Flu vaccinations have become a pretty standard practice among Americans.  But do they really work?

Like many things in today’s modern world, greed and saavy marketing can often distort simple facts.

Here is an interesting recorded phone conversation made to a flu vaccine manufacturer.

Better to stay healthy, through positive lifestyle habits.

In Health,

–
Nhan-Esteban Khuong, L.Ac.
www.SGVJeetKuneDo.com

Enjoy!

–
Nhan-Esteban Khuong, L.Ac.
www.SGVJeetKuneDo.com

Myself and Sifu Dr. Zee Lo right outside the clinic.  Yes, I had short hair once.

I began my Jeet Kune Do training in 2001 with Sifu Zee Lo during my last year as an undergraduate at UCLA.  Training was roughly three times weekly in the parking lot (we had a single fluorescent light that turned everything a dreary greenish yellow for visibility) behind Sifu Zee Lo’s small private Acupuncture clinic.  I started out as a dummy for Sifu Lo’s private students.  Although I came armed with a hefty 15+ years of previous martial arts experience, I noticed an obvious deficiency in the practicality of my approach.  Soon after graduating college, I enrolled in Sifu Zee Lo’s medical/martial arts apprenticeship program.  Thus beginning my “hardcore” Jeet Kune Do training.

My day would generally look something like:

7am -9:30am : study and personal life
10am - 1pm : TCM (tradition Chinese Medicine) lecture and clinic hours
1pm - 2pm : private JKD training
3pm - 7pm: lecture and clinic hours
7pm - 8:30pm: JKD semi-private training
8:30pm - 9pm: cleanup and closeup
9pm - 11pm: study and personal life

I would squeeze in meals and short breaks whenever possible.  On days that we did not have class, I would either have some extra time for study or meeting with training partners.

This is the back of the training room and the few students who                                 stayed with us during the last year of operation.

About two years into my training we moved out of the parking lot and into a small storage room.  Although the space was considerably smaller, we were at least out of the elements.  This room was about 9 feet wide, 14 feet long, and had bare concrete floors, brick walls, and long flickering fluorescent ceiling lights.  Training was old school and hardcore.  Although injuries were common, we were able to treat them in-house to speed up recovery.  Suffice it to say, we didn’t have many students

This is the front of the training room.  The mirror in the background is the only one in the room which I broke with the back of my head the first night we put it in.  Notice the clear packing tape holding it together.

Sparring with minimal gear.  BTW those  are 12oz gloves                                          . . . and they hurt.

We laid out some folding martial arts mats about a year after moving in and also installed a wooden rail for stretching.

I was living in the clinic for about one year before moving next door to the training space for another year.  I was literally living and breathing medicine and Jeet Kune Do for roughly two years.

During the last 18 months of my training Sifu Lo was in the process of relocating to San Francisco in pursuit of his movie making dreams.  I kept up the West Los Angeles JKD classes in his absence while traveling up to San Francisco once monthly to supplement my training.

This is me sparring with Zee Lo’s students in San Francisco.

After Zee Lo completed his relocation, I attempted to keep the Jeet Kune Do school open, however a lack of marketing and business skills combined with our archaic training methods and environment discouraged most would-be students early on.

In the three years following the closure of the West Los Angeles Jeet Kune Do school, I began building a personal training business and establishing my own acupuncture practice while maintaining some form of combative arts training usually consisting of backyard style boxing, kickboxing, submission wrestling, self defense, etc.

About one year after marrying the woman of my dreams, San Gabriel Valley Jeet Kune Do was born.

Victoria (the love of my life) and I

My previous “hardcore” Jeet Kune Do training has proven invaluable, however I
have found that focusing on people and individuals yields more powerful results than focusing on the hardcore experience.

Now I am in the process of melding fitness, medicine, health, martial arts and business into the ultimate people/results oriented consumer empowerment resource, all while nurturing an amazing family life.

As for my current Jeet Kune Do training, I still continue my own development with Tim Tackett, Jeremy Lynch, and the Wednesday Night Group twice weekly.

See you in class!

–
Nhan-Esteban Khuong, L.Ac.
www.SGVJeetKuneDo.com

Enjoy!

–
Nhan-Esteban Khuong, L.Ac.
www.SGVJeetKuneDo.com

It seems that there is a huge interest in improving health but there is also a lot of confusion.

The response I have been receiving regarding the healthy water issue has been ongoing, so in an effort to close this subject and move on here are a few final words addressing potential health issues and their solutions.

