New Years Resolutions

Today is New Years Day. Many people may just be starting their day, perhaps getting some brunch with their family. People right now, all across our nation have one thing in common, today, more than anything else, a “New Years Resolution”. I have only been outside the U.S. to travel across Peru, so I can’t speak for the entire world, however I can speak for the majority of the U.S., by calling a New Years Resolution a “tradition”. I love the purpose behind this tradition, but at the same time, it’s obvious that not too many people follow through with their “goals”. 

Example: 

If you’re hungover and your goal last night was to quit smoking cigarettes, yet the first thing you did this morning was smoke a "cancer stick" to ease the pounding headache, chances are you’re saying “to hell with my resolution”, or “I’ll start tomorrow”. I can understand if you don’t want to stop smoking today. Perhaps you’re not strong enough to deal with #1 Quitting Smoking, #2 Dealing w/ a hangover, #3 Lack of Sleep and Irritability, all at the same time. The worst thing you can do here is feel guilty that you, yet again, did not follow through with your goal. Guilt usually leads us to either “fight or flight”. In fact, it’s human nature to do these things. We are habitual creatures that have simple needs; Pleasure, Security, Procreation, Love, etc. I don’t look at those who make mistakes, based on these human needs, any differently than I look at anyone else. Instead, I look at people for what they’re trying to do “today”, to better themselves or make positive changes towards who they want to be “tomorrow”.

Lack of motivation, putting things off until tomorrow and procrastination, are all “character defects”. These defects of our character are a few of the most common characteristics, that I notice, consistently across human nature. I can see this in so many people because, I battle with this pattern as well. The only thing that may differentiate me from the average person, is that I have learned to battle the first thought of procrastination and instead hit the on switch and, “Just Do It”.

I met an old man who gave me a circular shaped note. On this note was a short poem titled, “Round Tuit”. The note talked about how many people use the saying, “I’ll get a round tuit”, to avoid taking action today. At the end, the note mentioned how you don’t need to get a “round tuit”, because now you have one, and there should no longer be an excuse. This has always stuck with me.

There’s a saying, “it takes one to know one”. I’m definitely one know one. I learned to combat my bad habits by making a choice, each day to be the best that I can be. The irony is that once I have reached a level which I believe to be my best, it becomes apparent that I can do a little bit better. One inch at a time, I’m able to improve myself a little bit better than the day before, and this is how I view positive changes.

End Note:

People have resolutions of all levels. Some may be to stop biting your finger nails, or smoking cigarettes. Perhaps your goals are to become a more positive person or to get into shape “for real” this time. Whatever your goals may be, if you started your day on the “wrong foot” this morning, don’t beat yourself up. Use that mistake as a learning experience, and “just do it”. No more excuses, or giving up on yourself, because if you made the resolution in the first place, it was obviously something that was important to you!

Happy New Years to the World!

- Devon Redmon

P.S. My goal for the New Year is to break the “standing long jump record”. I’m a few inches a way, so it’s time to get to work! Heading to the gym.

“Bacon Bits” Dissecting the ingredients

The above image shows the nutritional information of your common, “Bacon Bits” brand that you’ll find in your local super market. 

For the non experts looking at these ingredients, your eyes may tend to focus on names that you’re familiar with, such as: soybean oil, soybean flour, salt, dried yeast, natural and artificial flavors. The truth is, most people have very little knowledge about terms “Autolyzed”, “Hydrogenated”, Textured” etc, in this context. 

Today I’m going to attempt listing in brief and pertinent detail each ingredient on this label. 

Textured Soy Flour: Textured Soy Flour is often used in hot dogs and many meat products to lower costs. "Textured Soy Flour”, aka Textured Vegetable Protein(TVP),  contains MSG. Yes, the same “MSG” that you’ve seen at every Chinese stand from here to Nantucket. MSG or “monosodium glutamate”, is a “flavor enhancer” that is widely used in processed foods, and is known to be extremely addictive.                     

