I know I’ve been horrible about updating the blog. Life has just been busier then normal. I still haven’t trained in 2012, but I have been faithful to that evil place… The Gym.
Current Weight: 228
Goal Weight: 195
Pounds To Goal: 33
Countdown to Goal: 22 Weeks, 6 Days, 23 Hours, 8 minutes
Hey Guys! It’s been two weeks since I updated you about my weight, I lost a pound last week but was so busy I didn’t have time to update. So here it is Monday Morning fours week completed.
Current Weight: 230
Goal Weight: 195
Pounds to Goal: 35
Countdown to Goal: 23 Weeks, 6 Days, 23 Hours, 17 minutes
P.S. I’m going to post a one month later photo tonight, so look forward to seeing me in all my fat glory. Also I’m starting a new BJJ program tonight, so I’ll update you later!
I wanted to take a moment to write all my readers to let you know I’m still alive and living the JKD lifestyle. Honestly, the holiday here has been crazy and my work has been taking up a ton of my free time. But I’m still in the Gym, and I start training martial arts again after the holiday break this week. So I’ll post tomorrow with a bunch of new updates.. Sorry to leave you hanging..
I’m sorry that I didn’t have a chance to update my weight loss results yesterday. It’s the holiday season here, and my work has been nonstop. The last three days I worked about 40 hours. Anyway I weighed in yesterday and I’m at 232. Two weeks of training in the books.
Original Weight: 245
Current Weight: 232
Goal Weight: 195
Pounds to Goal: 37
Countdown to Goal: 25 weeks, 5 days, 22 hours, 55 minute
Just finished my last Haganah class of the year and it’s a solid system.
The 21st Century JKDer should differently look into Haganah and Israeli martial arts as a part of their arsenal.
Mike Lee Kanarek has developed a intense street proven system that really is no nonsense.
I’ll be back to F.I.G.H.T. in the New Year !
Yesterday was my day off from work and I hit the gym pretty hard.
In the morning I worked out for 30 minutes on the elliptical. That night I took my Haganah class and later I finished my day with 30 minutes on the stationary bike.
My body is getting use to the elliptical motion, but I did 30 hard minutes on the bike and my calves are killing me today.
It’s all about Muscle confusion!!!
Two things in the Martial Arts Business bother me more than any other problem combined. The first one is what my friends and I call “business belts” and the second is bait and switch sales tactics. I’m going to do a post about business belts on another day, so today I’m going to talk about what I experienced at one successful Brazilian Jiu Jitsu school.
I’ve told a few friends this story, but I’ve been a bit hesitant to really let this story be known. Why? The school that I’m going to write about is a really good school, the students were mostly nice, and the instructors were very knowledgeable. In fact the head instructor has fought recently in the UFC. Honestly, I believe it’s a great BJJ school and I would recommend people train there. Yet, my story is why I quit training there.
Let me start by saying although I have trained for years in grappling arts, according to the BJJ world I am still a white belt. I was due to be awarded my blue belt last year when I went through my divorce and stop training the month I was suppose to receive it. That doesn’t change the fact that I am a white belt to the greater BJJ community. Unless your school has Adult Green Belts, if they do then I’m a Green Belt (a subject we can talk to death about later).
So about 4 months after leaving my school, I got the grappling bug and decided to start looking for BJJ School near my new home. I stopped by one of the American Top Team locations and inquired about pricing. They were nice, told me it was $150 per month, no registration fee, with a one year contract.
I mulled the idea over in my head a bit and for whatever reason decided it wasn’t for me, so I kept looking for that perfect fit. That’s when I found this school; it was close to my house, small but very clean and seemed very organized. I walked in and talk to the guy sitting at the desk and he was really cool. He showed me the schedule, told me they also had green belts, and invited me to come back. I asked him how much and he told me it was $100 per month, unlimited classes, no registration fee, and only a 6 month contract. Needless to say, I signed on the dotted line, and attended class the next day.
