The life of Vinny Paz is truly a testament to the human will to never give up. To look at life’s worst possible circumstance and to continue onward and upward.

One day while Paz, was riding in the passenger seat of a car, the car was struck head-on while traveling near his home in Warwick, Rhode Island. Paz suffered two broken and one dislocated vertebrae along with his spinal column.

He was told that he would be lucky if he could just walk, and as far as boxing was concerned, he was told to forget that idea.

But the doctors had no idea who they were dealing with.

Vinny Paz had to make a life or death choice, quite literally. The decision was to have an operation on his vertebrae and never box again or to have a halo spinal traction and make the boxing comeback of the century. Vinny chose the later.

The above image is Vinny Paz right after the accident.

After 13 months, Paz was back in the ring. Defying all reason and logic, and not only defeated the Dominican Republic’s Luis Santana in a 10-round unanimous decision but also would continue fighting for the next 13 years.

His life is a true inspiration, so much so that a movie was made about his life.

Of course, I was super thrilled and honored when I was given the incredible opportunity to interview Vinny Paz.

Here is the interview:

Could you tell us a little bit about how you got into boxing? Also what other types of training do you currently do?

Since I was six years old, all I ever wanted to do was box.  I was inspired by Muhammed Ali. To this day, I train with weights and hit the bag, you can see me at Twitter @5Xpaz.

You have inspired people all around the world, who has inspired you in your life?

Muhammed Ali was my all time favorite hands down. And I also go to fight my idol Roberto Duran, and now I corner his son, Roberto Duran, Jr.

If you could thank three people in your life who would they be and what would you say to each of them?

My Parents! They have always been there for me, for sure. They are great people! Another person I would thank would have to be Mauricio Sulaiman, the President of the WBC,  for always including me in the conventions and in the honorary WBC Belt. He is a good man and very good to many including myself!!

There are a lot of myths or just plain non-truths when it comes to boxing in general and what is one that you seem to hear over and over?

The only myth really is that you can have a long career in boxing, most of the time it doesn’t happen. Only a very few can have a long career, for the rest their careers are short, and you have to be a bit lucky really to make good money and fight at the top. Boxing has changed a lot over the years, and I’m glad I fought during the time I did in my day.

What’s the most important lesson you have learned in life either personally or professionally?

You have to stay tough; life is tough; things happen, you can’t quit!

In one sentence or phrase, how would you define success?

Everyone has their own meaning, I have to tell you, if you can get through the tough times that’s success.

What was the most challenging or difficult decision you had to make?

That’s really a tough one, obviously, it was the Halo and when I broke my neck. I had to roll the dice and rolled it big.

As an inspirational and motivational role model, what pearls of wisdom or words of advice would you have for those chasing their dreams?

Don’t quit! Its that simple just don’t quit

What was the best decision you have made?

Boxing because it really is all I ever wanted to do!

What question should I have asked you that I didn’t ask? Why is that question important and what is the answer?

The only question I would have asked me is what’s it like to have a movie made about you? It was a bittersweet situation I loved Miles Teller playing me, but I would have never allowed the way they put my movie out there. I didn’t like how they did it! It could have been a blockbuster, Miles Teller and the cast Aron Eckart and Katey Segal were great but I wasn’t happy with a few of the producers, they really let me down. So the question would have been about the movie and what I would have liked to happen? But that’s life! And if it inspired one person then I won. Thanks stay strong 5XXXVP

Thank you!!! Vinny for being an inspiration to millions around the world. You a true model of perseverance and not giving up.

For more information about Vinny Paz, you can follow him at his Twitter account:
https://twitter.com/5XPAZ

And here is the trailer to the movie about his life story:

They are based on the teachings of a very famous and wise person, Marcus Cicero.

Marcus Tullius Cicero, born 3 January 106 BC and died on 7 December 43 BC, was a Roman philosopher, politician, lawyer, orator, political theorist, consul, and constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the Roman equestrian order, and was one of Rome’s greatest orators and prose stylists

According to Michael Grant, “the influence of Cicero upon the history of European literature and ideas greatly exceeds that of any other prose writer in any language”.

I first heard about these teachings in a book entitled, Wisdom of the Ages, by Dr. Wayne Dyer. When I read these teachings I was literally without words. It struck at the core and made me re-think a lot of my own backward %#$ philosophy.

