Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Do Antioxidants Cause Cancer?

Cancer.

One of the most feared yet most common  non-communicable disease, or NCD out there in this day and age.

It can happen to all ages, races, color etc etc, and it really really is one of my most dreaded disease and I pray I wont encounter, yet I can only do so many to avoid it.

Of course, many things we can do and consume in our bodies to lower the chances of it. But yet what we consume that we think its good may not be the whole truth.

This vid really opened my eyes and yes it is very deep.

Hope you find it helpful and please subscribe to the Youtube.

Cheers!!



Saturday, August 23, 2014

AWESOME TFW WEEKEND WORKOUT TODAY!! Have a great day folks

Went through ladder drills and Level 1 Hurricane with Leonard Chew and Alexandra! 9 x 150m sprints.  Check out  TFW MIMPI Malaysia at their FB page.

Photo: [TFW WEEKEND WARRIOR WORKOUT 23 AUGUST 2014]

Awesome ladder drills and Level 1 Hurricane with Vincent and Alexandra! 9 x 150m sprints created quite a disturbance! Good job guys!

Monday, August 18, 2014

An Interview with Leonard Chew and the "Resistance"

Halo there ladies & gentlemen,

Apa khabar.

Hows was your weekend? Good? No good?Not enough?

Well, i had somewhat a cool experience during the weekends especially the Saturday. 

Saturday as in 16/8/14, early in the morning at 6:30AM, my alarm went off. As i see the cloudy skies outside with cool wind breezes into my room, and i said to myself, what a wonderful world & time to sleep in late and only wake up naturally when my tummy is hungry. 

Today is not the day unfortunately. Why?coz

I have a special date with a friend and BJJ training partner and he is an affiliate of TFW MIMPI Malaysia, it is Malaysia's pioneer affiliate for the globally-renowned Training For Warriors system of physical fitness and self development. 

Me (blue shirt) with my lovely wife Marilyn (middle), went to Tropicana Park at 8AM to experience just what TFW (Training For Warriors) is all about. 

We meet with Mr Leonard Chew (obviously), a certified trainer  to experience it first hand. 


Vincent, Marilyn and Leonard

With Leonard's wife, Alexandra


Above pic is Alexandra (pink shirt), Leonard's wife. There is nothing like a full support of your wife right guys?? :-)))

Well coming back from Mars. 

In the first 15 minutes, it was drizzling and we say, maybe its going to stop. So we went straight to get ready.




And then,of all days it started raining cats and dogs. 



Hmmmm....Lets go home then. My warm bed is waiting for me.

No Way!! We continued on under a nearby canvas and went straight with it on tar surfaces. 

YES, the first TFW session in Malaysia is on wet tar surface under a leaking canopy. Wow, who can forget that.

Before we started, Leo a simple intro on the TFW mission and message, Familia, the Resistance. He asked us to dig deep, why are you in this early wet morning? He also advise us to drink lots and lots of water, and only water!


After that, we started with Active Dynamic Warm Up - mobility drills, stationary drills, movement drills, which is :

20 secs on/20secs off, 5 sets of:
1. BW squats
2. Burpee
3. Plank jacks
4. Mountain climbers
5. Split jump


After the session, we were really sweating and pumped. With no equipment's, we really got our work cut out on us.




After the 90 mins exercise, apa lagi, let me take a picture lerrhhh...


Green shirt is Ajim all the way from Tmn Melawati

...and a selfie too (FB@TFW MIMPI Malaysia)



Me and Leo also continued our BJJ open mat later that day at 10AM near Kelana Jaya. Man, the next morning i was feeling it, badly. 

But a pleasant surprise that i received my first stripe form coach Mandeng on that morning. TFW power?? maybe? maybe? LOL....

And with great pleasure, below my blog's first interview where i am privileged to have Mr.Leonard Chew, hope you enjoy and learned something beneficial  :


1.Hi Leo. Thanks for your time. Can you tell me a bit about yourself?
Sure! I’m Leonard Chew, 32 years young this year. I was born and bred in Ipoh, and currently 
reside in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Professionally I’m attached to the Group Strategy and Corporate Development division of a local property and construction-based conglomerate.
Personally, I’ve been martial art fan since I was a kid, with Bruce Lee as my childhood hero. I’ve also been interested in physical fitness, business, entrepreneurship and self-development.


