Gee, Think.

This is a call to personal trainers out there on the interweb.  Who are you?  How did you become a personal trainer?  Why did you choose that path?  What led you to it?  Looking back at it now, would you choose personal training again?

Over the past several months I have become increasingly interested in physical health and wellness.  I feel naturally drawn to learning more about these subjects.  I feel this naturally attraction to it. I can’t completely explain why.  It sparks my interest and curiosity.  I like the idea of learning how to be more healthy.  Wellness is a state that I am happy to enjoy most of the time, and I would love to know how to increase the likelihood of staying well.  I’ve been making small gradual changes to my lifestyle recently.  Some of these changes include alterations to my diet.  On a daily basis I include more fruit by drinking a smoothie of bananas with berries, soy milk, flax seed, and wheat germs.  Sometimes I include or substitute peaches or melons too.  I’ve also started to eat more soy products, more fish, more vegetables, and less red meat.  I cut down on caffiene as well.  I used to drink several cups of coffee each day.  Now I may have one, but usually I stick to green tea.  This morning I actually had two shots of homemade espresso, but I regard that as a once in a while treat that I enjoy.  There was a time where espresso was the norm.

Since making these dietary changes, I feel much better.  I think my digestion as a whole has improved.  I have more energy and vitality.  I’ve also been exercising more and more through my training with Yee’s Hung Ga Gung Fu association.  There’s no doubt that gung fu has also contributed to my health.  There are also meditative practices that go along with gung fu practice.  Some of these fit into a category called “Hei Gong” in Cantonese.  I have seen greater mental clarity, less stress, and more even emotional shifts since undertaking these practices.

So to sum up, I’ve been making these changes in my own life.  I have seen the results and I’m excited about them.  I feel much more alive and well.  I’d like to devote more time to understanding health and well being, mental, phsycial, and spiritual.  My inituition tells me that the personal training occupation could allow me more time to do this.  So personal trainers, I’m reaching out to you.  If you’re reading this post, please send me some information on the path you’ve taken.  Thank you.

Daily dedication is my most recent exploration. Hung Ga training has taken my mental focus to a new level. Every day, as a member of Yee’s Hung Ga International, I am instructed to perform several Hei Gong exercises. Sometimes these exercises are also referred to as Chi Gong. Their purpose is to build internal power. I believe that eventually they are meant to create a better flow of Chi within the body.

There are several sets of Hei Gong exercises but currently I only know of and pracitce one, the 7 Golden Passages. This is a set of 7 stances. In each stance, the method of training is to remain still while flexing certain muscles. In a way, these exercises are deceptive. Aside from breathing, there is no movement. However, each stance is designed to target a specific set of muscles. The stances are not common body positions and so beginners may have difficulty holding each stance for 1 minute.

I have noticed a great change in my physical health and strength since I started this regimen. It has been emphasized to me over and over again that it is absolutely imperative to do these exercises each and every day. With that in mind I am taking the challenge of making time for it everyday.

I have started a new physical training discipline. It is a martial arts tradition called Hung Ga. The teaching lineage includes famed gung fu master Wong Fei Hung, and is descended from the Shaolin (Seiu Lum) temple of Southern China. I have only been training in this form for approximately 3.5 weeks. 25 days or so. Already I have seen great results. The school I’ve joined is based on the traditions and discipline of the old style. The class is formal, challenging, serious, and entertaining. It is similar to yoga in that the body gains a lot of strength without the use of weights. I continue to be amazed at what can be gained from holding a single stance or posture. Yoga first showed this to me and know I am experiencing it again in another form.

This is the start of a long career. I sincerely hope that I will be able to train with these people for a long time to come. I learn so much with each class, I can hardly wait to practice it on my own.