Today, Tuesday 10th Feb 2009, the day was cold but without snow as I walked my usual route. I met my window cleaner soon after I left the house.

He had had no luck in the lottery last Saturday but had experienced major luck today when he parked outside a customer’s house. The owner of his house told him to move his car since the large branches of a pine tree weighed down by the snow were beginning to crack under the weight.

He wisely moved his car and started work. About ten minutes later, he heard a loud noise. He ran out to the road and saw that a huge branch had just missed his car. He might well have been killed.

I had experienced similar ‘luck’ as a boy in a Japanese Concentration camp in the middle of China. I was sitting outside the family hut when I noticed a soldier walking in my direction.

He was spinning his revolver around his finger like Billy the Kid. I moved back into the hut as he came closer. As he passed where I had been sitting the gun went off. The bullet might have killed or wounded me.

Was this luck or the guidance of God? Was it the work of Guardian angels or just a natural survival instinct or intuition. Was it simply commonsense. The possible danger was obvious in both incidents. Maybe it was a mixture of some or all of these factors.

Today, Friday 30th January 2009, I walked my usual route soon after noon.

I met up with the postman again in Berens Way. He commented on the shapelessness of my woolly hat!

I should have answered immediately with a line from Burns’ great poem:

“A man’s a man for a’ that!”

Burns pointed out in one of his greatest poems that it is not the clothes that make the man. One verse goes:

“What though on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin grey, an’ a that;
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine;
A Man’s a Man for a’ that:
For a’ that, and a’ that,
Their tinsel show, an’ a’ that;
The honest man, tho’ e’er sae poor,
Is king o’ men for a’ that.”

An honest man does not need to be finely dressed.

He can be a king among men whatever he wears.

I got up at 3 a.m., today 13th Jan 2009, and returned to bed at 6 a.m. depressed by the fact that one of my hard drives had disconnected itself and could not be reconnected. It is loaded with valuable products which may be lost for good.

Later than usual and still somewhat depressed I set off on my usual walk. I met the postman who remarked that I was late. I explained the events of the morning.

He tried to cheer me up by saying that the sun was about to come out. “I prefer the cold” I said.

“Well, there’s no pleasing you!” he commented.

Of course, he was right. I had only lost part of my computer and that part might be reconnected without loss with the aid of a skilful computer technician. Nobody had died and I am confident there will be some more cold weather before winter is over.

It is a self-improvement cliche that we should count our blessings but we still forget to do so. I certainly have many to count and I expect you have too.

I am fortunate to be able to see a computer unlike many blind people who can’t. I can also walk outside and enjoy the cold air unlike many who are housebound and can’t.

Next time you can’t be pleased, start counting your blessings and I don’t care if that comment is a cliche. It is still worth repeating!

It is well worth counting one’s blessings every day. Dr Williams suggests some other daily activities worth doing:

Get outside for ten minutes of sunshine a day to generate vitamin D.

Lack of Vitamin D has to 22 different forms of cancer, as well as multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, flu, depression, and heart disease.

Simply stepping outside for some sun is a great way to enrich your vitamin D supply naturally and boost your immune system.

However, the sun in northern latitudes maybe too weak to generate enough vitamin D especially between October and March. So it is advisable to take a daily dose of a Vitamin D supplement.

Eat an apple a day. Apples contain super-antioxidant compounds and are an excellent source of fiber, which promotes more regular bowel movements and helps remove toxins and waste mate­rial from the body.

Dr Williams suggests: “Stretch several times a day. Simply ‘reach for the sky’ by standing as tall and as straight as you possibly can and pushing your shoulders back as far as they will go. Then put every joint in your body through its total range of motion. It’s a great way to stay limber.”

The doctor also gives some great advice about sneaking in some exercise during the day. For example, tighten your tummy muscles when the chance occurs.

One of my martial arts students suggests tightening the muscles around your knee joints when you are standing anywhere. This can help prevent or improve knee problems.

When you go shopping, park at the far end of the parking lot and walk to the store entrance. Then once you’re in the store, go up and down all the aisles. Every step you take will add up to better health.

Many ‘other sneaky exercises’ are available which I will describe in future blogs.

Today, Monday 12th January 2009, I heard on TV that 9 out of 10 people have failed to keep their New Year’s Resolutions by January 21st.

This is cheering news for people who have already failed to keep their resolutions. They will not be alone for long. Some people even fail after one day.

However, today I kept my current yearly resolution, of going for a daily walk, by heading out into a cold wind before noon. All the frost and snow from a week ago had now disappeared but the wind made the walk as cold as before. A slight drizzle came down which made an umbrella advisable in case the drizzle turned into a shower.

When I returned I kept another ongoing resolution by doing some weight lifting and nunchaku practice in my gym. However, before I sound too smug, I regularly fail to keep other resolutions and I don’t always keep the two mentioned above.

Why do people fail to keep their resolutions? One answer is that they are too lazy to carry them out. One or two jokes stress the laziness in most humans and they are not too far off the truth.

