Images From Iraq

Gettysburg Address

I overheard someone say that today is the anniversary of the Gettysburg Address. Later in the conversation I heard one of the participants ask......"Can you image what the Gettysburg address would have been like if Abe Lincoln had had an academic education?



Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Can't Help But Notice A Resemblance.

At the movies on Saturday I noticed this video playing in the lobby of the Mazza Gallery. The commercial also played before the movie started. I noticed a similarity in the tone of the music to former Soviet Block military songs.







One way to hear the similarities is to listen to each video 10 seconds at a time. Just switch back and forth between play buttons......technology will do the rest.
You can also press play on both videos at the same time. You may notice that the two sounds are almost indistinguishable.




What do you think caused the the National Guard to use this type of sound in their commercial?

The little Redskins fan and The Denver Broncos hat

The little kid sat next to me on his older brothers lap during the game. The guy in the Denver Jersey sat directly behind me. How they ended up in this picture with the little kid wearing the Denver fans' well worn, prized, hat is an interesting story.

Things didn't start well for the Redskins, they seldom do, but this beginning was particularly bad. In the first quarter the Redskins secondary (the last level of defense) got burned for two touchdowns. Sitting next to me during this travesty was this little guy. His brother had taught him to boo Denver and the Denver fans relentlessly. So even as all seemed lost the little guy was screaming at the top of his little lunges, BRONCOS ARE POO. POOPY BRONCOS.

In the beginning, the Broncos fan seated directly behind us was living the high life. He was cheering and laughing....... having a good old time. Even the little guy couldn't compete with the dismal play of the Redskins and the joy of the Denver fans.

Well the Skins didn't give up and good things started to happen. At one point the Denver fan says to the little guy. "There is no way you are going to beat us, but if you do I'll give you my hat."

In the fourth quarter, the Broncos where down by two scores. With 2 minutes to go the Broncos were screwed and the Redskins looked like they were going to beat a good team by more than the skin of their teeth. When it looked like the game was over, the older brother gather up the little guy and pronounced that they had to go. The Broncos fan then stood up and offered his hat to the little guy. The older brother said no to worry about it, but the Broncos fan said a deal was a deal. I got them to compromise by taking the picture that you see above.


So little Skins fan, the picture above is proof that you won the bet and that the Denver fan was cool enough to honor it.

Hail to the Redskins

My thoughts on writing.

would you use
the
words you used
on paper
to explain in person?

one good thing about on paper
is that it's not in person.

Could you tell the story
out
loud?

What parts would you include,
what parts would you exclude?

You are explaining an aspect of life
that until
you shared it..... only
you
knew
about.

No two perspectives are the same; but,
because we can relate to each other emotionally
.... they don't have to be.

The Redskins must be Careful

The Washington Redskins must be careful. Slowly but surely the fire is going out. For the fans this is catastrophic. Its hard to be devoted to something you can't see.

The fire goes out of any entity, whether it be a team,or an individual, when there is no longer a will to fight. On a team this happens when more people than not give up. For an individual its when there is despair and no hope for the future.

The Redskins behavior has shown that things are bad. The incident on the Falcons sideline with Hall and Landry show just how bad. Any team that hesitates to support their own is well on its way to darkness.

Jason Campbell's ability to remain responsive to questions from the media gives me hope. He is still fighting, although every time he gets a little banged up he starts rolling around on the field, his face in agony. Let me just say from experience........when you are a leader.......in front of those you led........ it behooves you to keep your emotions in check . Campbell seems to be able to do this in interviews but on the field of play he shows too much of his pain.

If I had to give Campbell advice I'd say to him. "As a leader you don't feel pain during the battle. If you do, your men will fear for you and your opponents will smell blood. Football is a game of emotion. During the battle your emotion is your light, your fight, your weapon, and your greatest weakness. You must protect it."

This why the emotions surrounding the team are in such peril. So much is stacked against the organization, but for the time being the team is still trying. There is still room to blame things other than the players themselves. However, if the light goes out on the field, if everything becomes too much to bear, if Campbell stops answering question with hope for the future, darkness could come.

