FAT SENSEI - By Jorge Angulo

How many times have you seen an overweight martial arts instructor? Let me tell you if I had a dollar for every overweight martial arts instructor that I’ve seen or know I surely would be a millionaire. Now I don’t mean to offend anyone and to be honest with you a few months ago I found myself fat and out of shape. Like the commercial say “life comes at you hard” and it did for me.

After a failed business and my wife’s difficult and very stressful pregnancy I found myself 36 pounds fat!

You see, I’m a stress eater. When I’m under great stress I don’t panic I handle the problem but I also throw down a cheese burger. Well, after doing that for a few years I was very unhappy with myself. For those who know me in general I’m a very disciplined person and the weight gain was a major slip in my discipline. All my life I’ve had to work very hard at staying in shape I’m not a “genetically gifted” thin guy.

As a former (now retired) police officer fitness was not an option it was a must it was part of my job. Eight months ago while watching my two year old daughter playing I was struck with the reality that I was 44 years old and that I wasn’t going to be around for her until she was old and grey. I have two other daughters my oldest is going to be 20 years old and I will enjoy being grandpa “SOMEDAY” and my other daughter is going to be 11 so I will (God willing) also be grandpa for her kids.

Now Sophie my youngest that’s another story! I also realized that as a martial arts instructor I’m a leader, someone whom my students look up to and whom I influence in many ways.

Man what do they think when they see this rolly polly guy in the martial arts uniform doing his stuff? Or worse what would happen if I got attacked and had to use all my self defense knowledge against some young punk and in the process of defending myself I ran out of gas?

Think about it, fights are usually fast and very violent and if your out of shape I don’t care what martial art you know if you run out of gas during the altercation you will get your assed kicked, if your lucky. Don’t take my word for it just watch a professional or amateur boxing match or MMA (mixed martial arts) event. It is fair to say that most times the competitors are in very good shape and if a decisive blow is not struck usually the better conditioned athlete will win.

Not many martial arts/ self defense instructors will tell you this but some times the best defense is to get the hell out of there.

Imagine if you had to run from a gang of hoods and because you’re out of shape they catch up to you and kick your ass? I can hear it now, “That will never happen to me, I’ll just kick the bad guys ass with my secret Samurai technique which was handed down by Moses himself to the founder of my great art!”

Everyone wants the fantasy and martial arts teachers are not immune to it. The bottom line is that as a martial arts instructor we have a responsibility to be in shape it’s not an option, it’s our job. With the alarming growth of obesity in this country and that fact that “we” influence our student’s adults or children alike, we need to lead by example. The realities of life are very simple, if you run out of gas during an altercation chances are your going to get your ass kicked. Martial arts teachers are always stressing discipline and control.

What kind of discipline and control does Sensei Shamu have when he weighs 300 hundred pounds and looks like a stuffed sausage in his martial arts uniform? All is not lost friends everyone can do something about carrying a few pounds around and in some cases a few tons. Myself, I discovered high intensity circuit type training from trainer extraordinaire Mark Twight owner of Gym Jones in Salt Lake City Utah. Mark was responsible for getting the actors in shape for the movie 300. It wasn’t CGI Sensei Gordo, it was hard work and discipline that got the actors in the shape they were in for the movie.

I was so inspired by Marks work that I dove in head first into his type of workout prescriptions and lost 36 pounds! I even added a gym to the back of my martial arts school and now we train around 50 people at the small, sparse, but very smartly equipped gym. It’s very hard work and I had to make some changes in life style but it has been worth it. Today, I’m still working on being in the best shape possible and loving every minute of it. I have influenced several students into following me and they too have made fantastic changes in their health and physics.

I’m looking forward to being Grandpa to my “FUTURE” grandchildren and hopefully being around to see Sophie have a few kids of her own. Like always, I hope that through this article I will inspire someone to make a healthy change in their life. My writing style is peppered with humor and a bit of sarcasm but the truth is always there.

By Jorge Angulo