Interview with me in the SJ-R (from May 22, 2008)

This article appeared in my local newspaper last week where I was interviewed by the State Journal-Register.

Each week, the newspaper spotlights someone in the community who works in entertainment and/or the arts.

I stayed out of the spotlight for years, but they caught up with me.

You might have to click on the image to make it enlarge in your browser in order to read.

 

 

Courtesy of the State Journal-Register (Springfield, Illinois)

Battling Asthma (Inhaler Free?)

I’ve waited to post this blog for a while now because I wanted to see if it was a fluke, but I realized today that I’ve just hit my two month mark on something extraordinary that I thought I would finally write about.

I haven’t had to use my various inhalers for my asthma in two entire months.

TWO MONTHS!

I used to use my preventative inhaler twice a day and my emergency inhaler (for actual asthma attacks as they were happening), sometimes, three times a day, because of my asthma and shortness of breath. I was going through one emergency inhaler per month. Sometimes two albuterol inhalers. I pretty much had to use that emergency inhaler ALWAYS at least once a day. I had it in my pocket at all times. Sometimes I even panicked and had to stop everything if I forgot to take it with me. I would go back home because I was so dependent on it and frightened to be without it.

But I haven’t had to use any inhaler for the past two months. For me, that is remarkable because I have been dependent on inhalers for my entire life since about the first grade.

Now, I’m not saying I no longer have asthma or I’m cured. I have had two minor asthma attacks in these past two months… once from incense burning mixed with a woman’s perfume that walked past me. The other time was from someone burning leaves outside in my neighborhood as I was getting into my wife’s car. Those scents triggered asthma attacks but I was able to “breathe” through it and stop them on my own without using an inhaler. I relaxed, got in the right mindset, and concentrated with breathing techniques that I learned in karate which relaxed the constriction in my lungs so that I wouldn’t have to use my inhaler.

Everything returned to normal with my breathing and I made it through those two minor attacks. I probably should have used an inhaler on the second attack from the burning leaves, but I managed. I put my training to the test.

I’ve even been able to start cutting grass again – and this time, without a mask.

I do take asthma very seriously. It is a medical condition that some call a disability. It has hindered me my entire life. My wife’s uncle died of an asthma attack. My entire family, in-laws, outlaws and all of the above, are concerned about me.

But I’ve quit carrying my inhaler in my pocket. Maybe not the wisest thing, but I’m not going to be psychologically dependent on it any longer that I just have to reach in my pocket for the quick fix. It isn’t my crutch that I constantly carry with me. Honestly, after the first month of not having an asthma attack, I just plain started to forget about carrying it. Amazing.

I do have those emergency inhalers in key spots at home, at work, at the dojo, in my car, etc. so that they are always just a few extra reaches away, but I’m striving to only use them if I feel it is imperative to my life and if I possibly am unable to get my breathing under control. It is a choice that I’ve made for myself.

I feel for the first time in my life that I have taken the upper-hand and control over my asthma. There perhaps is also some mind over matter where I’m psychologically taking it on also. I mainly credit it to two things in my life… karate, and perhaps even some recent chiropractic care that I’ve received. More on the latter later, but first with karate…

With Yoshukai Karate, I’ve been working out several times a week for a year-and-a-half in which breathing is imperative to the art and techniques. Since earning my brown belt in March, I’ve been practicing a new kata called Niseishi. This kata has a very strong emphasis on breathing techniques that I’ve been particularly working on for the last 2 months.

2 months – Coincidence?

The kata uses both calm and explosive techniques that take 24 steps to make. Some have likened this kata to the ebb and flow of the ocean. This kata feels so right for me. The breathing is such an important aspect of the Niseishi kata that I practice in my Yoshukai Karate training.

It is my understanding, that Dr. Tsuyoshi Chitose, a Chito-Ryu Karate sensei who taught Yoshukai instructors Sensei Yamamoto and Sensei Foster, originally learned the kata from Okinawan Karate Master Aragaki Sensho*. Chitose O’Sensei also made minor modifications to the breathing techniques in the kata for health reasons based on his medical background.

And all these years later, I’m benefiting from it.