Anyone who has ever been camping can tell you, it's a lot easier to get a fire going from smoldering embers than it is to Create a new one.

Helps with losing weight

You must change the amount of time you spend negatively perceiving,analyzing, and/or judging your physical body.

The video is one way to do this.





For people who are really stuck in their heads using these breathing exercises to replace negative thoughts, even if just for a minute or two, will give you a break to build on.

For people who are for the most part good. The breathing exercises with sharpen the thoughts, clear the mind, and may even create, maintain, sustain, a little definition to the rectus abdominis (the ab muscles that go up and down your front)and the obliques (the ones on the sides)

For those of us in the middle, spending time in a relaxed state, even two minutes, is never a bad thing.

Helps with Weight loss

To experience your body in ways other than how you perceive its appearance.

Mobility Insurance Exercise 1A

Whats the Point?

Create, Maintain, and Sustain,(CMS) Smooth circular mobility in the,

• toes
• ankles
• knees
• hips
• shoulders
• elbows
• wrists

CMS

• Balanced neuro-muscular recruitment in the feet and hands

CMS

• efficient force production through a push

Why is pushing with shoulders down, elbows in, palms spread, so significant?

Physiologically speaking, having your shoulders down elbows in, creates the greatest amount of surface area between the ball of the humerus bone and the Glenoid Labrum of the Glenohumeral Joint.(The Glenoid Labrum in the socket the ball of the humerus bone goes into. The Glenohumeral Joint is the medical term for the shoulder joint) The Greater the surface area the greater the amount of Neuro-Muscular recruitment. The greater the Neuro-Muscular recruitment the greater production of force.

Key Point to Remember

• move slow
• use big toes on way down
• keep back inline from knees to neck during modified push up
• elbows in
  
• Shoulders down and away from ears
• push into thumbs

Mobility Insurance

• Keep it if you got it
• Get it if you don't

Fitness =(ability +Sustainability)x Discipline

Weight Loss

The left and right boundaries for weight loss are Hungry and Full. The more you feel full the more likely you are to gain weight. The more you feel hungry to more likely you are to lose weight. Too much time is spent monitoring the quality of foods eaten instead of the quantity. By focusing on quantity one can feel weight loss instead of plan for it.

A fool proof way to control your weight is to control you feelings of hungry and full. In a week pay attention to how many nights you go to bed hungry as opposed to full and I guarantee you will lose weight.

Mostafa

I was several months into my deployment when I met Mostafa. Below is a video from that day. Mostafa is the young man who speaks english.





Mostafa and I have since become even better friends over email. After the two car bombs in Baghdad last week I received this email from him.

"Well my family are okay I was alone in the hotel where I stay up with my friends in one of the clubs and stay late and it was dangerous to drive to the house because the road was dark and empty I spent the night in the hotel and it happened

Has been moved all the wounded and I am one to hospital and one was close to the area and the number of wounded more than 700 hospital did not accommodate so many more wounded and they put them outside the hospital, lying on the ground and remained in this case nearly four hours unconscious and then took me and gave mei oxygen and conducted the surgery and then somebody came and took me out side the hospital he put on a chair outside and then when I woke up I called my friend and he came and took me home

Please do not think about me you are sick now, I'm now fine and my doctor comes every day to check on

You will not believe what I saw on that day there have been many explosions near me but I did not see such a bloody scene which I saw on Sunday was near the explosion destroyed the custody of children and children have died within more than 30 children and while they were searching the rubble and found a girl child separated from body

And also see signed by a concrete barrier led to the dismemberment of his head completely, I wonder how a person who carried out this terrorist operation to sleep for the killing of these children, and people do not know what to call them for what they are doing all this? Who is the beneficiary of all this blood"

Dear Dan Snyder

Hey Dan, I saw you last night hunched over the table in your owners box. You looked pretty sad and for the first time I empathized with you. You see I know what it feels like to lose faith in your decision making ability. I know what it feels like to doubt your ability to move forward. You, like the rest of us, are mired in what I like to sum up as Doubt, Worry, and Fear. Here's how it works.