      2.Obviously I had known you as my BJJ club training partner. How long have you trained BJJ?
I started training BJJ in Feb 2010. It was not until this period of time when I really took my training, fitness and health seriously than I ever had before.


3.Can you tell me how you got into BJJ and what makes you stay on?
Well you’ve probably heard of this story recounted by our BJJ head coach Mohd Tirmizi “Mandeng” Yew. Anyway Mandeng and I got to know each other since we joined KPMG’s Business Performance Services division back in Nov/Dec 2009. Prior to this, I had learned TaeKwon-Do during my secondary school years but haven’t really practiced it since. I had read about BJJ, how Royce Gracie won the first few UFC titles even though he was comparatively smaller than the other fighters. I was looking around for BJJ schools which was rare at that time. Little did I know that my colleague (Mandeng) was a BJJ coach, and it took a live demo of a seated armlock during lunch on someone who literally asked for it (haha that was awesome!) to really stir my interest and check out Mandeng’s classes for myself.

Fundamentally, BJJ uses the principles of leverage and technique to allow someone who is smaller and weaker the ability to control, overpower or submit a bigger and stronger opponent. My first roll (or sparring session) with Mandeng during my first class demonstrated this principle clearly. Back then at ~80kg, I was much heavier and bigger than Mandeng, but he pretty much tapped me out every few seconds with what we call now his “Machine-gun” armbars. Usually at this stage, a new student either gets humiliated so badly that his ego cannot accept it and doesn’t return, or he gets hooked and wants to learn all there is to learn about the art. Needless to say, I’m of the latter category.

What makes me stay on? So many reasons: The effectiveness and efficiency of the art for self-defense is a major reason. I also have to credit our coaches (Mandeng and Janson) who played and still plays a very huge role in why I have stayed on for as long as I have. Their ability to teach and explain techniques in a simple manner as well apply those techniques, their individual attention to each student, encouragement and motivation. Also, BJJ is something that is more sustainable, i.e. I’ll be more likely to be still be practicing BJJ in my old age, compared to the striking arts like Muay Thai or Boxing (though I don’t discount learning those striking arts myself if possible in the next few years if time and funds permit). Also, BJJ is known as the “game of human chess”. The technical and strategy aspect is fascinating; every move as a counter, and for every counter, there is a counter to that counter, and so on. The art evolves as we speak, so it’s really a game of how good one is in terms of adapting to his or her opponent.


4. How has BJJ changed your life?
Physically, BJJ has whipped me into better shape. Grappling requires all round fitness and metabolic conditioning that is different from most stand-up arts. Training twice a week coupled with working out at the gym regularly helped me shed 10kg. More importantly, I’ve learned practical self-defense techniques which can be applied in real life situations.
Mentally, it has also improved my persistence and confidence. Training is hard, and there will be periods when you don’t feel that you’re making progress. But these are the periods when you just have to stick to it and press on. When I finally am able to get that sweep, that position, that submission which I never could before, there’s a sense of achievement that is priceless. And it reinforces the notion that you could do anything if you try hard enough and want it bad enough.


      5. Great. Can you tell me what is your favorite submission/position and why?
Well I don’t have a particular favorite submission or position, as Bruce Lee would say, do not be a slave to any one technique, or you may be inflexible to deal with a dynamic situation. What I do have are some submissions which I seem to get more than others due to how my game is played, i.e. arm triangle, rear naked choke, north-south guillotine choke, armbar from guard. As for why…no particular reason, but simply because those submissions were the right thing for me to do at that point in time.
I do have quite a bit of techniques which I need to add to my arsenal, but at the same time I’m also starting to learn more on how I need to flow from one position and technique to another seamlessly, adapting to my opponent’s movements, to “be like water.”


