Wellness in China

This episode of ‘Building a Brawler’ focuses on some modified training due to the restricted gym schedule over the October holiday. This left more time for self-study, and I also did some independent training, focusing mainly on skipping and shadow boxing. Really beginning to see the importance of shadow boxing for making the right connections and simulating movements in sparring / fight. The holiday also provided some well-needed recovery time. The body is feeling good and ready for the next push!

This episode is brought to you by Everlast. Follow the link below to check out there awesome gear available in China, and use the coupon code ‘buildingabrawler’ for 15% off your purchase! Thanks Everlast!

 

Website / WeChat

www.saucepan.co / saucepan

www.farmhousejuice.cn / farmhousejuice

http://weidian.com/?userid=338255308 (Everlast China Online Shop)

www.gogre3n.com / gogre3n

www.gutsxglory.com / gutsxglory

Yummy Avocados WeChat: Y15618935663

www.ienstore.com / ImportedExerciseNutrition

www.wellnessinchina.com / HungryFoolish

Feel free to send feedback, suggestions or anything else to [email protected]

In the second episode in the series, John talks about the challenges of adapting to the rigorous workout schedule, how he recovers from the sessions, and a how he is trying to be patient with his fitness and with the technique, so he doesn’t rush it and invite injury or miss important technique fundamentals.

 

Website / WeChat

www.saucepan.co / saucepan

www.farmhousejuice.cn / farmhousejuice

www.secaworld.com

www.gogre3n.com / gogre3n

www.gutsxglory.com / gutsxglory

Yummy Avocados WeChat: Y15618935663

www.ienstore.com / ImportedExerciseNutrition

www.wellnessinchina.com / HungryFoolish

Feel free to send feedback, suggestions or anything else to [email protected]

Welcome to the first episode of ‘Building a Brawler’!

In this series I’ll be chronicling the 10 weeks of boxing training leading up to the ‘Brawl on the Bund’ in Shanghai on Dec 3rd.

I’ll be documenting everything to do with the preparation for fight night, including diet, fitness training, technique development, rest and recovery, the emotional ups and downs and pretty much anything else that pops in to my head that I think would be fun to share with you!

So far I’m three training sessions in, and can already tell there will be lots of work to do over the next ten weeks to get ready, but it’s gonna be fun!

Backing me up during my training are some of the awesome local health and wellness brands in Shanghai. I reached out to them because I use their products already, so no gratuitous sponsors here, just great products that I love to use.

 

Check em out here:

Website / WeChat

www.saucepan.co / saucepan

www.farmhousejuice.cn / farmhousejuice

www.secaworld.com

www.gogre3n.com / gogre3n

www.gutsxglory.com / gutsxglory

Yummy Avocados WeChat: Y15618935663

www.wellnessinchina.com / HungryFoolish

 

Feel free to send feedback, suggestions or anything else to [email protected]

Welcome to the first ‘Selfie-Cast’!

We’ve gotten lots of great feedback from our listeners about some of the specific (and fun) questions we ask our guests at the end of each show, so this shorter-form content, which we are calling ‘Selfie-Casts’ (though I also refer to it as a ’Selfie-sode’ in the show) is an attempt to bring you more of them!

Instead of an interview, these episodes will be more like monologues, where guests will read the questions themselves, and provide their answer directly to you! We’ll still be connecting with the top entrepreneurs, practitioners, KOL’s and investors in the industry, but now we’ll be going straight for the good stuff!

Hopefully this means we can all learn more about the specific practices, habits and mindsets that are responsible for the actions these people take, and the things they achieve, while also gaining some unique and targeted insight into the segment of the wellness market in China that they are operating in.

Now for the bad news. I’m the first Guinea Pig!

I wanted to provide an example so that future guests could easily understand what we are looking to capture here, and that means I had to step up to the plate first.

I can’t promise any great insights or observations, but I try to answer the questions as honestly as possible, regardless of how revealing of my shortcomings they may be.

Anyways, it’s out there now, so let us know what you think! And feel free to suggest interesting questions for future episodes!

Enjoy!

www.wellnessinchina.com

twitter.com/wellnessinchina

Hello ladies and gents, and welcome back to another episode of the Wellness in China podcast. Today on the show I am joined by one of China’s most prolific expat entrepreneurs, and the founder of the ’naked’ brand and group of companies, Mr. Grant Horsfield.

For several years Grant and the team at naked have run one of the most popular and environmentally conscious resorts in all of China, which have a strong and loyal following amongst both local and expat clientele. Then last year in 2015 they made plans to expand their operations.

I was first confronted with these plans when I was passing through their original naked co-working space on Fuxing Lu in Shanghai, called nakedHub. I went upstairs and saw six or 7 posters with BEAUTIFUL photos of new projects and accompanying descriptions, as well as a number of scale models for these projects. I was blown away. Not only at how AWESOME the projects looked themselves, but that naked was embarking on such big and bold expansion plans, I loved it.

Among the new projects were several new eco-resorts throughout China, a sailboat product based out of Thailand called nakedSail, an enormous immersive learning complex for both children and adults called nakedDiscovery, and most obvious to people living in Shanghai, the aforementioned nakedHub co-working spaces, which burst on the scene to tremendous enthusiasm, and which have proliferated to several more locations throughout the city, with apparently at least 10 planned to be operational by the end of the year!

But of course, ‘naked’ didn’t start as a runaway success, with a diverse portfolio of successful businesses and a brand that customers have come to love. In fact it started with a guy from South Africa, who after living for a year in Shanghai in 2006, was dissatisfied with the lifestyle that was on offer, so much so that he set out to change it. With little money, no hard plans, and a chorus of people telling him he was crazy, Grant set-out into the unknown world of being an entrepreneur in China.

