WADO-RYU: Nutrition
Put good things into your body and you will see good results. Fill it with junk and garbage, and it will not perform with the proper intensity necessary to accomplish black belt level skill, ability and confidence. Poor eating habits cause a lack of energy, depression and moodiness, as well as excess fat. Proper eating habits give you more energy to perform better at work or at the physical activities that you enjoy. Putting the right fuel into your tank helps you keep a positive and enthusiastic outlook on life.
Calories and the foods we eat are basically made up of three things: carbohydrates, proteins and fat. High energy and clean burning fuel usually come from foods in the carbohydrate and protein groups. Limited (extremely limited) fat intake is desired to achieve a quality fitness and superior energy level.
To achieve a healthy diet, there are four rules that you need to follow daily:
- Always eat a balanced diet.
- Eat foods that are low in fat.
- Eat foods that are low in sugar.
- Eat foods that are high in fiber.
No single food or group of foods contains every thing we need, so always beware of diets that have you living off of grapefruit and yogurt. Remember, diets do not work. They set your body up to interpret the reduction of food as a signal that starvation is occurring and trigger the need to store more fat to protect the vital organs. The best thing to remember about diets is this: what do the first three letters of DIET spell? The best way to achieve a balance diet (word now used in a good sense - or "common sense" manner) is to educate yourself about foods and how they are grouped. The following Four Food Group system of dividing foods is recommended at the Bushido School of Karate.
FOUR FOOD GROUPS
Good sources of carbohydrates in the BREAD GROUP include whole grain bread, whole grain cereal, brown and white rice, pasta and corn. The FRUIT and VEGETABLE group gives us a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables year round. These foods are best eaten raw, but if you must cook your vegetables, steam them. Over-cooked vegetables have lost all of their nutrients. These natural vitamins and minerals are usually replaced by supplements from the drug store. WHY? if healthy eating is your goal, please learn to under-cook vegetables!
Some protien is needed in a health conscious diet plan, but not too much. In the MEAT GROUP there is fish, chicken, turkey, beans , legumes and their soups. Also in this group is red meat, eggs and nuts, but not too much of these foods is ever recommended. The MILK GROUP gives us protein also, but it is best to stay with the skim/non-fat varieties.
It is advisable to drink plenty of water and eat water- rich foods (fruits and vegetables) to replenish your body with the fluids you burn off. You will avoid dehydration by doing this and should feel an increase in your energy level.
These are just brief guidelines and suggestions on proper eating habits that will not only help you on your road to Black Belt, but will stay with you a lifetime. In fact, following these rules will certainly increase your "lifetime! For more information on nutrition, The Bushido School of Karate recommends that you read The Fit or Fat Target Diet by Covert Baily, available at almost any bookstore.
The Student Creed teaches all of us to avoid anything that would reduce our mental or physical growth. Needless to say, smoking, the consumption of alcohol and the use of drugs are totally discouraged. They inhibit your progress toward your goal of Black Belt and will shorten your life. They have no place in the life of someone who has made a conscious decision to develop themselves in a positive manner.
Learn to say "NO" to these things and "YES" to life !
PHYSICAL FITNESS
While training in the Martial Arts, it is necessary to achieve a certain level of fitness. This is important not only to for your health, but also to enhance your Martial Art skills. There are 3 basic areas that you need to concentrate on as you train: speed, stamina and strength. All three of these areas can be either physical or mental in nature.
SPEED
Speed is the rate at which you accomplish a task or process information. It is a valuable tool used not only for self-defense, but also for mental alertness. To improve your physical speed, you should concentrate on effective equipment work as well as shadow boxing. Practice at home can usually consist of many speed drills. These techniques will be learned in class.
Mental speed is very valuable in assessing situations or challenges and quickly leading you to new options or better solutions. Mental speed is usually increased with goal accomplishments, as well as the learning of new material and constant review of old material. The key is to keep learning. The day you stop trying to learn is the day you start to die!
STAMINA
Stamina refers to the physical or moral power of endurance. Endurance gives you the power to withstand hardship or stress. To endure is to persevere; to remain constant to a goal or purpose regardless of obstacles or challenges that may occur.
To improve your physical stamina, or endurance, you must exercise regularly and raise your heart rate to 60-80% of its maximum. Maintain this level for 12 minutes or longer and you will gain progress in improving your stamina and cardiovascular endurance. The following are some examples of excellent exercise:
- Running / jogging
- Cross-country skiing
- Jumping rope
- Cycling
- Rowing
To improve your mental stamina, you just have to keep sharpening your mental faculties. The more you read, think, and learn to use you mind, the more you will naturally increase your mental stamina.
In the Martial Arts, stamina is a great advantage, i.e., the slight edge that may allow you to outlast an opponent or a challenge. You will learn to look at obstacles and problems (things to be solved) as merely challenges (things to be met and faced with confidence). Then, you will overcome these challenges to accomplish your goals or purpose.
STRENGTH Strength does not come easily for most people, but it can be developed and improved if you concentrate on it. As students of the Martial Arts, we should all concentrate on developing our physical and mental strengths.
To increase physical strength, you must exercise regularly and strive for slow and gradual gain. Calisthenics, machine and free weight training (after a certain age for children) are some of the devices which can be used to increase your physical strength.
Mental Strength must also be developed, i.e., the power to resist strain and stress and be able to sustain or resist an attack. Moral courage as well as your degree of concentration and intensity are forms of mental strengths.
On the next page is a physical fitness chart to help develop speed , stamina and strength:
We advise students to get a head start!
| BELT | PUSH-UPS | CRUNCHES | JUMPING-JACKS | RUNNING |
| WHITE | 10 | 20 | 30 | |
| GOLD | 15 (1 set) | 30 | 50 | |
| ORANGE | 20 (1 set) | 40 | 60 | |
| BLUE | 30 (15/15) | 50 | 75 | |
| BLUE | 30 (15/15) | 50 | 75 | |
| PURPLE | 40 (20/20) | 60 | 80 | |
| GREEN | 50 (25/25) | 70 | 100 | |
| BROWN | 60 (30/30) | 80 | 200 | 1 mi / 10 min |
| BROWN 2 | 75 (25 x 3) | 100 | 250 | 2 mi / 16 min |
| BROWN 3 | 150 (50 x 3) | 300 (100 x 3) | 500 | 3 mi / 24 min |