The effects of chlorine and its byproducts on the human body are not only diverse, but not well understood yet.

There is a lot of money involved in chlorine products and chlorine dependent processes, so powerful companies and influential people benefiting from these chemicals do their best to muddy the waters, so to speak.

I prefer not to focus on politics and conspiracy theories for this blog, so I’ll be brief regarding the harmful health effects of chlorine.

Perhaps the most prominent potential side effect of chlorine and its byproducts is cancer.  This, by itself, should be enough to encourage the use of filters.

Other effects include damage to the nervous system, skin, hair, and respiratory system.

After installing our home shower filters, one of the more obvious changes I noticed was a decrease in skin dryness, less hair in the drain, and of course no swimming pool smell.

Asthma and allergy sufferers would also benefit tremendously from shower filters.  Although there are no clear studies that document this, it is conceivable that chlorinated water adds to overall inflammation in the body, taxes the immune system, decreases energy, accelerates aging.

Truly, there are more dangers to chlorinated water than we know.

Best to use filters for the entire house.

The next obvious question is: What kind of filter should I use?

Carbon based filters will generally do a good job of removing chlorine and harmful organic substances.  Reverse osmosis sytems also filter well using a multistage process that also involves activated carbon.  The only draw back with reverse osmosis is the amount of waste water that is produced per unit of sanitized water.

Ceramic and disk filters removes organisms and small particles but do not remove chlorine, heavy metals, and small organic molecules, unless combined with another filter medium.

I recommend the Berkey black filters in combination with their fluoride filters.  They do a good job of removing chlorine, flouride, heavy metals, organisms, and volatile organic compounds among other things, while preserving the natural minerals in the water.  Just keep in mind not to use plastic containers that leech BPA.

I also recommend plain ascorbic acid (vitamin C) for the shower.  Although not technically a filter, vitamin C water treatment will neutralize chlorine and chloramines.

This is a good start and an amazingly easy and economical way to remove a major source of personal toxicity.

In Health

–
Nhan-Esteban Khuong, L.Ac.
www.SGVJeetKuneDo.com

I feel these are fairly representative of two prominent schools of thought regarding the issue.  I have also included my own reply.

Comment:

Great article to warn people of toxicity, a vital issue to note if we
want to live longer lives!

Cheers,
Ray

Reply:

Hello Ray,

Thank you for the comment.

I agree that examining the filter used for water purification is
absolutely important.

Regarding dissolved chemicals that are not easily filtered, yes, this
is a real danger.  However, I still feel strongly that a good filter is
the best option for the average consumer and would offer a giant step
up for health.

There are two general alternatives to filters in the consumer water
treatment industry: distillation and deionization.  I do not recommend
either of these processes.  Both produce very pure water, which is
exactly the problem.

Distilled water is stripped of everything, including minerals which in
turn will either strip your body and/or your food of those same
minerals leading to potential health deficiencies.  Furthermore, water
distillation has a few additional inherent problems.  The scaling
(water deposits) resulting from distillation is often removed
chemically, and creating potentially harmful byproducts in order to
have pure drinking water might be self defeating.  Then there is the
issue of the amount of energy involved in purifying the water.  Home
distillers are generally powered by electricity and unless your home is
running on green energy, this is also adding to the overall carbon
footprint of the purification process.

Deionized water, on the other hand, strips water of minerals but does
not remove organic materials that do not have a charge.  For this
reason, many home units will combine an additional filtration step. 
Ultimately, we are left with same issue as distilled water in that the
deionized water is stripped of necessary minerals.

The issue of healthy drinking water is important.  As of now I’m not
certain that there is a perfect solution, however, filtration is a
excellent first step.

In Health,

Nhan-Esteban Khuong, L.Ac.

Comment:

I do some work with the American Chemistry Council and I can promise
that chlorine is not harmful — In fact, if we didn’t have chlorine,
Western civilization probably could not function.  It kills the
bacteria and organic material that cause diseases and U.S. cities have
been using it for over 100 years because it’s safe and effective.

Reply:

Hi There,

Thanks for the comment.

There is no doubt that chlorine has definitely made a significant
impact on modern civilization.  I also have to say that I have a bit
more faith in human ingenuity to believe that Western civilization
would not function without chlorine.

