Q: Matt, what is the secret of your longevity? 

A: Hold on there, young man. Hold on another 40 years or so. Then I will tell you. 

In the interim, I can tell you the secrets of longevity that other martial arts masters have taught me or that I have observed, and these people lived long, productive lives. They were strong and flexible until the end of their lives. 

One of their secrets was daily exercise, but NOT hardcore exercise that wiped them out. They didn’t engage in what many people, absent-mindedly, refer to as “a killer workout.”

Instead, they did internal exercises that strengthened the organs, tendons, ligaments and fascia. They did exercises that opened the joints, stimulating blood flow and lymph, while eliminating pain. In short, they did exercises that made them feel good.

Now, you might think the above prescription cannot possibly work to make you look good on the outside, but you’d be incorrect. In fact, in many of the early 1900’s strength books, you will repeatedly see authors advising their readers to NOT train to exhaustion (failure).

Yet another secret was some form of daily meditation or prayer. 

There are many forms of meditation that are beneficial to your health, and all of them involve some sort of movement. 

There’s the walking meditation I teach in my Dao Zou program; a method that will shift your emotional state into a positive frequency far, far faster than can be done going for a long hike or run. 

Then there are standing and seated forms of stretching and strengthening that bring vital energy (that you can feel) to your hands and feet within sixty seconds. If you need to sit or stand for 15 minutes or more to feel this vital energy, then the automatic relaxation response mechanism contained within your brain and nervous system is moving at a snail’s pace.

In my experience, and the experiences of those whom I have taught, the positive vibrations from the exercises I teach are felt almost instantly. They are unmistakeable. And once again, they are automatic. But instead of the response taking 15 minutes, it takes place quickly. Think of a cheetah in a race with a snail. Who’s going to win?

The response I am referring to is somato-psychic, meaning that you are changing the way you feel by how you move and position your body.

When you move your body in a certain way, your brain and nervous system get the message. And the reward is HUGE. You feel the positive vibrations almost immediately.

As the theory I was taught goes, when you do exercises that make you feel good, you lengthen your life.

That’s an idea worth exploring, eh?

And that’s why I am teaching it to you in my new course, Power Postures-Tiger Tendons.

Exercise, first and foremost, to feel good, to live a long, healthy life. And avoid the “killer workout.”

Here endeth the lesson.

Matt Furey