Assistant Instructor of the Shin do Kan dojo in Newport Beach explains why the martial art known as Aikido is the best martial art of children to learn. Through the practice of aikido, children learn better how to cooperate, resolve conflict harmoniously, build self-esteem and confidence while getting good exercise, staying fit and learning a good way to defend themselves.
“I want my daddy back.”
Those were all the words Altaf Rahamatulla needed to hear to inspire him to make a change.
For more than 20 years, Rahamatulla worked at Merrill Lynch as a vice president. His duties involved making critical decision regarding the day-to-day business with the stock market and other firms. He participated in sports in high school and college. He was also very active in the martial arts world, attaining black belts in various styles. Athletics were a part of his life, a part of him.
Today, Rahamatulla is a personal trainer and motivational coach.
So why the drastic change? Life happened.
In 2001, Rahamatulla suffered serious injuries in a severe crash on Interstate 95. His car rolled over several times, but he survived.
Four years later, in 2005, due to complications from the accident Rahamatulla couldn’t walk anymore. He needed to have discs removed from his cervical spine, which left him in rigorous and relentless pain for three years. He lived with a torn tendon and a herniated disc in his lower back and three knee surgeries.
“I was literally in bed, walking with a cain,” Rahamatulla said.
By 2008, Rahamatulla’s life hit rock-bottom.
His weight ballooned; he had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and battled diabetes.
Rahamatulla said he was on a plethora of medications to treat severe depression, anxiety and back pain. The list included Oxycontin, Ultram, Paxil, Xanax, Wellbutrin, Ambien, Crestor, Lotrel, Zanaflex, etc. He also had sleep apnea, and used a CPAP machine to get through each night.
One day, Rahamatulla’s daughter Yasmin said, “I want my daddy back.”
He said those words inspired him to change. But Yasmin didn’t stop there.
“She said, ‘You’ve changed daddy. You’re not the fun daddy that was always energetic and laughing all the time.’ After that, I realized I wasn’t the person who I thought I was. My own children didn’t recognized me. I cried,” Rahamatulla said. “I set out on a journey to detox myself from all of the medication and get my health back, my life back within one year.”
In May 2008, Rahamatulla hit the books, DVD and Internet to try and understand the body and mind. He said he started the P90X workout regimen using an integrated medicine approach to eating and supplements — retraining his brain using technique from his research.
“I couldn’t even do a push-up,” Rahamatulla said. “I couldn’t even finish a workout, but I went through it. My grandmother, mother and my wife would cry seeing me go through this recovery process, but I was determined. By October, I started seeing my body changing. By April 2009, my blood pressure got regulated. My blood sugar went down to 87. My cholesterol came down from 394 to below 200, I was off all the medications, including the pain and depression medication, plus the CPAC machine. In July 2009, I was back to work, now as a personal trainer.”
Rahamatulla also lost 40 pounds. He made it as one of the grand prize finalists in the Team Beach Body competition showing before and after pictures of his transformation.
“Everything changed,” Rahamatulla said.
Fitness became his passion, sharing this knowledge his quest and goal. Rahamatulla received a diploma and certifications in personal training. He also continues to learn new and varied health and fitness techniques, while also exploring other intellectual pursuits.
Rahamatulla now often works out of Tenth Round Boxing in Levittown and is affectionately known as “Coach Al.”
“My approach to fitness is an integrated approach that’s mind, body and spirit. It’s wellness and implementing a lifestyle change. I sent daily quotes via Facebook and Twitter to my clients to inspire them; knowing internal motivation comes from within. Making lifestyle changes means involving their family in their health, fitness and nutritional goals. My philosophy has been: If you train a man he can improve his fitness, but if you teach a man to train he will be fit for life. Being educated is knowing you will reach your goal,” Rahamatulla said.
Rahamatulla has a wide array of clients, including pro boxer Tim Witherspoon Jr., Farah Ennis, MMA fighter Erik Purcell and amateur boxer and athlete 14-year-old Milton “El Santo” Santiago Jr.
