Do Without Challenge – No Sweets Update

I'm on the last week of my April challenge of no sweets and everything is going terrific. Ester is having a lot of fun trying to test me. This weekend, she made a huge cake and a Strawberry-Rhubarb pie which she knows I like. She taunted me in an attempt to get me to eat some (even promised not to tell anyone including you readers), but I successfully warded her off and said no. I'll tell you what, when the 1st of May rolls around I might dig into some.

I'm chalking this challenge up as a success. It made me realize that it's really not that hard. If you focus your thoughts on eating better, it's easy.

The important part is how you perceive your eating. I found that at first when I wanted to get rid of the sweets, I had the perception that I was suffering - you know, that I was missing out on the good stuff of life. With these negative thoughts of self-sacrifice, giving up the sweets became next to impossible. Then, I change around my thinking to say hey, I'm eating nutritious and delicious food. What's better than that! Now, the sweets didn't feel so tempting.

Next month, I'm gonna spend at least an hour outside everyday. They say this is good for loosing allergies and I think it will also help my mental outlook a little bit by pouring some fresh air and sunlight into my body. I plan to work in the garden, reading, meditation, and practice some forms with my hour of time. Maybe, just watch the flowers grown.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Sensei Fuel: Broccoli-Leek Soup

We had a some leaks and broccoli in our refrigerator so I thought I’d use them up by making this soup. I love soup because they are healthful and filling.

I must say that since I started writing and cooking for this blog, my cooking skills have improved. My knife cutting and chopping skills steadily develop so the time of me to whip up a meal is quicker.

I found this recipe in The Williams-Sonoma Collection: Soup (Williams-Sonoma Collection).

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 leeks, including tender green parts, finely chopped
1 ½ lbs broccoli trimmed, florets and stalks cut into 1-inch pieces
4 cups (32 fl oz) chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground pepper
¼ cup sour cream
Garlic Croutons for garish
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives

Over medium heat in a large saucepan, warm the oil. Sauté leeks until softened, 3-5 minute then add broccoli and continue to sauté until softened about 2 minutes longer.

Add stock and bring to simmer over medium heat. Cover and cook until the vegetables are tender when pierced with a sharp knife, 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a blender, puree the soup in batches until smooth and return the soup to pan. Reheat soup over medium heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with sour cream croutons, and chives. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
http://www.maximpactkarate.com/
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Happy pulling weeds?!

I was outside pulling weeds in my garden and I had a moment of reflection. I thought I’d share it with you. It’s sort of like that old Zen adage “Before mastery – chop wood, carry water. After mastery – chop wood, carry water.”

You see, a few years ago, I thought that weeding was trivial and a waste of time. Growing up, I did many chores like weeding and thought, “Hey, if I made enough money, I could pay someone to weed and will never need to do it myself again.” So, I went on to advance my career and we purchased a home with a community association that did everything for you (for a price).

I thought, “This is great! If I work even harder, I could afford to pay others to do other menial tasks for me too.” So I did. I found myself marching up the corporate latter, working more and more, but I had others doing most of the menial stuff like eating out almost every day instead of cooking, cleaning people, lawn service, etc.

Where did living this way get me?
Well, I was burn out, unhappy, and stressed out. My health suffered because of poor eating and lack of exercise. My relationship with my wife and family hit all time lows because I was always working and never home.

Basically, the quality of my life sucked. I needed a change or risk having a nervous breakdown. I decided at this point to quit my stressful corporate job and totally engross myself in my passion for teaching the martial art.

Since that decision, my health has returned. I can support my wife and family physically, emotionally, and spiritually – giving me a happier family life. On top of it all, I rediscovered that wonderful, positive, and enthusiastic attitude I maintained in my youth.

Fast forward to today, I am grateful that I get to pull my own weeds. It’s sure better than working that stressful corporate job - even if that meant give up the gardener. I am much happier now.

“Before mastery – chop wood, carry water. After mastery – chop wood, carry water.”

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
http://www.maximpactkarate.com/
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Mastery vs. Jack-Of-All-Trades – Mastery of None

Here’s just an observation and I want your opinions whether you agree or disagree with me. More and more, it seems that we overbook our children for activities these days. The prevailing attitude is that we want our children to try everything – even if they find an activity that they love. We still enroll them in other activities.

The question I have is…

Are we (parents) raising children that are Jack-Of-All-Trades and Master of None?

When I was growing up, my parents set up a few rules for extra activities.
Rule One – Only one sport activity at a time.
Rule Two – Once we join a sport, we finished the season. No questions asked!
Rule Three – Once you find something you love, stick with it.

