Never Say Die: The Warrior Mindset of a TCM Practitioner
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“I have really learned that if I can just have a stubborn, ‘stick-it-out-ed-ness’, I will survive, I will win. I will be able to influence my community with health and healing, and I will be able to feed my family. This mindset took a lot of time, and it took a lot of other people’s involvement in me, mentorship in me. There’s no way that I just kind of woke up one day and said, ‘Oh I am the never say die kind of guy.’” - Kenton Sefcik
Welcome to the new Plum Dragon Herbs Podcast Series “Staying in the Game.” In this podcast series, we will have conversations on achieving greater health and fitness and natural ways to manage pain. In our second episode, we’re talking to Kenton Sefcik, a seasoned acupuncturist and martial artist, author, and mentor. He is also the creator of TCM Graduate TV where he provides online education to up and coming acupuncturists and naturopathic doctors.
Kenton discusses how his 'never say die' attitude has served him well in life, but developing this mental toughness didn’t happen overnight and took lots of mentorship.
Show Notes:
0:42 Introduction to how Kenton got into acupuncture and martial arts
5:14 How acupuncture school impacted his martial arts training
6:38 Traditional Chinese Medicine principles: The body has an innate ability to heal itself
“The body has an innate ability to heal itself. All that i think I am doing is reminding it and coaxing it back to health. We don’t really force anything to happen.”
9:10 How Chinese medicine zooms out on the person to see the whole picture
11:24 Most gratifying experiences as an acupuncturist
17:28 “Never say die” attitude in life and his mantra: “whoever lasts the longest wins”
19:05 Being patient with people who struggle to have a positive mindset
24:23 Getting your mindset right takes time; what to do in the meantime
29:00 Some patients aren’t ready for change; their fixed mindset is serving them somehow
30:40 Being patient and developing rapport with patients to help them adopt new healthy practices
“I learned that not only could I hurt somebody, I could also heal….so a big part of martial arts is self-defense. Putting somebody down. Getting control of them. And the Chinese medicine is the other side of that coin. It’s the helping healing member of your community...so they definitely compliment each other…the yin and the yang.”
“I learned that not only could I hurt somebody, I could also heal….so a big part of martial arts is self-defense. Putting somebody down. Getting control of them. And the Chinese medicine is the other side of that coin. It’s the helping healing member of your community...so they definitely compliment each other…the yin and the yang.”31:42 Teaching the importance of “BPM”--breathing, posture, movement
35:30 Using acupuncture on himself and practicing BPM
39:20 The role of Chinese herbs in his practice and his experience with Plum Dragon products
40:00 Dit Da Jow has been around forever and has played a huge role in martial arts training
42:50 Pain is bad but discomfort is good
43:40 Why the RICE method (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) doesn’t work
46:30 How to get in contact with Kenton and not be afraid to approach him on any health topic
Links and Resources Mentioned:
- Find out more about Kenton Sefcik and connect with him on Instagram
- Shop for Plum Dragon Herbs Dit Da Jow
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