Fail or Win?

They called it a fail, I call it a win.

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Alone at home, he spotted a masked intruder fought him off enough to escape and escaped. Good self defense.

Beware the Headlines!

Lose Weight By Eating Junk Food

Chinese Court Sentences Drunk Driver to Death

Missing Baby Found in Sandwich

All of these are real headlines, but none of them are really what they seem. The story doesn't always match what the headline implies. The goal of these headlines is to get people to read the articles (obviously), but it seems that in many cases the result is that people remember the headlines rather than the actual story.

Go ahead. Click on the first headline. Be sure to read down to the part where the nutrition expert says he does not recommend that you lose weight by eating junk food.

Click on the second one and get "the rest of the story."

Check the third one while you're at it.

Don't automatically believe the headlines, whether they're online, on TV, or coming out of people's mouths.

www.franklinkungfu.com

www.facebook.com/Sifu.Steven

Master

In martial arts circles, one hears the word "master" a lot. Most of the time it is used as a title, such as; Master so and so will be here this week; or I learned from Master such and such. . .

In some cases that title is thrown around too easily, and in a few cases (still too many) a martial artist gives him/herself that title.

This is all coming to my mind because someday, my sifu will put that title on a certificate with my name, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I've been doing a lot of thinking about it, and have found my peace.

I choose not to think of it as a title.

I choose not to think of it as a noun.

I choose to think of it as a verb.

Master Steven O'Nan.

That is one powerful verb, and one powerful call to action don't you think?

Back on Track

I'm getting back on track. I've been feeling overwhelmed and at times defeated, but I'm getting back on track. It is a good feeling, and it is exactly what we have to do when we get off track.

If it sounds simple it is because it is simple.

I said simple, I didn't say easy.

Lesson Learned the Hard Way

Once the tournament was over, I had lost a legitimate 18 pounds. I feel great at my new weight. I decided to give myself a little treat and indulge in some fast food. I clocked out for my lunch break and drove over to Wendy's.

Spicy chicken sandwich, french fries, sweet tea. Mmmmmmm.

Afterwards, I started feeling sluggish. This had not been happening while I was religiously eating healthy stuff. Actually, sluggish was not a strong enough word. I felt sedated. I honestly felt like someone had slipped something into my meal.

I guess in truth, they had probably slipped a lot of things into my meal.

So, the pre-tournament diet will become my usual diet. Unhealthy foods will be rare, soft drinks will be treated like the CANDY they are and will be consumed extremely rarely. ( A 20 oz. Coca-Cola has as much sugar as 18 Jolly Ranchers.) I will try to focus my shopping on the outside edges of the grocery store (That's where they keep the produce, meat, and dairy the heavily processed foods are in the middle). I'll read labels, look for wholesome foods and just be aware of what I am eating, and why I am eating it.

When I Will Retire From Competition.

Lately, with every tournament I compete in, I wonder afterwards how many more I will do. You see, there just aren't many instructors out there competing. There really aren't many school owners out there competing. It all makes me wonder what it seems like to others for me, a school owner/instructor to still be out there competing.

Some may think I have something to prove to others, that I'm out there to make a point. Some may think I have something to prove to myself. Neither of these is the case, and it really doesn't matter what people think. What matters is what I and my students stand to benefit from me competing.

You see, every time I have competed so far, I have learned something about myself, about competing, about running a competition, about training for competition, about my art, and the list goes on.

So I guess the answer is that I will continue competing for as long as it continues to make me a better martial artist, and a better martial arts instructor.