For me, I tried baseball and football. Once I found karate, I quit ever other sport and focused my attention fully on karate. Obviously, I continued until this day.

These days, I see the exact opposite trend. The conversation is like this…
“Let’s try a little of this sport.”
“Oh you like it!”
“Okay, we’re going to try a little of that sport anyway!”

It’s almost like we want to drive ourselves crazy running from one activity to another. I think that we may be afraid that our children are going to miss out on something. The problem is that they never truly get good at any of the activities.

I tell parents to give themselves a break and to keep them in one activity as long as they love it. The child will start to build an identity through the activity like “I am a black belt”. This will start them on the path towards mastery.

Okay, now it’s our turn to vote.


If you answered Yes, please comment on how we can fight this rising issue.

If you answered No, please comment on ways that you feel we promote mastery in our children.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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My Muscle Confusion Plan and Frugality

Muscle confusion is all the rage in the fitness industry these days. Our muscles adapt to specific exercises when performed regularly. The intend of muscle confusion is to vary the exercises so much the your muscles never adapt (read as stay confused) to the exercise therefore tremendously increasing your results.

I am reading The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches. In his book, Jeff Yeager makes an interesting observation about exercise. We outsource to other people all the home activities that natural help our fitness (gardening, clean the house, mowing, painting, etc.), in order, to work and make more money so that we can pay for the gym membership to stay in shape. Oh, by the way, the major of these memberships go unused.

The Ultimate Cheapskate suggest to skip the extra work and gym memberships and do the housework ourselves. Therefore, avoiding the double whamming of paying extra for home improvements and the gym membership.

What a great idea! but how does this relate to muscle confusion. Well, I see that most of these home activities are on an irregular schedule and work different muscle groups. I would say that nature created a pretty good muscle confusion plan for us. If you want to read more about it run out and get his book, The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches. I will write a review on it once I finish it, but I can tell you that it's one of the best and funniest books I've read in a long time.

Here's my current plan for muscle confusion

• Weight training 3 days a week at home
• Yoga two times a week
• BJJ on Mondays (I love it so much I may increase the classes soon)
• Ride my bike to the Dojo (Last week, I rode everyday. It's more of a sprint then long distance because it's about 5 minutes to ride)
• Gardening
• Planting Trees
• Mulching Flowerbed - After shoveling, 4 yards worth in a hour, I thought I was going to pass out from exhaust halfway through but finished it off like a warrior.
  
• Cleaning House and Dojo
• Walking our Dogs
• Kata before classes
  

There you have it - my ironman workout for muscle confusion. I noticed the difference in my fitness level too. I am maintaining a healthful weight and I see some of that old muscle tone back.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Earth Day Poster Contest

Our Earth Day Poster Contest was a super success. Our poster theme this year was Endangered Animals. Thank you for all the wonderful entries.

Our 10 judges rated the posters in each category. Here's the final results and pictures of the entries for each category.

Little Ninjas (ages 4-6)
1st Emma White
2nd Ryan Parry
3rd Ashton Muhlig



Youth Beginner (ages 7-12)
1st Kyle Upton
2nd Tyler O’Hara
3rd Tyler Delle
4th Demi Muhlig
5th Amelia Kunko
6th Danny Walker




Black Belt Club
1st Melanie Suskie
2nd Brianna Arocho
3rd Madeline Stauffer
3rd Justin Defrancisco
4th Josh Defrancisco
5th Travis Wolfe



Leadership Team
1st Brianna & Frankie Giordano
2nd Brianna Suskie
3rd Lauren Campbell



Staff
These drawing were from Sensei Christine Hendricks, our student manager.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Do Without Challenge – No Sweets Update

I am going on my third week for my Do-without Challenge of no sweet. It has actually been a lot easier this week than it was the prior week. I am more in the rhythm of resisting all the sweet temptations that come my way.

I can feel the difference of eating better, this week. Typically in the afternoon, I felt really tired. You know the feeling - almost like I need to take a nap. In fact many times, I would doze off. Without sweets, I feel more energized throughout afternoon and continue to work at high energy level. I think it has been really positive experience.

---

Next month's challenge
For May, I will spend at least one hour outside. As the years roll by, the amount of time I spend outside constantly decreases. I noticed that in the last few years, the spring brings me some allergy symptoms that I never suffered from before. I was reading that too much time inside may cause this suddenly onset of allergies. In May, I am going to put this theory to the test.

