Pushing Myself

I went to the gym this morning for a quick 4th of July strength & conditioning session. One of the components of the training today was the push press. We don 't do push presses very often in our gym, but I find them very beneficial. The push press is essentially a shoulder press with a little cheat from the legs. The push press is a good exercise in it's own right, but it is not as effective in isolating the shoulders as a strict press. I find the biggest benefit of the push press to be psychological, however. Because I am using the legs, I am able to push more weight overhead. Mentally I feel more prepared when I go back to doing strict presses, because I am accustomed to seeing heavier weight go overhead.<Br><Br>I believe that this same principle applies to other areas of my life as well. When I push myself to do hard things - things I would not normally be able to do - then I am able to do more hard things. This is a simple principle, but there is a simple beauty to this truth. As my coach, Dave Clancy, has told me, "You can do more than you think."

Grappling Takedown Development and Dental Treatment

Photo Credit: Dave Freetage

As as grappler, takedowns are a very important skill. Another important related skill is takedown defense. Takedowns are critical because this is often the point at which one individual begins to dominate the fight. When I take someone down, this often becomes the pivotal point at which I begin to control my opponent. I have been focusing on my takedown technique for several months now, but this is still a set of skills where I am in deep need of further development. A successful takedown can often expend an extreme amount of energy, especially when one's opponent is skilled at takedown defense. At first glance, takedowns may appear to be simple or easy, but one does not become truly skilled at takedowns until s/he spends hours upon hours practicing thousands of takedowns.

I have found this principle to be true in many aspects of my life. There are professional skill sets that may appear to be easy from a distance, but actually require countless hours to perform successfully, skillfully, and effectively. Such skills are extremely important, require tremendous expenditure of energy, and are worth every bit of effort that is invested into them. One example from my life is the placement of a simple tooth-colored composite restoration (filling) on a child or adult with an intellectual or developmental disability. There are many variables that come into effect during the course of treatment, and many things have to be done well at one time in order to be successful. When all of the elements are performed correctly in synchrony, the result is an effective procedure with a satisfied and relieved patient/parent.

I Have Discovered a Secret for a Happy Life

I have discovered one of the big secrets for a happy life, and I consider myself very fortunate. I have found myself in a profession that I care about deeply, and I believe that this is one of the major keys to happiness. Indeed I have known people very close to me who have spent years in jobs that they do not like. In fact, most people I know that have "jobs" find them to be drudgery. Only when one finds alignment between his passion, his vocation, and his skills does he truly find enjoyment in his work. All three of these are essential components

My Second Family

I am very thankful for my family at Grove City Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy. I first joined the gym about a year ago, after attending sporadically as an outsider for a few months. By sharing time on the mats together, and by shedding blood, sweat, and tears together, we have truly become like a family. Jiu-jitsu has a way of bringing together people of all different lifestyles in a way that I have never seen before. I truly look forward to what the years have in store for me and my BJJ family.

Incredible Weekend!

I am extremely grateful for all the support I got for the Special Olympics Special Smiles event this past weekend. Dentists, dental students, residents, dental hygienists, lay people, and even some children came to help out for the event. I am especially thankful for the help from Nationwide Children's Hospital and The Ohio State University.

Should I let it die?

The previous posts on this blog were written by a different person. Yes, I wrote everything, but I have evolved significantly over the past two years! Honestly, I am not sure if I have even visited this page within the past two years. I was writing in my blog fairly consistently, and I really enjoyed doing so. I'm not sure how many people actually read it, but I really enjoyed the activity. The act of writing, in itself, provided an opportunity for introspection and reflection. As I look over many of these posts I have written in the past, I realize that I miss it. So now I am faced with a decision: Would I like to continue to write in a venue such as this? It seems as if everybody and his brother has a blog. Will anybody even read it? Do I really even care? Maybe I should let this blog die and start a new one. Maybe I should let it die completely. Innately, we all love to create! I hope to publish some scientific articles within the next few months. But this is totally different, and this is fun, so I think you can probably count on seeing more here in the future.

Ultrasonic

I had no idea our ultrasonic was a fan of fine art!