The holidays are a time to be thankful.  Unfortunately they are also a time to gain weight.  The average American gains almost 10 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.  Everywhere we go everything is about food and there never seems to be enough time to squeeze in a quick workout.  This year, redefine what the holiday season means and make it about spending time together as a family.  Here are some suggestions to help get you moving without sacrificing quality time.

-Take a Taekwondo class!  A number of schools will offer a holiday special that makes it affordable for you to try martial arts as a family.  You can even burn up to 800 calories in one hour-long taekwondo class!

-Instead of watching football start a game up on Thanksgiving.  That extra movement will make dinner taste even more delicious.

-On a tight budget this year?  Volunteer your time as a family working at a local charity instead of making a donation in someone’s name. 

-Offer to walk a neighbor’s dog when they’re out of town, or see if you can foster a dog through your local SPCA so they don’t have to spend the holidays in a kennel!

-Skip the fake tree this year and find a local tree farm where you can walk around and pick out your own (or get a second tree).

-How many benefits have you and your children gotten from taekwondo?  Give that same gift to someone else instead of a video game.

Keeping active will certainly help, but make sure you watch your portion sizes too.  Check back soon for our next blogpost on what to eat during the holidays!

One of the first lessons your martial arts instructor will teach you is that taekwondo training mainly teaches you to prevent fighting.  If, however, a negative situation is unavoidable your training will help you defend yourself.  We teach that in the long run prevention is always a smarter option.  Well, this same philosophy applies to other areas of your life too.  In fact, research suggestions there may be a link between martial arts training and breast cancer prevention.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month, a disease which touches a large number of people either through having the disease itself or watching friends and family members fight the disease.  Well, according to Cornell University’s (CU) Medical College martial arts training helps aid in the prevention of breast cancer due to its holistic (mind and body) focus.

An article published by CU’s Weill Medical College indicates that yoga, meditation, tai chi, and other martial arts help reduce stress which suppresses the immune system.  Research is actually showing that stress may increase your susceptibility to breast cancer.  Yet another benefit to martial arts training – stress reduction and potentially preventing breast cancer.  In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness month give these health benefits to someone you love and bring a friend to class!

Regardless of how old you are or what rank you have earned, most martial artists share a goal: to be the best they possibly can be.  You may never be able to jump, flip upside down, and accurately kick your target like Jackie Chan, but taekwondo is an individual sport, which means the important thing is you try to do that best that YOU can do.  Use these Seven Habits of Highly Successful Martial Artists to help you get there.

1) Be There – getting to class is important not only to continue your learning but to provide  your body with the routine of physically and mentally participating in taekwondo (also known as muscle memory).

2) Practice – If you want to master a skill you have  to work on it at home.  Take 5 to 10 minutes during the day working on a particularly challenging technique and you’ll be surprised how quickly you “get it”. 

3) Eat Right – Everyone has heard that “you are what you eat”.  Your body is like a sports car: you have to put in top quality fuel to get the best results.

4) Stretch Daily – Flexibility isn’t necessary in taekwondo, but the more flexible you are the faster, more powerful, and more accurate your techniques will become.  It doesn’t take much, just a few minutes during commercial breaks will help.  Remember to never stretch to the point where it’s painful, but do push yourself just past what is comfortable and hold (*never* bounce).

5) Meditate/Visualize – You can even do this while you’re stretching.  Close your eyes, relax, and slowly take several deep breaths while visualizing yourself mastering that challenging technique or doing the perfect form.

6) Teach – When it comes to studying anything, the learning order from least to most effective is to hear it, to read it, to write it down, and to teach it to someone else.  Teaching something forms a stronger imprint of the information in your brain, so go help a struggling fellow student or just teach someone something you read in your Student Manual.

7) Set Goals – There is no way to stress exactly how important it is to have a goal, whether it be an upcoming tournament, future testing, mastering a technique, breaking boards, or getting your 7th Degree Black Belt.  In fact, set several short and long-term goals.  You don’t have to create a deadline, but periodically check in and make sure you’re making progress.

Fit in 10 minutes? No problem with our short fitness routines.  Add them to your regular Taekwondo classes to really tone your body.

Side Plank with Twist (1 minute) – Get into push-up position (legs extended, abs engaged, wrists under shoulders).  Slowly rotate body to the right, lifting right arm toward ceiling and bringing right leg behind you.  Push your hips up high, away from floor, keeping both feet grounded.  Lower back to push-up position, then rotate to left.  Alternate for one minute.

Jumping Jacks (2 minutes)

Push-Up with Leg Lift (2 minutes) – Start in the up phase of a push-up.  Keeping hips square to the floor, life leg 10 inches.  Bend elbows to lower chest toward floor; hold for 2 counts.  Return to start and lower left leg.  Repeat for one minute, then switch sides.

Sprint (1 minute)

Prone Jackknife (2 minutes) - Grab a swiss ball and get in push-up position with your shins resting on the ball and your palms flat on the floor, shoulder-width apart.  Pull you knees toward your chest, allowing your hips to rise toward the ceiling and your head to tilt toward the floor.  Stop when your toes at on the ball and most of your weight is on your hands.  Straighten your legs to roll the ball back to start.  Repeat for two minutes.

Shadowbox (2 minutes) – this drill can be done alone or with a bag.  For two minutes throw every taekwondo technique you can think of as fast as you can, just as if you were sparring.  Make sure to move your feet as if you were dodging an imaginary opponent and try to throw at least three spin kicks, jump spin kicks, and 360-degree jump spin kicks. If you’re not breathing hard by the end of the first  minute you’re not pushing yourself.