Problems: Common side effects of MSG include: burning sensation in the face, arms, hands, chest, back, and neck. More common side effects include: pressure in the face, headaches, numbness, nausea, heart palpitations, sleepiness, difficultly breathing, and general weakness. Breathing difficulties may be worse in asthmatic individuals. Long term effects of MSG can lead to obesity, sleep disturbances, and reproductive issues. A Study from the John Hopkins University suggests that “MSG” can induce “asthma”. Other studies show that MSG can cause damage to brain cells and the nervous system. Some studies suggest direct correlation to "Alzheimer’s Disease"

Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil: When you see "Partially Hydrogenated or Fully Hydrogenated Oil” you can also know this as commonly called, “trans fat”. For information on trans fat, please refer to my previous blog post. http://coachdevon.blogspot.com/2011/02/trans-fat-in-case-you-didnt-know-how.html

Salt: Phew, good ol’ natural salt... Right? "Natural salt", as I’m guessing how nature intended us to consume, is commonly derived from the ocean, minerals, mining, dried up lakes, etc. Natural forms of salt contain, sodium chloride (salt), along with 80 or so natural elements, including natural iodine, that help our bodies proper: hydration, thyroid function, adrenal function, and balancing sodium-potassium levels. However, the ingredient “salt”, non-naturally occurring, is a manufactured form of sodium chloride. Most forms of salt are created by adding synthesized chemicals to them. These chemicals include anything from manufactured forms of sodium solo-co-aluminate, iodine, sodium bicarbonate, fluoride, anti-caking agents, toxic amounts of potassium iodine and aluminum derivatives.                                                                      

Problems: High Blood Pressure, Dehydration, thyroid and adrenal gland dysfunction, constipation.

Dried Yeast: A type of yeast that’s mixed with starchy materials. Known as neutral for the most part. This ingredient is widely used, due to its natural protein content and Vitamin B complex.

Natural & Artificial Flavors: These words, “natural and artificial”, are very confusing. Neither one seems to be better, per Say.  The FDA does not require companies to disclose ingredients as long as  they are considered “safe”. Keeping this post in a “suggestive” format, I will tell you what I’ve found in research. There are thousand of different types of natural and artificial flavors readily available, and created nationwide. These chemicals are trademarked and kept highly top secret.  Most of these “flavors” aren’t designed to be something we can “taste”, but more so to create “stimulation” and satisfaction on a neural level. 

Problems: Since it is very difficult to find any information on the types of chemicals used in “natural and artificial flavors”, determining health risks becomes a "crap shoot”. Here’s a list of some known artificial flavors to give some examples or health risks. Or you can read from http://www.eatingrules.com/2010/10/natural-flavors-artificial-flavors/

• Benzaldehyde: Contains hydrogen cyanide, causing central nervous system depression and convulsions.
• Vanillan: Can cause allergic reactions.
• Amyl Acetate (pear and banana oil): Many artificial flavors are made with this chemical which may cause nervous system depression, indigestion, chest pain, headaches, fatigue, and irritate the mucus membranes.
• Benzyl Acetate: May cause gastrointestinal, bronchial, skin, and eye irritation.
• Bornneol: Artificial flavoring that may cause GI irritation, seizures, confusion, and dizziness.
• Butryic acid: Has caused cancer in lab animals.
• Carvacrol: Artificial flavor that can lead to respiratory and circulatory depression, as well as cardiac failure
• Cinnamyl formate or formic acid: Artificial cinnamon that has caused cancer in mice and may affect our kidneys. (I found “cinnamon flavor” listed as an ingredient in my Kashi cereal!)

Carmel Color: Created by a controlled heat treatment of carbohydrates, or aka “Burnt Sugar” in simpler terms. This is considered a neutral food coloring, because of the natural process that goes into creating it. However, one thing I ask myself, is what type of “carbohydrates” are being used to create this coloring.           
Problems: The Journal of the American Medical Association conducted a study and found that carmel coloring, in soda,  may be responsible for the increased risk of raised blood pressure, and not the caffeine. 

Autolyzed Yeast: Also referred to as, MSG, is a flavor enhancer. Flavor enhancers like these are known to be very addictive, much like nicotine or alcoholic beverages. "Autolyzed yeast" is essentially yeast cells that have began to die. When dying the yeast goes through “autolysis” and starts to break-apart, leaving the remaining elements: fats, minerals, proteins, and “monosodium glutamate” (MSG).                    