When I was a kid, I would spend most of my days outside (if not in school) and never suffered allergies. So maybe this theory stands true.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Earth Day - Watch your training Grow

Today’s shaping up to be a busy day. We have our Pennsylvania Primary Election so I need to run to the polls this morning.

Earth Day Poster Contest
Also, Earth Day is today. For Earth Day, we held a poster contest. The poster theme was endangered animals. The kids made some terrific posters and we hung them in the entrance for everyone to see. Our leadership team judged the posters and we will post the winners today.

Watch your Training Grow
As part of Earth Day, we are starting a project called “Watch your training grow!” I got this idea in an old e-mail from my friend, Sensei Dan Rominski from Olympic Karate in East Rutherford. The students will each plant a seed (Sunflower, Corn, or Green Beans) and label their pot. They will be responsible to water and tend their plant each class.

The plant represents their growth in karate training. The students will learn how like the seed to nurture their training to growth and learn about positive or negative consequences of attendance. With regular attendance, they can regularly water their plant to grow or if they miss class, their plant and karate training will suffer.

Like their karate training, the plants will teach them focus, discipline, perseverance, patience, and empathy. To qualify for their May stripe, their plant will need to grow. At the end of the month, they can take the plant home and continue to watch it grow.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Shrimp with Lemon-Garlic Butter

Spring has arrived here in Pennsylvania. It’s time to crank up the grill for the season. I fired up my Weber for the first time this weekend.

This Shrimp with Lemon-Garlic Butter recipe is a favorite. When we entertain, I make it as an appetizer and everyone loves it. I get requests for these shrimp when we bring something to a friend’s house too.

The original recipe comes from The Williams-Sonoma Collection: Grilling. I adjusted the original recipe to suit our taste. The original recipe, we found over salty and half the lemon-garlic butter is plenty.

Ingredients
Olive oil for coating
24 Large shrimp (1 lb.) peeled and de-veined

Spice Rub
1 tablespoon Paprika
1 tablespoon Garlic powder
1 teaspoon Lemon pepper

Lemon-Garlic Butter
1/4 cup salted butter
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Mix the paprika, garlic powder, and lemon pepper in a small bowl. Coat shrimp with Olive oil and sprinkle spice rub on both sides. Curl up shrimp and thread onto skewers (I prefer metal skewers because they do not burn) leaving about ½ inch between each shrimp on the skewer.

To make the lemon-garlic butter, melt the butter in the microwave or in a small saucepan over low heat. Mix in lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, and cayenne pepper.

Grill the shrimp over high heat, brushing on the lemon-garlic butter. Turn shrimp to other side after 3-4 minutes and brush with remaining lemon-garlic butter. Grill for 3-4 more minutes until pink and opaque throughout. Do not overcook.

Remove shrimp from skewers and transfer to a platter.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Perfect Pizza Dough

I was not pleased with the favor of the pizza dough in my Pizza Margherita post. So, over the last two weeks, I entered the Sensei test kitchen and experimented with different combinations of ingredients and techniques. After making a whooping 12 pizza - Eureka! - I found the perfect pizza dough recipe. Yes, folks this is a total original recipe.

Ingredients
1 envelope Active Dry Yeast
½ teaspoon Granulated Sugar
1 1/4 cup Warm Water (105 to 115 degrees F)
3 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Kosher Salt
½ tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

To make the dough: In a medium bowl combine the yeast, sugar, and water. Stir briefly and let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes. Add one cup of flour and let stand for 5 additional minutes. Finish by adding 2 more cups flour, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Stir until the dough holds together. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth, 5 to 10 minutes. Shape into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Coat dough ball with oil then cover. Set aside in a warm place until the dough doubles in size, 1 to 1 ½ hours.

In the oven: Punch down the dough in the bowl. Transfer to lightly floured surface and cut into 4 equal pieces. Roll out into 10-inch rounds. Cook on pizza stone for 2 minutes. Remove from oven and add toppings.

On the grill: Punch down the dough in the bowl. Transfer to lightly floured surface and cut into 4 equal pieces. Roll out into 10-inch rounds. Cook on pizza on for 2 minutes. Remove from grill. With the grill side up, add toppings.

Do-Ahead Note: After you shape the dough into a ball, place it into a lightly oiled bowl, coat with oil, and cover with plastic wrap. You can refrigerate it for up to 48 hours. Before baking, remove dough from refrigerator. Let rise in a warm place about 2 hours or until it is almost double.

