Happy New Year!  A new year brings ideas of resolutions and fresh starts for most of us.  We set goals, we commit to dieting, we hit the gym, and we cut bad things out of our lives.  Our lives will be forever better starting on January 1st.
Too often, these can all be too short lived.  By the time March rolls around, self improvement strategies just become sad jokes.  This can result in things being worse than they were before the new year.  The things that were supposed to improve are the same or worse, AND we have the guilt and anxiety of failure.  With seasonal depression hanging over us during the winter months, the last thing we need is the negativity of resolutions gone bad.
Realizing this pattern can go a long way towards avoiding all of this and staying committed to our resolutions.  One tip for increasing the chances of success is to make your goals realistic and achievable.  Setting the bar at a place that we can get to or exceed without too much trouble is much more likely to result in actual improvement in ourselves.  Plus, having the satisfaction and confidence of succeeding will increase our overall happiness.
Consistency is key in making any self improvement steps work.  Rather than commit to a ‘crash’ diet, or completely giving up chocolate, exercise portion control.  Make gradual adjustments to the parts of ourselves we want to change rather than making drastic changes.  We need to look at these as long term revisions in our lifestyle and commit to changing our ‘day to day’ routines.
We also need to realize that having lapses in progress is pretty normal.  Any adjustments we make probably won’t be totally ‘linear’ and have some ups and downs.  Some days we’ll do better, and some days not so much.  The important thing is to stay on track and shoot for slow steady progress.  Rather than a ‘binary’ thing, we should look at our resolutions as reductions in poor habits and boosting good ones. 
Another trick in this is to allow yourself a cheat-day.  As long as the adjustment you’re making is for something relatively harmless it’s OK to give yourself a day of the week when you can compromise a little.  Remember that bad habits that are unhealthy, such as smoking, vaping, alcohol, or recreational drugs should be treated with more commitment and intensity.
Of course, a new commitment to an exercise routine is one of the best things you can do for your fitness, health and well being.  Mindful exercise not only makes us more fit and helps regulate body weight, it helps us feel good about ourselves.  It changes our brain chemistry to actually be happier and improves our ability to think clearly.  Lastly, regular exercise helps us sleep better allowing us to be more rested during our awake times, and our bodies to repair and minimize injuries and illnesses.
An out of the box approach to New Year resolutions is to simply make a commitment to yourself to live more healthy.  In addition to specific goals for resolutions, or just as an alternative, we should commit to living healthy each day and improving our lives.  Maximize the good stuff and minimize the bad.  We should do our best to make good choices from day to day.  Take the initiative and make good stuff happen.  Do kind things for your friends and family.  Do your best to be happier and help the people around us to do the same.  Be the hero of your own story.  Optimize 2019, and the rest of your life!​

December saw our latest round of Advanced Concepts clinics for Karate, Muay Thai and Jiu-jitsu.  These are held every three to four months at ZenQuest to provide more advanced students with techniques and strategies of each respective art.  It also provides opportunities to address issues that advanced students and assistant instructors face.  
On Saturday, December 8th students ranked Brown Belt and above attended AC Uechi.  After discussing teaching and training issues the group worked on ‘Hojo Undo’ exercises and advanced Kata or forms.  Next, the group learned some new self-defense drills developed by Master Shinmatsu Okuhama that focus on severe responses to common attacks.  The clinic ended with some discussion about Team ZenQuest’s recent Okinawa trip and adjustments to training.
On Saturday, December 15th students ranked Blue Prajiet (arm band) and above attended AC Muay Thai.  After some discussion on teaching and advanced training the group focused on freestyle pad-work.  This is where one partner or instructor wears ’Thai Pads’ and a body shield to enable the other partner to throw strikes in a manner that is very close to sparring or fighting.  The group started out with drills that isolated kicking, then added punches, then elbows and knees, working up to combining all strikes together.  At the conclusion of the workshop promotions were awarded to three students.  Chris Bradley earned 4-stripe Blue Prajiet, Chris Kupernik earned Purple Prajiet, and Neil Von Flatern earned 1-stripe Brown Prajiet.
