kickboxing - Minorsan

Minorsan Has Moved!

October 4, 2016 by Clara E Minor Leave a Comment

Minorsan has Moved and Morning Classes are at The Tannery

Monday – Friday morning classes are being held at The Tannery!

Classes start October 3, 2016.

We are very excited about this collaboration with The Tannery. It is such a great space to just be, and a great space to move. See our online Schedule to see the class times/room. Please bear with us as we work through all the details of the Schedule. Some slots may change.

Our biggest change is for Wednesday morning: Zumba is at 11:30 am, and BodyPump is at 12:30 pm. (Now Wed & Fri Zumba both at 11:30 am!).

And we are very excited to begin evening and Sat/Sun morning classes on October 25, at Garfield Park Community Church! This is another great collaboration within our community. Another great venue to hang out, and to move our bodies! The Church and its entire campus has been revamped, renovated, and is now a beautiful space.

In the meantime, we are offering Tabata workouts (30 mins each) to all members of Minorsan, at 6:00 pm on the Garfield Park Church Lawn. The first was October 3, and it was a hit! Even if you have never taken a Tabata class, you are welcome to join us. Bring a friend and check it out together. It’s always more fun with 2, or 3, or 4 or 5! Bring as many friends as you would like. Anyone new to Minorsan can take one free! Anyone can do a 30-minute class…

We will update when we are open at Garfield Park Church for all classes.

Minorsan’s New Locations Effective 10/3/16

September 28, 2016 by Clara E Minor Leave a Comment

Minorsan is moving! Effective October 3, 2016. Closed Oct 1 & 2 (so we can move!)

We are Pleased to Announce…

Studio B (in 110)

All early morning thru noontime classes, Monday-Friday will be held at The Tannery World Dance Center!

We know you will be pleased too with this beautiful campus.

Most classes will be in Studio B and some in Studio 111 (original dance studio).
Click here to see the locations on the campus.

Our locations are the ‘green’ colored buildings on the graphic. Scroll down more and you’ll see the numbers of each building. Studio B is in 110.

Entrance will be thru the middle gates near Studio 112. Walk through the courtyard to Studio B (Building 110). Bathrooms will be to your left.

All Classes at our Mission St location will end on September 30.

Morning—Noontime Classes, Mon-Fri, will begin at the Tannery Monday, October 3, 6:00 am BodyPump!

And did we say The Art Bar Cafe is located in the courtyard? Easy to get refreshments after class, and get extended time with your friends.

Our Other Exciting News….

All late afternoon/evening and Sat/Sun classes will be held at Garfield Park Community Church campus. We’ll be starting there the first or second week of October.

We are helping Christopher Drury, Pastor, to mobilize his venture for both the community and for Minorsan, as it brings much to both for the foreseeable future. You can help support this effort for yourself and for the community in these three ways:

1- Helping with fundraising efforts by donating

2- Sharing the gofundme link on Facebook (and in your emails) to your friends (this can go a long way). You can even forward this blog.

3- Getting the word out that the pews are for sale. They are in great condition, beautiful wood, red cloth covered seating. They can be sold as is, or repurposed!

Phase 2 includes removing all the pews in the Sanctuary and replacing them with movable tables and chairs, which is the space we’ll be using for Minorsan’s classes, as well as for other community-wide events.

This can be done in one day. He can’t move the pews until he has the tables and chairs. He can’t get the tables and chairs until he has at least $6,000.

The Church needs at least $6,000 of the $12,000 they are seeking to purchase tables and chairs. The remaining $6,000 will go towards the purchase of new audio/video equipment and high-tech wifi for the live-streaming of events. Can you imagine watching an event live from home (anywhere in the world really) because you could not go? How exciting!

You can make an immediate difference by donating here: Garfield Park Community Church GoFundMe

If 60 people contribute $100, the $6,000 will be there! If 120 people contribute $50, the $6,000 will be there. ALL amounts welcome. Even $5 will help! These are tax-deductible donations, as he has a 501c3 non-profit status. You can donate here: Garfield Park Community Church GoFundMe

The Sanctuary is just to the right in this photo.

Christopher Drury has a long-term vision for his church:

• A community venue for events (seminars, weddings/receptions, special events, talks, workshops, entertainment, including live streaming, and classes/programs for various non-profits and for-profits)

• A leading-edge Church that is all-encompassing of community members with different needs, who all wish to contribute to our community. He welcomes people of all persuasions to participate in any event/activity at his Church. He is truly all-inclusive.