Problems: Read above, “Textured Soy Flour”.          

FD&C Red 3:“Erythrosine”, also known as Red 3, is used as a food coloring, in printing inks, and for exposing “plaque” in dental examinations. FD&C stands for “Food, Drug, & Cosmetic”.                                                                      




Problems: Several “major studies” suggest that synthetic preservatives and artificial coloring agents are strongly linked to ADD and ADHD symptoms in school children. Erythrosine is linked to thyroid tumors in rats.

The “Bacon Bit” is only one type of the countless processed foods on the market. Perhaps this post will influence you to look at what foods you consume regularly. My opinion, is that a bacon bit here or there will probably not harm my body. I believe, that our bodies are highly capable of taking in, and expelling toxins in small amounts. However, without understanding where “toxins” or “harmful ingredients” are located, it’s difficult to avoid them. I also believe that it’s the foods that we take in on a regular basis, day in and day out, that do us the most harm. For example, a salad dressing that I use frequently that has an ingredient linked to diabetes, or a soda that has aspartame and I drink this several times per week, etc. These are the things I look at when trying to maintain great health in my own life.

How bad do you want to be successful? (Video w/ Giavanni Ruffin and Eric Thomas)

How do people become successful? 
Is success some esoteric thing?
Does success happen by accident or being in the right place at the right time?
Once you believe in your heart, that each one of us have been given a gift, a gift I call “choice”, and are willing to put your last breath into what you’re looking to achieve, then, and only then will you become “truly” successful.

I share this video, because of the many people that have influenced me in my life, videos like these have always been a great source of inspiration for me when I need it.

Please enjoy, and pay it forward!

XMAS - A time for giving (picture’s from the Amazon)

It’s Christmas day, and instead of writing a post on fitness or health. Today I wanted to write about my experience w/ Christmas.

In the Amazon River last year, my friend and I visited a small village within the depths of the Amazon River. Here is a short story on what I experienced.

When we arrived, our “guide”, who spoke the native dialect, informed the village leader of our intentions. They introduced us to some of the elders and parents, including an 11 year old mother of 4. The kid’s were so awesome. In the picture below, you can see a group of small children w/ me standing on the opposite side, if you look to the left, you will notice a taller, more mature looking young girl, “mediating” the group of kids. She made sure that all of the kids got at least one toy, before she picked her own. I thought that was very admirable.

Brent gave balloons, and coloring supplies to another group of kids. Some little ones naturally tried to "okie-doke” us, grabbing a toy, and coming back with a different shirt on, trying to grab another one. We thought it was pretty funny!

The children were excited about the gifts, but had no idea what to do w/ some of them, until we began to show them how they worked. Once Brent “busted out” the "Balloon Launcher", that’s when all the fun began! (picture below)

The tail end of the visit was in the school classroom. In here is where the kids spoke to us as a group and we told jokes and answered questions for them. Brent and I put tattoos on some of the kids.

This entire trip taught me how rewarding giving can be. You don’t need to receive gifts once you feel someone’s true expression of gratitude! Merry Christmas to my friends, my family, and to the world. Enjoy your holidays, and “pay-it-forward!”

Taking Supplements Made Easy

This post is a simple time saver of mine in taking supplements. Ok, so I take my health and nutrition seriously. However, I still hate taking supplements and eating on time. I am just too “lazy” perhaps you could say :) But laziness w/ things like eating on time or taking my supplements, never stops me from doing what I need to do. So... I find other ways and time saving tricks to get the job done more efficiently for my busy schedule! 

I’ll share my super low budget, “highly non-fancy” protocol that I follow for taking my supplements.

If you look at the pic below, you’ll notice my non-refigerated supplement stash. To the bottom left of the pic you can see my supply of pre-seperated pills. =the pink cases are my Wife’s, don’t hate:)!=

I chose these types of containers versus a “pill box compartment”, because pill-box compartments are difficult to find “large enough” to contain how many “sups” I take each morning ;P. Also, if I’m running out of the house in the A.M. It’s easy to grab a container and take them down the road to save time.