6. Cool. You’ve talked quite a bit about Training For Warriors (TFW), even did a few TFW-style warm-ups with our BJJ club, which made me discover muscles I never knew existed before haha! Tell us a bit more about TFW.
Glad that it did! Sure. The Training For Warriors system of physical conditioning and mental development was developed by Martin Rooney, a US-based strength and conditioning coach when he was training some of the best MMA and BJJ fighters in the world, including Renzo Gracie, Roger Gracie, Frankie Edgar and Jim Miller. It’s adopts a holistic approach which encompasses all aspects of fitness, nutrition and recovery, and applies on-going evaluation and assessments to monitor progress.

Having proven itself in MMA and BJJ, the system had also been used to train top-level athletes in other sports such as wrestling, American football, basketball, etc. But most importantly, now the TFW system is being used for “normal” people like you and me who just want to build muscle, lose fat and feel great. Currently there are about 180 affiliates in 25 countries running the TFW system, and it’s growing as we speak, changing the lives of thousands of people who would have otherwise been plagued by the diseases caused by the lack of physical activity and bad eating habits, e.g. diabetes, stroke, heart attack, etc.

The mission of TFW is to “Bring Out The Warrior Within”. We don’t all have to be fighters and get in the ring or cage, but we all need to be warriors to face the challenges in life. TFW is unique in the sense that it combines the motivational element with physical training, and utilizes continuous evaluation and assessments to measure a students’ progress.


      7. That is fascinating. How did you get to know TFW and why did you choose to pursue it?
I had been turning to the internet to constantly incorporate new workouts and techniques into my workouts at the gym. I stumbled upon some of Martin Rooney’s videos on Youtube earlier this year, and what immediately struck me was how inspiring and motivating he is in all his talks, the energy level that he has and the passion for TFW’s mission to “Bring Out the Warrior Within” and to “fight the good fight of fitness”. I immediately connected personally with TFW’s mission, and to my excitement, I found out that I was able to be certified through TFW’s online video certification course conducted by Martin Rooney himself. I worked through the course, took the online test and was certified as Malaysia’s first TFW Level 1 coach.

Fitness and health is something Malaysia definitely needs to pay attention to, given its ranking as the fattest nation in South East Asia. Almost 50% of Malaysia’s adult population are either overweight or obese. >60% of our deaths are due to Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) – diabetes, stroke, cardiovascular diseases and lung cancer. And the top 4 behavioral causes of NCDs – we basically EAT, DRINK, SMOKE and SIT ourselves to death.

My own mother had a stroke when I was only a 6 year old child, still too young to know what was really going on at the time. Growing up with a mother going in and out of hospital was not easy, and in addition she also has diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis, asthma. The fact that she is still alive and well today is a miracle. However, many other people aren’t that lucky, and if what I do with TFW can help change the life of even one 6 year old kid who would otherwise have lost a parent or parents due to unhealthy eating habits, lack of physical activity, smoking or alcohol abuse, I would consider myself to have achieved my mission. This is why I chose the TFW system, as my mission is also TFW’s mission.


8.I couldn't have agree more on the EAT, DRINK, SMOKE and SIT. But how has TFW help yourself as a person? Can it bring any benefits to an average Joe? Any difference to a lets say personal gym trainer out there?
Before I talk about how TFW helped me as a person, I have to give credit to my BJJ coaches and training, as it helped me gain confidence in my own physical abilities. I never would have dreamed of doing the stuff I do now on the mats a few years ago.

In the same way, TFW is designed to help “average Joe’s” like myself achieve things which they would otherwise consider impossible. I still remember the first time I was able to do a pull up, or handstand push up, or headstand, or break my personal PR for the back squat or dead lift. The journey towards self-discovery and improvement never ends, and I’m enjoying every moment of it.


The difference between a TFW coach and a personal trainer is that a TFW has the strength of the global TFW affiliate network, continuing professional education (through the TFW Dojo online portal – interested subscribers can check it out here - XXX), mission and purpose, brand and community behind it; a personal trainer may or may not be able to leverage off the same strength and value.


9. What is the next plan for you to continue to spread this “resistance”?
My next steps for 2014 would be:
a)      Spread the awareness of the TFW brand, e.g. conducting warm-up sessions for running event participants, giving talks at health and fitness related events,
b)      Run my first TFW 8-week transformation programme during September-October 2014. I’m currently in talks with a Muay Thai gym that just expanded floor space to run TFW using that additional space.
c)      Run regular affiliate workout classes November 2014 on wards
d)      Complete the TFW L2 certification by end-2014.