The 6 Mistakes of Man, by Cicero, was really intended as a warning for future generations to avoid the errors made by Cicero and his contemporaries at the time of the great Roman Empire.

Cicero wanted to share what went so tragically wrong with one of the impressive empires of our time.

Here are Cicero’s 6 Mistakes of Man:

1. The delusion that personal gain is made by crushing others.
2. The tendency to worry about things that cannot be changed or corrected.
3. Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it.
4. Refusing to set aside trivial preferences.
5. Neglecting development and refinement of the mind, and not acquiring the habit of reading and studying.
6. Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.

So how the heck does this relate to Calisthenics and athletic training?

That’s a great question.

Here is an interpretation of these treasured pearls of wisdom as applied to the world of Calisthenics.

1. The delusion that personal gain is made by crushing others.

As an athlete, you are constantly want to increase, improve, get better, make progress and let’s not forget have fun in the process. This first mistake of man applied to calisthenics is really all about be inclusive. Oftentimes when we train, we are only focus on the me in the equation and leave out the rest. In my case, I wanted to make my training a family thing, including my wife and son in the fun. (I am a poet and I didn’t even know it….huh I did it again…) We may not be literally crushing others by our actions but we may not be sharing in our joy because of our insane devotion and discipline to our sport. Our personal gain can be shared with others and as we excel we can bring those along for the ride.

Each of us is at a different place in our athletic training, and meeting others where they are at is especially helpful not only for the others that can benefit from your knowledge and skill-set, but you too can benefit because you reinforce and get better from that which you share and teach to others.

2. The tendency to worry about things that cannot be changed or corrected.

If there was ever something so fatal that could literally kill you, its worry. Stress is the result of worry. And as we all know it’s the main cause of a lot of the dis-ease. There are of course things we can do to reduce our stress, probably the best way to lessen your worry is to just let go of the things you cannot control or change.

It’s really easy to fall under the illusion that we are so all mighty and powerful that we can will anything we want by changing it exactly to our liking or correct it perfectly. That is nice thinking, but it’s just that, nice thinking and really nothing more.

We can really only control and change the things that we have within our immediate reach to change and everything else is just noise. Breakthrough the noise and hear the signals.

3. Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it.

Seriously if I had a penny for every time someone told me that this or that was impossible, I would literally be a millionaire. We have all heard how something is absolutely freaking impossible to do, only to find a short while later that some guy or gal in some far distant land did the very thing we or someone we know had professed was impossible to do.

If you are like most, you probably get even more motivated when someone tells you that you can’t. The very notion that something is impossible only because the person telling you this can’t fathom another option sets a fire a blazing in most. It certainly has moved me to do things that pushed me beyond my boundaries. And in the end, we all are better people for having gone through such experiences.

Isn’t that what Calisthenics is all about. Pushing through the limits, testing your prior personal bests and seeing what you are really made of. We all have 86,400 seconds each day. Do the impossible and make it possible. And don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.

4. Refusing to set aside trivial preferences.

Look I am the first to admit that I have my own funny pet peeves and quirks. It most definitely drives my wife batty. We all have our unusual and strange preferences. These preferences can sometimes keep us from trying new things or seeing a difference perspective. It’s aptly called the comfort zone. And in it, oftentimes you will not grow. Especially when it comes to your training. Letting go of what you think and how you think and trying something new goes a long way toward a more well-rounded athletic performance.

5. Neglecting development and refinement of the mind, and not acquiring the habit of reading and studying.

The old adage a mind is a terrible thing to waste, is one worth noting. The mind is like a muscle, and if you don’t use it you will lose it. If we just focus on training our body and not our mind, we will be up a creek without a paddle.

To really press upon the importance of this let’s look at a study done on some 678 nuns, 80% of whom were teachers and continued to make learning a life long quest. It followed 678 sisters of the School Sisters of Notre Dame living in Mankato, Minnesota. The goal of the study is to identify the risk factors for Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases. Some of the results of the study confirm the commonsense notions that healthy lifestyle and active and stimulating intellectual life can help us stay healthy and independent later in life. But the most surprising finding is that certain traits in early 20s can help predict whether someone will have Alzheimer’s disease 60 years later. What are some of the findings? A college education and an active intellectual life may help stave off Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. The Nun Study also suggested that strokes and brain trauma might worsen the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

There were many other findings that came out of the nun study but for the purposes of this point, we wanted to demonstrate the importance of refinement of the brain & the habit of reading and studying contribute enormously toward that.

6. Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.

We all love to exercise and stay active. And when it comes to calisthenics, I am guilty of this one. I love to profess my passion and enthusiasm for the sport. We need to error on the side of caution though, because what works for one may not work for another. Just because you love working out and calisthenics does not mean that it will be embraced and shared among your peers. The adage let and let live holds true here.

There are many things that happen as we embrace our passions and one of them is to evangelize. Although our intentions are coming from a good place it may be received by others as trying to control or manipulate. Its best to be quiet and humble and do your own thing. And if others take an interest and solicit your advice, well then so be it. But don’t go out there telling others what, how and when they should live their lives. That will just cause a whole lot of problems.

In conclusion, we have discussed the 6 Mistakes of a Calisthenics Athlete as seen through the lens of the great orator, philosopher and lawyer, Cicero. Applying these to your own training and way of life is of course your decision.

Unbeknownst to me this single event  would mark the beginning of a very difficult journey in my health and well-being.

The school I attended  had many different studios and one night I had the opportunity to train at a school in Oceanside.

At the school, there were many from the local Marine base at Camp Pendleton.

During a one to one session training I sparred with a Marine, who was far better trained than I was in Jiu Jitsu. As we proceeded to spar on the mat, he got me in an arm bar submission on my right arm. Unfortunately, I did not tap in time, and instead endured the hold far longer than I should have.

The result, I ended up pulling my right clavicle bone.

Since that fateful day, I have not been able to do pull ups, without causing a tightness and eventually stiffening and soreness on my right side where the clavicle meets the shoulder.

I tried numerous modalities of therapy from chiropractic, to traditional sports therapy, myocardial release, exercise kinesiology, to exercise physiology used to heal the muscles and structural alignment, to yoga, Pilates, and massage.

None of them really truly gave me back the mobility and structural alignment that I was so desperately needing.

I wanted my old body back. Pre Jiu Jitsu.

It wasn’t until last year in April 2014 that I began my road to recovery.

I was at a good friend’s house in Las Vegas, when the conversation came up about my wish to do pull ups again. Up to that point, I had a secret admiration for those that had a normal clavicle.

When I showed my friend my injury. he told me, “Oh that’s no big deal, you can fix that, have you looked into Rolfing?”

The mere fact that my good friend, a health and fitness expert, had confidence in my own full recovery and that I had a form of  physical therapy that I had never tried before, was enough for me to look into it.

I Googled, “Las Vegas Rolfing” and voila there appeared a site Love Your Posture at the top of the search. I called and made an appointment with Corey Buck. It was the best thing I ever did.
Within the first session, I was already feeling great, and after three more sessions I felt and could see noticeable differences in my clavicle bone. It was no longer protruding as before.

I knew I would fully regain my ability to do something as simple as a pull up.

Corey told me that, I had some scar tissue, and  that all we needed to do was release it.

Well lo and behold I am back and fully recovered

I thought I would interview Corey and ask him some poignant questions about Rolfing and the work he does.

Here is the brief interview.

Could you tell me a little bit about your background and how you got into Rolfing, how have you personally benefited from it, I remember you shared with me that you had an injury, could you elaborate on that?

I had Sciatica really bad for many years I was lucky that Rolfing cured me of that problem and led me to becoming a practitioner hoping to help people like I was helped.

In one sentence could you describe what Rolfing is?

Rolfing is a 10 session series teaching embodiment and shifting awareness.

What do you think are some of the most common misconceptions when it comes to Rolfing (Structural Integration)? Could you share some stereotypes around Rolfing that are not true?

There are many who think that it’s just a painful treatment but it’s really about shifting awareness.

How does Rolfing differ from other forms of therapy? What does it Rolfing offer that many traditional forms of therapy such as chiropractic, myofascial release or physical therapy?

Rolfing offers education about the myofascial integration of the body and carries over into life, i am not sure other modalities get into life applications.