• Continuing with Phase 3 of development, which will include a cafe, serving espresso drinks, beer (preferably his own brand) and wine, plus small bites (possibly expanding to more later)

> Members of the Coryell Autism Center will work at the cafe, learning real-life skills and social interaction

> All proceeds from the cafe will go right back to the Coryell Autism Center

> Everyone who makes a purchase at the cafe will know they are making a direct difference right in our community.

If you wish to donate, click this link for the gofundme page. Any amount works! And share-share-share!

Thank you for anything you can do. It is truly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Clara E Minor
Master Trainer-Instructor
Minorsan Self-Defense & Fitness

Fruits, Sugars, Diets, and Weight Loss

August 9, 2016 by Clara E Minor Leave a Comment

Fruits, Sugars, Diets, and Weight Loss can be so confusing!

Why is weight loss so difficult? Why are ‘diets’ challenging? Why is ‘sugar’ so confusing? I have a link below that explains sugars, refined and in whole foods, for easier understanding of how all these sugars affect our bodies.
There are specific ‘diets’ out there that are tailored for weight loss. And some of them actually work. In a controlled environment—i.e., your kitchen. Yes, you can eat on your ‘diet’ when eating out, however it can be challenging. It can be done when you are highly motivated. You must stick to the parameters of the ‘diet’ and you will surely lose the weight. I have seen it. There are so many ways of eating out there, and the common bond they often share is they promise ‘weight loss.’ As I said, some of them work, for a while, and as long as you stay on them. Great if you stay highly motivated. What happens when you lose the motivation? The problem is that if you make a sudden and drastic change to your eating habits, most people will get a response from their bodies that is so powerful, that they must go back to the foods, and the ways, they left behind. The body was ‘shocked’ too fast, and it simply does not like to be shocked. You will be craving those foods you are used to eating, and those which you’ve been eating for a long time. It is easy to go back to how and what you used to eat. Then you think there is something wrong with you, or you just don’t have the will power. Remember you are fighting you body’s cravings. Your body craves the long-time food. Our bodies are brilliant, and they love security too. They want to stay the same. Each of us has a set point (metabolism), and each of us has eaten in a specific way for a long time. Whether it’s in a haphazard way at attempts at weight loss, or it’s always the same-o same-o. We always buy the same foods. Therefore, our bodies always crave the same foods. So, how do you change this? Seems like an impossibility, right? Wrong. Here is what you need to make this work: desire, persistence, knowledge, and a huge dose of patience. Yes, take your time making changes. When you make changes slowly, your body does not go into ‘shock’ at the change. It is gradually getting used to the new foods, new ways, new habits. There is no magic pill, no magic time, no magic food. It is truly desire, persistence, knowledge and patience. We have an abundance of foods from which we get all the nutrients our bodies need. We cannot get everything we need from just fruits and vegetables, even though they are ‘healthy’ for us. We need protein too, and we most certainly need healthy fats. Even ‘unhealthy foods’ have their place. If nothing else, they remind us (after we have consumed them), that we might not want to do that again for a bit. When I eat ‘unhealthy’ foods, it is almost always with someone else. It is when I eat out, or share food, or go to an event. I stay pretty regimented when I eat at home, however, I am not strict! And this regimentation is because I have eaten this way for so long. Remember, above I said that your body craves what you eat the most? Yes, because I have been eating this way for so long, my body craves healthy foods. (I know somewhere out there that dark chocolate is in this mix..lol…yes, that is my go-to fun food.) And, btw, in my search to avoid (remember, I said ‘avoid,’ not eliminate entirely) sugar, I found some organic unsweetened dark chocolate chips. I am discovering different ways to make them palatable (i.e., sweet) without adding refined sugars, and how to use them to make my fave chocolate goodies. When speaking of sugar, people often throw anything with ‘sugar’ in the mix, such as grains and fruit. Yes, these have natural sugars in them, and research shows they react in an entirely different way when they go through the digestive process and are used by our bodies. Eating whole foods in their natural state gives us a feeling of satisfaction (even from the beauty of the food and all the colors in fruits and vegetables), and satisfaction that you just can’t get from refined sugar and sugary foods and drink (although these can be satisfying in other ways).
Here is the link to the article on how this happens. Yes, you can stuff up on a plate of brown rice, or a huge piece of cake, or or even a huge bowl of iceberg lettuce, but remember that eating too much of anything is not a good thing.The lettuce will leave you feeling full for just a bit, and then that ’empty’ feeling sets in, the brown rice alone won’t give you the vitamins and minerals you get from fruits and veggies, and for the next few hours, you might not feel so good if you ate a lot of sugar. And sugar drains your energy. Even the next day you can feel your body reacting to the sugar you ate the day before (dull, sagging energy). You can eat too much fruit, too many vegetables, too much protein, too many complex carbs, and too much healthy fat. So, in order to achieve that which you wish (getting healthier and feeling more fit, and even if weight loss is not a part of your intention), do it s-l-o-w-l-y. Your body will be happily surprised without the shock. And if you are looking for more support with your weight loss and fitness goals, check out our next Tabata Healthy Weight Loss and Fitness Workshop FREE and coming up Saturday!