(* A point of digression, but I’ve been reading a couple of books on Okinawan masters and was just reading about Aragaki Sensho by coincidence before I realized he had originated the kata based upon some of the Chinese dragon styles of kempo.)

Dr. Chitose noted in his book, Kempo Karate-do – Universal Art of Self-Defense, the following about the benefits of deep breathing during training: The thorax widens and the diaphragm gets pushed down, the volume of the thoracic cavity increases and because the pressure within the cavity changes, air naturally flows in the lungs, which increases lung capacity and allows oxygen into the blood, which increases energy, another benefit of Karate-do training.

He also noted in his studies that the average lung capacity of someone that does not do exercise is 3350 cubic centimeters. A swimmer’s lung capacity is 4900 cubic centimeters. A karate practitioner’s average lung capacity is between 6000 - 7000 cubic centimeters.

What I notice is that I believe I’ve been only breathing with 33% to 45% air capacity in my lungs for most of my life in everyday life and normal breathing. It always felt like I was breathing with only the top third of my lungs. I took a breathing test in November 2006 with a pulmonologist when I my regular doctor sent me to this specialist for my asthma and sleep apnea. Shortly after that initial breathing test, I returned to karate in January 2007 after being away for more than a decade.

I took the same follow up breathing test in November 2007. My pulmonologist did a double-take right in front of me when he looked at the comparative results. He said that I had doubled my lung capacity in one year with my breathing and even he couldn’t believe it. Again, credited to the deep breathing of karate, weight loss and exercise.

Six months later and I’m breathing better than I believe I ever have in my entire life. I truly believe that the deep breathing exercises in association with working out in karate, a bit of zanshin meditation I do with breathing now, and especially deep breathing exercises with kata has allowed me to open up air passages and tubes that have been closed. I’m breathing deeper and deeper into my lungs and opening my diaphragm. There is a lot of visualization that I do while breathing that I believe helps when I breathe air in and tighten my core to expel the air for conditioning of my body so I can take a physical hit in karate by an opponent. I also breathe out all of the stale air at the bottom of my lungs and then breathe back in deeper.

I first heard Sensei Dugan state over a year or so ago that karate will eliminate asthma. I constantly had shortness of breath when I sparred or performed kata. No disrespect intended, but I doubted him. Not me. I’ve had asthma my entire life where I dealt daily with usually at least one attack. Doctors used to say when I was a child that I would outgrow it. It only got worse.

Karate gave me the tools to improve my health. Sensei Dugan was right. Karate has allowed me to take control of my breathing and mindset in ways I did not foresee when I got back into it after all these years. I feel more positive than I have since I was probably about 16.

But, there is something else that I have to acknowledge that I believe might also possibly be helping me. I’ve been seeing a chiropractor named Dr. Tana Frisina since December. The time frame where I began was about a month after my follow up trip to the pulmonologist where we saw I had doubled my lung capacity.

For these past six months, I’ve receiving chiropractic care at the insistence of my wife. I had a back injury that has bugged me for 20 years, arthritis in my hands, and some injuries from sparring.

The basic principle of chiropractic care is that spinal adjustments can improve many health problems that are related to the nerves, skeleton and muscles. Problems such as spinal conditions can be helped, and it can also assist to improve a person’s general state of health and wellness.

Spinal joints that are not working properly can irritate the nervous system. Chiropractors use manual treatments, referred to as spinal adjustments, to realign the joints of the spine. Once the mechanical structure of the spine is working properly, the body is able to maintain its own health and wellbeing.

In my particular case, I injured some of my vertebrae during my teen years from a diving board accident where x-rays have shown that vertebrae misalignment and pressure were pinching nerve endings in my spinal column that are associated with respiratory function. Those subluxations that caused my spine to pinch certain nerves made me more prone to asthma attacks according to Dr. Frisina.

She has been working on a series of adjustments to relieve the pressure while I’ve been more actively involved with yoga-like stretching and warm ups in karate.

Now, I know that there is great debate about the benefits of chiropractic care. Some think chiropractics are quacks. I still have my skepticisms but I’ve felt that it truly has made my quality of life better. More and more as I deal with the Eastern side of medicine and theory, I’m learning more about joint control and pressure points in both karate and chiropractics. I tend to believe there is something there with the holistic aspects that many in traditional thought kind of poo poo the ideas.