My next steps for 2015 and beyond would be:
a)      Continue running regular TFW classes.
b)      Continue and intensify initiatives to spread awareness of the TFW brand.
c)      Build my team of TFW coaches.
d)      CSR – conduct at least one TFW Charity Hurricane workout every quarter to raise funds for worthy causes.
e)     Attend TFW Summit in the States.
f)    Perhaps see if we can get Martin Rooney over to Malaysia to run a Level 1 certification course? 


10. Lastly, if anyone wants to know more, where can they find you?
Well in the Facebook era, anyone can just send me a message at my page www.facebook.com/leonardcbl or visit TFW MIMPI Malaysia’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/tfw.mimpi.malaysia.


Vincent: Thanks for your time my friend!


Leonard: Thank you for interviewing me!


END


Guys, TFW is just one of many ways that you are able to get access to achieve your goal in achieving good health by consistent and correct way of exercising and adopting healthy lifestyle.



Its a challenge and nobody say it is easy, but with the correct tools and positive support it can be achieved.



But MOST MOST MOST importantly, YOU, yes YOU there have to get started. Yesterday you said today. How many today do we have? Stop delaying and make that move. 



And you will be glad that you choose the hard way, but the correct way to better health. 



Anyway is good as long as you take the first step.



Until next time, i try to write up something interesting again.



Cheers and YOU CAN DO IT!!!







Monday, August 11, 2014

Why are we still overweight?

  





He look so cute right? Oh yeah....

Some parents don't mind because maybe.....



Or if the parents are serious, they are forced to send the kids to......







Living in a beautiful place like Malaysia, besides the peace with my friends and colleagues from all races, there is one thing that I do not and wont deny is that we have abundance in FOODS. 

If you realize, when we see a friend besides greeting  selamat pagi (good morning), we usually also ask, dah makan belum? (have you eaten?). Yes yes.


Lets see, dim sum, nasi lemak with that "peha" goreng, nasi briyani gulai tenggiri, not to mention Korean BBQ, Spanish etc etc.........u got it right? 

Affordable foods is just around the corner. Everywhere in Malaysia.




But let us see some info from investvine.com  (http://investvine.com/malaysians-most-obese-in-southeast-asia/). 






and from thestar.com (http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/06/16/obesity-malaysia-highest-in-asia-says-pm-science-advisor/)

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has been rated as the highest among Asian countries for obesity.

Science Advisor to the Prime Minister, Tan Sri Zakri Abdul Hamid, said new findings from British medical journal, The Lancet, showed that 49% of women and 44% of men in this country were found to be obese.

 "This is a very big problem because it has implication on diabetes, heart problem and others and our Prime Minister has also asked the global science and innovation advisory council to work on this," he told reporters.

According to a new study published last month by The Lancet, Malaysia was rated heavyweight at 45.3% of its population, followed by South Korea (33.2%), Pakistan (30.7%) and China (28.3%).





So what's next then?

Next step is how not to be obese, right? Easier said my friend. 

So before I ask other people, i ponder and ask myself these questions (yes, i was obese and strictly speaking my BMI now is not perfect yet too)......what activity can make me loose weight, have fun, make friends and most importantly achieve the results i wanted? Which is to look fantastic.

Yes we have plenty of fitness gyms out there. I ask myself, ya the classes look interesting but after 2-3 years, there is only so many moves you can do on that stationary bicycle, and other classes that they may offer you.

Only thing that may, yes may keep me going is maybe hot chicks or the pumped up music/sound system. But that is only me.

Jogging, swimming, hiking all these are wonderful activities that i also enjoy till now. But its outdoors and you must have the motivation to go alone, mind rain or shine.

In my teens, i was obese like at 18 yo at 173cm i was 86+kg. But i don't care and never thought at it as an issue cause i said to myself, iam young its ok what. Out of curiosity and fun, i joined taekwondo once with my friends, loss weight and learn self defense perfect right? Great. 

1st day i was kicking the punch bag so hard, i didn't even mind to fill up the club membership form, yes i was a wimp.

