World Championships & Life Lessons

When we take to social media or the blogosphere, it’s easy to want to brag about one’s successes. I’m guilty of that, but I hope such stories are also covered in humility.

Virtually all of our success, I would argue, is a combination of the positive influence of others and our own determination. But with that said, I thought I’d share a story of when I reached for the stars…. and fell on my face. I want to share examples like that though in the framework of something positive.

When I pursue a new goal, I think of two sayings.

Always happy; never satisfied & It’s ok to be disappointed; it’s not ok to be discouraged.

I just sent out two more queries this afternoon on the novel I wrote this summer. As I pursue that larger writing goal, I think of those two quotes.

In a previous blog, I wrote about how to reach success after setbacks. I’m trying to look at my ambitions from a variety of perspectives, trying to find some extra motivation to reach new goals. And I find it helpful to look at those setbacks more closely.

One of my biggest goals from the last decade was to compete and place in the US Open World Martial Arts Championships. After some success in local tournaments, my eyes got bigger. I was happy, you see, but not satisfied. That seems to be a pattern for me, much more so when I was younger. But I think having constant new challenges is healthy for the mind, body, and spirit. I do want to be happy—and I am—but I also don’t want to be too content or too satisfied that I never stop learning and challenging myself.

So back in the mid 2000s, I made a goal to place in the US Open World Martial Arts Championships. I competed in the adult black belt forms division in the summer of 2005. Talk about stage fright! ESPN was there recording on the main stage where black belts competed (no, I never saw myself on TV), and as I announced my form introduction, I thought I would surely throw up on the judges. Here are a couple of pictures of my actual forms competition at the world championships.

That was a great summer for training. I worked out every day, completing the formal 90 day P90X program for the first time that would later inspire me to want to become a P90X certified instructor. I also practiced my kata (form)  a dozen times a day at least.

There were over 100 competitors on that main stage, and only the top ten received formal awards. When all was said and done, I was not one of the top ten. I do not know where I ranked to this day, although I sure like to think it was somewhere in the teens! Not knowing my rank and not placing in the top ten disappoints me still. For all of you who work so hard to accomplish something: Have you ever felt that disappointment? I must have trained and worked out 3 hours a day that summer. And when I first looked back at all that hard work, it felt like it was for nothing. But that’s stupid, and if we think all the work we’ve put into something—even if we didn’t earn a reward—is worthless, we are missing the big point.

It’s ok to be disappointed. It’s not ok to be discouraged. All the hard work we put into our life’s ambitions makes us stronger, and even if we fail (I hate that word) at one goal, we can apply that determinism and the life lessons we learned to new goals.  Competing in the world championships was a great life experience for me, and the lessons I learned would be passed on to my martial arts students, several of whom competed in the US Open World Martial Arts Championships a couple years later. Several of those students placed and have “world champion” on their resume. That is pretty sweet!

You see, as I work to publish a novel (or any number of goals), I remember my training to compete in the US Open. I practiced every day. Well, the daily writing I do on this blog is some my writing practice (plus revisions and other stories I don’t want to share publicly yet). And if like my US Open experience, what if my biggest writing goals never come to life? That’s ok. Because I am having fun on this journey, and learning new things about myself, about others who share their writing and blogs with me, and about others who leave comments and send me messages. That makes all of this practice worth it. And if nothing else, my writing skills will sharpen as I age, right? My ability to compete athletically may not increase as I age. So thankfully this goal only requires some time to sit and imagine!

Thank you for all of you who encourage me to write and are rooting for me to succeed. Tell me about  your goals and ambitions, and I am every bit as happy to cheer for you too. Remember: It’s the influence of others plus our own determination that are the two main ingredients for success.

The secret is....

How many times have you thought you were in the best shape of your life? How many times have you thought you were in the worst shape? If we make a goal to be fit forever, we have to reflect on these highs and lows and find the secret to the highs. 