Laters! Clara E MinorMaster Trainer-InstructorMinorsan Self-Defense & Fitness
contact@minorsan.com
www.minorsan.com

Lessons from the Wharf to Wharf

July 26, 2016 by Clara E Minor Leave a Comment

This past weekend I ran the Wharf to Wharf with a bunch of fun crazy ladies (and one gent, the Beekeeper) who were all promoting Hive & Hum, a new business on River Street, focusing on the importance of our winged friends…especially our BEES. (It is a beautiful store with lots of goodies for everyone!). Every single one of them has been to MINORSAN Self-Defense & Fitness. Crazy-fun crew. (Yes, I am promoting Hive & Hum, as I believe in their vision. OK…done. Just go there and check it out.)

So today, two days later, I am still feeling the ‘run.’ Have to laugh at this one, as many people do not truly ‘run.’ Many jog/walk and could care less what time we get to the finish line. (That is the best part of this local Santa Cruz event.) And either way, our bodies still feel it. I know it would be ‘smart’ to do many practice runs before this ‘race.’ I’ve ran it twice before this year. Each time, my muscles talk to me. It’s in a loving way, but they do talk loudly to me. I ignore them. I’ve had this lesson now three times. And I choose to say…’meh.’ No big deal. Muscles heal rather quickly. Mine will be good by tomorrow. Really, in the greater scheme of things, no biggie. (Throw this in with ‘first world whining.’)

I run now once per year. This is it. The Wharf to Wharf. I don’t even ‘practice’ for it. I just get out there and jog it. This year I walked a bit too cuz I was with so many other people, and we were all attempting to stay together. Everyone in the group of ‘bees’ did just that. We stopped and danced at many of the bands along the way. We stopped to take photos or video. Pure fun.

Turns out, lots of MINORSAN members also participated in this race. We were randomly dispersed throughout in small groups. Most are not ‘runners’ either. I used to run (years ago before I had any purely fitness workouts at my Studio.) I also went to local ‘gyms.’ Had to get in those weights and the cardio (besides doing my martial arts workouts, which are more anaerobic and work the muscles in an entirely different way). That’s when I used to run. All along West Cliff, in fact. These days, time is even more limited and I have to pick and choose my workouts. So running is a back burner thing. Random. Still, I love this little race called the Wharf to Wharf, from the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk/Wharf to the Capitola Wharf in our little slice of paradise located in California. One of my favorite local events.

What got me thinking about this, is that so many locals participate in this this ‘race’ every year, and this year it sold out in 45 minutes! 16,000 people. That is phenomenal. You’d think we were purchasing tickets to see the most beloved person on the planet. Even more impressing was that all abilities were out there participating in this event. And so many local bands and performers were out there supporting the runners/walkers/joggers. The bands help make it so much more fun!

What struck me the most this year, was that there were people who’s bodies didn’t run, and instead, afforded them the ‘walk.’ They walked the entire time. And it was with effort. And they did it. One was in our very group. I also saw a gentleman who was ‘running’ his 44th Wharf to Wharf!!! Yes, he has participated every single year of this event! This time he was walking, and had the aid of two people with him, and he was doing it! There were no excuses. None. He was proudly displaying a sign stating that this was his 44th run of this little race. Simply amazing. Shows how powerful the human spirit can be when we want to achieve.

Yes, I get the lessons about the muscles (which I choose to ignore). However, this lesson from these people who have no excuses, are a bit less able than most of the others ‘running,’ and still get out there and do it, is such a huge inspiration. And a lesson to anyone who uses excuses for anything. At some time or other, we have all come up with excuses. Easy to do. Harder to do is to set excuses aside, thank those excuses for showing up, and then move on ahead, way past those excuses. Why thank them? Because they allow us to pass them up. When we pass up our excuses, we get stronger in mind and spirit. We find more power within. And that is what we are programmed to do. Find ways to accomplishment. Passing up our excuses is the first step to achieving.