After that i search online, ahhh a gentle sport, Judo. WRONG. I got thrown around like a rag dog. At the time in 2001 when i joined, there was a Olympian head coach from China hired  to coach at Judo Club Sabah, and a Japanese teenager that came here as a exchange student program. 

And at the time assisted by 2 local black belts. One of him now my good friend Mr.Dennis.I wont forget him ever. He only at the age of 22-23 representing Malaysia to the SEA games. He was 138kg at 6 foot tall. First day i saw him i believe i am gonna die for sure.

But still, they did took "care"of me. So i persevered for around 2 years. Then I stopped due to my Pre-U studies.

I have to say, although it was tough, painful and damn the dojo was humid and in my thick gi, i was sweating, loosing weight, learning Judo and having fun. Dang.

For the first time! I learned grip fighting, balance, break fall and other values like perseverance, correct way of learning and problem solving. Maybe is the China and the Japanese culture work ethics that keep me going. I am not sure. But it was new and fascinating to me.

Even after a while, i feel uneasy if i didn't get thrown by somebody across the room. Or drilling my uchi-mata with my friends. It was the greatest experience i had.

I had so much fun learning and coming to the dojo, i didn't care if i was loosing weight or not, if the weather is good or not, i don't know if others are not coming for training or not etc. I was addicted on how to get better, faster, beat that other guy etc.

My point is guys, when you are having fun working out (properly & consistently). The benefits of becoming fit comes naturally. It will and you cannot stop that. You will get fit.

So, after so much of my grandma old stories. Find the one passion or activity that keeps you going, work it, be consistent, have fun. Due time my friend you will reap the fruits.

That's all folks and keep on rollin' baby.


 










Sunday, August 10, 2014

Dean vs Josh



  
Metamoris 4, Dean Vs Josh this picture says it all.....man it was so close!

METAMORIS 4



Its goin down!!!!

Those who bought the PPV hope you enjoy man!!!


Metamoris 4: Official Trailer (2)

This Saturday August 9th Metamoris IV will go LIVE (at 5pm PST./8pm EST.), via Pay-Per-View webcast exclusively through http://www.metamoris.com/live-stream 

Braulio Estima newly launched his project


Hi rollers,

Got news from my BJJ coach at PJ BJJ ( http://pjjiujitsu.blogspot.com/p/about-us.html) that the great Braulio Estima newly launched his project, check out his FB. 

ENJOY :)))) !!! 


Wanna see him train with Marcelo Garcia go here :
http://www.estimainaction.com/Search.aspx?Tag=ALL


We are now live :)))))) I hope you guys enjoy our new project. It took a while but here we go. Guys Please spread this news ;))))) www.estimainaction.com

Photo: We are now live :)))))) I hope you guys enjoy our new project. It took a while but here we go. Guys Please spread this news ;))))) www.estimainaction.com


Halo there



Hi there!

Greetings, Vincent Chew here.

BIG Welcome to my humble blog and yes its very empty, like literally. But hopefully I be posting something interesting in the near future.

Currently i am training at PJ BJJ (Petaling Jaya Brazillian Jiu Jitsu Club) founded back in 2008 by Janson Lee and Tirmizi Y. "mandeng". They had a passion for BJJ and a vision to form an affordable and accessible BJJ training group for Malaysians.

Basically the club is not a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) club and focused on the sports and self defense aspect of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.


No emphasis on competitions and a simple philosophy of training BJJ during our spare time to relax. Location is at Ding's Martial Art Gym, 5 mins walk from Kelana Jaya LRT. More info right here http://pjjiujitsu.blogspot.com/p/about-us.html


I joined back in 2013 but only started to be consistently attending weekly training in 2014, and i am glad i did because inconsistency in training really slows down your learning and progression.   


Contents that I wanna share here is simple, anything and everything that can further enhance the health, well being of YOU as a person in the sports of BJJ that the little  I can offer and able to find out, I want you to know too.

It is also a platform where information and views of you out there are able to be offered to benefit someone out there that may need your help. You know, topics like which gym your joining, MMA, self defense, nutrition, how you deal with injuries etc etc.

OK I stop right now. Hopefully i start to post something good soon.

Cheers and keep on rollin' baby!!! Stay safe.