Welcome to our May newsletter, it’s been another busy month of gradings, sparring and evolving.
Breathing correctly, the powerful life-hack.
You can last over 3 weeks without food, 3 days without water, but only minutes without air! Around 40% of today's population have obstructed nasal passages and half of us are mouth-breathers and when we are congested, airflow decreases, bacteria can flourish and poor health and illness take hold. Studies are now showing how truly important the way we breath is, and that it can even help to heal us of some serious illnesses.
Over the years I have trained in a large variety of breathing methods, some will calm you down and will boost the parasympathetic nervous system, helping us heal and cope with things such as anxiety, depression or sleep disorders (there are doctors that claim they can completely cure these problems with breathing techniques). There are other techniques that boost the immune system to fight illness, to the point that patients in a study were able to boost the immune system to rid themselves of e.coli using breath and meditation.
The way we breathe has a huge affect on our psychology and physiology and although there are a multitude of different breathing techniques and we will be going through quite a few different ones in our Tai Chi, Adults and 7-13’s classes… we will keep it simple in the 4-6’s…. they tend to breathe a lot better than us oldies anyway. Below there are some simple instructions to get you started if you want. It’s a way to affect your breathing in a positive way and help open your airways (over the centuries our airways have shrunk due to bigger brains and smaller jaws).
It’s that simple (to start). Something else to consider, Nitric oxide, we produce 50% more through nasal breathing. If you want a superpower this is it, science has discovered that it can improve heart function, blood pressure, immunity, cognitive function, and decrease inflammation, but also helps improve your performance during a workout, aids in weight loss, improves digestion, decreases anxiety and depression, decreases neuropathic pain and aids in wound healing.
We’ll be looking at other techniques over the months, some that create calm, some to boost energy, focus and the immune system.
Dates to remember
Tuesday June 21st the hall is being used so classes on this day will move to Friday June 24th. Or you can use one of our other days if you prefer.
Our summer shutdown August 1st – August 14th although a part of our monthly fee you can make these classes up before and after August as a bonus. I’ll also be putting on some free extra classes over Gloucester park in July and August, we’ll do some weapons training and get a chance to learn some of the staff.
7-13s grading days:
Yellow and Yellow orange belts = June 13th, 14th and 16th
Orange belt and up = November, December or earlier if you're ready
4-6 years
7-13 years
adults
tai chi
What I’m learning/ reading at the moment
training
Animal movements: (bodyweight exercises from the Shaolin temple and modern primal movement ideas) Martial arts have always used animals as inspiration for movement and intent of movement. I’ve trained a little in Monkey style and my first Martial art “Muay Thai” has it’s history in the system of Ling Lum (to do whatever works… or fight like a monkey).
The names of the moves from qingping jian 2: (with help from shifu Kevin who has done all of the research and hard work) The names can seem a bit weird as the translations are difficult, but they can give a real sense for what the movement should be or feel like.
Courses
Jim Kwik - super brain (nearly finished, my brain isn’t super but I’ve learnt a lot).
Journaling – I’m using this to understand my own thought process
books
Breathe (the science of breathing)
Wabi Sabi (the Japanese wisdom for a perfectly imperfect life)
Dates to remember
No classes on Monday the 20th, these classes will be moved to Friday 24th June. Tuesday the 21st there will be very limited parking, suggestions are that if you are driving you can use the asda car park which has free parking for 3 hours or you can use one of our other days, or take your lesson over to another week.
Our summer shutdown August 1st – August 14th although a part of our monthly fee you can make these classes up before and after August. I’ll also be putting on some free extra classes over Gloucester park in July and August, we’ll do some weapons training and get a chance to learn some of the staff.
7-13s grading days:
Yellow and Yellow orange belts = June 13th, 14th and 16th
Orange belt and up = November, December or earlier if you're ready