Its third and five. The play comes in and the team addresses the ball. The QB comes under center and the fans hold there breath. In the split second before the ball is snapped, doubt worry and fear take hold.

The fans, the team, everybody, doubts that we will get the first down. We worry that this will always be the case and we fear that nothing will ever change.

Below is Proof that the entire team is stuck in this situation,

-Rabach screwing up the snap on the one yard line.
-Randle El muffing the punt
-Wilson not seeing the fumbled ball as it rolled right between his feet

Things like this are not causing us to be bad, they are symptoms of a doubt worry and fear mindset.

You cannot address these issues with data or personal. To address these issues you must address the mindset of doubt, worry, and fear. How do you address a doubt worry and fear mindset?

For me when I get myself stuck in doubt worry and fear I create control in things I can control. For example; I make sure I make my bed every day, I shave every morning, I smile at people in the elevator and say hello, I open the door for people behind me and never litter. I build a platform for the future, instead of trying to control it.

For you Dan, the controls you can control are going to be bigger, but they follow the same premise.

1. You have got to start treating the people under you with greater care. Each member of your organization impacts the success of the team. I have heard about how you treat "the little people" in your organization and I can tell you from my experience as a soldier in Iraq, the "little People" are the ones that you need to show the most respect too.

2. Going to Fed Ex field is not fun. I understand that you are trying to make things more efficient.....but by making things so structured you are denying fan autonomy. Fedex could be a Mecca, but it must come from the fans, not the owner.

3. You must develop an understanding of the difference between intelligence and wisdom. The story of the turtle and the hair is a good place to start.

4. Credit goes to Lavar Arrington for this... you must create a practice field at Fed Ex. Fedex should be home, not just a field of battle. Players should feel comfortable seeing the stadium at rest as well as in action.

The Redskins are a living breathing changing thing that starts and ends with you. Every aspect of the team, the players, the fans, the front office, the media, any time the name Redskin gets used, impacts the team.

I talked to a Philipino woman today in the Parking lot of a RitAid. Her car had the Skins flag flying and team emblems everywhere. She became a Skins fan when she and her husband immigrated to the States in 1992. We both agreed that the team was pretty bad. She mentioned that she had heard people say that you were a really bad owner. I said I had heard that too. The conversation ended with both of us agreeing that it didn't really matter how bad the team was we where going to be Skins fans for the rest of our lives.

I know you love the Skins. I know you wanna win. I also know that you are a young guy with many years left as our owner. Use this opportunity to surprise us. You have the power to create a platform for the future.

What is Fitness?

F=(A+S)D

Fitness =(Ability+Sustainability) X Discipline

F = an individual intention founded on habits.

A+S= the type of routine

D= amount of energy put into making the routines habitual

Each person sets there own intention. As a trainer, my job is to explain how to get there.

Balance

Can you put your socks on standing up? If not you have a balance practice available to you every morning. Its easy.

1. Stand up.
2. Align your feet hip width apart and parallel to each other.
3. Push into the fat pads of your big toe on each foot.
4. Push into the outside of each foot.
5. Find the middle between the outter extreme and the inner extreme of each foot.
6. Lift you left knee while pushing down into your right foot.
7. Put your sock on.
8. Repeat.

At first this will seem like a pain in the ass. Seven steps to put your socks on is a lot. It doesn't matter. If you make an effort to engage in this easy practice you will increase your balance and learn a little bit about you feet. Remember 26 bones, 33 joints and over a hundred muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Use them and you will be rewarded.

Its also nice to know that before you have even started your day you have done something good for your self that will benefit you well into you 90s.