I spend 2 minutes, once a week filling up these containers for my wife and I. Each morning I wake, I have no excuse when in a hurry, to skip taking any of these!

This is a short tip that’s helped me out tremendously w/ consistent supplement intake. I hope it helps anyone that’s struggled w/ the 3 minutes each morning “un-screwing” the plethora of bottles each morning, we health minded folks possess. Ha!

(read personal supplement dosage info before storing a taking supplements together)

Torrance personal trainer breaks the world record for the highest standing jump (VIDEO + PICTURES))

A repost of an article on me from the Easy Reader. Original article by Chelsea Sektan, Redondo Beach reporter from the Easy Reader.

Devon Redmon, a personal trainer in Redondo Beach, broke a world record for the highest standing jump of 56.9 inches at Workout World in Torrance. The previous record was set by a man in Denmark earlier this year with a jump of 56.7 inches. “Although I broke the record, I am already excited to try and go for 57.25 or so, very soon,” said Redmon. For more information, visit Redmon’s blog at http://devonunity.blogspot.com.

Photos by Craig Ishii 

World Record 56.88” Highest Standing Jump!

I’m trying to get the story out there the best way I can. If you are one of the many great supporting friends I have, that have been keeping me motivated through my goals, even if silently sending positivity my way, please click this link below and watch the video on Storify in hopes for getting the media coverage I need for my next record attempt, where I’ll be going for 57.1 - 57.25 inches!

Please feel free to share or repost this if you desire! 
**I think you have to tweet, google plus, and or Facebook like the article once you click on the link, (only if you support it and want to!) Thx

Thank you guys for all your support!

Read my @Storify story: "New World Record, Highest Standing Box Jump 56.88 Inches" http://sfy.co/S2Q

Set a new WR today!

Adaptive programs promote fitness for people with physical disabilities – Daily Breeze | Fitness News

The Daily Breeze published a nice spread on the cover of their Health Section this Thursday. The story is about adaptive training featuring my client and I. Hope you enjoy!

Adaptive programs promote fitness for people with physical disabilities – Daily Breeze | Fitness News

Body Fat Percentage, RHR, and overall health.

Hello friends and on-lookers, fellow athletes and google stumblers. It has been a few weeks since I have had time to write a blog. Everyday I have wanted to write about something, so many things have been on my mind. As I write this blog, I am eating some sliced apples in a sitting position, using my neck stretching device - strapped to my door frame. This is thank's to Nick Curson from Unity JJ for letting me borrow this lifesaver. As most of my friends know, I herniated 2 disks in my neck very severely a while back. This incident did not discount me from fitness or Martial Arts. Nothing could do that... Instead, it has taught me how to cope with it and make adjustments in my routines so it can be given time to heal itself. The neck stretcher is doing wonders... Thank you Nick!

I have been very busy with my training, studying and working as well. Just last week my friend and trainer Roger Blackshear, started another bootcamp out here in the South Bay area (Redondo Beach). I have been co training and learning how to run bootcamps. In the past few months I have trained with Roger more and more and he has been running me throuhg some different workout routines. All body-weight or very light weight dumbells or medicine ball workout's, a lot of sprinting, plyo-metric, athletic drills, and balance drills. Most everything we have been doing includes going from one body part to the other, back to back for anywhere from 3-6 minutes of constant exercise. Since then I have dropped from 185 lbs, (19 percent body fat and still health) to 168 pounds of solid muscle @ 6 percent body fat. I am faster, my heart rate recovery time is now around 30 seconds after complete exhaustion, and I feel more energetic and healthy each day.
Just the other day I checked my heart rate at a rest, it was 43 or 45 beats per minute.I believe the average for an athlete is 55-60, and many average Americans are 70-80 beats per minute. I feel really good about my heart and body fat condition.

The heart is a muscle, the most important muscle in your body. All your heart does is pump in and pump out, over and over again from birth to death... As you could guess, an unhealthy lifestyle could result in long term stress on your heart, leading to heart problems at earlier ages in life. With a healthy heart, and a lower more effecient heart rate, one could lower the daily beats down by as much as 90,000 beats per day. Multiply that times 365 days and you get the picture.