Balance and alignment are integral to karate. It is integral to chiropractics. It is integral to living and health. I’m working on getting aligned.

I'm embarrassed to say that I spent nearly 20 years letting my body go. I’ve spent almost 2 years now on the path to recovery. I cannot undo all the damage that I’ve done that quickly, but I’m seeing with patience, strength and persistence, I’m continuously improving. I still have a long way to go. I’m still unhealthy in many aspects, but I’m healthier than I have been in a decade. I feel like I'm at a turning a point of change in my life and with my health.

Each day, I’m feeling a little bit better than the day before.

I just have to remember to breathe first.

Bring On the Night – I saw The Police in Concert One Final Time

 

For one last time in my life, I saw The Police in concert last Saturday night on May 10, 2008 at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois. It was about a mile from the convention center where I annually attend the Wizard World Chicago comic book conventions in Rosemont.

I drove up to Chicago with my good friend and fellow Police fan, Kathy Wheeler. Together, we’ve seen Sting in concert about four times. As I’ve mentioned in my blog before, my wife Roxie isn’t a fan of Sting or The Police. She isn’t a fan of most musicians that I enjoy and so she is okay with me going out to concerts with Kathy, or my old high school pal, Ron Rice. She’s happy these two will keep an eye on me and see that I don’t get in to too much trouble.

Kathy summed it up exactly on her blog that it has been a whirlwind year that started with a rumor that The Police would reunite. Which lead to the long world-wide tour. Together, we saw The Police last July in St. Louis. That was the first time I had a chance to see my favorite band together.

Last Saturday’s show was a great performance and they were more in synch with each other even than last year. They are currently on the last leg of their reunion tour and will end it forever in a few weeks from now in New York City where they say that it’ll be their final performance forever together.

I had a fun time with Kathy. We got to meet up with other Police fans at a dinner before the concert at Shoeless Joe’s Sports Bar & Grill. Elvis Costello and the Attractions opened up for The Police. It felt very much like a double-bill. He is another musician who I enjoy listening to. Sting came out on stage to do a duet with Elvis on the song, “Allison.”

We sat what was basically the fifth row off to Sting’s side of the stage. Kathy’s camera took some limited video and so she got some great shots that she has placed on her website and on YouTube. I’m posting a few here on my blog courtesy of Kathy where you can see our vantage point. (Also, check out Kathy’s side at http://www.stingfield.com/ for more pictures and video).

Like Kathy, I think my favorite songs of the night were the opening of “Bring On the Night” and “Demolition Man”. I also enjoyed the rousing versions of “Voices Inside My Head/When the World is Running Down ,” “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic,” “So Lonely,” and the closing “Next To You”.

Heck, I enjoyed the WHOLE show and stood the entire time and grooved with the music. It’ll be a night I’ll never forget.

Like Kathy, I also feel appreciative that our favorite band came together after 20 plus years to reunite to give us fans (and themselves) some closure. We can now all accept that it is the end.

An article in today's SJ-R Newspaper where I was interviewed

 

 Courtesy of the State Journal-Register (Springfield, Illinois)

 

This article appeared today in my local newspaper – the State Journal-Register in Springfield, Illinois.

The reporter, Nick Rogers, was asking me about my opinions on this summer’s films that were all comic book based. Here were a few of my answers above in the article (you can also follow the link to the sj-r.com website.

While I knew he would pick and choose from the answers I gave him, I did give him my opinion on several more aspects that I knew would be cut and edited for space for the article.

Here were my unedited answers:

Q: Other than the usual built-in bankable aspects of these Adaptations, do you see any other reason why there are so many of late?

As a movie watcher, I think Hollywood has been guilty the past several years of eliminating original screenplay films and are banking the majority of movies now on adaptations, remakes, sequels and films derived from existing properties that include a large portion of action-packed comic book based films. When they can make a film that is based on a well known property, they’re banking on a built in audience to bring in the big bucks. With the success of past films in this genre, they’re banking on a formula that has had more hits than misses as of late. I also think that the people who have finally ascended to positions of power in Hollywood that green light these types of films are huge comicbook fans themselves. Combine the development of CGI technology that will bring these comic tales to life that they read, a bankable summer blockbuster formula, anddecades of built-in storylines and character development to draw inspiration from just makes this genre an appealing prospect to bring to the big screen. It’s what they know and think is going to work.