On Saturday, December 22nd students ranked Blue Belt and above attended AC Jiu-jitsu.  This time the group was given strategies using the ‘Z-Guard’ or ‘Knee Shield’.  This is trapping an opponent between your knees on your side from bottom position.  Techniques included ways to improve position, sweep and submissions using Z-Guard.  At the conclusion of the workshop promotions were awarded to three students.  Congratulations to Tilo "Tilosh" Jackson for earning his Blue Belt, and to Chis "Koop" Kupernik and Mike "Panda" Jezak for earning their 3-Stripe Blue Belt!
Thanks to everyone who showed up for Advanced Concepts so close to the holidays and congratulations to everyone who earned promotions.  The next round of Advanced Concepts clinics will be sometime in the spring.   

After an incredible week of training and cultural immersion in Thailand, we made the jump over to Okinawa.  When compared to the marathon flights from New York to Thailand this trip on Tuesday, November 6th, was just a short hop.  As we stepped out of the airport in the southern city of Naha, we were met by our good friend and instructor Hirokuni Yamashiro.  After helping us grab our rental car, Sensei Yamashiro brought us to one of his favorite places for lunch, and then led us to the apartment he was providing us in Okinawa city.  With most of our ’jet lag’ already passed in Thailand, we settled into our accommodations, threw our Gis on and went down the two flights of stairs to Yamashiro’s Dojo to train.  It was an amazing moment to be back running through drills in that space after six years away for myself, and eleven years for Sensei Connie. 
The next day started out with two hours of training with Sensei Yamashiro.  Yamashiro was one of the top students of Sensei Shigeru Takamiyagi, our head instructor until his passing in 2012.  The day ended with two more hours of training with Master Tsutomo Nakahodo.  He is considered the highest authority in the world still actively teaching Uechi-Ryu, and is known as the ‘Encyclopedia’ of the art. 
In between the trainings we scrambled to run errands and swung back to the airport to grab three of our students.  This was the first pilgrimage to Okinawa for Matt Moreau, Beth Yanuskiewicz, and Michelle Moreau.  We brought them to their hotel (also in Okinawa city) for their customary ‘recovery day’ since they had just made the trip from New York.  With 20+ hours of travel and a 14 hour time difference, some time for rest and adjustment is usually needed. 
The next ten days were filled with a combination of intense workouts and amazing adventures.  The training was typically four hours each day with many of the leading Masters in the world including: Senseis Yamashiro, Nakahodo, Toshio Higa, Takashi Arakaki, Keicho Tobaru, Shinmatsu Okuhama, and Masanori Yonamine.  The bulk of our training took place at the Yamashiro Dojo, but we also visited dojos in the towns of Koza (Yonamine), Awase (Tobaru), Yomitan (Uechi), Okinawa City (Kenshukai) and, of course Chatan (Higa.)  The latter was headed by Sensei Takamiyagi for many years and still considered our home dojo in  Okinawa.    
The primary reason for this trip was to enable Sensei Connie to ‘level up.’  She was overdue for promotion to 7th degree black belt or Nanadan, which can only be done officially in Okinawa.  The Okinawa Karatedo Association requires candidates for 6th degree or higher to do at least 30 hours of training and tune-up, over a minimum of two weeks to qualify for advancement.  This is to insure that the candidate’s skills and understanding are at the level required, and also gives them a chance to immerse themselves into Okinawan history and culture.  Not everyone who undergoes this process is successful, as was witnessed first hand during this trip.
Sensei Connie actually trained for a total of 36 hours and DID pass her test with flying colors.  She worked very hard and received praise from the instructors we worked with, many of whom were on the panel of judges at her test.  Huge congratulations to Sensei Connie for rising to the occasion and rocking her test!  
