Have you eaten your daily dirt?

I have this friend Karl, he is a fellow martial artist and a pretty cool guy. I would consider him an intelligent person and someone that if he told me something I knew nothing about, there would be a big chance I would believe him without too much question since he researches everything.

So a couple weeks ago he starts talking about Diatomatious Earth. He says that he has been taking a couple tablespoons every morning of the last couple of weeks and that he has seen a drastic change in how he feels. He tells me that there are numerous health benefits and then asks if I would like to have some so I can try. "Sure, why the hell not!" I say. "I'm up for anything." He gives me this plastic togo container filled with what looks like cement. Really!? I'll admit, I was a little skeptical at first, but then after I did a little internet surfing, I decided to jump in with both feet.

For those who don't know, cuz I didn't, Diatomatious Earth is in a basic sense fossilized algae, so it's not really dirt. It is very light, mildly abrasive and easy to be ground up into powder. It also has tons of usages. To name a few, it is a stabilizing agent for nitroglycerine (Diatomite), it can be used as an organic way to rid yourself of flees, bedbugs and ants, it can be used in the garden, it is a great water filter, oh yeah, and you can eat it.

When it comes to human use, there are several health benefits; It can lower your cholesterol and blood pressure, it helps curb your appetite so many have experienced weight loss, it helps detoxify your system and gets rid of parasites. And since it helps clean your system it has been known to increase peoples energy levels.

I take about two tablespoons every morning with water or juice, which I have been doing for just about two weeks now and I have noticed a difference in how I feel. After just a couple of days, I stopped waking up in the morning with back pain or any body stiffness, I do notice a curb on my appetite, but I love to eat so I haven't seen any weight loss yet, though I can definitely see some in my future. I already have low cholesterol and low blood pressure, but I am interested how much it my lower my cholesterol.

If you decide to go this route, there are many places on the internet you can purchase it, but the best and cheapest way to go is buying in bulk at a local feed store. Just remember to get the Food Grade version. Since there are some many uses the others can make you a little sick.

So as I like to ask my wife every day, "Have you eaten your dirt today?" If you haven't, drink up!

Hosting Seminars

I had the great honor of hosting Grandmaster Mark Kline a few weekends past. Though not as many people showed for the seminar as I had hoped, we did have a good showing and the weekend ended up being a success. So much so that Mark wants to come back, which means I did something right.

However, putting everything together that the seminar needed, that was stressful. Fun, but stressful. And I would do it again.

This was the first seminar I had put on by myself and pretty much flew by the seat of my pants almost the entire time. I can't really say I did it all by myself, I did take advice from my elders in the industry and I do have to give credit to my friend Dan Anderson for being one of those to who gave it to me. And I can't forget my family who put up with all my craziness during my promotion of the seminar and during the weekend itself. Especially my wife, she is the greatest.

In the past I have always been the helper to the instructor hosting so I had some idea of what to expect and how to go about things. But when you are the one with your money and reputation on the line, especially if you have never really hung out with the person/instructor before on a personal level, there can be a lot at risk. I this case, my risk work out for the good, just like I knew it would.

Mark and I are discussing the next seminar. Will it be the same time next year or sooner than that? Who knows at this point, we are hoping to do it bigger for the next one and maybe do a Big Three style seminar. Things are in the works, but something will happen. Just this time, I will know what to expect. Maybe.