Fang Shen Do Kung Fu - Canada Martial Arts Training

It's Louse Time!

If you're new to my list of focused, motivated, self- starters, Welcome.

(if you're not jump right away to today's lesson below)

Every day I communicate to you the best ways to train and the kind of mindset it takes to get results either in your physical fitness or martial art training.

Friday is always what I call: "Louse Time". Modeled after Bruce Lee's strategy in Enter the Dragon. You know that part where he's having tea with the government agent but he's disturbed by one of his students and Bruce Lee tells the agent: It's Louse Time! The agent replies with his british accent: "yes of course".

Since I'm 6 years old that scene has always stuck with me and I'll be using that same strategy with YOU every week.

Friday is where I share with you Life Lessons and Direction given to me by my dad (and Sifu) every Friday.

Today's lesson is: Living Life on Your Own Terms

I like this quote by Christopher Morley: "There is only one success - to be able to spend your life in your own way."

Have you ever been discriminated against?

Ridiculed.

Told you weren't good enough.

Been openly criticized?

Well we have.

I can just imagine how women felt back in the early 1900's. Unable to vote. Not recognized as a qualified person to be appointed to the senate, other people telling them what they could and couldn't do.

Or what African Canadians went through to have equal rights in this country.
The nerve of people who think they can control you and decide what you can and cannot do in your place.

I have alot of respect for those groups of people that had to fight for their Freedom.

Choose how you want to spend your life. With Who? Where? Doing What? Do not let anyone dictate what you can or cannot do.

There's only one person that can stop you from accomplishing your goals: YOU.

Become a Self-Leader. Stick to what you believe in and march straight ahead towards it.

Master Yourself,

Sifu Martin

Labels: Goals, Purpose

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Monday, June 9, 2008

Add 15 pounds of muscle

I got an interesting e-mail the other day. I've said it before, we have some pretty awesome students. Students that don't let past experiences put a hamper on their future.

If there's anything you don't like in your life, change it.

This student offers the perfect example.

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Dear Sifu Martin,

You've been writing me for quite some time and I am honored. During the last Focus on Results seminar in Montreal I was able to break what seemed unbreakable at first, my ARROW.

Today I'm participating in a Triathlon and I will complete it because I know I can.

I carry a very heavy emotional baggage even though I'm only 15 years old. I've been through a lot. After having been beaten and sexually abused by my father, I felt this emptyness , it just feels like part of him is dead to me. As you can imagine this had an adverse effect on me and my self-esteem.

At that time I weighed 220 pounds and standing at 5 foot 5 inches! One morning I decided I had enough, slipped on my running shoes and started running, convinced I could make it and lose 30 pounds.

I never stopped running from that day forward and ended up losing 70 pounds. When I lost all that weight I started asking myself: "What else I could do except for Football to continue my evolution, my physical and emotional progression?"

One day my brother told me: "Hey they're opening a kung-fu school just up the street from here, we could check it out?"

At that time I weighed 150 pounds and that's when I decided to start my Fang Shen Do training. Today marks my 8th month in kung-fu and now weigh 165 pounds, all the weight I gained is purely muscle mass, backed up by better focus and a renewed sense of purpose.

I sincerely thank you and your team. I'm infinitely grateful!

I have to go win my triathlon now.

S

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Hi S,

Incredible. Congratulations. You know there is no age to inspire someone. YOU insprire me.

I'm sure that when you started running it was your way of dealing with your problems by running away from them. After having done the training at the last Focus On Results meeting you've learned to face them head on without any fear.

Continue your training, all I can promise you is continued growth and self-discovery. We'll make sure you keep setting higher goals for yourself and we'll offer you the support to reach them whatever they may be.

Again, you're an inspiration and let me know anything else I can do to help you.

Sifu Martin

---

We all have our up days and down days. All I need to do is go through my drawer of success
stories like this one to get me back on track.

If you have a similar success story don't hesitate to send it my way.

Until next time,

Sifu Martin

P.S Speaking of being down, I wanted to release that link to the 500 year old secret training link to you today, just solving a few tech problems and will send it to you tomorrow guaranteed.