As for its safety, such an active oxidizer that kills bacteria and
destroys other organic material has that very same potential with
humans.  The only difference being, that we are larger than bacteria
and thus feel the effects at a lesser level.

Chlorine is essential to life as we know it, but it is not something we
should be consuming outside of natural food sources.  The harmful
effects of chlorine based sanitation products are too numerous to
mention and so abundant that I won’t explain in detail.

I hope you change your mind about chlorine, because it won’t change its
effects on you.

In Health,

Nhan-Esteban Khuong, L.Ac.

I mentioned the distillation and water deionization processes mainly because the first commenter also runs a health blog, however he advocates distilled water.

In Health,

–
Nhan-Esteban Khuong, L.Ac.
www.SGVJeetKuneDo.com

Humans have long been obsessed with the concept of eternal life, or at least the extension of life.

Considering how short our time is on the planet, a long life definitely a legitimate pursuit.

I have to say however, that the methods we go about this can be bizarre.  In China, the Empress Dowager apparently was purported to have drunk a formula of mother’s milk with new born baby’s urine with a black pearl for longevity.  I don’t think it worked very well if you ask me.

In modern times there is practice called Calorie-Restriction which is essentially eating about 10-25% less than what would otherwise be normal for your size.  Lab tests on rats showed that this practice increased their lifespan by up to 40%.  I’m not so certain that these results would translate to humans, although this route might seem like a reasonable option until you see the support groups needed to cope with the constant suffering resulting from eternal hunger.  Life is for living fully, and calorie restriction sounds like a strange and unusual form of penance.  Besides, we are unlikely to see full human potential on a lack of energy resources.

Without going into the more usual forms of increasing health, and thus longevity, (ie. diet & exercise), I would like to mention the practice of reducing personal toxicity.

Toxicity is a broad term that simply measures the the potential damage that one thing causes to a living organism.  Considering how many things can be damaging to humans, there is plenty of toxicity to reduce.

Water:

Water is essential to life and indoor plumbing has revolutionized human lifestyle.  In order to keep pathogenic organisms in our water supply to a minimum, however, toxic additives are used.  It just so happens that chlorine (a potent oxidant) is more damaging to single celled organisms than to us.  This is probably the single largest source of toxicity that enters the human body.  We breathe it in when we shower, we drink it, we eat it when it gets absorbed into the food through cooking, we swim in it, we wash our clothes with it, we clean our homes with it.

Chlorine and chloramines can be eliminated with the use of shower filters, drinking water filters, and replacing chlorinated home cleaning products with non-toxic sources.  I use a vitamin C based shower filter to avoid to the problems with KDF and activated carbon filters.  I also use a Berkey drinking water filter.  Bottled water, is not as safe and pure as you might think.  I won’t bore you with the details, either take my word for it or take a look for yourself.  Here is an interesting article on bottled water from the Environmental Working Group .

If you buy a filter, make sure the container is not made from lexan, as it leeches BPA.  In fact, the only plastics that appear safe around food are #5 PP “polypropylene, #2HDPE High-density polyethylene, and #4 LDPE Low-density polyethylene.  If you aren’t sure what it’s made of, best to avoid it.  Also keep in mind that some metal containers actually have a polymer lining.  I use a filter with a stainless steel reservoir and glass bottles.

As for household cleaning products, there is nothing that vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, and baking soda can’t handle.  A combination of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide may actually be more effective than the standard 0.5% chlorine solutions.

Reducing toxic contaminants is rather simple, but it does take awareness.  More tips coming soon!

In Health,

–
Nhan-Esteban Khuong, L.Ac.
www.SGVJeetKuneDo.com

I like the sheep-sheep dog-wolf analogy.

I agree with the belief that everyone is born with the survival
instinct but that not everyone is born with the  warrior mindset.  In
fact, I don’t believe anyone is really born with the “warrior”
mindset.  The warrior is forged from a certain kind of socialization,
experiences, and character development.  In my earlier comment I had
briefly alluded to the concept of self as potentially encompassing
something beyond our physical body.  In the case of the warrior, the
sense of self tends to encompass a much larger picture such as family,
honor, country, faith, etc.  When that sense of self is threatened, the
same survival instinct kicks in except that it may not be driven by a
need for food or shelter, but rather a need to preserve the larger
concept.

