Podcast Episodes

“The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.” — Thomas Szasz

When you think of rituals, you probably jump to religion; however, rituals don’t have to be religious. They're often part of religious communities — but that's not what makes them rituals. A ritual is simply a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, or actions performed according to a set sequence. Just like anything, there can be good rituals and there can be bad ones. Additionally, too much of even a good ritual can become a bad thing. Meaningful rituals can enhance our lives and ...

“Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.” — Albert Camus

Even good people can do bad things in moments when emotions are high. It’s all too easy to lose control. We must strive to have a certain level of stoicism. And that must be maintained. Funakoshi emphasized that karate training is about spiritual development and the perfection of character. Tim and Steve discuss this and more on this episode. "A truly great man is not disturbed even when suddenly confronted with an unexpected event or crisis, nor angered upon finding himself in situations not...

“If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.” — JK Rowling

Jaciel Cordoba, Steve Mittman's colleague at WFMZ-TV, joins us to discuss some ways to reduce the impact that alarming news has on our mental health. Filling our minds with good things combats the negative Working on the “inside” helps us deal with the “outside” Rituals make our lives richer and create a framework

"In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.” — Robert Frost

”I’m the one that has to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to.” — Jimi Hendrix Tim and Steve talk about what they feel this quote from Hendrix means. At first they agree. Then they don't. Then they do. Like many other things, this can't just be black or white. Much of its meaning is determined by the context around it. What are your thoughts on this? We want to hear from you. Leave a comment. Or better yet — send us a voicemail by hitting the button on th...

"If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything." — Mark Twain

It's a new year, we've got new tools under our belts to attack life and some exciting news: Stand-alone website: AttackLifeNotOthers.com Featuring a voicemail system. Leave a voicemail for Tim and Steve directly from the website. Comments, questions, topic suggestions — we want to hear from you. All podcast episodes will still be on HooverKarate.com/podcast You no longer have to wait a week for a new episode. We now have two episodes per week! “Kick-start” your week every Monday wit...

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." — Mahatma Gandhi

Forget New Year's resolutions. Instead, make the decision to first hold yourself accountable, then find accountability partners — and you'll see changes in your life take place. Accountability begins with accepting responsibility for your own actions. Show up! And when you show up — don’t just be there — be 100% there. Here’s to accountability in 2023! Happy New Year! EXCITING NEWS: You no longer have to wait a week for another episode! We will now have two episodes per week! “Kick-star...

A plane trip, an encounter with a young woman and her credit card, a 5-year plan, some life wisdom, and philosophy — hear that and more on this episode. One thing's for sure: not much is free these days, certainly not on a plane. "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face." — Mike Tyson "Water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend." — Bruce Lee

The word "warrior" is thrown around a lot today, even being used in marketing and on names of products that have nothing to do with warriorship. So what is a warrior? What do you think being a warrior means? That's what Tim and Steve discuss on this episode. warrior | (ˈwȯr-yər) (noun) — A person engaged or experienced in warfare; a soldier (noun) — A person who has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness (noun) — One who is engaged aggressively or energetically in an act...

Besides your Creator, you are alone on this journey. It’s YOUR body, YOUR mind, and YOUR spirit having this experience, taking this trip. Your choices, your mindset, your decisions to move forward — they’re all yours to do what you want with. Bernie shares his “closet concept” (similar to Jodi’s real story) with Tim and Steve to put all of this and more into perspective.

The MOST valuable thing anyone has, more than money, real estate, gold, stocks — more than ANYTHING — is time. Time is the most valuable commodity. That’s indisputable. And we all have the SAME amount of it! Let that sink in. We all have 24 hours in a day. No one has more, no one has less. On a daily basis, we all have the same amount of time to spend. Choose to spend it wisely so that you: Don’t have regrets at the end of your tape measure (you’ll understand after listening) Do go...

This episode originally aired 4 years ago — on Thanksgiving 2018. It is so appropriate and relevant today that we decided to replay it. As you’ll hear, Steve and Tim even kicked it off stating the subject matter will still be relevant years from now. With more chaos than the world has seen in a long time — you might even say it’s MORE timely than before. This is a testament to all we talk about on this podcast. We discuss universal principles that transcend time and space. We don't talk about...

With the holidays coming up it’s a good time to discuss something most of us, if not all of us, do wrong: eating. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again — you’re only as good as the quality of things you consume. That includes everything you consume — mentally, physically, and spiritually. Obviously, quality food is a major component of your health. Chelsea joins Tim and Steve to discuss “Mindful Eating” — because WHY you eat, WHAT you eat, and HOW you eat all matter. We often talk o...

Leadership is in every one of us. You just need to recognize what traits all leaders have. First, you must understand that the most important person you'll ever lead is yourself. A true leader: Must have a clear purpose and intent — the mission has to be agreed upon by all involved Doesn't let obstacles, intersections, or forks in the road get in the way — neither for themselves, nor for who they are leading Sometimes leads from the front and sometimes from the rear — with patien...

Energy is everything. If we don't have energy we can't do much of anything. It's important for you to have energy not just for yourself, but so you're there for others. Furthermore, we may have energy — but what if we're full of negatively-charged energy? Students of many Okinawan, Japanese, and Korean martial arts styles — including Shotokan, Taekwondo, Aikido, Karate, Goju-ryu, Kobudo, Kendo, Kyokushin, and Judo — use a kihup (sometimes spelled kiai, kihap, or kyup) to startle an opponent, ...

Jodi Jill from last week’s show joins Tim and Steve again. She is so passionate about puzzles that she has designed about 12,000 puzzles and has even created #NationalPuzzleDay. She sees life like a puzzle consisting of many pieces, and we get to decide how we want all those pieces to fit together. As she says: letters are symbols that when put together make words. Words makes sentences, sentences make paragraphs, and books are made of many paragraphs that transfer information. That informati...

For the first decade of her life, Jodi Jill basically just survived one day to the next in a storage unit — with one meal a day, not going to school, and always wondering about the outside world. She didn’t even learn to read until later on in life. Despite all of that, she always maintained hope and faith. These days, Jodi lives by the simple premise: Make someone smile every day. She has learned to develop a laser-like focus — working to stop thinking about where she came from, and instead ...

Life is both a privilege and a responsibility. Tom Parker joins Tim and Steve to discuss that. Also hear about the "Journey Field" — the unique outdoor training facility that challenges Sensei Tim Hoover's martial arts students and pushes them to their limits.

Last year Tim and Steve talked about Lessons We Can Learn From Dogs. On this brief episode Tim reflects further about “Man’s Best Friend” and how it’s a good thing they can’t speak. He brings up deception, communication, body language, and more.