This is by far one of the best local events ever. And I will continue to ‘run’ it every year (if I’m in town). And I will probably continue to ignore the lesson my muscles give me every time. After all, I could use that as an excuse. Besides…I’m not THAT sore. Thanks to my other workouts. (Check the rest of my site for what we do.)

So I leave you with your excuses. Me with mine. We can all choose what to do with them. Here’s to happy choosing!

Sincerely,

Clara E Minor
Master Trainer-Instructor
MINORSAN Self-Defense & Fitness
831.458.0900
contact@minorsan.com
1320 Mission Street, SC CA 95060

Sugar’s Hidden Names

July 14, 2016 by Clara E Minor Leave a Comment

Sugar comes with many names

These are not the only names, btw...

Here is a list of the many names that are used for 'sugars' in packaged foods. Read your labels carefully. It hides in a lot of ways. If you are wanting to get healthier, this is one huge big first step. Just begin reading your labels and educate yourself about the hidden sugars in foods. You don't know what you don't know. Get educated. Take your own lead. Make your own changes. On your own time.

Here is a list of most of the names of sugars:

All natural evaporated cane juice
Barley malt
Beet molasses
Beet sugar
Beet syrup
Brown sugar
Buttered syrup
Cane crystals
Cane juice
Cane juice crystals
Cane juice powder
Cane sugar
Caramel
Confectioner’s sugar
Corn sugar (HFCS)
Corn syrup (HFCS)
Corn syrup solids (HFCS)
Corn sweetener (HFCS)
Crystal dextrose
Crystalline fructose
Crystallized organic cane juice
Dark brown sugar
Dehydrated sugar cane juice
Dextrin
Dextran
Dextrose
D-fructose
Diastatic malt
Diatase
Disaccharide
Dried evaporated cane juice
Evaporated organic cane juice
Fructose (HFCS)
Fructose crystals (HFCS)
Fructose sweetener (HFCS)
Fruit juice concentrate
Glucose
Golden sugar
Granulated fructose
Granulated sugar
Granulated sugar cane juice
Inulin (HFCS)
Invert sugar
Invert syrup
Lactose
Light brown sugar
Malt
Malted corn and barley syrup
Maltitol
Maltitol syrup
Maltodextrin
Malt syrup
Mannitol
Organic sugar
Organic Cane Juice
Organic Cane Juice Crystals
Organic Cane Syrup
Organic Cane Juice Concentrate
Powdered sugar
Pure cane syrup
Raw Sugar
Rice maltodextrin
Rock sugar
Saccharose
Simple syrup
Sorbitol
Sorbitol syrup
Sucrose
Sugar
Sugar beet syrup
Sugar beet crystals
Sugar cane juice
Sugar cane natural
Sweet sorghum syrup
Table sugar
Trisaccharides
Turbinado sugar
Unrefined sugar
White crystal sugar
White sugar
Xylose

If you want to eliminate sugar from your daily foods (or at least lessen how much you eat), be sure you read your labels. If you'd like some options on how to cook/bake with different sweeteners, contact me.

Sincerely,

Clara E Minor
Master Trainer-Instructor
Minorsan Self-Defense & Fitness
831-458-0900

Congratulations to our Winners!

May 16, 2016 by Clara E Minor Leave a Comment

Yes, congratulations winners! We had 5 Winners.

Workin’ our booth

Here are a couple of vids we took regarding the Women’s Health & Lifestyle Expo at the Coconut Grove in Santa Cruz, on May 12. All our Challengers did soooo well!

Congratulations Angelica Torentino, Sue Renner, Jessica Williams, Jackie Christinson, and Brittany Saunders!

Congratulations Everyone for gettin’ on your ‪#‎BadassCourage‬! 42 people took on a Challenge!

Watch what these 3 won…Thank You to Robin Ludington, Denice Kowalski and members who helped with the drawings.

If you missed this event, you will want to get on this for next year. They provided free food bites, free drink, free giveaways, free screenings (!), prize drawings, and you could make purchases from the many local businesses that were there supporting Women’s Healthy Lifestyles in Santa Cruz, CA. Minorsan will be there for sure again next year. And we will have our Challenges again. You could win a 3-Month Fitness Package, a Tabata Bootcamp, 3-Month Kickboxing Package, 3-Month Martial Arts Package, or an 8-Module Self-Defense Course for 2! See you at this fantastic event next year!