The bottom line is, and my message for today, make sure you are working out your heart constantly. It should be #1 right next to your body and health, and physical appearance. Be mindful of what workouts you are doing, and try to work all areas including the hearts and lungs. I will tell you from experience, a healthy heart, make everything feel and work great! Yes, everything, haha. No but really, I feel so energetic, with each pump my heart sends 2 times as much oxygen to my muscles, tissue, and brain, as it did before, when I was living "unhealthy".

To all of you out there with a healthy heart, give me "amen", to those out there that think they should be living a little healthier, start with some aerobic workouts that really get that heart pumping. Get creative! There are 1000's of workouts that you can do that don't include running at all!

I'll leave you guys with a little video giving some examples of fun workouts that can be pieced together in a circuit to get your whole body working.

Today I have a Jiu-Jitsu tournament, so wish me luck! See you next time.

,Devon

Trans Fat - In case you didn't know how bad they really are.

Trans Fat's - aka partially and full hydrogenated oils are man made, synthetic oils. They are in nearly every processed food we buy at the store, or in nearly every fast food chain and most restaurants serve a large variety of foods with these fats as well. Because the FDA does not directly have regulations instated that required the companies that use these products to conduct in-depth controlled experiments on these fats, it can be difficulty to find the correct information about this matter.

Hydrogenated Oils or "Trans Fats" are made from taking natural oils and giving them a high temperature "hydrogen bath. This process combines the hydrogen molecules to the structure of the fat cells, therefore, creating partially of fully hydrogenated oils.

What is so bad about a hydrogenated fat molecule? It's tough for scientists to say exactly what happens when these synthetic fats attach to your body, however, there is some disturbing information about these fats. When consuming natural fats, you body takes 18 days to metabolize half of them, however, when you consume trans fats, your body takes 51 days to metabolize half of them. So in a nutshell, if you have a bucket of french fries from an average fast food joint nearly 1 1/2 months ago, odds are this contained trans fats. That would mean that half of the trans fat from those fries is still buried inside your fat storage. Half???
That's pretty disturbing if you ask me.

Now I know some people may think that since they don't eat fast food, they are A-OK. Just to go a little further in-depth on this subject, I will mention a few things about what Scientists have been finding about Trans Fats, what the FDA's regulations are, etc.

First of all, Nearly every bag of chips, processed cookies, candy bars, many cereals, any non stir peanut butter(including some stir brands as well) donut's, processed goods, etc. uses some type of Trans Fat. There are two reasons why any product would have this ingredient. #1 Trans Fat's taste good & #2 Trans Fats improve the shelf life on most products for even years longer than normal fats in some cases, in-turn, more profit for the companies selling them.

Before I knew this much about trans fats, I use to look on the package for the nutritional facts. On the back I would see, 'Trans Fat" 0 grams. It wasn't until recently that I learned that the FDA does not require a distributor to label it has any amount of trans fat, as long as it is not greater than .5 grams per serving. That means that any company can get away with putting .49 grams of this deadly poison in our food without a peep. The only way you would truly know if your food has trans fat or not in it is by thoroughly reading the ingredients and knowing what you're looking for when you read them.

For anyone reading this, if you are confused about the problem with .49 grams of trans fat, I will try and lighten it up for you. The average american make consume many products a day "unknowingly" with nearly .5 grams of this stuff per serving. A larger serving, more trans fat... Researchers have found that the "average american" consumes 6 grams of trans fat per day, or 5-10 lbs. or trans fat per year. Researchers have also found that no amount of trans fat is un-harmful to your body, and americans should eat no trans fat at all, or at bare minimum, no more than 2 grams per day. 5-10 lbs. of trans fat that  per year that takes 51 days to metabolize sounds pretty scary to me..

Trans Fat's, by nature, completely disrupt the natural fat storing process within our bodies. The definition of a Poison is just that, a substance that we take that disrupts our bodies natural function. Why are we allowed to ingest poison? No need to ask why (money of course). It is better to educate yourself so you can make better decisions and live a longer healthier life.