The classes were hard and I was out of shape, but the instruction was good. They had a good number of people attending and for the most part everyone was nice. At the end of class, they started to roll (spar). The instructor pulled me aside, and explained he didn’t like his new students to roll until he got to know their skill level for safety purposes.
It seemed logical, so every day after techniques a handful of us newbies would sit on the wall and watch the rest of the class roll. About three weeks in, the head instructor said he could tell I knew what I was doing so he wanted to sit down and talk to me about “the program” and get me rolling. The next day I arrived on time, took class, and after we sat down for our meeting. That’s when things went south.
He explained that their $100 per month 6 month contract was only for first time people. That it didn’t include rolling and it was limited to 2 classes per week. Something no one told me, and didn’t enforce at all since I was going 4 days per week for three weeks. The program that included unlimited classes and rolling was…..
$150 per Month
$500 registration fee (nothing included in this)
3 year Contract.
I was dumbfounded, just three weeks before they had told me a completely different story. I thanked him for the information, told him I would think about it, and walked out of there.
I never went back, a few weeks later the head instructor lost his UFC fight. Honestly, I liked the school, but when they pulled the bait and switch I lost all faith in them. If they had told me up front the details, I might have still said yes. Signing up for martial arts shouldn’t feel like someone selling you a used car. If you are charging a premium price be upfront about it. Sure you’ll lose some potential students, but at the end of the day those that say will feel like you have their best interests at heart.
I’m excited to report that I weighed in this morning and I’m at 235. One week of training complete and I’ve already dropped 10 pounds. I know it’s just the start of my road back to health and success, and that the first week you see the most weight drop. But I’m hoping to lose another two or three pounds each week.
Current Weight: 235
Goal Weight: 195
Pounds to Goal: 40
Countdown to Goal: 26 weeks, 6 days, 21 hours, 1 minute
On a side note, I took a picture when I first started training and I’ve decided that once every 4 weeks I’m going to do a before and after and post it. It’s going to be a little embarrassing at first but I’ll get through it.
Last December I ended my four year relationship with my wife. It had been a hard relationship with ups and downs, but I believe to this day that we were both very much in love. We just lacked the skills to be successful in a marriage. Even now a year later, it’s very hard for me to explain and honestly to fully understand my own emotions regarding this subject. During our relationship, I worked in sales during the day and taught and trained JKD at night. My instructor and I ran the school with some 75-100 students and it was as much a full time job as my day job was.
In October of 2010, I changed jobs and started working in Restaurant Management. I had worked in the restaurant industry on and off for 10 years and had spent many of those years working as a manager. Due to scheduling, my impending divorce, and a general desire to breathe a little: I took a break from training. Looking back I know that it was the wrong decision, that my training is an important part of my life, but at the time I felt it was the best choice.
What started as a month or two off ballooned into a year break from martial arts. I trained once and a while here and there. With my friends in the backyard or the park, taking a few Thai Boxing classes at a good school in Miami, and trained for a month at a BJJ place that turned out to be a rip off.
It was a difficult time for me, and I started drinking more than I should have been and eat to excess. When I had first met my ex-wife, I weighted about 185 pounds. I was running 5 days a week, lifting weights 4 days per week, and training JKD 4 days a week. I was in great shape.
I sit here now typing this and I weigh 245 pounds. I don’t work out at all anymore and frankly I eat like someone living in Willy Wonka’s factory. The two classes I took in Haganah kicked my ass, but I really loved it. Being overweight has affected every aspect of my life. I’m sick, tired, and fat. I feel unable to perform the normal things that I could do my whole life.
With all that being stated, I’m throwing down the gauntlet now. I’m done with being out of shape; fat martial arts are a joke. Whenever, I tell people that I do martial arts they look at me like I’m a fake. I want to lose 50 pounds.
My Goal: Lose 50 pounds
Timeframe: I want to weigh 195 by June 25 2012
Plan: Cardio – 5 days per week, Weights – 3 or 4 days per week, diet, and lots of martial arts training.
I will weigh myself in every Monday and give you the reader info on my progress.