“My clients range from professional boxers, professional MMA fighters. I have young athletes, but also I have clients who challenge themselves to overcome obesity,” Rahamatulla said. “It’s a multitude of things, and I like the diversity that it brings. Each client brings on new challenges. I design routines based on the client’s athleticism, age, health status, needs and ability.”
Rahamatulla takes a creative approach to fitness and training. Many of his clients say his workouts keep fitness interesting and motivates them to push to the next level.
“I love designing programs,” Rahamatulla said.
Rahamatulla is a true inspiration, and his success story proves that obstacles can be overcome if you put your mind to it.
He said he now cherishes life, and continuously has a smile on his face. Talk about inspiration: Yasmin, and her other five siblings, have their daddy back.
This is where the seemingly meaningless chores turn into practical blocking techniques. One of the best parts of the first Karate Kid movie.
“It was a little more detailed than that,” laughed Wiser when asked about the famous movie scene.
Learning experiences
Of course, when he first started to learn the martial arts, he wasn’t an awkward adolescent in Beverly Hills — he was an 19-year-old Marine who’d already spent time in Vietnam, dangerously close to the northern border and the Ho Chi Minh trail.
“Nixon pulled us out and sent us to Okinawa,” said the 61-year-old veteran. “I had already been reading about Okinawan karate and I was lucky enough to find an Okinawan dojo with an Okinawan sensei who was brought up in it.”
Life of achievement
Many things have changed for the New Herman native. He’s been a Marine, a police officer, a deputy, and a security guard. Wiser is a third-degree black belt in Kenpo karate and has also studied and fought using the Goju-Ryu and Shaolin disciplines.
Wiser was one of the first paramedics in the state of Tennessee and went on to train more of them. He has taught karate as well as continued to study it himself, and he’s raised award-winning goats, two children, and several generations of Doberman Pinschers. He’s an OSHA advisor and has a wall full of weapons so deadly they make the Addams Family parlor look like Mary Poppins’ cottage.
Oh, yeah. He’s also Santa Claus.
“About 70 pounds ago, anyway,” he said. “People don’t always remember my real name, but they remember Santa.”
Crops and karate
Ray moved back to New Herman from Carthage about four years ago and has spent the time creating an amazing garden filled with angel trumpets, fig trees and more than a dozen varieties of blackberries.
“People ask me what I do all day and I tell them I garden in the day and do karate at night.”That’s the one thing in 43 years that hasn’t changed for Wiser. He still practices karate and attends classes three times a week.
Finishing on top
Two weeks ago at the Music City tournament in Nashville, just days after leaving the VA hospital, Ray won three first place trophies in his age division.
“They call it the ‘Senior Executive’ class, men aged 50 and older,” said Wiser. “I was the oldest man registered.”
He won first place in kata, the stylized pattern of moving that forms the foundation of karate. He also won firsts in weapons and in sparring, but admits one win may have been a little easier than the other.
“They just gave me the sparring trophy,” he said. “I didn’t have to fight anybody — I was the only one who signed up for it!”
Still building
Ray said you never stop studying karate and there’s always room for improvement.
“One of my senseis said, ‘You must do every move 10,000 times before you know it and then you must do it 10,000 times before you perfect it,'” he said.
He has diabetic neuropathy and arthritis. His pancreas is giving him problems, he was exposed to Agent Orange when he was in-country and is a disabled veteran — and he credits karate for keeping him going.
“If it weren’t for the physical workouts three times a week, you’d find me in my recliner with my joints locked up,” said Ray. “It’s a physical workout and a mental workout.”
Proper outlook
It’s not just the physical aspect of karate that gets Ray through the day, it’s the philosophical. One of the biggest misconception about it is that it is to be used offensively, he said.
“Karate and weapons are only to be used defensively, to protect yourself,” said Ray. “What’s the first rule in karate? Always be a gentleman. If you can walk away, do it. If not, do it to win.”
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