Noodle-trition

A poll was held in Japan to name the greatest Japanese invention of the 2oth century. The winner was the instant ramen (ラーメ) noodle. This dish has become popular all over the world, in part due to the abundance of cheap wheat flour from the United States. It is a great favorite with kids in the US as well as college students and young adults just starting out on their own. I myself remember the days of "five for a dollar" ramen sales at the grocery store when I was just starting out own my own in the early Eighties.

What many don't realize is the poor nutritional content of this popular food. I am going to teach you how to make a more nutritious and healthier version of this delicious food. The first place to start is with the noodles. You should look for the "Non-fried" version of ramen noodles. You can find these at health markets such as Whole Foods, Wegmans, and some asian markets. While most people would never think of ramen noodles as a high fat content food, the fact is that a single packet of instant ramen has about 9 grams of saturated fat and between 22 -30 grams of total fat compared to the non fried variety that only contains about 6-8 grams of total fat with only 3 grams of saturated fat. The non-fried variety can be bought with flavor packets (which I suggest throwing away - they are mostly MSG) from a Taiwan company called Dr. Noodle or in large blocks from a variety of manufacturers. If you must use a package of the regular fried noodles from your local grocer remember that the nutritional information on the package is based on you only eating one-third of the package!



Next since i will be making chicken flavored ramen today, I will begin by putting 1 & 1/2 cups of water and a half cup of organic chicken broth into a shallow pan. set to a low boil.

Then I take some rinsed fresh spinach and place it into my wide bowl.

 


 

Place some sugar snap peas into the broth to blanch. I also use snow peas as a change, which I also would blanch to make them less fibrous in texture.

 



Add the snap peas and some matchstick shredded carrots to the bowl. I buy the small bags of washed and prepared vegetables and have them on hand to save time, but I suggest rinsing them again yourself.

 


Then I add some dried oyster mushrooms. This adds flavor and variety to the broth. I also used dried shiitake mushrooms from time to time, but they would need to boiled a bit longer as they are thicker than the oyster mushrooms.

 

I also added some leftover shredded chicken to the broth to warm it and then add to the bowl.

 



 
Next add your noodles to the broth and cook for two to three minutes. While the noodles are cooking, I chop some green onion to use as a topping. 





Spoon the noodles to your bowl so you don't mess up your arrangement of meat and vegetables. Add the broth. 

Optionally I will add about a half teaspoon of sesame oil to the noodles at this point to really boost the flavor. If you like a bit of spice you can use a few drops of chili oil instead.

Add the green onion and it is looking delicious and ready to eat. (Chopsticks are a must!)

                                                                                         

Or share with a friend! 

     just kidding :)

Nutrition and cooking 1

Cooking healthy, restaurant quality meals on a budget can be a challenge, but one that can be met with a little planning. I have experimented with several cuisines over the years but have found my best success with Japanese home-style cookery. I base this statement on several factors: the food must be nutritious, easy to prepare, economical to prepare, and tasty. It should also make an attractive presentation because we "eat" with our eyes first.

The first thing that comes to mind for most when thinking of Japanese food is sushi. While I love sushi and have had good success preparing it, it does not fit the requirements of being easy or economical to prepare as it is somewhat labor intensive and requires a bit of practice to get it right. Sushi grade fish is around $3 an ounce and isn't easy to find. While tasty sushi can be made with surimi (imitation crab) or shrimp, the labor required to do it makes it appropriate only for special occasions, not feeding a family of 5 on a daily basis.

Most Japanese style meals include rice so making it properly is essential. While you can make rice on the stove top, I would recommend a rice cooker. It basically makes rice cooking foolproof. This does not have to be an expensive piece of equipment. The one I use is a 6 cup rice cooker from Aroma that I purchased for $14.99. This is a very basic model without any bells and whistles, but it prepares rice perfectly and automatically. Unless you are feeding the neighborhood, a 6 cup maker is more than sufficient.

Rice is the primary dietary staple for more than half of the worlds population. Rice is nutrient dense and contributes over 15 vitamins and minerals. It is an excellent source of complex carbohydrates, which are the best kind, stored in muscles and used to give us energy when we need it. Compared to other grains, rice contains high quality proteins and has all 8 essential amino acids. Of course brown rice will have more of these as well as other B vitamins and minerals, than white rice. Long grain white rice, though the most consumed variety in the US is the least nutritious of all varieties and must be enriched after processing to meet minimum nutritional standards. Short and medium grain white rice retain much more of their nutritional value after processing, but try to stick with the brown unprocessed rice. It requires more water to cook and takes slightly longer, but if you are using a rice cooker it will come out perfectly every time and the additional vitamins, nutrients and fiber you receive will be worth it to your health. For the diet conscious, rice is also considered a low-calorie food and is cholesterol and gluten free. If you are budget conscious as well, a serving of rice costs less than 10¢.

What does all of this have to with martial arts you might ask? Well obviously fueling your body with nutritious food is important if you undertake any physical activity, and rice provides a great source of energy.It is also known to trigger release of serotonin in the brain, which elevates mood and contributes to a positive attitude. As our martial arts originated in Japan, it may be interesting to note that the Samurai were paid in koku (a measurement equal to about 5 bushels) of rice. A koku of rice was considered to be a years supply for one person. The number of Koku your land could produce determined how wealthy you were as rice was also used as currency. A wealthy Daimyo (land holder) could raise a larger army and conquer more land from his neighbors, hence rice is the reason for the development of more and better military weapons, tactics and techniques in feudal Japan. These are many of the same techniques we train in to this day.

