Fitcomb

Introduction The evil tentacles of Covid19 held our heads down for long but now in Oct 2020 after things had started easing out we also planned  a much awaited ride . Also, the Atal Tunnel at an altitude of 10,000 ft was recently inaugurated and made open for the public and I thought of being one of the first few to ride through it. The Plan  I zeroed down on Shinkhu La or Shongo La which lies at an altitude of 16,703 ft linking Zanskar and Lahaul as it is one of the most unheard of passes and wanted to nail it before it becomes commercialised like another 'Pangong Tso' courtesy (sic) 'Three Idiots' (a bollywood blockbuster). The plan was quickly scribbled : Day 1 - Gurgaon - Kullu  Day 2 - Kullu - Manali Day 3 - Manali - Shinkhu La - Manali Day 4 - Manali -Swarghat Day 5 - Swarghat - Gurgaon  Total Distance- 1500 kms  My dear friend and martial arts student Shridhar Sinha was itching to ride to the hills and hence this plan of a hill ride crystalized so quick. ...

"The ones who will stay in the game will be those who survive." Its time that we endure the testing times and sustain to be able to bounce back. Times are tough, though it could have been prevented but... As a matter of the fact ,history has proven that we as human beings never learn from our mistakes and keep reinventing the wheel of destruction. Having said that it is imperative that we 'adapt and survive' , its NOW that we must carry our detailed analysis and introspection of what we do and more importantly how we do. I have come across a lot of so called professionals who have switched from one trade to another, nothing wrong in it . Then there were host of individuals turned entrepreneurs who got into ppe's probably with an intent to survive or if it may not sound rude make some money out of the situation. Expertise or no expertise , some just tried to ride the wave but every wave settles down sooner or later . People realized that dupattas , scarves , hankey...

 The euphemism uses this adage to denote women as some one who is petite , lovable , needs to be handled with caress or simply said , a softer version of Gods creation . Though it is absolutely fine to extend respect and courtesy but it is dogmatic to  have this mindset exclusively for women. In the last 11 years I have had a great experience of having come across over more than 50,000 women and girls who I had the pleasure of intervening with in the domain of empowerment and self defence. Believe you me , I found most of them very high both on mental and physical robustness with utter disregard to the heresy that haunts them. Whether it was the posh training hall of a big 4 corporate or an open ground in sweltering heat where scores of rural girls were rearing to learn to be able to stand up in the face of an adversary, the 'josh' was nowhere lacking. Not only the enthusiasm , they have always displayed higher conviction towards learning and bestowed highest level of respect ...

We have often heard a lot of people saying that 'age is just a number' and I guess its true to an extent. Staying healthy and fit to my mind should be everyone's top priority. How can we forget that old adage - ' A healthy mind stays in a healthy body' ! Fitness to me is a state of mind and I can without much deliberation attribute my own health and endurance levels to regular practice of martial arts. The journey into martial arts began when I was about 15 years of age when I picked up Karate which I would practice 3 days a week. Time passed by but my love for martial arts stayed kindled without a flicker , such is its addiction. I was a regular martial arts movie buff and would not miss a chance to see Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies which would then be screened mostly in morning shows. The effect of the movies would be so intense that I would pick a few things from there and include it in my daily practice regimen like rope climbing from that famous scene wher...

Does practicing in studio or dojo apply in reality? Well, the answer to this question is a Yes and No! Now let us try and understand this, what we practice in studio or dojo is a synchronized move wherein the role playing attacker attacks or threatens in a certain manner and the defender tries to defend it in the way is ‘supposed to’ is ‘taught to’. The ability to think beyond and improvisation reduces drastically if the same drill is practiced over & over again without any changed scenario, environment of attack methodology. It is good to an extent that the same is internalized but the flip side is that the response gets skewed if there is a slight variation in the attackers design. To address this acuteness I have always recommend the following 2 ‘Cs’ : 1.       Conceptual Understanding – Always focus on the ‘concept’ , which means what may happen in a certain condition and what should be the outcome? This will leave the ‘approach leverage’ wit...

'Safety Needs' to be addressed before you reach 'Self Actualization' Survival has been the oldest forte of human being. Since the evolution of mankind we have primarily been working around 'Survival' , fending off threats from wild animals , humans and natural catastrophe. History has enough evidence to prove that the first invention was 'Fire' which was primarily done to survive against wild animals , to keep warm and later to cook. Invention of tools and weapons evolved alongside where we used sticks , stones , bones & other hard objects to make equipment which could cut , hammer and much more. Well we are not dwelling upon the inventions which human beings made since their inception but that the basic skill set which has helped us stay safe and secure is 'survival'. The paradigm of 'Survival' has always been of prime significance. From stone and fire we have evolved to nukes and drones, our genre of being a food gath...