The goal is mastery over yourself by facing personal challenges and learning to overcome them. These challenges come in different areas for everyone. For some it is the confrontation of force from another person that they must overcome, or so it seems. In reality all challenges are personal and exist only within each of us, there is no "them" only "us". The "them" is merely a part of us we don’t like or don’t understand or refuse to acknowledge. When we learn to recognize, acknowledge, and release this part of us, it can no longer have power over us.

A person who is truly confident and comfortable with themselves can never be a victim. Those who prey on others are bound by the laws of nature as are the rest of us. They must seek the weak, meek, old, frail, and sickly to prey upon. Those who have learned to master themselves simply don’t fit into any of those categories. One of the main things we have control over in our lives, but rarely exercise control over is our thoughts. It is not possible to control which thoughts you have or don’t have, but it is possible to control how you choose to react to your thoughts. We tend to dwell on things which terrify us and worry about things over which we have no immediate or real control. Our energy would be much better spent learning to simply acknowledge those thoughts and feelings and release them. Ignoring them won’t necessarily make them go away. We should also learn to focus on those areas over which we do have control and influence. These areas make the most impact on our lives and are actually the places we are being directed to deal with by the natural laws of the universe. Often the other things are only distractions put there to see if we can stick to what we should. Do not become distracted. If you do, simply acknowledge this, forgive yourself if need be, and go on. That’s it, no more, no less.

Self-defense is not only the ability to defend yourself against others but also the ability to defend yourself against sickness, disease, injury, and other more common threats which we face every day. Learning to think right, eat right, sleep right, meditate, breathe properly, exercise, and deal with situations without allowing them to rule you are much more practical forms of self-defense then simply learning how to keep another person from harming you. These are things which we all face every day of our lives, yet we worry much more about the slim chance of being attacked by one of society’s predators.

To put things in perspective, how long can you go without food? Two weeks? Three? Maybe even longer. How about water? Now we are down to days, four or five at the most in the best of conditions. How about shelter from the elements? Extreme heat or cold, hypothermia and other elements can take your life in a matter of hours, before food or water even come in to play. But lets go a step further, how about air? How long can you survive without this basic necessity? Not even 15 minutes! We replenish our air supply more than any other thing in our entire lives and yet we give little or no thought at all. How critical is good breathing to good health and well being? Some say it is the key. Dan Jun breathing is a way to breathe so as to promote health in the body. Through regular practice, you will become stronger internally, healthier, and more aware and alert.

What we eat is literally what we are, in part. Of course we know that we are more than the sum total of our parts. Food is one of the main things in our lives over which we have nearly complete control. We would all do well to study and consider the effects of what we put into our bodies for fuel. Many of the needs of the human body are now well known, yet most ignore this information and eat that which is convenient and quick. Much of the natural vitamins and minerals are lost from our pre-prepared, frozen, and freeze dried food. This is one reason we eat so much of it, the body is trying to get what it needs from the food source but most of it winds up going to waste in the body as it has no nutritional value. Meats, while offering a good supply of protein also cause many problems for the body, especially as we get older. There are those who believe that the trauma that animals go through in losing their lives is transferred to some extent to the meat and ultimately to those who eat it. Some also believe that dairy products are really unnatural for humans because cow’s milk is intended for calves not human consumption, which could explain why some people cannot consume dairy products. But still the human body is an amazing machine which can survive under extraordinary circumstances and make use of nearly any kind of fuel when it needs to. This does not mean that we should put garbage in just because it will run on it. We feed our taste buds most of the time, not our bodies. We have become slaves to the taste buds. "Give up my meat?" you say, "Quit eating food I like?" you cry. Not at all. Just be aware of what you are doing as well as what you could be doing if you so chose. The human body also runs incredibly well on a vegetarian diet as well. In fact herbs and spices can make many vegetarian foods taste similar to meat or anything else.

Of course we all know that when we have problems with our body, the doctor is there to help us. Now it seems there is a pill, or syrup, or shot or treatment with chemicals for nearly anything that ails you. No longer do we have to put up with minor aches and pains. The problem is that we are so wrapped up in treating the symptoms that we seldom look for, let alone treat, the cause. Pain is nature’s way of getting your attention! Learning to listen to the subtle signals of the body and find the source of the problems is within our grasp naturally, we simply forgot how to do it. We are in no way saying that self diagnosis should replace doctors nor that you should never take any medication for the rest of your lives. Merely we seek to point out that most of us have strayed very far off of the natural path of healthy existence. Many people are turning to herbal remedies for things they once took chemicals for. Herbal products tend to enhance the bodies natural abilities to care for itself, rather than forcing a chemical reaction, which often has undesirable side effects.

Most of us exercise to some degree every day of our lives. We get up and go about our daily routines without giving much thought to the exercise we get just doing everyday things. Problems arise in the way we do things as well as the range of motion we limit ourselves to. When we are born, our bodies are almost like liquid in their ability to move in any direction. As we become older we tend to repeat certain movements much of the time, and stop others all together. Parts of the body which are not regularly moved and exercised become stiff and eventually impossible to move. Its much like wearing a cast on your hand for six months and then suddenly removing it. How well do you think your hand would work? Yet with work and regular use we could return our hand to its original state. Our hands are the most limber parts of our bodies. They are able to move more ways than any other parts of the body. This is because we use them every day for nearly everything we do. We are able to improve mobility in many parts of our bodies through Medicinal Training, which is a system of movements designed to help the body regain mobility in areas most of us don’t think to move normally. The problem with these unmoved areas is that they have a tendency to expand as we get older. It becomes difficult to move areas which are now close to those which haven’t been used in a long time, so we stop moving these as well. Finally at death we can’t move at all, we become completely stiff. One wonderful thing about the human body is its ability to regain lost ground. No matter your age or current mobility, you can begin to slowly reverse the process of stiffening and slow the aging process by regular practice of Medicinal Training. (So named for its ability to work like a drug from the inside out)

This is but the tip of the iceberg. But now you have a choice. Every day for the rest of your life you can choose to think right, eat right, breathe correctly, exercise regularly, and learn to be more in tune with your body. You can learn about and choose herbal remedies which have no side effects over chemicals. You can and will still make mistakes, now you can either choose to acknowledge them and move on or dwell on them, making no progress. Each of the areas discussed here can be deeply explored and more should be learned about all of them. At least now you know that they are there. What will you do?