Keep in mind there are other bad products, hfcs, msg, large quantities of sugar etc. It's important for each individual to do whatever the can to educate themselves.

"High-Fructose Corn Syrup" is worse than "Sugar"

I'm an All-American, born and raised. One thing about being raised in America, for me, is that I have been told what is nutritious to eat and what to make sure you include in your diet so you remain "healthy". Now recently, more than ever before, I grow more and more skeptical about what the FDA and USDA and what they claim to be true or false about the foods we eat. These departments all have special interests with the gain of the largest controlling food distributors in the United States. When you look at these interests, and think about how these entities are supposed to keep us "safe" it can cause mixed feelings to a skeptic (like myself).

A few months ago, when I was back in the U.S. I began seeing these commercials on T.V. (ironically paid for by the Department of Agriculture) that had some field of dreams plot and an actor that resembled Kevin Kostner, smiling as he said that corn sugar is the same as sugar, "Your body can't tell the difference, "Sugar is Sugar" he said. And that was the end of the commercial..... Unfortunately, I don't believe the science behind high-fructose corn syrup is that simple... Now I haven't always been a skeptic, in fact only in the past year have I began to question these issues. But it wasn't until I left to vacation in Peru, where I currently am, that I noticed there are hardly any obese people here. How odd for a country that eats french fries, greasy sausage, fried meat, rice w/ butter and bread, nearly every meal. How weird that with every meal most Peruvian's consume beverages high in sugar, inca cola & coca-cola included, and for the most part, I have seen people either really skinny or carrying an extra 20-30 lbs tops.

If you live in America, you have probably seen, like myself, a large number or "morbidly obese" 300+ pounders walking around. You see it every day, all the time, in plain sight, and that's just above average "fat" for me eyes. I have seen 500 pound women and men walking around, or using electric wheel chairs through the mall because their knees are shot.

The first thing I did after arriving in Peru, and noticing the vast difference of weight averages here, is walked into the local super market, and started looking at ingredients.

In America, 95% of the food in stores are heavily processed with one of dozens of corn additives and bi-products (chemically altered corn products) believe it.... You will always find a very tiny section of the wall in a huge store that says, "organic". Of course the food is priced 2-3 times higher.

Back to Peru....
After examining everything from ice cream, to cookies, packaged donuts, cereal, Peruvian candy bars, chocolate milk, frozen waffles, soda (coca cola), and anything else I could think of that would be highly processed in the states, I was hard-pressed to find foods that were heavily processed or processed at all. Even Coca-Cola had 100% pure sugar in it's soda. Most of the sugar in Peru comes from Brazil, the world's largest sugar exporter @ 20% of the world's supply. It is more than likely cheaper for companies to use natural products in there foods in a 3rd world country than it would be to import bi-products.

Now to the research I found:

According to Scientist's at Nutrition research centers, High-fructose Corn Syrup is worse for you us than real sugar. According to these scientist's research, high-fructose corn syrup is passed directly to the liver that release enzymes instructing our bodies to store these sugars as fat. Research also indicates that this "fake sugar" does not stimulate insulin production (which creates a sense of being full) which people may intern eat more than they normally would w/ real sugar. Last but not least, vital chromium levels are lowered by corn sugar, which is likely to contribute to type 2 diabetes. Becoming obese in general can cause type 2 diabetes as well.





Unfortunately, the pyramid is a sham, the government lies to us, and the largest food distributors in America, will do anything possible to save 1 penny per product, even if it sacrifices the health of those who eat it.

I suggest that if you struggle with being overweight, you should cut corn additives out of your diet completely,  and see if this helps.

I hope this was helpful, it's a topic I take pretty seriously.

Devon

OSSSSSSSS

Thanks to Christian Grimaldo from Sniper Gym Miraflores, Peru and google translate for the translation of his spanish.

The definition of OSS:

Oss word of Japanese origin the word has become best known in the martial arts world, understood and used among practitioners of different nationalities, the term not only used to greet all l. .. ... You ... days, but instead of terms such as "Thank You", "Nice," "Goodbye", "Understood" and "understand."