Clara E Minor
Master Instructor-Trainer
Minorsan Self-Defense & Fitness

Summer Works for Weight Loss

May 16, 2016 by Clara E Minor Leave a Comment

Summer provides an abundance of fresh & local fruits and vegetables

Summer works for weight loss due to several factors

A recent study, which was highlighted on a daily news show, indicates that 68% of the U.S. population loses more weight during the Summer months. Here are some good reasons why Summer works for weight loss:

1 – We move more in the Spring and Summer. It’s nicer out, we have more light, and there are many outdoor activities. We want to be more sedentary in fall/winter. It’s colder, darker, and the tendency is stay inside where it is warm, and we can have lights on. Contrary to the belief that we burn more fat during the Winter due to the cold temperatures, that might be true if we lived in tents. Most of us live in warm homes, and often turn the heat up. We heat our vehicles. We go into warm buildings. Very few like living/working in cold buildings. If you enjoy working out outdoors in the cold, that helps too.

2 – Fall is the season in which most people get SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). This can easily create depressive moods. When depressed, who wants to do anything, much less get your butt up and working out. We tend to eat to feel better. The is why I’m always getting y’all to come in to work out. It WILL help you feel so much better and get out of that depressive mood. Fall season also starts ‘holiday eating syndrome,’ and it’s easily subsequent weight gain. Remember, I’m talking about overindulgence of calorie-dense, nutrient-deficient foods here, not small bites here and there of your favorite foods.

3 – Hot weather suppresses our appetite. I have an anecdotal story here: when my son got married, that entire week was very very hot here in CA. Both locations, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz, were in the high 80’s and 90’s (yes, this is hot for CA…lol). I had set up a bunch of yummy (and yes, healthy, but still very yummy appetizers). They were hardly touched! I asked if the food was just not that good, and the overwhelming response was that ‘it was just too hot!’ Afternoon workouts in the hot Summer work best indoors!

4 – Many people are more conscious of their bodies in the Summer when many of us wear less clothing (men and women), and this can be a great motivator to watch our habits with food.

5 – Summer brings an abundance of fresh, in season, fruits and vegetables. Always best to eat in season, and Spring/Summer make it so much easier to get high-nutrient dense foods that are low in caloric value.

For seasonal workers (i.e. teachers who have Summer off), a perfect answer would be to take in a Tabata Bootcamp.

As always, you can contact me via this website’s Contact page or call 831-458-0900.

Sincerely,

Clara E Minor
Master Instructor-Trainer
Minorsan Self-Defense & Fitness

Why I Teach Martial Arts & Fitness

April 5, 2016 by Clara E Minor Leave a Comment

Teaching martial arts, self-defense & fitness go beyond "passion"... There is purpose behind what I do

I often get asked what I do (by people whom I'm meeting for the first time). In March, I was at an event and had the opportunity to speak to 85 women. What a treat! A captive audience….a speaker’s dream.

The first words out of my mouth were: “I teach women how to fight.” It is the first time I had ever told anyone what I do, in those specific words. For some reason, it held a lot of power. My audience was immediately captivated by what was to follow. I had all of 3 minutes! lol…

But in those 3 minutes I explained in a nutshell exactly what I do.

“I teach people how to fight, and specifically women. I help women who have a hard time standing up for themselves and don’t feel very good about their bodies, to feel great in their bodies and live their lives in fearlessness, by cultivating their #badasscourage [thru physical movement].”

(And I did not even mention martial arts or fitness.)

I like it a lot

I like these words. They do hold a lot of power. And it is what I do (among so much more). Teaching women (and men) this particular skill goes so far beyond the actual skill, as it becomes a part of our nervous system with new muscle memory, replacing old patterns of movement and old ways of thinking. Even more important, it replaces a new way of feeling. You get emotional transformation through your own physical transformation. It is indeed powerful.

Yes, I teach men and always have. However, lately a lot of women have been drawn to my studio to learn how to fight. Maybe that is why I chose those words at that moment. Maybe it is just time for more women to learn to fight. It has been a ‘given’ for men to have the ‘permission’ to learn to fight. Women…not so much. The time is ripe. The time is now.

And if every woman and girl in the world knew how to fight, wouldn’t the world look different? Food for thought…

Our bodies are brilliant

They hold so much within. Trusting that has often been so hard for so many of us. Our bodies speak to us all the time. Often we ignore our bodies. We let our minds take over. That’s when we run into our own trouble. I keep learning from my body every day. I seem to be on a path to bigger and deeper healing…every day. Listening to my body has become top priority. (And I am still learning from the incident with my broken arm.)