When I first started teaching martial arts and running my own school in 2001, I had one of the “best” shape of my life experiences. I was training in karate everyday to master my teaching. It shredded the weight and toned the muscles.

But just two years later, in 2003, I was probably in one of the worst shapes of my life.  The funny thing is that I hadn’t stopped training in karate. In fact, I was probably doing it more. But I remember this awful moment when a teenager called me on my weight gain. “Mr. Chianakas,” he said, “You have put on a few pounds.”

He was a teenager who didn’t mean to offend, but he did. I actually thought: “I’d be in better shape if I didn’t spend all of my time teaching karate.”  Ironic, right? The very thing that got me in shape was what I was blaming for getting me out of shape.

Then I realized the secret: I had been doing the same thing over and over again. Our bodies get used to the work we do, and over time, the very exercises that got in us shape will have a significantly weaker effect. It’s why sometimes you see a runner or a biker, who has only ran or biked for years and done nothing else, who looks overweight. You would think a lifetime runner would always be in shape, but the truth is that we need variety in our exercise for the best results.

Shortly after that insulting comment, I remember being up late, eating a bag of Cheetos (my guilty pleasure at the time) and watching infomercials. I also wasn’t sleeping well.  I unfortunately wasted money on silly things like “The Perfect Pancake” (not so perfect, to be honest). But in one of my Cheeto eating moments, I saw an informercial for Power 90, a 90 day workout program. While stuffing down the junk food, I made an impulsive purchase and bought the program.

Unlike the perfect pancake, this program worked. It was a simple goal: for 90 days you will work out, alternating cardio and weight training. I completed the program, and I once again was in the best shape of my life. Students looked at martial arts pictures I had in my classroom from the previous year, and seriously asked, “Is this you?” They could not believe that I so much thinner and so much more toned in such a short period of time.

A couple of years went by, and I focused on my martial arts program. Guess what happened in a couple of years? I was once again out of shape. 

This information is not to slam teaching and dedication. It is a warning that if we rely on only one source for physical exercise that we will eventually get out of shape, even though we are being physical.

Guess what infomercial I saw next? P90X! I bought the P90X program, ten times more advanced, more challenging, and more rewarding than the original Power 90. It worked so well that I had a friend who I had not seen in just 3 weeks look surprised to see me. She said, “Has it only been a few weeks? You look like a different person.

The conclusion: P90X worked amazingly well.

I repeated this cycle more often then I want to admit: a year or two of my routine, a few months of something different. At the end of the few months I was always in better shape than after years of the routine.

All of the above is one reason why I argue variety is the key to our workouts. You have mix it up and mix it up often!

That’s why I now do Turbo Kick, which has a new round focusing on different muscle groups every 2-3 months, and I invest in the Beachbody programs.  I am 30 plus days into P90X2. I love it. But I am not going to let years go before I do the programs. Last year I completed Insanity. Then I waited nearly a year for that extra variety. 

My goals now include:

Constant Turbo Kick teaching 3-4 times a week and a new Beachbody program at least 2-3 times a year.

This summer, I plan to tackle Insanity: Asylum and bring back some old P90X workouts too.

So how do you incorporate variety in your workouts? What programs have you tried that are successful?

Let’s not only commit to fitness; let’s commit to variety. Variety is the secret to being fit for life.

 

What is Turbo Kick?

This is a highlight video I did of a Turbo Kick round several months ago.

Turbo Kick is a combination of cardio kickboxing and athletic moves to the hottest contemporary music.

I teach Turbo at the Illinois Central College CougarPlex on Tues & Thurs at 5:15 p.m. and Saturdays at 10:45 a.m. now and all summer long.  If you are serious about fitness, you should give this workout a chance. It is a tough workout; not a program you learn day one. But compared to other workout programs, this one burns the most calories, has the best music, and has the most variety in moves, with new combinations and music released every two months. It's by far my favorite workout!

Message me if you are interested in coming. Guest passes are always available.