Freezing: You can store dough for a few months in the freezer. After cutting dough into 4 pieces, wrap the dough with plastic wrap and place in the freezer. To use the dough, de-thaw in the refrigerator and follow the Do-Ahead Note above.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Gaze into my eyes to find peace

Peace starts by creating a connection between two people. The best way to build an instant connection with someone is through eye contact and a smile. Eye contact and a smile lead into a relaxed and friendly conversation.

Why does peace start with the eye contact?

Because… most assailants must dehumanize the victim (make them less than human) before the violent interaction occurs. The act of eye contact automatically affirms the other person’s value – making them feel like they are talking to an old friend.

Do you have trouble establishing the appropriate level of eye contact?

Here a simple drill to practice…

I love little drills that you can practice throughout the course your day – requiring no extra time - but you get positive benefit out of them. It's kind of like an ongoing training. When you greet someone, just make a mental note of the color of their eyes. It’s that simple and tremendously effective. Recognizing their eye color gives the exact appropriate amount of eye contact – about two to three seconds.

This technique works in one-on-one conversations and with groups. I use it when I am teaching classes – making eye contact with every student in class. That little eye contact with each of my students during class makes them feel that I am paying attention to them. They also seem to listen better because it makes you more engaging.

At first, you will find yourself thinking the colors of their eyes - blue, brown, hazel, etc. but in time, I will become more natural. Try it for a week and see how it goes...

Do you have any similar little drills that you use? Please place them in the comments.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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The true story of our Valedictorian...

Here's a great true story from my life.

When I graduated high school, I still remember our Valedictorian. She graduated with the 4.0 great point average. Now, I was a pretty good student, but when you compared her material to mine, well there was no comparison. Everything she did looked terrific - leave everyone else's work to shame.

If we were working on a poster, her poster looked like someone working on Microsoft Publisher and mine would kind of look like somebody drew it with crayons. I thought "Wow, she's got some talent!"

Later on, I found out something very interesting. Eventually, we graduated from high school and went to college. A few years later a friend told me she failed out of college because she couldn't handle the college material.

Suddenly I had a blinding flash of the obvious...

She wasn't doing her own work in high school. All those presentations, homework, projects, and poster, her parents must have helped her and that was the reason for her superb grades - in fact, the best grades in the school. But yet, when she went to college, she never developed her responsibility muscle because she never was taught by her parents to be independent.

My parents never helped me with any school work. They felt that school work was important for me to do because I was helping my future. I took this message seriously. By college, my independent work improved tremendously. I am thankful that my parents forced me towards independence.

This event made me realize the importance of teaching children responsibility. As a parent, I became to believe that the parent's true job is to raise children to become independent - and that starts by strengthening your responsibility muscle. I never forgot this story and feel as a Martial Arts instructor that one of the most important lessons to teach students is about developing responsibility.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Do Without Challenge – No Sweets Update

So I'm on to my second week of my Do-Without Challenge of living without sweets for April. I noticed that giving up sweets is more difficult than giving up coffee because sweets are always around - the temptation is staring you in the face.

For example, we had a karate birthday party this weekend. I was offered a piece of the birthday child's cake and I almost accepted because I would normally automatically say yes. It takes a lot higher level of conscientiousness to avoid all the sweets we are constantly bombarded with. In my month without coffee, it was just one item to avoid... While not having sweets encompasses so many things - it seems like it's all around you. It doesn't surprise me the weight issues that Americans have because sweets are just so available.

I had a little problem with the idea of going without sweet. It felt sort of like self deprivation. So I had to reorient my mind set for the month to think of it more as eating healthy or eating food consistent with a healthy diet. Otherwise, I think the thoughts of sweets would drive me crazy.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Square Foot Garden Update

Okay, here's an update on my square foot garden. First, Ester and I went out and got transplants of strawberries, lettuce, celery, broccoli and purple cabbage. We also transplanted some pansies in the corners to add a splash bit of color. Two weeks ago, we planted seeds of radishes, carrots, onions, green onions and garlic, and snow peas. The radishes are off to a good start (all 16 germinated). The first snow peas plant poked through the soil. The garlic is really taking off. I see some onions are just breaking through. The warm weather and rain last week has jumped started our garden.


The frugal side of me is interested in see how much growing a garden costs compared to purchasing produce. I am tracking our money spend and will give monthly updates along with total produce yields. I would keep a time journal but since planting two weeks ago, I have not spend any additional time on it. I almost feel guilty. Everyday, I walk out and check the garden but there's nothing to do.

