I was just asked, “Hey Peter, how did you get that body?”
Short answer: #hustle #hardwork #warriordiscipline
As a 54-year-old martial artist, actor and entreprenuer, I may have genetics on my side… BUT as I prepare to compete in my first Brazilian Jui Jitsu tournament in September, it’ll take more than good genetics to survive let alone win—like a willingness to hustle, put in the hard work and a warrior’s discipline. Plus,, a meticulous meal plan, consistent training and live-sparring at 100%, competition specific strength and conditioning, and relaxation breathing techniques.
When I left the South Bronx to escape the street gangs and violence, little did I know that I would start a journey of personal development and growth that would bring me to where I am today. My gift, introduced to me at nine years old by my best friend, was martial arts. As a small framed kid, I couldn’t overpower the neighbor bullies and had no idea how to defend myself. In martial arts I learned that I was very athletic and, along with the strategies taught in martial arts, I had a chance to defend myself against those bullies.
“My Story” (recorded in May 2013)
These days with Brazilian Jui Jitsu, I have seen my martial arts skills sky rocket to a whole new level. In my opinion, these days you can’t train in martial arts and be seriously “well-rounded” unless you know Brazilian Jui Jitsu.
As a full-time professional martial artist, I teach Tang Soo Do four to five hours a day, Monday through Saturday at Dinoto Karate Center in Mount Laurel NJ. During the day I schedule my BJJ training and my strength and conditioning around my daily business tasks. Every day I am doing something to stay on top of my game. I typically will warm up with pushups, situps and stretching. Two days a week, instead of cardio, I do two two-hour jujitsu sessions. I do less weight training than I’ve ever done. In the past year, I’ve been known to lift weights maybe three to six times a week. These days, it’s mostly push-ups, pull-ups and BJJ.
I have light meals every couple of hours to keep my energy and metabolism high. For breakfast I’ll have 8 to 16 oz of water, oatmeal, egg whites and coffee. Later, chicken breast with vegetables and a wheat grass juice. Then I have a protein shake with fruit. I will also snack on fruits during the day (apples, oranges, bananas, etc). At night I consume as many calories as I can to sustain the next day’s training and activities—pasta, brown rice, chicken breast, etc—most people do it the other way around, but if I do that, I find that I lose weight.
I do breathing exercises for relaxation and to train my diaphragm—it’s a muscle, like the biceps. I learned many years ago breathing helps you deal with the daily pressures and stresses, so it’s now a huge part of my life. It helps me maintain a peaceful mindset and gets me to a special place with my energy and spirit.
Creating physical challenges, like the bjj tournament that I will be competing in in September, is what keeps me on top of my fitness: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
My 97-year-old grand-father’s advice to me when I asked him for his secret for living a long happy life was,
1) Always be a student; never stop learning, and
2) Stay active and keep moving your body.
Great advice…yes?
#alwaysastudent #keepmoving #lovinglife #stayactive #thinklikeawhitebelt #trainlikeablackbelt #bronxwarrior