In one story, two men are sitting in the sun discussing their lack of money. One of them says: “I have heard that diamonds have been discovered in the Australian Outback. They lie on the open ground. All you have to do is bend down and pick them up.”

The other replied: “Bend down?!”

In another story, a man and his wife are in their sitting room.
They hear the sound of a funeral band going past their house.

The man says: “I heard that today’s funeral is going to give a great send off to the best man at our wedding.”

“Yes!” said his wife, “It’s a pity we are facing the wrong way!”

The above laziness is not that uncommon. Some people, including me, fail to open the packages they are sent. They are left untouched on their shelves until they are out of date or the owner dies and they are thrown out by their descendants!

However, the chances are they will have been too lazy to have any descendants!

Today, Tuesday 23rd December 2008, I had still not sent off all my Christmas cards.

However, I knew the post was collected at 6 p.m. This gave me the necessary motivation to get a move on with the cards and to walk at least as far as the post box.

The same motivation worked yesterday and will work tomorrow!

Deadlines are powerful!

Today, I walked on past the post box and along my usual route. In Berens Way, I was met by a young fox. It walked casually out of a garden without bothering to check out if the coast was clear. It looked at me as I walked to within about ten feet of where it was.

It, then, casually walked back into the garden and hid under a bush. The weather has been warmer recently. It is easy to forget the foxes and other animals and birds from the comfort of a centrally heated house.

Incidentally, you can get a good work out in your house without going out into the cold. I saw a four minute work out from the Tabata Protocal on You Tube which basically went like this:

Pushups for 20 secs (do an easy version putting your weight on your knees rather than your feet if necessary.) Rest for 10 secs. Then do 20 seconds Mountain climbing from the push up position by moving your legs up and down as if climbing a mountain.

Then do 20 seconds recline rope pulls i.e. attach a rope or towel to a bar or branch higher than your head and lean back. Then pull yourself upwards two feet or so (with your feet still on the gournd) and then relax down to your original position. Rest for 10 seconds and then do Burpees for 20 seconds. Finally rest for 10 seconds. Repeat all the above and you will have had an energetic and effective 4 minute workout. Add it up for yourself!

To perform a burpee, drop down from a standing position into a squatting position and then kick your legs out into an pushup position. Then bring your feet back up towards your arms and stand up. If you cannot attach a rope anywhere for the rope pull ups, use dumbells and pull them up towards your upper chest. If necessary use two buckets with the amount of water in them that you can manage to lift.

Create an acronym out of the 4 exercises in the workout to help you remember them e.g. PMPB i.e. Pushups, Mountain climbing, Pullups, Burpees or create a sentence like:

Push Mountain,Pull Up Burp.

No excuse then for not working out this Christmas!

Today, Saturday 13th Dec 2008, I did my walking in the rain in Eltham, London SE9 where Henry VIII spent a large chunk of his youth.

There were a lot of people around considering the rain and the recession. I eventually arrived at W.H.Smith’s in the High Street not far from Eltham Palace where Henry lived for a time.

The shop was crowded and I admired the polite way in which two customers asked me to let them pass: ‘Excuse me, mate’ and ‘Sorry, mate.”

Things were not so polite on the other side of the shop where a fight seemed about to break out. I think one young lady had hit a man accidentally with her umbrella. He had told her to be more careful and she had told him to be more careful.

Her boyfriend joined in fairly quickly and swear words were exchanged. At one point a fight was about to erupt when the boyfriend announced:”He’s not worth it” or words to that effect.

He and his girl friend left. The girl friend came back on her own to throw a few more insults at the other man. As she left he called her a highly insulting word. She left to report this to her boyfriend.

Now the boyfriend returned with his girl friend and said: “Did you call my girl friend a ****? Do you know what that means?”

Dictionaries were probably available in the book section of the shop but no one suggested consulting them! The customers were all mesmerised by the colourful dialogue and the prospect of violence! Most of them knew the meaning of the word anyway. If they didn’t, they could make an educated guess!

Further swear words were exchanged until the boyfriend finally closed the encounter by declaring:”He’s too ugly to fight!”

He and his girl friend left. Honour had clearly been satisfied by a war of words.

This was a more satisfactory ending than an actual punchup but being a word warrior is a dangerous game unless you are prepared to be a warrior for real!

I am surprised at how few people take the time and trouble to attend a self-defence class. You never know when a situation like the above could occur.

Not one of the customers, including me, tried to calm the situation down. The two men had to rely entirely on themselves to sort things out. Violence could easily have exploded. One wonders which man was best prepared for that?

Girls, too, seem ready to take part in violence these days or, at least to start it. Do they need to train in a martial art or self-defence class? Yes.

If you live anywhere near Orpington in Kent, check out my
self-defence website at http://www.self-defence.org

Take care and watch where you put that umbrella!

Today, Sunday 7th Dec 2008, I read an interesting article by Craig Ballantyne of Turbulence Training about the power of brisk walking.

Researchers have discovered that 10 minutes of walking done three times per day can improve your health. Many years ago I used to go for three 30-60 minute walks a day.

Maybe I was overdoing it! Ten minutes would have been enough; possibly less!

