Mike Oliver's Journal (71)

Our collective work on the book Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life starts today. (It's not too late to start btw, the ebook version is only $1.99) This week, read Chapter One: Ending Your Struggle with Weight. This is a substantial chapter that introduces some of the core concepts that will be expanded upon by Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr. Lilian Cheung as we progress.

No more…

This is our outline for eight weeks of reading and practice of the book Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life. We will be reading one chapter per week. I've also broken up segments of dietary advice as well the moving and meditation practices into the 8-weeks. The goal being that by the end of that 8-weeks we will have made considerable inroads into being more mindful with our diet, and…

A handful of my adult students and a few parents of our little ones were intrigued when I mentioned a book on diet and mindfulness recently. Some of you even liked the idea of reading it together and sharing our notes and thoughts online--a good old fashioned book club. So here is our official announcement for the…

One of the key principles of effective self-defense is to learn awareness. In our classes I have recently been talking about the color code system that we use to denote where we are in our internal and external awareness.

The bottom level of this color code is CODE WHITE.   This signifies someone who is completely unaware of what’s going on around them.  They are switched off and distracted.  This is exactly what a potential predator is looking for when they are looking for a…

Deirdre Fitzpatrick from KCRA 3 had the courage to step out onto the dojo floor with us recently. Read about her experience below.

Zen. So relaxing.

So not what I expected when I ended our 26 part Workouts A-Z series with a workout called Zen Martial Arts.

Zen Martial Arts is the cardiovascular…

This is why compassion, kindness, and anger management are such important and oft discussed topics at our karate school.

SAN JOSE -- San Jose police say a 16-year-old Florida boy is facing charges for assaulting an opponent after losing a martial arts tournament.

The San Jose Mercury News reports that the Miami Lakes black belt was booked on a felony assault charge after he bowed to his opponent, shook his hand and then kicked him in the…

Join Zen Martial Arts for a “Green” Community Picnic

July 9 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at Coloma Community Center

Sacramento, CA, June 10, 2011 – Zen Martial Arts is hosting its second annual community picnic on Saturday, July 9 from 10:00 am…

It is with great sadness that I must inform you of the passing of Dr. George "Doc" Thompson.



For 27 years, as founder and CEO of the Verbal Judo Institute, Doc led the charge to elevate the professionalism and communication skills for crisis professionals, such as law enforcement and all first responders.



His work gained many followers, in both the public and private sectors.



"The entire basis of Verbal Judo is to treat people with dignity and respect, most of all…

In affiliation with The Red Cross, PerfectMIND and ChampionsWay have started a relief fund to aid the victims of this unfortunate disaster. We will accept donations of any size from martial artists and martial arts business owners.

All monies raised will be sent to The Red Cross to provide relief for those in need. Please follow the link below…

On April 6th, I will be flying out to Alabama as part of our mission to take our martial arts "out of the dojo and into the world." I'm going out there with fellow members of this years "Ultimate Black Belt Test" and together we are going to team up and build a house in rural America for someone in need. Ms. Georgia of Greensboro, Alabama will have a clean, warm, safe place to live because of the charity and compassion of the international martial arts community.

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On Saturday I competed in a Northern California GSKA Tournament. As someone that trains in traditional karate I've often shied away from open tournaments. I've had bad experiences in the past--everything from bad sportsmanship to questionable judging. This year however I've made it a goal to compete at 10 events and decided that I'm going to go in without old negative thoughts. Also competing along side me was one of my junior 11-year old…

Saturday, before our dojo kotohajime cleaning, those of us involved with the Ultimate Black Belt Test got together for our first team workout. As the leader of the team and of this particular workout, I knew that I would be expected to bring on a decent challenge. Never one to disappoint, we laid it on thick.

Each us did the following:

• Ran 1 mile
• 480 Kicks
• 240 Push-ups
• 240 Sit-ups
• And about 10 minutes of…

A firebomb at the Arden-Arcade branch damaged 1,000 books this morning! Let's get a book drive going and see what we can do. This would be a great project idea for any of our students.

Who's game for taking this one on?

News 10 Link: …

2010 was a great year for our dojo.  For those of you that have been with me for a long time, you've seen us grow from a very small school (2 or 3 of us at the Robertson Center) to some very full classes now at the Coloma Center. Here are some of the great things that we accomplished together in 2010. (And I have to tell you, you are getting famous in the community for all of the wonderful things that you are doing).

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I've contacted Brie's Father to see if there is anything that we can do to help. In the mean time, here's the alert.

Why do we breathe in through the…

I sent this letter out today to my family and friends--everyone that I want to include in my test (the world!). This is an example of what you might use if you are on this years UBBT team as a public declaration of your goals. Post it here, e-mail it, share it on Facebook. Get the word out to as many people as you can. Hold yourself accountable.

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In 2011, I will be participating in the…