Going thru my own process of ‘getting there,’ I have learned that we hold energy, thoughts, and feelings in every fiber of our bodies. Sometimes it is best to release it (for our better health and happiness). The release of energy happens in lots of different ways. Some are subtle and some are quite a bit more ‘intense.’ From experience, I know that heat can create a release of energy that we didn’t even know we were holding. This can be intense.

I have had these releases thru my martial arts training, sweat lodges, and sitz baths. The common denominator was heat. In the martial arts training, my core was continually contracting as I rolled on the mat. My body was sweating. Tears started rolling. My teacher, Mr. Tino Tuiolosega, was surprised, as I was, for nothing had happened to me, except I was practicing rolls…and sweating a lot. I’ve seen martial arts students break down in tears from something that was seemingly ‘nothing.’ This doesn’t happen to everyone. However, when it does, it is very powerful.

Heat is expansive. Cold is contractive. Most of us know this. When we are cold we hold ourselves tighter. Our muscles contract in an effort to retain heat. In this effort, the cells are tight. Not much can pass through. With heat in the cells, they expand. Expansion allows more room for energy to travel through each cell. In that opening of the cells, therein lies the release. Release of old energy, old memories, old stuff. (Sweat lodges and sitz baths work in a similar way. Maybe more about those later.)

So, back to what I do

Learning how to fight goes so far beyond knowing how to fight. It can truly be a method of healing. In my world, there is no other more powerful confidence builder than being able to control another person who might be attempting to hurt or harm you, especially if that person is bigger than you. There is such a huge myth surrounding people who are ‘bigger than you.’

As I continued to train (with everyone who was bigger than me), I began to demystify this myth for myself. I was getting a new truth…about myself, about other people (and their ‘size’), and how feeling my own power to knock someone out made a true and lasting change in my life. Having trained in 6 other martial arts disciplines, I still did not have that for which I was looking. It wasn’t until Mr. Tino Tuiolosega walked into my life did I learn about this energy within and the power to cultivate courage.

And then there is #badasscourage

"Cultivate Your #badasscourage" was developed out of a need to find, in a nutshell, what I do. Courage is what got me through the doubts and fears. Doubts and fears don’t disappear. They become smaller and less significant, but only after you’ve gone through them. At least that was true for me. That is cultivation. The more I cultivated, the more courage I built. Having to confront my own teacher was the hardest part of any training I ever did with him. I almost lost him as my teacher (twice) because I had the courage to speak up (to the one who was teaching me to cultivate my power…lol). Nobody confronts ‘Mr. Tino.’ I had to. And it was worth the risk. He (unknowingly) taught me to deal with other people's anger. Huge big lesson. And it was great! It took courage to stand in close proximity to Mr. Tino Tuiolosega when the release of this energy happened. Whoa! And every time I got stronger.

Cultivating ‘knockout power’ provided my body, mind and spirit with an energy that I had never, ever felt, ever in my life. And it sure did feel good. Yes, I was learning to put someone’s lights out. Never in my life growing up did I ever think I would one day have the ability to knock someone out. I never thought about it because, like most people, who wants to think about this kind of stuff?

We often ignore the 'what if's.' As I began to learn this power, I was creating confidence that I had never had before in my life. Knowing that I can knock someone out makes all the difference in my world. It doesn’t make me invincible. Yes, someone else can knock my lights out too. I am as vulnerable as the next person when a situation is totally out of my control. However, when I have control to make choices, I won’t feel so frozen. I will choose to fight for what I believe or take flight for when it makes more sense to get the x@#^ out.

And I use it every day

What’s even bigger than this is that I use my training every single day. Self-defense is about making your own choices on your own watch every day. It’s about standing up for what you believe. It’s about speaking your mind, and not having to justify anything to anyone.

I still make mistakes. If I didn’t make mistakes, I wouldn’t be learning much. The difference is that now when I make choices, I know they are my own, I am operating under my own power in all aspects of my life, and I have the confidence to stand behind my choices. I stand up for what I believe to be truth. I ask for help when I need it. I release people who feel toxic to my life. I stand strong in who I am and don’t make excuses or justifications.

I can take the time I need to assess a situation and not make a move out of fear (of rejection, embarrassment, being made wrong, etc—which is entirely different from making a move in a dangerous situation). The energy that runs through my body when I feel #badasscourage cannot ever be explained. Each person has to feel it. (Like how you explain the taste of an orange to someone who has never tasted citrus.)