Craig has noticed that British researchers “have found that shorter bouts of brisk walking reduce the levels of fat in your blood after you eat.”

Such walks also reduce the resting blood pressure in healthy young men and, probably, older men and women. After eating a high fat meal, volunteers did ten three minute sessions of fast walking in one session and one thirty minute bout of fast walking in another.

The results were the same. The 10 short walks and the one longer walk reduced the level of fat by 16 percent compared to those who did no exercise after the meal.

Both forms of exercise also reduced the blood pressure as the heart contracts by 6-7 percent compared to those who did no exercise.

Craig concludes:

“So get your butt off the couch as much as possible and move it. Even short little speed-walks, when they add up, can help your heart.”

Going outside ten times a day for three minute walks might convince your neighbours that you have gone mad! I get some strange looks even now when I only go out once a day.

In England you are looked on with suspicion if you are out walking without a dog or the excuse of posting a letter! Possibly some house owners fear that you are checking out their house with a view to burglary.

One could, in any case, walk around the garden or the house for 3 minutes without causing comment except from your own family!

I often tell my martial arts students to practise their kicks etc while they wait for the kettle to boil or during the commercial TV breaks. The 3 minute plan might fit in well with this type of activity.

In any event it is surprising how much can be accomplished in three minutes. A spot of hoovering or dusting might not go amiss!

Inspired by Craig’s article, I set off for my usual walk and tried to increase my walking speed. I did not spot any houses that were easy to burgle!

I did notice, however, that some houses had begun to put up Christmas lights etc. Christmas will soon be upon us and the three minute walks might become especially useful!

Today, Tues 2nd Dec 2008, I had a haircut and then bit the bullet and walked out into the cold air for my usual walk.

I did not feel like walking but, after my last post about submitting to the misery of an unpleasant situation, I did not hang around dithering but headed for the door.

I took a hat with me but as soon as I got outside the door I decided to leave it behind. Walking fast is a more healthy alternative to a hat. In addition, the colder you are the more likely you are to walk fast! Pain or discomfort are powerful motivators.

En route, I met the postman. He said that it was so cold that he should get a hat. I told him that he should get rid of his bicycle and jog instead. He would not then need a hat!

“I haven’t seen you jogging!” came his riposte.

He was only partly right. My jog looks like a walk!

This morning, Monday Dec 1st 2008, I watched my recording of yesterday’s soccer matches in England.

Yesterday, West Bromwich Albion were defeated by Wigan. West Brom are now bottom of the Premier League. Some people cannot remember when West Brom last won a match!

Adrian Chiles, commentating for the BBC, noticed a West Brom football fan dancing on the spot in the stands as his team played on to achieve yet another failure. Chiles had this to say:

“He has been told by some psychotherapist: ‘Act happy and you will become happy’.

Chiles continued: “It doesn’t work. I’ve tried it. Just forget it!
Submit to misery. It’s much easier!”

Some things in life just cannot be enjoyed however much you sugar the pill. This afternoon, I did not feel like going for a walk but after hearing Adrian Chiles’ advice I decided to ‘accept the misery’ and just get going.

If I had waited until I felt more cheerful about going for a walk, I might not have made it. Instead, accepting that the experience might be a boring and miserable one, I embraced the misery and walked.

Of course, walks can be a most enjoyable experience. However, on some days even the keenest of walkers does not feel like making the effort.

Sometimes, the only way to achieve anything is through effort. Strangely enough as I walked along Clarendon Way today, I passed a removals van. On the side was the legend:

“Excellence Through Effort!”

Today, Thursday 6th Nov 2008, I took the usual route round the neighbourhood.

I waved at one neighbour in Marlings Park Avenue and later spoke to a gardener who was raking the leaves off a lawn in Wimborne Avenue.

He told me I should have been gardening instead of walking round the block. Raking a lawn, he said, keeps you fit and even works your abdominal muscles.

Why not do both gardening and walking? Fortunately, we don’t need a license or special permission to do any kind of exercise.

Nor do we need to wait for any particular time of day to exercise. We could wake up at 3 a.m. and do a hundred push ups. Most of us don’t! But we could!

Strength training is also very important. If someone is on top of you strangling you, it helps to be strong enough to throw them off even if you know how to use pressure points i.e. sensitive areas of the body.

You may know all the martial arts skills available but if you lack the strength to apply them, you are still in trouble.

Making your muscles stronger usually involves both pulling and pushing. I pull an iron bar plus weights off the ground and up to my chin on a daily basis and also hang from a bar high up on the walls of my gym. That covers the pulling and the gorilla impersonations!

I cover the pushing by doing bench presses on a daily basis. I also do pushups at an angle to a wall or table. I did most of these exercises today when I returned home from my walk.

It is easier to get moving if you are already moving. So get going by walking, gardening, pulling and pushing. This should keep you healthier and alive longer.

Watch your diet as well like my neighbour in yesterday’s post.

My sister, who has told me I should sign this post -’wonderman’ has just offered me some apple strudel with cream.

I turned down this generous offer until later when I would be hungrier. My slim neighbour would have been proud of me.