Labels: Attitude, Direction, Goals

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Thursday, May 22, 2008

He's 3 and he knows what he wants

This morning I drove my son Vincent to day care as I usually do on Tuesdays and Thursdays when he asked me a question.

When am I gonna do Kung-fu?

He's just a little over 3 years old.

He knows that Thursday is Kung-fu day for his sister Justine and he thinks he's ready to start.

So I said yes, I'll pick up a uniform for him tonight and pack the video camera to catch it all on film. We'll see how he does.

When driving back home I couldn't help but think of how kids know what they want and they'll do anything to get it.

Compared to so many full grown adults who don't.

Do YOU know what you want? Because if you don't, you're not gonna get anywhere.

Be clear on what you want to look like physically. How do you see yourself in 5, 10 years?

What line of work do you want to be in. Is it what you love? Is it easy and effortless for you to do?

The next thing I thought about driving back was the importance of being a good role-model.

Vincent wants to do kung-fu because he SEES me doing it.

Kids are like sponges and I must be careful to set the right example for him in all areas: from seeing me make physical health and conditioning a top priority, to how I treat my wife, to what I eat to fuel my body, to seeing me read and educate myself.

You don't need to be a father to do this. You can be a role-model to your friends, to your co-workers, or to your family.

Set the example of what having a balanced life should look like.

Inspire someone to master themselves.

Tomorrow I'll let you know when you can get your hands on that 500 year old secret I've been keeping locked away in the FSD vault.

Until then,

Aim higher,

Sifu Martin

P.S. This information was hard to come by and comes directly from the birthplace of martial arts. Stay tuned...

Labels: Goals

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Friday, May 2, 2008

It's Louse Time!

This week my dad reminded me of the Dog story.

It goes kinda like this:

This salesman arrives at a farmer's house and notices the farmer's dog sitting quietly on the porch.

Salesman asks the farmer: "Is your dog always that quiet?"

"Oh, he's just sitting on a nail"

"A nail? Shouldn't we do something?" the salesman asks.

"Oh no, he's been sitting there quietly for a week"

"Are you sure he's okay?"

Farmer responds: "Well, I guess it doesn't hurt enough!"

How much pain are you supposed to endure before you actually do something about it?

Many people follow this weird behaviour.

Some wait to be overweight before they start a fitness conditioning program.

Others prefer a lung cancer diagnosis to quit smoking.

Maybe it's failing to know how to defend yourself until you're a victim of domestic violence, rape or an unavoidable confrontation.

Why wait for so much pain before taking action?

Put physical fitness, self-defense and personal development at the top of your priority list.

If you've been procrastinating about something for the last few months or even years maybe it's time you got off that nail and took some constructive steps towards achieving it?

There's no good or bad time to take action, just as long as you start.

Master Yourself,

Sifu Martin

Labels: Discipline, Goals

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Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Keeping the fire lit

I get flooded with training inquiries, requests and advice on different subjects. I don't always have time to answer all of them but I'm gonna answer one today. Here goes:
----
Hi Sifu,

As you know I am a huge fan of your writtings. Here is a subject I would like addressed. I would like your insight on how to maintain the desire needed to be successful in Fang Shen Do. In other words, when someone is feeling like their passion for Kung Fu is "dwindling" and a person begins to second guess their decision about pursuing FSD to it's fullest....How do you keep the fire lit?

K
----
Sifu M: It depends what's at stake. What kind of mental pact have you done with yourself?

If you haven't associated anything of value to fight for in moments of lack of motivation, quitting will be painless and common in other areas of your life.

I see it as a pattern that could potentially repeat itself in the future. Finish what you start. Do you usually finish what you start or do you constantly bounce from one undertaking to another?

Make a pact with yourself. Set the stakes high. For me martial arts is a wonderful vehicle to work on so many areas of my life. I don't know of any other physical activity that covers all the bases like FSD does.

Let me share what I use to stay motivated in moments of weakness. Well first of all I'm very stubborn and quitting something before its completion would be a direct hit to my ego, or the self-image I have of myself. It is an image of tenacity, determination, and success.

Quitting would be a direct hit to those core values.