And besides, feeling that #badasscourage is a great way to live. And this is why I do what I do...why I teach what I teach. Whether in my martial arts classes, self-defense classes, or fitness classes, I bring it all to the table. Talk to me if you are curious how this might work for you too, beyond what you are already doing.

Clara E Minor
Master Instructor-Trainer
MINORSAN Self-Defense & Fitness
Santa Cruz, CA
Contact Page
831-458-0900
Yes, I will teach you to kick-butt in a most appropriate way.

Get Your Life ‘Fit’ this Spring

February 23, 2016 by Clara E Minor Leave a Comment

Yes, Spring is almost here. As each season is only 3 months, what can you determine to get accomplished, maybe finish, or start, continue, and/or achieve in 3 months time? Spring is always the best time to clean up: clean out closets, rearrange another room, clean out the garage, get rid of excess storage, get the garden fixed up, and a host of other things we think about in Spring.

Many people often think of a 'spring cleanse' for the body. We drink juices, or liquids, or take supplemental drinks, or use different products to attempt to achieve a more 'clean' inside our bodies. Some are for the liver, some for releasing heavy metals, some are intestinal, and on and on. There are many things to choose from in the marketplace. You can start this process by simply beginning to choose to purchase (and eat) foods that are more 'clean.' Yes, cleaner eating will begin the detoxifying process.

Cleanses are popular and lots of people have tried at least one. They are pretty straightforward: consume this, and not that. Do this now, and do that then. Most cleanse instructions are easy to understand. What is not as popular, are emotional cleanses. Great to get your body fit and healthy. And that is a great place to start getting your entire life fit. Once you get to a level in which you are comfortable with your body, then another step in getting your life fit would be to do some ‘emotional’ cleansing. Getting your life 'fit' is always a great transformation, and ultimately, it will bring you more happiness. How fit is your life compared to your body?

Is there something different you can do this Spring? Focus on something that you've wanted to change for a long time. What can you 'clean out?' Think of it like recycling and/or trash: what are you still not recycling, and what is truly trash? When we recycle, we let things go, to be used in a different way. When it's trash, it is simply time to dump it back into the earth. It will eventually become something entirely different on it's own, and in it's own time. It no longer has use in it's present form.

Is there something you still have not achieved that you’ve wanted to accomplish for a while? How are your fitness and lifestyle goals going for you? Are you where you want to be yet? If not, what can you do different to reboot your body, and begin getting results again? This is always a great first step to getting your life 'fit.' (If this is something you want/need, get a hold of me and let’s set an appointment time to chat about it. It could be just a small change can begin the reset process.)

An issue most people have, that can always be more 'fit,' is getting adequate sleep. If you still have not been sleeping enough because you just go to bed late, what steps can you take to remedy going to bed earlier? Here are a few things you can do to help with sleep:

Photo Courtesy of coverphoto.net

1) Write your to-do list for the day, and if you don’t get it all done, let it go. Attempting to cram everything into the day, because it is on your list, creates more stress, thereby making it harder to sleep in the first place. Going to bed earlier might not matter if you are thinking about what you did not do and can’t get to sleep because of it;

2) Turn off all electronics and let your body decompress without the extra stimulation (yes, the studies have been done on this one. Late night electronic use keeps us awake longer when we finally attempt to fall asleep;

3) If you must eat late because you were not able to get in your last meal earlier, make it smaller. Food in your stomach upon laying down is the wrong way to get it digested;

4) If you go to bed angry, upset, or frustrated because you were not able to resolve a conflict you had earlier, fix it the next day. You will have a hard time getting to sleep every night that you go to bed with conflict. Yes, it takes courage to speak up. For some of us this is easier than for others. However, for most, it is not easy…ever. Once you do this (speak to the person/s involved), you will feel so much stronger, and the stress of the situation will be gone.

If you don’t do something about your sleep, who will? This is one of those situations where ‘talking about it with your friends’ isn’t really going to resolve it. They can, however, have ideas that might lead you to find the help you need. This is part of self-care is a great way to begin getting your life more 'fit.'

Think of anything else that might be getting in the way of restful sleep. If you chronically wake up in the middle of the night and cannot go back to sleep, see a specialist. There are alternate ways of dealing with it, thus, often avoiding medications. Sometimes one simple change can make a huge difference.

In the end, nobody is more responsible than we are, for our state of well-being. Having a roomful or closetful of ‘stuff’ that you no longer use (and most probably no longer need) can create stress that you are not even aware is affecting you. It is. Not getting enough sleep is affecting you. What else is there that you need/want to change? Take one step in the direction to resolve it. Taking care of ourselves, truly, is more than what we eat and the exercise we get. Our emotional bodies are usually the most neglected. And guess where most of our issues come from…(yep, right answer).

