Tonight's Emphasis: Physical

Every night, I attempt to take care of every aspect of my being. Some nights get a little different emphasis than others.

Tonight, the longest period of time on my own got devoted to my physical health.

Just for background, I am a 2nd degree Black Belt in Taekwon-Do. I have been studying the martial arts for 17 years; the bulk of that time has been in Taekwon-Do, though I have also studied both Shao-Lin Kung Fu and T'ai Ch'i.

The thing that I like most about Taekwon-Do is the emphasis on kicking--this is both the least martially useful element, and the most impressive athletic element. I have ceased formally studying--three children leave precious little time for formal study. But I do make certain that my skills suffer only the normal deterioration of an aging athlete.

So, once a week, I do "kick night." During this routine, I execute 500 kicks--250 with each leg. In addition, I run 50 flights of stairs, and do three sets of 25 push-ups and sit-ups.

It is both skills maintenance and conditioning work. The 500 kicks are divided among just the four basic kicks of TKD: front kick, side kick, back kick, and turning kick, with simple variants and combinations of multiple kicks. That kind of repitition, done diligently, is remarkably effective at maintaining a degree of effectiveness. AND, all that activity is an excellent cardio workout.

Now, I go to end my night with a little reading.