There is a warning to all this… Hollywood keeps dipping back into the wellover and over with these comic book-based films. The well may dry upeventually as it now looks to 2nd and 3rd tier characters that the average Joe has never heard of. I read yesterday in bewilderment that there is even an Ant-Man film in pre-production. I couldn’t believe it. When and where do you stop?

Warner Brothers owns DC Comics and wants to exploit their library of titles in their stable. On the other hand, Marvel Comics is going to license everything, including Ant-Man, because their coffers are paid for by these licensed films and the products that derive from their intellectual properties. They’re going to try and license as many of their characters as they can to see they get a piece of the box office dollar –though there is going to be an over-saturation of these type of movies at some point and a backlash.

The impact that this is having on the actual comic books themselves isthat they are almost purely becoming fodder for film deals and back-end bonuses to collect into trade paperbacks so that they sell as graphic novels in bookstores. The monthly periodical is in peril. I’m amazed at even how many independent comic book companies are intently going after acquiring those film deals in order to have the next “Men In Black”success story.

Q: Also, which ones are you looking forward to and which ones are you skeptical about?

Even with the over-saturation, I actually think this summer’s offering ofcomic book based films is going to largely be successful in both box office draw and critical acclaim for a change.

Outside of INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL, the film I ’m most anticipating this summer is IRON MAN. Here is a second tier character that the producers are taking a gamble with. While we comic book fans love and know the character, not all of America knows him like Superman, Batman or Spider-Man.

Robert Downey, Jr. is going to own this role as Tony Stark aka Iron Man. He is a complex character that we’ll see change throughout the film because of his ordeals while retaining his humor and edge. The kid in all of us is going to love seeing him in those armored suits. The special effects I’ve seen with Iron Man in action are mind-blowing and I believe some of the undertones of this film with politics, our culture and the war will make this a bit more relevant. I hope this one lives up to the hype of the trailers most of all.

There is already a sense of foreboding in THE DARK KNIGHT with the recent death of Heath Ledger who stars as the Joker. It will be strange to watch his posthumous performance where he stated shortly before his death that portraying this homicidal character was very demanding on his mind. There will be an eerie allure that probably hasn’t been felt by this generation since Brandon Lee died while making THE CROW.

Even though we’re focusing our talk about Ledger, we cannot forget that perhaps Christian Bale is perhaps the best cast actor today that could play Batman. His performance in BATMAN BEGINS had him owning the role too, unlike Brandon Routh in SUPERMAN RETURNS as the Man of Steel. I suspect that this Batman sequel will be another successful film in the series.

Now, the comic book geekboy in me is really looking forward to HELLBOY II:THE GOLDEN ARMY. I greatly enjoyed the first film with Ron Perlman starring as Mike Mignola’s monster fighter and paranormal detective that happens to be a “good” demon. I’ve perhaps have read every publication the character has been in since the character debuted in 1993 and this series has perfectly captured the look, feel, action and humor of the series. It probably won’t be as box-office successful as the other comic book based films this summer, but I think it’ll be better than the first Hellboy movie. Comic fans will enjoy this film.

It is commonly held just by about everyone that Ang Lee’s HULK film was a disaster. I believe that Ed Norton is going to redeem this franchise as he has been perfectly cast to play the Hulk’s alter ego as Dr. David Bruce Banner. We’re going to see INCREDIBLE HULK that is more like the television series and 1970’s comic. The first film was accused of being“too cerebral” in most reviews. My own son asks me to fast-forward to the“Hulk smash” good parts on the DVD. I have high hopes that this new film will keep the attention span of all ages watching it and will excite.

Of all the films that I’m most skeptical about this summer is actually SPEED RACER. I’m sure the visuals will be exciting, but I believe the casting and storyline will spinout. I’ve got a feeling that we’ve seen the best we’ll see in the trailers. I’m sure it has potential to be a boxoffice success dollar-wise with all the marketing that has gone into it, but in the end it’ll be forgettable I suspect and won’t find critical acclaim from the pop culture geeks who once maybe watched the cartoons in re-runs 20 or 30 years ago.