Compared to other more traditional forms of therapy, Rolfing isn’t quite as popular like chiropractic or even Myofascial release? When I search on those respective terms they are in the tens of millions whereas “Rolfing” is in the hundreds of thousands.

Rolfing popularity isn’t as high as other therapies, I think the misconceptions about costs and the amount of sessions put it into a low percentage.

I realize that Rolfing is not  a magic bullet, obviously, for me you helped me tremendously, to overcome and get back to training 100%, yet how should one prepare themselves if they are truly interested in incorporating and actually using Rolfing to say, for example, heal an injury?

Rolfing brings a balance and grace to the body leaving an injury an opportunity to reintegrate into balance.

With respect to this interview and the subject matter, what question, should I have asked you that I didn’t and what is the answer?

Fantastic interview thank you Bronson..  Cheers and I hope to visit you soon.  Happy New Year

It seems wherever you turn people are on the go, quickly moving on to the next task at hand.  The pace of life is more frenetic and crazy than when I was a kid.

Obviously with all the modern-day technological advancements that were supposedly designed to give us more time and make life easier, it might be just the opposite.

Recently I have used a  FREE mobile application called Sleepmeter to measure and track my sleeping patterns.

I started doing this because last year I was having trouble sleeping due to incredible amounts self-inflicted mental stress.

I have since, recovered my normal sleeping patterns, but what I found with my daily tracking was quite startling. I sleep an average of 7 hours per day. Quite different from the 8-9 hours I used to think that I slept.

Whether I am actually sleeping 7 hours or 8-9 hours, one thing is for sure, I was not alone during my brief stint of sleepless nights.

Here are some interesting statistics from Jawbone regarding sleep:

• Least Sleep: Tokyo, Japan – 5hr 44 min
• Most Sleep: Melbourne, Australia – 6hr 58 min
• Earliest to Bed: Brisbane, Australia – 10:57pm
• Latest to Bed: Moscow, Russia – 12:46am
• Earliest to Rise: Brisbane, Australia – 6:29am
• Latest to Rise: Moscow, Russia – 8:08am

According to the National Sleep Foundation in a poll comparing sleep times, attitudes, habits and bedtime routines of those in the United States, Canada,  Mexico, the United Kingdom,Germany and Japan between the ages of 25 and 55 years old.they conducted on six countries in 2013 the found the following:

Japan and the United States report the least amount of sleep. 

Japanese and Americans report sleeping about 30 to 40 minutes less on workdays than those in the other countries surveyed, averaging 6 hours and 22 minutes and 6 hours and 31 minutes of sleep, respectively. Two-thirds of Japanese (66%) say they sleep less than 7 hours on work nights, compared to 53% of Americans, 39% in the United Kingdom, 36% of Germans, 30% of Canadians and 29% of Mexicans. One in five from the United States(21%), Japan (19%) and the United Kingdom (18%) report sleeping less than six hours a night during the work week, about twice the rate of the other countries (11%  Mexico, 10% Germany, 7% Canada,).

How much sleep do we really need?

Sleep is fundamental to any athlete. Especially those training in Calisthenics.

We need to sleep a minimum of 7-8 hours of good quality sleep. How can you tell if you had a good night’s sleep? One of the ways I can tell is if I had a dream or two or three or more. When we dream we are in REM sleep. This cycle usually lasts 90-120 minutes and we typically have 4-5 of these types of REM cycles each night.

If you had a dream while sleeping then chances are you were in a REM sleep cycle and had what experts deem a good cycle of sleep.

Sleep is one of those things that falls under the class of, we know what to do we just don’t do what we know.

Sleep is vitally important and not sacrificed for any reason.

I am a stickler when it comes to sleep. Because without my 7-8 hours I am like grumpy from Cinderella and the seven dwarfs.

I think in this article, of course, with the help of many cited expert sources, you will agree the sleep is critical to life itself.

So go on and get some much-needed sleep and you will surely see the benefits in just about every aspect of your life.

(It is truly amazing how many myths persist about the human body.)

The question was: Can girls get as strong as guys?

The question is so freaking loaded it’s not even funny.

Which girls are she referring to? The wafer thin almost anorexic no muscle tone types or  are we talking about women such as Camille Leblanc-Bazinet or Julie Foucher?

Which guys are she referring to? The metro sexual, effeminate murse wearing types or are we talking about men like Denis Minin and Rich Fronning?

