Can Martial Arts Improve Your Memory?
By Joseph Galea
As we age, our memory tends to diminish. However, aging isn’t the only thing that negatively affects memory. With today’s busy lifestyles, failures in memory are more apt to happen. Lack of exercise, mundane tasks and stress can all negatively affect even a young mind. So what can you do to combat this decline? The answer is simple: participate in martial arts! First, martial arts provides routine exercise that has been proven to protect brain function. Researchers believe that exercise protects the brain in many ways including increasing blood flow and decreasing the risk of diseases that may impair brain function. Exercise also helps to control stress which, unmanaged, negatively affects memory. Chronic stress not only interferes with your ability to focus but actually leads to altered brain structure. Controlling stress is therefore one crucial key to maintaining brain function and memory. Martial arts is a great stress reducer above and beyond its role as exercise as it incorporates meditation and other stress-reducing techniques. Martial arts also exercises your mind. Just as physical exercise builds your physical body,mental exercise pushes your brain to get in shape. The brain is a “use it or lose it” organ. According to Dr. Robert Butler of Mount Sinai Medical School,”…decrease in [brain] function results from disuse.” By participating in the martial arts you are constantly giving your brain new information and movements to learn, thereby keeping your brain in tip-top shape. As you age and enjoy your busy lifestyle, decreased memory doesn’t have to be inevitable. Practice the martial arts regularly to exercise your mind and body, allowing you to enjoy a more active and healthier brain.
HealthKick: Formulating Your Dietary Needs
By Jennifer G. Galea, MS RD
A common characteristic that we all share is the body’s requirement of food for survival. However, that doesn’t mean we can or should eat any kind of food.We have to pay attention to what we eat and drink on a consistent basis, because it influences our performance in all our daily activities. Unfortunately, there is no perfect meal plan that fits every individual’s needs.Whether we are male or female, a child or an adult, active or sedentary, a Jones or a Smith,we each have specific dietary requirements to reach our health potential. As martial artists, our body demands will be even greater. The good news is that there are basic guidelines that point each of us in the right direction.Then we each need to tailor our diet to our individual lifestyle and tolerances. For starters, our bodies function best on a wellbalanced diet. That means we should eat a variety of foods from each of the five food groups: protein, milk, grains, fruits, and vegetables. This ensures that we are providing our body with the necessary nutrients for a healthy, strong body. Each food group provides specific nutrients that the body needs. Individual foods within each group offer a unique mixture of nutrients, so variety within food groups, as well as among them, is crucial. For more active people, such as martial artists, additional carbohydrates should be consumed as a source of extra energy. Carbohydrates in the form of whole grains, vegetables and fruits also provide the additional vitamins and minerals required for increased activity.Martial artists should avoid foods high in fat, especially prior to working out. Fats take longer to digest and can lead to feelings of fullness, bloating and lethargy during exercise, not to mention potential cramps as the body works to digest these fatty foods. Beware of the fat content in meat and milk products as well as in baked goods and processed foods.Many fatty foods are also low in valuable nutrients making them poor choices for balancing a daily diet. To be healthy, start with a well-balanced diet combining a variety of foods from all food groups. One day of unhealthy eating won’t ruin your overall diet, but it should be the exception rather than the rule. Eat well, train well, be well.
Follow Through
Follow through to make sure that you’ve done the job right. Follow through to say thank you and offer new ideas. Follow through to ask for more business.You earn respect by saying what you’re prepared to do and then doing exactly that. Follow through shows that you are a person of your word and someone who cares. It shows that you are accessible and that you want to keep the lines of communication open. You may make mistakes and follow through gives you the opportunity to correct and to learn from those mistakes. Personalize your follow-up with handwritten notes and phone calls. Small gifts, tickets and lunches may also be appropriate follow-up incentives. Check up on yourself and reap the numerous rewards. Follow-through amplifies your effectiveness.