It’s Hard to be Humble!

So You Think You're HOT !!

Humility is a tenet of the martial arts, but one of the most difficult to explain, portray and discuss. One of the reasons is that in being humble one should not overly draw attention to one’s self, but instead be objective in regards to comparison with others. However, having a healthy self-esteem seems to contradict that ... or does it? The arts describe humility by exaggerating the opposite in a humorous way, as in Mac Davis’ song, It’s Hard to be Humble When You’re Perfect in Every Way. Some sports stars show exaggerated pride when they do the least impressive thing or build themselves up before a big event as the famous “sting like a bee” Mohammad Ali. However, watch any Olympic event and you will see many athletes humbled by both their wins and losses. No matter how good you are, you can be defeated when you only have one shot, even at something you have nailed numerous times before. This is where the humility comes in. You can, will and should feel proud when you accomplish something; the humility is the feeling that you did manage to do it. You can accept praise and give thanks, but it should never be at the expense of your opponent’s efforts.
Humility is watching the winner bow to his or her opponent without gloating. Yet, it is also watching the defeated bow to the winner. It sounds easy, but if you have ever been in either position, it is difficult. There is a family of martial artists, everyone nicknamed the “Stepford” family, because of their unnatural ability to do everything so well. That may sound derogatory, but it isn’t; they are well-liked and respected by all. Why? Because they are truly humble winners and are always gracious losers. Their friends constantly joke they would love to hate them, but they are just too nice. Even worse, they make it look effortless. It isn’t. Their parents, who were excellent role models, taught them by pointing out the traits in others that they wanted their children to exhibit and bringing to task any undesirable behavior. Children are good at copying others, especially those they respect. When adults and children witness their mentor’s and instructor’s humility, it shows them how to achieve this much sought after trait. Inside they may be shouting, “I did it!” but on the outside they try not to display an emotion that will offend their opponent. Remember selfconfidence is essential, but cocky arrogance will make eventual defeats more bitter.

Balancing Act

A ban has been placed on trans fats used in New York City restaurants. Schools across the nation are removing soda and junk food from the vending machines that bring in much needed funds. Fast foods might have to display each food’s calorie content on the menu boards.
These measures never would have made it past discussion ten years ago, but with today’s obesity epidemic and the cost to our health care system, everyone is looking for ways to curb the problem.
Will these ideas work? Time will only tell, but there are things all of us can do to curb the problem. It’s interesting to note that as we are putting restrictions on food, schools are eliminating recess and physical education requirements to make time for more academics. This is happening even as studies have shown students who have a physical activity break do better, are more attentive in school and score higher on tests. When you view all of the ideas to beat obesity, diet and exercise are separated.

First, we must remember it is not only what goes in the body, but also what the body does to expend the energy that regulates our health and weight. A person eating 1500 calories a day can gain weight if sitting around doing nothing. A person eating 2400 calories a day can lose weight if getting enough exercise.
The one thing everyone agrees will help the situation is starting health education at an earlier age. Preschoolers are now learning to like vegetables as they learn their colors. They enjoy counting how many hops it takes to move around the room. Young children are naturally physically active; it’s in school that we teach them to sit still and be quiet for hours on end. This means we need to combine activity with learning. But we can’t put this all off on the schools. Parents also need to see that physical activity is promoted in the home along with academics. Unfortunately, we also need to remind adults they have to watch the balancing act between physical activity and consuming calories. This is going to be harder. Adults have already learned these bad habits and their time is stretched to accommodate family, work and commuting. Exercise can be added in smaller amounts, such as parking a block away and walking, a family martial arts class and a stroll at lunch. Small diet changes can include chopped veggies instead of chips, a salad with a smaller meat course at dinner. One idea won’t be a cure all, but by combining ideas, making small changes and balancing diet and exercise, we might, over time, make a dent in the obesity epidemic.

Gracie Diet Tip of the Month: Beverages


The Gracie Diet is a food combination concept and what many people don't realize is that although you might combine your foods perfectly, you can quickly ruin a meal by selecting the wrong beverage.



• Soda: Although soda is unhealthy regardless of what you drink it with, you will quickly multiply the damaging effect it has on your body when you drink it with Group A (cooked meal.) Because of its sweetness soda would be considered a Group C food and as a result you should avoid consuming it with foods prepared with fat.

• Milk: Milk is hyped up to be a very healthy beverage and although it does have some benefits, drinking it with the wrong meal can make it more harmful than helpful. In general milk combines only with Group B starches, bananas, milk derivatives and other dairy products.

• Fruit Juice: Fruit juices are extremely healthy. If sweet, they belong to Group C, and therefore, they do combine with Group B (starches) but should never be drunk with Group A (cooked foods).

• Vegetable Juice: Freshly squeezed Vegetable juices are the healthiest choice for a beverage to be consumed with a Group A (cooked meals.)

• Water: When in doubt, drink water - with anything, at anytime.

• Start each day with a full 12oz glass of water as soon as you get out of bed

• Drink a full 12oz glass of water just before going to bed.

• Drink lots of water

We’d like to remind everyone
that this Friday ---02 MAR 2007
We will be holding our next belt exam.
Please review the testing schedule, exam roster, and upcoming events to see how it may affect you by visiting our website
@ http://www.americanblackbelt.org/ABBA.html and clicking on the “Student Corner” icon.

This month’s password is --- heart.