Vibram Five Fingers

I don't know why they are called Vibram Five Fingers. I call em Feet. Either way they are a great way to learn about your feet. Believe it or not, your feet are a miracle of evolution. They are specifically designed to cushion your weight when you move around. Your foot and ankle contain 26 bones, 33 joints, and more than a hundred muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Meaning.....they tougher and better designed than you think. Below is an example.




A word of caution: walking, running and moving in Feet requires practice. If you have lived most of your life in a shoe, then your foot is not very strong. Chances are that every time you step you land on your heel. The reason you probably land on your heel is because it's easiest. The heels of most shoes have a large amount of cushion making it easy to land heel first. In Feet however; you can't land on your heel because it's uncomfortable. In Feet your step must land on your whole foot. Learning this takes practice.

Can Redskin Fans help the team in any way?

Washington Redskins Fans are stuck.

Owner Dan Snyder continues to make money hand over fist from the Redskins. This means that no matter how bad the team is, it is still in his best interest to remain the owner.

Since Snyder became owner he has gone through 6 coaches. The current and seventh Coach, Jim Zorn, was Snyder's personal choice.

Zorn, like the coaches before him, even Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs, can't keep the team winning. Every game is plagued with the strangest of mishaps. Strange sequences of events that can't be explained or blamed on anything in particular.

The reason the Redskins can't be fixed by a new player, a new coach, or a new O-Line, is because the problem isn't tangible. It's the kind of problem a girl is having when she says, "why do I always attract guys that cheat on me" or when a guy says "I don't understand why I always end up in the friend zone."


Dan Snyder is in the same situation,"why does my team keep losing."

So when someone asks you what should be done about the Redskins, think back to the last time a girl or a probably slightly over-weight guy asked you for relationship advice. See if your answer can translate into advice for Dan Snyder and send him a letter, because regardless of the money he spends and the Hall of Fame coaches he hires: until he sees the light the Redskins will continue to lose.

OnlyiFitseasy at the Army 10 Miler Oct 09

The Army 10 miler was a great run. I felt great about the results and about how comfortable I was during the race. The breathing techniques worked great. Running through the middle of my body was very effective.




Running on Feet (Vibram five finger footwear)was a very interesting experience. The amount of information I received from my feet made the race much more enjoyable. I didn't have to swallow the pain or gut my way through to the end. It was smooth sailing from start to finish. Running the Army 10 miler was easy.

Redskins

I know this is a fitness and health post but goddamn if all I want to do is rant about the Skins. My love for all my life, these Redskins are killing me, absolutely killing me. The worst part is that there isn't one thing in particular that is wrong........there are a million tiny things that are wrong. A million tiny things that can never be fixed by anything in particular.....the only way to fix something like the Redskins is to have faith......there is a 6th element to life that only the cosmos knows about, so all we as fans can do is hope the Redskins can find it.

The onlyiFITseasy Philosophy

The philosophy behind Only.iF.it's.easy is empowerment. As a trainer I try to teach my clients the tools they need to train and maintain themselves.

The tools I teach are tools that I understand very well myself because I am constantly practicing and teaching them to my clients. This may sound like a big deal but what I am practicing and teaching is something that is easy enough for any one to practice......that is.....I am practicing to breath more fully, move more smoothly and release tension more effectively.

Where onlyiFITseasy came from

The whole idea for Only.iF.it's.easy came from a buddy of mine. When we would talk about hanging out at a later date he would say.....only if it's easy.....the whole idea just made sense....it wasn't one of us putting pressure on the other one to do something; it was simply, a we will see and only if its easy for the meeting to happen. The key was that there was never any tension. There was no worry or fear that it we didn't hang out it would be because of some ulterior motivation. It was kinda what I imagine as an ideal family situation. Your family.....you will always be family......don't worry about it....easy......

Anyway, recently I managed to combine the physical concepts of personal fitness to the concept only if its easy. I did this by asking the question..."Is there a way to exercise your physical body in a way that is easy and effective?"

