50lbs (25lbs dumb-bells x 2): 22 Sets of 26-27 Repetitions 
200+ Dumb-bell Curls w/50lbs (25lbs bells x2): 15 Sets of 13-14 Repetitions SLOW

In terms of Martial Arts Training at Moving Body Resources:
We will be training in the small studio for the majority of weekends until further notice.

Notes about training:  I want to be clear to everyone that You can only get so much out of training 1 time a week in any martial art style.  Anyone who says otherwise is Lying.

But it’s better to train 1 time a week with a lot of effort than not to train. 
BUT:  If you plan on training 1 time a month or just willy-nilly when you have time… you are not doing yourself or myself any justice. 

I want to be honest and recommend that you join a gym or something that would be more suitable.

Martial art training requires commitment, it’s not and American thing that you can just do for the fun of it.  I have very strong beliefs about this and I do not want to be mistaken about what my beliefs on training are.

I train on my own 7 days a week besides offering 2 group classes a week at Moving Body Resources, it’s a life-long commitment that I’ve made to myself, and something that I am trying to share with others.

Without commitment, it is meaningless training, without commitment your training will be just random movement with no spirit or soul.

This past Saturday I focused on some basic defensive techniques from straight punches and a front grab to the neck.  We also worked on drills to train you in blocks from: Overhead strikes, front strikes and hooks.

This coming Friday and Saturday I will be working on more basic Self-dense techniques:  Wrist-locks and 2 different leg take-downs.

The Winter months can be a challenge to get motivated and actually make it into class, but training is good for you and much better for you than sitting at home on the computer, sitting at home eating junk food, going to the movies, getting drunk, or just working overtime.

“Do not criticise any other martial arts or speak ill of others, as it will surely come back to you.
The mountain does not laugh at the river because it is lowly, nor does the river speak ill of the mountain because it cannot move.”
~ Koichi Tohei

Gregory Soon Aikido’s Mission & Purpose:

Coming Together in Movement in Order to Develop Wisdom

In Chinese philosophy, it is said that people can always learn from each other when they come together, even if they don’t know each other.

When One Person Leads and Teaches, the others learn. In turn, as the knowledge is shared and developed, the students become the teachers of the knowledge they acquired through their training.

The Life Lesson is that through our experiences and interactions with others, we all have learned from those around us, been students of those with more wisdom than we have, and have become teachers to those who came to us for guidance. Life teaches us that we all have something to teach and something to learn too.

My Goal as an Aikido instructor is to share my experience of the great art of Aikido training that I learned from my teachers — with those who come to share this experience with me.

Training is Life, Life is Training; This is the Only Purpose.

Gregory Soon Aikido Training:

Students will train in basic ukemi (falling techniques) in order to develop safe practice habits on and off the training mat. Ukemi develops the body’s sensitivity to movement, somatic and spacial awareness, and helps to develop a more fluid method of body motion and coordination.

Students will slowly be introduced to tai sabaki (whole body movement) and its relation to body/mind centering and awareness of space and timing. Tai sabaki develops your ability sense space and to freely move relative to an attackers actions. Atemi (strikes) and blocks will be part of tai sabaki training.

Progression in training will lead us to further development of ukemi, tai sabaki and developing our relationship with our training partners. Uke / Nage interaction is based on cooperation in Aikido, rather than on competition or challenging one another.

Exercises will focus on Nage leading the Uke’s movement while the Uke develops sensitivity to following Nage’s movement without resisting or being overly passive or falling before an actual technique is applied. This training helps develop awareness and sensitivity when working with various partners; which develops confidence in movement and action while easing anxiety of the unknown; this concept is called “Ma-ai” in Japanese.

Technical training focuses on practicing Aikido technique and how techniques are applied from various attacks. Unlike traditional training where the teacher demonstrates and the students are left to their own to figure out how to perform a technique; I offer step-by-step instruction and help students build each movement and technique from the ground up. Techniques are put together in sequence from the opening attack to the end of a technique/throw/pin.

As you progress in training, you will learn to put together training concepts and develop fluidity in your Aikido training.

 Thank you for taking the first step in bringing the benefits of Aikido Training into your life!Here is a  brief guide to help you, as a new “Aikidoka” (Aikido student), to become familiarized with the Aikido Training I offer:
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Training Fees:
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Training Fees Beginning March 2009**:
$20.00 Single Session(Drop-in Rate)
$75.00 For 5 Sessions (8 Week Expiration)
$150.00 For 11 Sessions (12 Week Expiration)
** (Fees are Non-Transferable/Non-Refundable/Schedule is Subject to Periodic Change.)

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Training Session Schedule:
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