See what you can do in the Spring to make a change that you no longer want/need. Write it down to help make it more solid. You will be more accountable to yourself when you actually see it in written form. Post it somewhere so you can see it every day. This will make a huge difference in your actually getting it accomplished. Be accountable to yourself. Create the change you want to see.

See you in class.

Clara E Minor
Master Trainer/Instructor
Minorsan Self-Defense & Fitness
(See Contact Page to send her a message)

Adventures of a Broken Arm

November 25, 2015 by Clara E Minor Leave a Comment

On the town on a Friday night networking, partying, dancing, eating great food (served by our very own Hedy Nochimson of Plate & Bottle), and generally having a great time at the Little Black Dress event, a fundraiser put on by Monica Karst of the Santa Cruz Socialites. Awesome event with great friends and colleagues.

Little Black Dress Antics…with Monica Karst (Santa Cruz Socialites), Leta Jusilla and Michelle Bean (both of Optimal Health and Fitness).

I left a bit early (it ended at 10:00, and I left by 9:20 pm), as I had to teach classes in the morning starting at 8:00 am. As is my usual pace (fast, and it’s great for repelling the bad guys), I walked down the driveway, and was just ready to turn left (my intuition told me to get out my small flashlight, however, my head thought it knew better and told me “Nawww, there are lots of street lights. Don’t need the flashlight,” feeling a bit like Smeagle. Not 10 seconds later, my left boot caught the embankment as I was turning, and sent my body sailing across the sidewalk and into the tire of a parked SUV. Both arms were thrown back. I did not have time to break and roll. My right arm hit the tire, and my knees acted somewhat as breaks on the concrete, as I propelled forward. In that moment I felt the right arm protruded wayyyy back, and there was a slight numbing sensation. I knew I had effed up. My brain labored that I would need surgery, and months, maybe years, of therapy. And have pain forever…I just knew it.

Got onto my hands, untouched in this fiasco, and stood up with a bit of knee pain, but still able to walk. I slowly pulled on my arm forward, and of course it was in tremendous pain, not unlike childbirth. It was bent at the elbow by design from the incident. Grabbed my purse (btw, forgot my camera somewhere there on the concrete…so if anybody turned in a Nikon, let me know…lol…yes, it got thrown too), and I walked a few hundred feet. I had to sit down. Got back up, walked a bit more, then realized I was not going to be able to drive (yeah, I was still focused on getting to my car).

Got on my phone and called a couple people who were still at the event. Of course they did not hear their phones, as they were still dancing to great music by DJ Sparkle who played the most fantastic music! (That part of the event was the most fun!) I called a couple more people, and Marica Buenafe came to my rescue. She was at Dominican ER with me until 3:15 am!!! She has more info on the comings and goings in Emergency that night…lol.

The tear my boot took…

Even though I was in pain (after 2 meds, a single shot to the (other) arm, then a double shot to same arm), I was able to quickly fall asleep, as I was by now, exhausted. My arm had a clean break (Great testimonial for the effects of BodyPump training!).

Ready to get wheeled out of ER…with a barf bag…

So here I sit, on the mend, ‘eating crow’ because I did not listen to my own intuition, and I teach this! I teach it in my martial arts classes, my self-defense classes, and I even throw it into fitness workouts! Lesson two: slow down fool…

This is a few days after…

I’m sure I’ll see lessons 3, and 4, and 5…who know how much will come out of this. So far, I am enjoying the fact that I have an awesome staff! My Crew of 19 are fabulous, capable, reliable, fantastic, totally awesome, and so #badass! They get the job done, thank you verr much! Kudos to Marcia Buenafe and Robin Ludington for their exceptional help, and to Analicia Cube, Cassandra Coraggio, Brent Rohrs, and ALL my subs and help: Sophie Calhoun, Connie Kreemer, Anika Wong (for stepping in to teach BodyPump while on vacation here!), Melissa Finsthwait, Samira Hartje, Dixie Mills, Denice Kowalski, and Bernadette Franzel. And thanks to everyone on my entire Crew: Kira Durant, Amanda Clark, Carolyn Wormhoudt, Jenna Giuliani, Jillian Chesley, Katie Landau, Alma Arquiza, and Lorna Russo. They keep the studio humming!

And btw, that night at Little Black Dress made it totally worth it!

Much Love,

Clara E Minor

Cultivating #badasscourage, and encouraging you to #fight4YOURlife!