Should be pronounced in the lower abdomen with a bow properly executed a sign of respect, sympathy and trust the other person.

Oss word is a phonetic transcription, in fact it is written with two Chinese characters. The first character means "pushing", symbolizing the spirit of struggle, the importance of effort all the obstacles facing them away with a positive attitude and unchanged.

The second character means "Suffering", expresses the value and spirit of perseverance in pain, resisting depression with patience and without giving up, always keeping in high spirits.

The youth has such physical and moral qualities, which allow any face any situation, that define youth, but will be maintained and developed only with persistent effort daily.

How then is that "Talent is nothing without effort", the key word (key) Oss is used to remember this saying to young people, encouraging them to make a resolution, passed on from one another and motivate each other.

The word "OSS" should not be used lightly.

Henceforth reexamine your attitude, position, state of mind, speech and harmony, the torso is bent and the torso straight and the jaw is retracted when you pronounce the word. The movement, breathing and pronunciation then executed contribute to the infilling of the lower abdomen (tanden) with KI and power.

If we refer to when they express the principles of "OSS", breathing and sound is IN. Even a form or a breathing method that takes one, be in harmony with the universe, means (heaven and earth) (Yin and Yang) (Inyo), are in the opposite (negative and positive elements) that make up our universe.

Downtown Lima, Peru - San Fransisco Cathedral, Catacombs & President's House

Yesterday Carla and I went with the family to go and explore the tour at the San Francisco Cathedral in Downtown Lima, located right next to the President's House.

The Cathedral was a very nice experience. Outside of the entrance were 1000's of pigeons flocking around the courtyard, much like you see an any movie placed in Rome, showcasing their cathedrals. I was caught in a moment of time as the pigeon's all flocked in a circle over head and one by one found a place to sit on top of the cathedral. Then we entered..

The Price is normally 5-7 soles, but today was Lima Day, so it was 1 sol apparently. Lucky us... The tour was amazing, the art in the cathedral was mostly from 1600-1700 era, they had many original church pews, grand piano's from 1600's, The first peruvian dictionary, huge books dated from 1600's and before. The works.. I was amazed at how close they let us get to some of these things.

My favorite part of this tour was the stop at the catacombs, located inside of the cathedral. This underground burial ground wasn't discovered until the 1950's and is the home to nearly 70,000 deceased. Most of these bodies were church members. It was simply cheaper to dowse the deceased in limestone and reduce them to bones quickly, then stack their skeletons on top of each other. Just to let you know, there was an opportunity for me to touch a 400 yr. old leg bone, and yes, I touched it! haha...(this wasn't allowed, I was simply in the back of the tour, so no one could see me do it)

The President's Estate is heavily guarded with heavy machine gun equipped tanks and convoys, and men all around the perimeter armed to the gil with AK47's and flak jackets.

We were lucky enough to get to the cross walk seconds before the President's arrival into his estate. The gaurd's forced us to stay on the sidewalk as 2 cars sped into the gated estate at speeds of 80 miles an hour(obviously to prevent an assassination). As the gates were quickly closed behind them, you could catch a glimpse of Peru's heavy-set President getting out of his car. What an awesome property..
 
Anyhow, Carla and I got some arroz con leche w/ some dulche de leche to snack on. It was just so so. After that all 8 of us hopped in a 4 seater taxi and took a 20 minute ride back to the house for a couple bucks...Peruvian Style... haha

Nice day at the beach in Miraflores

Yesterday before class I was playing around with Christian's bull terrier at the Sniper BJJ Academy. He is such a cool dog. We tied a rope to a toy tire and he put the death grip on it. He was so playful!

Jitz class was great, just a few guys including Raul, and Christian was teaching the class. We learned some terrific defenses on the bottom for half-gaurd passes and then followed it up with some very good training.

After rolling with one of the purple belt's, Raul, there I noticed how good his back attacks are and his sweeps!


After training, Christian invited Carla and I to the beach with him and Raul. We took the route on foot and make it to the sandless, rock filled beach. The water was amazing, the air was hot. This day was amazing. My dream is to train at a gym right on the water line so I could train like I did yesterday everyday... Train, surf, eat... heaven...