The Seven Qualities

Most traditional schools have a set of precepts that are used to guide it practitioners. Though it is not my intention to create a new martial art, I have decided to create a new set of precepts to guide our students. We have become an independent school due to actions beyond our control and rather than mold the precepts of the several schools we teach into a huge and unwieldy list, I felt it best to distill them down into an easily remembered few for the general students. The traditional lists will be taught to the Black Belt level practitioners that continue their study of the traditional systems.

This list is the result of much thought into the qualities that I would want to see in someone who represents themselves as a practitioner of the arts I teach at this school. It is presented in a similar method to Ueshiba sensei's Seven tenants of Budo/seven pleats of the hakama speech. This is not a traditional list, but is inspired by tradition and the commentary is primarily based on the dictionary definitions of the chosen principles. I decided to keep the number at seven because seven is generally seen throughout the world as a lucky or holy number. In Christianity/Judaism seven is the number of God. The world was created in seven days, there are seven deadly sins and seven heavenly virtues. The rainbow has seven colors, there are seven seas, and seven wonders of the ancient world. Dice has the lucky number seven and in folklore the 7th son of a 7th son was supposed to be gifted.

In Japanese folklore they have the Seven Gods of Fortune ( 七福神 Shichi-fuku-jin ) and it is believed to be lucky to eat nanakusagayu 七草粥  (seven herb rice porridge) on the 7th of January. They celebrate the seventh day after a babies birth and mourn on the seventh day after a loved ones passing and again on the 49th day (7 x 7). Some Buddhists believe in seven reincarnations and there are seven factors of enlightenment.

Here then are the Seven Qualities of a Martial Artist as taught in our dojo:


Courage 勇気 Yuki - Courage is the quality shown by someone who decides to do something that is hard or difficult, or may be dangerous, even though they may be afraid.  If you have the courage of your convictions, you have the confidence to do what you believe is right, even though other people may not agree or approve.

Perseverance 根気 Konki - Perseverance is the quality of continuing with something even though it is difficult. It is best expressed in the dojo by the phrase "Nana Korobi Ya Oki"  七転び八起き  - meaning "Seven times fall down, Eight times get up".

Loyalty 信義 Shingi - Loyalty is the quality of staying firm in your friendship or support for someone or something.  Loyalty does not mean remaining in a situation that has become unhealthy, but it does entail not unfairly disparaging the other party/parties when the time comes to move on.

Courtesy 礼儀 Reigi - Courtesy is politeness, respect, and consideration for others. Treating others the way you would want to be treated is a form of courtesy.

Every culture since time immemorial has taught a version of the Golden Rule and this is the basis of most religions. This courtesy extends to family, friends and strangers. It then extends to nature and your environment. Remember true respect begins with self-respect.

Humility 謙虚 Kenkyo - Someone who has humility has self-respect for their accomplishments, but gives credit where credit is due and does not unfairly glorify one's own self. They are not boastful or arrogant and do not believe they have more rights than other people.

This humility is not the self-abasement of typical western style philosophies, but the humility of a Shakyamuni Gautama, a Martin Luther King Jr., or a Mohandas Gandhi, one who sets about doing great things for the benefit of others, and though they may achieve great fame in the process, the goal is still the same and the fame is used solely to further the goal, not for self-aggrandizement.

Honesty 誠 Makoto – Honesty is the presence of positive attributes such as integrity, truthfulness, and straightforwardness along with the absence of lying, cheating,or theft. Honesty is the value of speaking the truth and creating trust in the minds of others. It is doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do, even when there is no one around to see if you do not.

Benevolence 仁 Jin - A benevolent person helps other people to become better by using the fruits of their own success. They seek to do good things in the world through their compassion for others. When seeking to do good works remember the wisdom of the Chinese proverb, "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life "

All goals can be attained through the use of the first two principles, but can only be maintained by the application of the other five principles.

Educational Philosophy

The underlying philosophy of the Bushikai Hidama Dojo is to integrate the Body, Mind, and Spirit to develop the complete human being.

The aim of education in the Bushikai Hidama Dojo is to teach each student "How to think", rather than "What to think" - to improve students' minds so as to enable them to think for themselves. Education as we see it is the exercise and development of Body and Mind. Training at the dojo is designed to maximize the scientific performance variables taught to the student, while encouraging and developing each student's potential during performance in the applied area of Self-defense. Great care and attention is paid concerning the education of each student.

The Bushikai Hidama Dojo in its philosophical aspect can be condensed as a vehicle for investigation for each student's personal truth and the direction in which they would like to go. In essence we blend the philosophical with the physical, the theory with the practical, and create balance. Each student is trained both on a physical and mental level to get straight to the point, they become efficient and their energy is controlled and conserved in the body for the purpose of " Self Development ".

Meditation plays an essential part in this self-development, as it is here the student learns to conserve their life force and to quiet the restlessness of the Body and Mind and become at one with their own internal Spirit. Through the daily training at the dojo students have found new vitality and a calmer state. At the Bushikai Dojo each student will truly learn " The Art and Science of Self-protection ". We believe that each student should understand that knowledge is how to use the whole of one's self, "Everyone would like to have knowledge, but few are willing to pay the price for it". Knowledge and the understanding, which accompanies it, cannot be given, or bought. It can only earned and learned through the discipline of training the mind, body, and spirit.

There are 3 paths to truth
1. The Inquiry - which is the essence of it.
2. The Knowledge - which is the presence of it.
3. The Belief - which is the enjoyment of it.

The improvement of understanding is in 2 parts
1. Our own increase of knowledge.
2. Our ability to deliver that knowledge to others

True knowledge in the mind, body and spirit follows a Five-step path.
1. To ask
2. To learn
3. To know
4. To do
5. To teach