In the beginning I couldn't figure it out. I had always... and I mean always.... lived and trained under the assumption that one should never quit, never stop pushing , work hard, do more, push pass the pain......for anyone who has ever trained with me from the past they will remember that one of my favorite motivational phrases was. PAIN IS ONLY WEAKNESS LEAVING THE BODY....Nietzsche... I used to love saying that shit..truly I did...I felt like a bad ass and...well....anyway I trained to the bone for years. I gutted my way through a Marathon in Richmond Va. I ran the damn thing in 3.59.50, never walked a step and sprinted the last down hill mile, all the while screaming at myself that I was weak and pathetic and had to run harder. I made it....... however I created a hip problem for myself that lasted for almost 7 years and then took a year of Yoga to fix.

Training for a tour in Iraq I forced myself to work out with a 40 pound weight vest. For one month I created a routine that included

Morning: Sprint 2 miles for time.
10:30 to 11:30 One hour of Aikido
After lunch run six miles with 40 pound weight vest
Afternoon work out for at least an hour

In Iraq I carried around 65lbs of body armor whenever we went on mission or when our base was under attack.

I came home with problems with my back and neck....nothing unbearable but enough to cause me regular discomfort. Well I just figured that that was what you had to deal with. Plus everyone always says......"wait till you get my age"......"you'll see when you get older"......you know the cliche's......

Haha now that I think about it, that was the time that I started having a terrible time sleeping. My body was in pain all the time. Again nothing unbearable but enough to keep me from sleeping. Before Alena and I moved in together I went through all kinds of mattresses because I assumed that was the problem.....sleep number bed....pillow top.... I slept on the floor...it used to drive me crazy....well then I started taking Yoga. I loved Yoga......my body felt so great and I was finally sleeping well.

Yoga was great but after a while I just got better at Yoga but I felt like if I wasn't practicing Yoga at least three times a week my body would tightening up and I would have to go back to Yoga for a week to get the flexibility back or would have to spend large amounts of time stretching. In other words Yoga was hard.

This happened to me while I was in Japan for two weeks in Aug 09..what the heck.

I got back from Japan and while working on these stretches I new from Yoga and I had an epiphany. It had everything to do with breathing. Yoga practices a huge amount of breathing but most of it focuses on the act of breathing and not the actually breath as a whole. Two things led me to this realization.

1. I read somewhere that energy doesn't feel like anything in perticular.....energy or the feeling of energy flowing through your body has to do with the lack of feeling.....i.e.......the lack of pain or discomfort.

2. Air takes the shape of your body when you inhale it.........giving form to something formless......you can use air to hold your body up....if you pay more attention to your inhales than your exhales you can actually experience the form of the inside of your body.

As soon as I started resting on top of my inhales I noticed that if I kept working on inhaling my body seemed to respond on it own to open up. As I kept working on inhaling my chest started to open up on its own......my shoulders started falling down my back....the muscles in my neck seemed to start lengthening to each side of my spine. It was easy....it took discipline to do it but I felt the benefits from it so immediately that I didn't mind dedicating time to the practice. As the tension left my shoulders I started to notice how other workout practices like pushups and pullups became easier as I was pulling with my muscles easily instead of working against tension. As I worked at it more I notices immediate muscular activation....or the burn.....instead of having to do a thousand reps at a bunch of different weights. It was much more efficient than the standard three sets /12-15 reps

You see all this sustainability talk had me thinking......most workouts...work you to make you be able to work harder...lift more.....lift longer......you build up a resistance and adapt to very large amounts of physical stress on your body.......that in in or itself is magnificent...the human body is incredible.....however....that style of working out it not sustainable.....your body can't maintain that demand.....it is not sustainable.....So instead of working my body to be able to do more I decided with the help of working from the inside to relieve tension TO WORK OUT TO CREATE THE WIDEST RANGE OF EASY SMOOTH MOTION. I believe an intention to workout with the everyday goal of smooth easy maximum range of motion will be more effective, sustainable, and enjoyable than the current industrial standard of weight loss and muscle tone.

The Best part is that it is easily teachable and immediately noticeable.