For more information about square foot gardening, read the book All New Square Foot Gardening or visit www.squarefootgardening.com.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Asian Chicken Salad with Snap Peas and Bok Choy

Ester and I were talking this weekend about bok choy. She bought some bok choy to transplant in our garden. I wasn't really sure what it tasted like, so she made this recipe for me to try out bok choy. I found that I really enjoyed the bok choy and it's celery like texture. This Asian salad was flavorful and crisp.

Ingredients
3 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
5 fresh Cilantro sprigs plus 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1 Whole green onion plus 2 green onions, chopped
1 8-ounce package sugar snap peas
3 baby bok choy, thinly sliced crosswise
1 cucumber, quartered lengthwise, thinly sliced
1 red jalapeno chile, thinly sliced
1/4 cup Sweetened Lime Juice
2 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 1/2tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp minced peeled fresh ginger

Fill medium skillet with salted water. Bring to a boil. Add chicken breasts, cilantro sprigs and green onion. Reduce heat and cook about 20 minutes until chicken is throughly cooked. Remove chicken with tongs. Then add sugar snap peas and bok choy to water and cook for 1 minute.

Drain and rinse snap peas and bok choy under cold water. Shed chicken and mix with chopped cilantro, chopped green onions, snap peas, cucumber, and red chile in large bowl.
Whisk lime juice, vinegar, oil, and ginger in small bowl. Add the dressing to salad and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

We served it with rice on the side.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Book Review: The Prosperous Peasant

I just finished The Prosperous Peasant by Tim Clark & Mark Cunningham. The Prosperous Peasant is very similar to the book “The Richest Man in Babylon”. Like the The Richest Man, it shares secrets from a school lead by the most prosperous man in Japan. Instead of teaching about wealth like The Richest Man, The Prosperous Peasant talks about the Five secrets of prosperity and fulfillment. Being a karateka of a Japanese style, I particularly could relate to the samurai backdrop of this tale.

The Prosperous Peasant starts with two peasants who dream of prosperity and decide to find a mentor. The decide to seek the advise about prosperity of Toyotomi Hideyoshi who rose from being a peasant to the chief Samurai of the shogun (In history, Hideyoshi later becomes the shogun after Nobunaga was assassinated).

The two peasants, Jiro and Gonsuke impressed Hideyoshi because instead of asking for employment or favors like most people, they were seeking something more precious – the wisdom to provide for themselves. Hideyoshi decides to teach them and anybody else willing to listen to his five secrets of fortune and fulfillment at the Samurai’s Temple School.

Hideyoshi’s Five Secrets to Prosperity
1. Gratitude attracts luck
Most people wish for luck…hoping that the one-day, they will strike it rich. Hideyoshi believed that luck is all around us and we have endless opportunity if we look at the world through the eyes of thankfulness. This chapter conveys a story about a man who receives a scroll from his father stating ~When you drink from a stream, remember the spring ~ The man in the story became prosperous once he understood the true meaning of this scroll.

2. Know your gifts
This secret is about discovering your strengths and using them to become successful. Discovering and developing your talents is a vital part of creating independence and responsibility.

3. Conceivable means achievable
If we harness our talents with clear objectives, than anything we conceive is achievable. If you cannot see yourself achieving something, then you literally can’t. The subconscious mind is a power ally if you put it to work for you. Therefore, we must direct it by seeing ourselves able to achieve our desired results.

4. Effort determines Results
This chapter tells a great story about a boy attendant who gets wrongly accused by his lord for wearing the lord's sandals. In a fit of rage, the lord hits the attendant with the sandal leaving him scarred for life. Without a job, the boy looks for ways of revenge on the lord. He decides the best way would be to become a priest. An elder priest tells him that average effort produces average results and extraordinary effort produces extraordinary results. In the end, he becomes one of the top priests in Japan and gets his opportunity for revenge, but finds that he no longer desires it. He realizes that he should be thankful to the lord for the incident because he would never have reached his full potential without it. The priest proudly displayed the sandal as a reminder of his good fortune. I particularly connected with this message because I can think of a few similar incidents in my life that drove me toward success.

5. Collaboration breeds success
This secret’s message is obvious. It means that without the help of other people success is difficult. Finding win-win situations will rocket your success along with the success of the collaborating people.

I think the author, Tim Clark and Mark Cunningham, do an exceptional job of conveying their secrets of prosperity through this samurai tale. Because of its story like nature, The Prosperous Peasant is a quick and enjoyable reading. My experience shows that most of the advise on prosperity is time tested although as a business owner I can no longer relate to the parts about being a good employee. Looking back at my days with an employer, they will work effectively. I still enjoyed reading the book.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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About Me

Hi, I am Tim Rosanelli, but my students call me Sensei - meaning instructor in Japanese. My wife, Ester, and I own and operate Maximum Impact Karate located in Dublin, Pennsylvania.