Age motivates me. I don't want to be and look like all the other 70 or 80 year olds when I get to that level. I don't like what I see and training is my way to stay young and vibrant for as long as possible. Quitting for me is an attack on the quality and length of my life.

Where else is there a team of people behind you, supporting you, encouraging you to set new limits for yourself, a team that believes in you and wants you to succeed?

Find out what motivates you, what would really make you stick with your training?

Is it your ability to move?

Is it having vibrant health free of disease?

Is it the satisfaction of knowing you've spent years mastering your body and mind?

Is it to keep on learning new skills?

Is it having an un-breakable spirit?

Is it seeing your kids graduate?

Just find that one reason and keep that image in your mind, let it carry you through the ups and downs of martial art development.

No one ever said mastering yourself was easy. Everything in life is a test. Will you pass or fail?

I say Master Yourself,

Sifu Martin

Labels: Fang Shen Do, Goals, Mental Power

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Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Power of Dreams

No matter what your situation is, you can accomplish anything you desire.

If you have a DREAM, you can make it a reality.

A dream keeps you motivated, it can help you get through a difficult phase of your life because you keep your focus on the big picture. The VISION you have for yourself.

I can't help but to think about my father and how he had all the odds stacked up against him. If you didn't have a chance to read his Bio on the web site it's a pretty inspiring story. It confirms what he's been saying for 3 decades: If he can do it so can you.

You just need to believe in yourself.

What do you want to accomplish? What do you think about most? What's easy for you to do? What doesn't seem like work? Whatever that is THAT'S your dream and you should pursue it.

Some people around you might not agree, you might be criticized but you have to be immune to it. No one can control your destiny, only you can.

Dreams are contagious.

Especially if you're a father or mother, your dreams can inspire your own kids.

Just like my father's dreams helped forge mine.

Reaching a point where we share the same dreams about martial arts and personal development.

One of his dreams of becoming a firewalking trainer influenced mine and now coming this May we're holding a firewalking event in Bruxelles, France May 8 th to the 10 th.

My dad would say: "Everything we have in this world is our own doing, you're 100% responsible for it"

That can go both ways.

If you don't like what you've been getting out of life you can always dream bigger and better ones.

I like to believe how you feel inside reflects what you produce on the outside.

The first step to feeling good inside is mastering your body.

Here's the training system we've been using with great success for the past 35 years.

Aim Higher,

Sifu Martin

Labels: Attitude, Goals, Strength Training

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Monday, January 21, 2008

The Power of Fire

Firewalking gets you all fired up! (pun intended!)

It stretches your imagination.

You expand your way of thinking and what you want out of life. Everyone's goals are different and everyone needs different things to be truly happy.

Firewalking helps spice things up a little bit. Making those goals more exciting, more "grandiose", helping you dream big without limitations.

Walking on fire is such an unnatural thing for your mind and body to do since its been programmed since childhood that fire equals: "burn" or "pain" that the mere act of "walking on coals" frees your mind in a way.

It opens up a whole new world of possibilities and quickly makes you question other things in your life that you thought were "set in stone" because of past programming.

Things like:

What you fear?
Why are you paralyzed by that fear?
What would I really do if I no longer had that fear stopping me?
How much better my quality of life would be?

It literally takes about 5 seconds to get across the fire pit and in that short time you undergo a complete "belief check up".

What you thought was real goes under scrutiny:

Your level of confidence.
How you express yourself in public.
What you see in the mirror every morning.
Are you doing what you love?

You're thinking about a million things all at once.

Every time I walk it's a new set of questions and keeps me stretching my comfort zone, expanding my potential and keeping the "fire" burning for years to come.

Come walk with us, pre-register today, our next event is on March 2nd at the Pagoda.

Sifu Martin

Labels: Firewalking, Focus, Goals, Mindset

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Friday, June 20, 2008

It's Louse Time!

Monday, June 9, 2008

Add 15 pounds of muscle

Thursday, May 22, 2008

He's 3 and he knows what he wants

Friday, May 2, 2008

It's Louse Time!

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Keeping the fire lit

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Power of Dreams

Monday, January 21, 2008

The Power of Fire

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