Take for instance, the example of the Todd “Let’s Roll” Beamer, that
was originally referred to.  Mr. Beamer obviously took the role of the
“sheep dog” and was most likely driven by a basic survival instinct,
however his sense of self at that moment may also have encompassed the
his fellow man or “sheep”.  On a darker note the terrorists that took
control of the plane, may not have seen themselves as “wolves” either.
Their sense of self was probably closely tied to faith and culture,
which in turn, warps their survival instinct into something rather
horrific to those that do not share their values.  It is conceivable
that they too see themselves as sheep dogs.

The concept of self and survival should be a simple matter, but people make it complex.

As for the getting the warrior mindset, I do believe it is something
that can be developed.  Some of us may have an easier time of it than
others due to our individual socialization, and the strength and
flexibility of our psyche/spirit.  At times certain things seem like an
impossibility, but I feel the concept of impossible is just an excuse.

Anyway, that’s just what I think.

In Health,

–
Nhan-Esteban Khuong, L.Ac.
www.SGVJeetKuneDo.com

Please rate and comment here Martial Arts Goddess

Enjoy!

–
Nhan-Esteban Khuong, L.Ac.
www.SGVJeetKuneDo.com

It’s that time of year again.

The weather is shifting quickly, catching people unaware with cold, wet, windy, overcast spells followed by brief periods of deceptive warmth and calm skies.

The slow changes of the Fall season should be encouraging us to change our habits in preparation for the Winter.  Yet, as is often the case, we get caught up with everything else while health gets placed on the back
burner.  Nature is supreme, and we should pay attention to our bodies, as they are the ultimate weather gauge.

Here a few tips to help you weather the Winter (pun intended):

Prevention:

1. Wear layers.  This will ensure that you are always comfortable and able to maintain optimal body temperature.
2. Close windows and turn off AC at night (yes, it is obvious but a common factor nonetheless)
3. Do not touch your face (especially eyes, nose, mouth) or food before washing your hands.  These areas have thin membranes that are easily penetrated by pathogens.
4. If you have been exposed to someone in the contagious phase of a cold (when a person is sneezing, coughing, etc) make certain to wash your hands and blow your nose (better to flush your nasal passages with a saline solution).  This will help reduce the concentration of pathogens entering your body and thus increase the chances that your immune system will destroy them.
5. Get up and go to bed early.  Humans are diurnal animals and our bodies were designed to function maximally during daylight hours.  Getting up early ensures greater exposure to sunlight while going to bed early increases rest and regeneration, ultimately leading to greater immune system health.
6. Herbal remedies and supplements.  Vitamin C and Zinc are the most popular vitamins for cold defense, but frankly, all micro nutrients will help so make sure to take you multi-vitamin.  An omega-3 essential oil supplement is essential for prevention (I recommend Krill oil).  Echinacea is also popular, although I prefer the Chinese formula Yin Chiao.  Normally, Yin Chiao is used to combat colds during the fever phase, but at low doses it has also been shown to be effective for prevention.
7. General health maintenance.  If you have not been reading my blog, this means exercise, whole seasonal food, rest, and lots of joy, love, harmony, and happiness.
8. No health regimen is complete without acupuncture (I don’t sound biased do I?)  I generally recommend acupuncture at least four times per year at the start of every season to boost the immune system and help the body acclimate to changes.

If you still happen to “catch a bug,” there is till hope.

Remedy:

1. Rest.  If you are getting sick, give your body a fighting chance by reducing its workload through good sleep and general peace (that means no stress and agitation).
2. Light food.  Along the same lines as rest, food that is easy to digest will make it easier for you body to combat invasion.
3. Fluids.  This means mainly water.  Soups and teas are also good.  Avoid anything that is high in sugar.
4. Sweat it out.  Traditionally it is believed that sweating expels pathogens through the skin.  Although this is a dated idea, mild exercise does increase circulation and boost the immune system.  Nurturing a fever may also help destroy pathogens by increasing body temperature and thus making it unfavorable invaders.  Just make certain to drink extra fluids.
5. Herbal remedies and supplements. The same supplements and remedies in the prevention section apply here.
6. Acupuncture.  Yes, it does work.  How does it work?  By helping your body do what it naturally does — heal itself.

As for flu vaccinations, don’t bother.  My parents would probably be shaking their heads if they read this, but the fact of the matter is that flu vaccines are more of a pharmaceutical money maker potentially full of toxic contaminants.  We are all better off focusing on natural prevention through optimal health in mind, body, and soul.

–
Nhan-Esteban Khuong, L.Ac.
www.SGVJeetKuneDo.com