In addition to the training, testing, and time with amazing friends our group did a fair amount of sightseeing, shopping and activities.  This included visiting the Churaumi Aquarium, the Shuri Jo Castle, the Futenma Shrine, Hanbi Town, and the Okinawa Prefectural Museum.  We also visited many restaurants and did way too much Karaoke in a place simply known as “Mama’s.”  As usual, people who thought that they would struggle with that just went for it when the time came and completely enjoyed the experience.  In fact, everyone from ZenQuest was unofficially promoted in this ancient art.
Another goal during this visit was to train and spend time with our primary teacher, Sensei Toshio Higa.  He is now the ranking instructor at the Chatan Dojo.  We’ve developed a special bond with Sensei Higa over the last 20+ years, and he calls himself our “Okinawan Father.”  In addition to being one of the top proteges of Grandmaster Kanei Uechi and an accomplished Master himself, he is a funny and fantastic person that is just a pleasure to be around.
One big take-away from this trip is the importance of ‘getting it.’  When we have opportunities to learn from highly qualified instructors it’s important to make the best of it.  I’ve seen so many people squander opportunities to make progress in their art by ignoring the people that are trying to help them.  They go through the motions of attending the training and doing the exercises, but don’t really want anyone to highlight that they might not be doing things perfectly.  Instead of learning, they’re want to be told that everything they’re doing is good or, at least acceptable.  Then, they can return to their home Dojo a hero who was validated by notorious instructors.  I’ve literally heard people say things like “Well, I’ve been doing this for X number of years and I’m not going to change it now!”  But, once we adopt this kind of thinking, we stop learning.  When we listen and work WITH the people that can help us improve, we progress and gain a broader understanding of our art.  What’s more is, when those people see that we are really interested and working to ‘get it’ they will often spend more time with us and share much MORE of their knowledge.  Ultimately, we all benefit when we keep an open mind and allow important information to be passed from one generation to the next.  This way, we can make the most of our art together.
Once again we would like to thank everyone for helping out in keeping ZenQuest moving forward while we were away.  That includes all of the instructors covering classes, Dee Bradly for running the front desk, and Kyle Pezzano for making sure the place stayed clean.  Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU everyone!!!  We’d also like to thank all of our friends and instructors in Okinawa for providing another incredible experience, especially Senseis Higa, Nakahodo, Tobaru, Yamashiro, Arakaki, and Uechi.  Special thanks to our students...Senseis Michelle, Beth and Matt for joining us on this trip and sharing in some amazing memories!

We have two winners to announce in our latest round of ZenQuest’s ‘Referral Rewards’ program.  They are the Cornellier and the Davis (Lucas) families!  Each are receiving a $50 gift certificate towards training or gear at ZenQuest. 
This round was very successful with a total of 28 names of those who were encouraged to try our Introductory Special, and the students who referred them.  The winners were randomly chosen from names placed into a coffee-can. 
This program is a great way to reward students in an organic ‘word of mouth’ referral process.  We will begin our next immediately, so please continue to spread the word about ZenQuest and keep those referrals coming!

On Saturday, December 1, ZenQuest hosted a free clinic for Law Enforcement, Corrections and Security personnel.  The workshop covered reliable strategies for common situations that Officers can encounter in the process of protecting themselves or restraining uncooperative individuals in the course of their duties.  Special consideration was given to the equipment that these personnel frequently carry, and professional and legal boundaries that they are typically subjected to. 
The clinic was developed in cooperation with local Law Enforcement and Corrections Officers, and presented as a community service with no charge to active personnel.  The strategies presented were drawn from a variety of martial arts and refined specifically for this purpose. 
Thanks to everyone who attended, and special thanks to Chief Mike Wynn and Officer Russel Moody of the Pittsfield PD.  This workshop will be offered again in the spring of 2019.  For more information or to reserve a spot in the next clinic please contact us.