Honestly I have heard this argument over and over how men are genetically stronger than women.

My question is then how does one explain hysterical strength?

• In 2006, Ivujivik, Quebec resident Lydia Angiyou saved several children by fighting a polar bear until a local hunter shot it.

• In 2012, in Glen Allen, Virginia, 22-year-old Lauren Kornacki rescued her father, Alec Kornacki, after the jack used to prop up his BMW slipped, pinning him under it. Lauren lifted the car, then performed CPR on her father and saved his life.

• In 2013, in Oregon, teenage sisters, Hanna (age 16) & Haylee (age 14) lifted a tractor to save their father pinned underneath.

The debate continues whether or not “hysterical strength” ever exists. I really don’t care what you call it, acts of super human strength in the most unlikely people has been witnessed and documented time and time again.

Or how do you explain the following from Scientific American :

In this study, J. Bruce Moseley of the Houston Veteran¿s Affairs Medical Center and his colleagues randomly placed 180 osteoarthritis patients into three treatment groups: debridement, lavage, or sham (fake or false) surgery, where a surgeon would make incisions in the knee, but not cut or wash out any cartilage.

Neither the patients nor their health care providers knew which group the researchers had placed them in. For two years, patients continually evaluated their knee pain, while doctors examined their walking and stair-climbing abilities.

The results show that at every point in the investigation, all three groups reported an equal degree of reduction in pain and increase in activity level.

Moseley and his collaborators thus conclude that the placebo effect can account for the observed improvements; the surgeries do not appear to have any significant effect on the actual physiology of the disease.

Our biggest enemy is our own, as the late Zig Ziglar, would say, stinking thinking.

Many of us fall under the prey of what Deepak Chopra (MD / endocrinologist / author) calls, the hypnosis of social conditioning. This is where we believe what our peers tell us, without questioning or investigating on our own.

If we do not question what the mainstream tells us then we will fall victim to its lies.

Things are no always what they seem. Especially when it comes to the body. We are just skimming the surface of what the truth really is. (See Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.)

Breaking the shackles that bind us to pure nonsense, when it comes to our own potential, is the first step toward a life of limitless possibilities.

If you are familiar with the mentalist, Derren Brown, than you are all too familiar with his theatrics and his uncanny talent for busting free from the fallacies that we unfortunately continue to believe even to this day.

In one episode entitled, Derren Brown: Fear and Faith, focuses on the placebo effect.

Brown sets up a fake pharmaceutical company, ‘Cicero Pharmaceutical Solutions’, which claims to have developed a drug named ‘Rumyodin’, with the ability to inhibit fear. In actual fact the pill is a placebo that is merely sugar. The placebo effect, amplified by the convincing façade of Cicero, helps most of the subjects of the fake clinical trial of Rumyodin overcome their fears. It is shown that Brown repeated the experiment with separate groups, to each of whom it was claimed Rumyodin had different beneficial effects, such as smoking cessation and allergy relief, again with positive results. By the end of the program Brown reveals that ‘Rumyodin’ is an anagram of ‘your mind’.

He clearly shows the power of the mind on the body. He literally blew my mind and also confirmed what I knew, our minds lead our bodies, and vice versa.

There are many myths, old wives tales, superstitions, out right lies, and mus-information that exist when it comes to our body.

Here is a short list of just a few:

1. Memory loss is inevitable.
2. Slow metabolism makes you fatter.
3. You will catch a cold if you go out in freezing weather.
   
4. We only use ten percent of our brains.
5. Sugar makes kids hyperactive.
6. A high SPF will fully protect you from skin cancer.
7. Calories counting is all that matters for weight management and health.
8. Nothing will age you faster than the sun.
9. Brain damage is always permanent.
10. Cholesterol is the major cause of heart disease.

It sure would have been a lot easier if we were given an owner’s manual when we were first-born. Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way, and we are left to figuring it out by ourselves.

We oftentimes rely on others to tell us what many times we already intuitively know. But I guess its part of the process of being human.

It’s a constant learning and re-learning (unlearning) process.

In conclusion, the human body is a miraculous and awe inspiring masterpiece. It all starts with our minds and what we choose to believe or not believe.

The most powerful tool you have to your health and well-being is your mind.