Well, I do not know about you, but I have been less than thrilled with the weather this season. For instance, it is November, but this past week in Boston it has been anywhere from 40 to 60 degrees outside. That is not cold, and it certainly is not the ideal temperature for my favorite form of precipitate--snow! Well, once the snow comes along, ski season will be in full blast. Teaching someone how to ski is an interesting experience. It is not too hard to learn, in opposition to first starting snowboarding, but it can be challenging. For those of you who...

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Back in my martial arts days, I asked my instructor for some new workout ideas.  I was getting bored and needed to freshen things up a bit.  He created a very fun six week training plan focused on cardio strengthening.  I'm not going to share the whole workout but instead an innovative idea from it. The warm-up stands out in my mind to this day.  On certain days (Monday, Wednesday, Saturday) I was to run for distance at an easy pace.  Nothing groundbreaking there.  Then came the other days.  These days I focused movements using every single muscle in my body. ...

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Why are so many people registering their children or themselves for martial arts classes?  There are numerous reasons to get involved in the martial arts.  Whether you're trying to gain confidence, get into better shape or learn self-defense, martial arts is the answer. First, what are martial arts?  The definitions vary from person to person.  Some say meditative art forms while others say hand-to-hand combat education.  There is no one true way to sum them up.  Martial arts are fighting systems derived from many years of experience and practice that allow...

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One of the hardest things for any child or teenager to overcome is the humility in attempting and failing an activity in front of friends and peers. Intensive studies have shown that the two greatest things keeping kids from exercising are the television and the lack of knowledge about sports and physical activities.

As time goes on and technology becomes more and more a part of our society, younger generations begin to rely more on electronics and computers for entertainment. Some of those younger children even choose to remain indoors every day as opposed to playing outside. Part of...

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I hear a lot of people talking about the one sport they love. In the fall, my friend plays for the volleyball school team. Winter, the same friend plays volleyball for a junior Olympics team. Spring, more junior Olympics. Summer, a summer volleyball league. Year-round volleyball. It has become a growing trend for people to specialize in one sport. It should make sense: if you focus on one sport, your skills should increase, you should get better. For those children that hope to grow up to be professional athletes, specialization of one sport at an early age may seem like...

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