Martial Arts Mini Series on Powerful Women #7

I’d like to hear dramatic, moving, profound before and after stories. Where you started, what training has taught you, where you are now and how it’s affected your image of yourself. I first started training right after I married my husband artist Pablo Solomon. He had trained since childhood and was a master of several styles ( he even did classes for the Queen’s Guard in the Netherlands). However, he felt that I would benefit more if I had a teacher other than him.

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Martial Arts Mini Series on Powerful Women #6

Congratulations to you for practicing in the martial arts. It is really a calming approach to staying fit.

My main reason for staring MMA two years ago was medically based. I was diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer in 2007 at the age of 35 and after my surgeries, my doctors at Sloan Kettering told me I had to log a minimum of five hours of exercise each week.

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Martial Arts Mini Series on Powerful Women #5

I’ve got a great story of transformation through martial arts. Here’s a little background: I started doing Tae Kwon Do (Korean martial art) when I was 11 years old, and got my black belt when I was 17. I’ve been training on and off since then and I’m 24 years old now. I was a really shy, less than confident girl before I started Tae Kwon Do, and I was actually bullied a lot as a child. I was very small framed and often spoke very softly.

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Martial Arts Mini Series on Powerful Women #4

I worked on Wall Street for 20 years as an institutional salesperson, then retired to stay at home and raise my 3 daughters. Around that time I blew out a disc in my lower back and had to have surgery. As I was recovering I read an article touting the therapeutic and strengthening powers of karate.

Soon after the parent of one of my youngest daughter’s friends was raving about the karate instructor her son had. I got the information and paid a visit to the dojo the following week. It is said that the hardest move in martial arts is taking the first step, but I was hooked almost immediately (even though I was twice as old as the other students).

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Martial Arts Mini Series on Powerful Women #3

Martial Arts Keeps Your Energy High and Helps Lose Weight By Tiffany Richards

I’ve been doing martial arts since 1998 (12 years now) and it has helped me tremendously in both my professional and personal life. I own an on-site corporate wellness firm, The Back Rub Company. We provide companies chair massage, fitness classes, wellness workshops, weight loss challenges, nutrition and more. I started out as a massage therapist and toured with Cirque du Soleil as their personal massage therapist. Once I returned from tour, I slowly transitioned out of doing massage into running the business.

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Martial Arts Mini Series on Powerful Women #2

I work in both the Entertainment Industry and Martial Arts Industry – both male oriented businesses. I think martial arts has helped me in my business because of the self-confidence that I project and the knowingness that I am capable to handle whatever challenge may come my way. It is a confidence that I have been told that men are not used to seeing in women and I feel that it is directly linked to my martial arts training. By the way, I used to teach world wide (like my father) with my husband, Ron Balicki, conducting seminars in the USA, Canada and Europe and many times the classes are all “male” and sometimes you really have to hold your ground as a woman instructor—not everyone accepts a woman teacher.

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Martial Arts Mini Series on Powerful Women #1

At age 27, I achieved a goal of black belt in Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido. I started training in 1993, and after four years of consistent training four times per week, I tested and received my black belt, which was the new beginning to my continued training and the satisfaction of reaching a short-term goal. I was the only woman at my test. It took extreme dedication and lots of physical endurance to complete an eight-week-long test that included self defense, sparring, board-breaking (I kicked through six at once – more than any of the men who tested.) and kicking and hand techniques.

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Is Your Relationship In the (Flash) Cards?

Have you ever felt that at times your lover is your worst enemy? It sure can appear so in the middle of a fight. Sometimes this person you love, whom you thought you knew, turns into an the Creature From the Black Lagoon. You don’t have a clue as to what changed them from their mildly mannered self into someone you’d want to commit to an insane asylum.

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The Truth About Changing Your Mind

The Problem: You want to change your mind—to stop beating yourself up, to stop being afraid, and to stop spiraling into worry or negativity. You want to change your self-talk and emotions to feel better about yourself.

Unfortunately, you can’t just change your thoughts to change your mind. What neuroscientists now know about how the brain operates proves that self talk doesn’t completely work.* It is not possible to just think your way to a new attitude.

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Curves Not Cool: Christina Hendricks

A couple of gals got it wrong writing about the gorgeous Christina Hendricks, the sensuous star in the TV series Mad Men that just won another Golden Globe. They are calling her curves chubby…”(As one stylist said, ‘You don’t put a big girl in a big dress.’)”
http://gothamist.com/2010/01/19/post_131.php

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Are You Keeping a Part of Yourself in Exile?

Being overly sensitive to how people judge us isn’t always a sign of low self-esteem; confident women also worry about how other’s view them. We are supposed to be perfect so we work hard to maintain this status. As a successful high-achiever, I have had to learn to take risks, love myself even when I make mistakes, and appreciate my aging body.

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Reclaim Female Values and Virtues in the Workplace and Home

Women frequently think that they have to act like men to succeed. They devote themselves to climbing the corporate ladder by mimicking traditional male behavior. Although this strategy may buy them temporary “success”, most of the time, on a deeper level, it doesn’t take. They often end up dissatisfied, restless, and ultimately unfulfilled. While some women in the workplace don’t ever wake up to a different way of being “successful,” those who do often discover that their femininity and core values have been shoved to the background or edged out of their lives in a subtle but significant way. When women want to build a stronger business team, closer friend and family relationships, or a more centered self, many hundreds [...]

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Big bums, hips and thighs is healthy say the Brits

My honey was very excited to tell me that my big bum and chunky thighs were not only good to squeeze, but good for me. The article sites Jennifer Lopez as a good example of healthy curves. Go Jaylo. Check this out — Booties to go. While this product may not help your health, it can cause a heads to turn bolstering your self-esteem… Bookmark It

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Two-Legged Dog: The Power of Paws

A friend sent this story to me…

This dog was born on Christmas Eve in the year 2002. He was born with 2 legs! He of course could not walk when he was born. Even his mother did not want him.

His first owner also did not think that he could survive and he was thinking of ‘putting him to sleep’.

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Women Don’t Ask and They Should

As a 20 plus year marketing and product management veteran making six figures and travelling internationally for my employer, I had just returned home from an Asian trip when I knew it was time. Time to buy a new car. Excited about my new-to-me, ‘certified used’ BMW, I told my boss about my latest purchase. Matt’s asked if I had received a good deal.

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