As a karate Sensei, I receive many questions about parenting and teaching. People also seem to have an unbearable curiosity about my personal life and how I live and think on a day to day basis. I create this blog to write about the parenting, teaching questions I receive (sort of a FAQ), and to convey my thoughts and philosophies while quenching that curiosity by giving you a little insight into my personal life and the way I live.

When I started my blog back in May of 2007, it was due to my participation in the Ultimate Black Belt Test, which required me to write about my 10 living heroes. Since then, my blog has grown into many other areas.

Who am I?
I am a husband, a father, a student, a martial arts instructor, a mentor, a coach, and a business owner. The Everyday Sensei blog is my personal evolution in all of these areas.

My personal evolution is about personal development, simplicity, and mastery.

Click here to subscribe and join me on my journey and explore the world through this blog.
Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Create Good Habits with the Fly Lady

The Fly Lady website at www.FlyLady.com intrigues me to no end. The idea of creating a control journal for your daily tasks amazes me. She is teaching people how to create habits in your life that foster your growth and development

Last week, I created a control journal for my dojo. This week, I finished it for home. Writing this out made me realize the difference in my two roles. For my dojo, I generated daily and weekly tasks that create the greatest value to my students (I simpler terms money generating tasks).

The problem is that over the last few years I used this business metaphor to direct my activities at home with my family. In other word, I avoided anything that I consider frivolous tasks at home in favor of pursuing moneymaking endeavors at work. And … my family and relationship suffer for it.

Through writing the control journal, I realize that the tasks I perform at home should be different from my business. My goal for my home tasks should foster better family relations and harmony.

Okay… now I have a split personality… at the dojo, my mission is to create the greatest student value and at home, my mission is to create family harmony.

With my control journals in hand, I believe that I can make these two roles a daily habit.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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Ten Qualities of a Total Winner - Positive Self-Image

Today, we're talking about the six quality of Positive Self-Image from Dr. Denis Waitley book, The Psychology of Winning.

Positive Self-Image

Winners are aware of the tremendous importance of self-image. What you see is what you get. Winners know that if your self image can not possibly see yourself doing or achieving something then you can do it!

A Winner's self-talk is "I see myself changing, growing, achieving, winning". They understand the vast powers of imagination. They see themselves achieving and act according to their new vision or self image of themselves.

• What are 10 personal victories that you will achieve in the next year?
• What do you see yourself doing or achieving in five, ten, and twenty years

Homework
While you relax, visualize your own imagined triumphs. See the triumph in every detail. For example, imagine achieving our black belt. See yourself walking up to the receive the belt. What does it feel like? How have you changed since starting as a white belt? Open your eyes. Now, do everything in line with that image. How would you dress? How would you walk and talk?

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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What is a Feed Reader?
A feed reader is the place where your subscribed blog articles go - similar to your e-mail inbox. The feed reader allows you to page down and read all of the unread articles. I use Google Reader. The best part is it’s free!

After signing up, it’s as simple as subscribing to feeds and checking our feed reader daily.

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Do Without Challenge – No Sweets Update

Here’s a quick update on my challenge.

This weekend was a test. Ester’s brother invited us to a family gathering to celebrate our niece, Gianna’s, confirmation. You should have seen the spread of food.

There was all the sweet that could possibly tempt me – Cake, Cookies, Rice Pudding, Ice Cream, and brownie. Oh! Did I mention the assortment of chocolates?

Yes, I survived. I did not eat a single sweet. How did I do it? I ate to gluttony on the appetizers and main course so that I was too full for the desserts.

I know, I know. Maybe, not the best solution, but it worked.

The rest of the week was easy. Ester says that I have an on-off switch. Once I decide, I turn the switch off. The problem is when know one is looking and I turn on the switch. I tend to overindulge. That’s were this blog comes in handy. You, yes you! (Everyone that is reading this blog) are my accountability coach.

The best way to join me on my journey is to subscribe to Sensei Talks RSS feed. What is RSS?

By subscribing to my feed, you become my Sensei, in a way, because I use this blog as my accountability coach. I won’t let you down!

Over the next month, I want to break the 100 mark of subscribers. Think about it. I want 100 people to join me in improving their lives. 100 people that want to live a happier and healthier life.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com

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