What followed was a wild and chaotic journey of intense struggle and hard-fought triumph that was almost unbelievable.

In this show, Grant and I start by discussing the early days of his journey, and the things that kept him going, when every sign in the universe seemed to be telling him he wasn’t going to be successful. It’s a testament to the type of attributes possessed by the truly great entrepreneurs, of which Grant is certainly one, of grit, determination, hustle, passion and ultimately an unwavering belief in themselves and what they are doing.

If this sounds cliche, keep listening, you’ll see what I mean.

We then fast forward to today, where the big task in front of Grant is not to survive, but to maximize the potential of his brand and company, and continue to be pioneers in creating businesses that people love.

That said, it’s a big leap going from one to several world-class resorts, as well as launching a booming co-working brand, re-imagining education and all the other things naked is now involved in, so I ask Grant what it’s like both personally and organizationally to scale up so boldly and so quickly.

Of course, I also hit Grant with some of my favourite advice questions, which given this guys track record, I highly recommend you stick around to hear.

This was a fun chat, with some good laughs throughout, some of which were a little loud, so apologies in advance for any inconvenience or discomfort.

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Wellness in China podcast. In this episode I speak with Christin Wu , the founder of Essentials Protein Bar, one of Shanghai’s first cafes for sports nutrition.

I wanted to speak with Christin for a couple reasons. For one, she was born and raised in Shanghai, and I’m always keen to get the unique insights from people who have been on the ground, observing the ongoing changes in the health and wellness market over the past several years.

Secondly, the young female market in China is the demographic that is leading much of the growth in the health and wellness industry, however there remains a lot of misconceptions around many topics therin. I asked Christin about these misconceptions, and the various ways her company, as well as other companies in the industry, are attempting to educate their target clientele.

Lastly, Christin is a passionate advocate and practitioner of resistance training, and has no problem with a squat rack, bench press, or any other gym equipment. This however, is quite different from most Chinese women. For some reason, many young women in China have been conditioned to avoid any form of resistance training, in favor of ’softer’ forms of exercise, such as Yoga or running. When SHE started lifting weights, Christin says her friends thought she was crazy, but as time went on, and her friends noticed that rather than turning into the hulk, she simply looked fit, curvy and healthy, many of her peers began to follow suit. This is not an uncommon phenomenon regarding new trends and consumer behaviour in China, and I ask Christin if she could speculate on other areas where long-held beliefs may be undergoing change.

In addition to that, of course we talked about the emerging trends in the Chinese health and wellness market, evolving ideas of nutrition and healthy eating, her personal approach to diet and exercise, and a bunch of great advice.

One of my favourite pieces of advice from Christin was, quote. ‘If you focus on what you do, and believe in what you do, it will work.”

Quick warning. The sound of jackhammers is a near constant in China, as even in a developed city like Shanghai, there is always some kind of construction going on. So we were interrupted about 20 minutes in, and took our interview to the streets, for a stroll around the trendy neighbourhood of XinTianDi. My apologies if it’s a little more noisy than usual.

So without further ado, please enjoy my chat with the founder of Essentials Protein Bar, Ms. Christin Wu.

Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Tech in Shanghai podcast. This week on the show I speak with Wolf Illing, one of two co-founders of local O2O startup, Saucepan. Saucepan is a food delivery company that focuses on providing ready-to-eat, great-tasting, and healthy meals, using the highest quality ingredients. Launched in 2014, Saucepan has slowly but surely begun to refine it’s product and service, to one that is beginning to resonate with an ever-growing contingent of satisfied and loyal customers. The launch of Saucepan also roughly coincides with a Fairly dramatic shift in the mind of local Chinese consumers, toward more healthy diets and lifestyles, and Wolf shares with me his thoughts on this Phenomenon and how Saucepan is (or will be) trying to accommodate this growing market. As more and more companies emerge to try and capitalize on consumer demand for ‘convenient health food’, it’s refreshing to see a company that is so committed to ensuring each of their customers has a great experience with their service, and a positive interaction with their brand. In addition to that, we also talk about the importance of working at a ’SUSTAINABLE’ intensity when involved in a startup, how to compete against more aggressive and better-funded local competitors, how to adapt your service based on customer feedback, why he and his co-founder decided to launch Saucepan in China, and the challenges they have encountered, and lot’s more! If you haven’t tried saucepan before, check them out at saucepan.co ( or WeChat in the very near future), and give them a try. If their reviews online are any indication, you won’t be disappointed! So without further ado, please enjoy my chat with the co-founder of Saucepan, Mr. Wolf Illing.

twitter.com/wellnessinchina

www.saucepan.co

Welcome back everyone to another episode of the Wellness in China podcast. This week on the show I speak with one of Shanghai’s premier health and fitness personalities, and a good buddy of mine, Mr. Alan Leung. Alan is the owner of Olive Branch, a boutique fitness studio in downtown Shanghai. In both small group classes and private one-to-one training, Alan and the Olive Branch team focus on using high-intensity protocols, combined with nutritional counselling, to help people develop a fit body, optimized mindset and healthy lifestyle. Since opening, Alan and his team have worked with celebrities, state officials, competitive athletes and many more. Of particular note, Alan was chosen as the head trainer for the Miss Universe China competition, so of course I had to ask him how he landed the gig and what the experience was like. Olive Branch is Alan’s first entrepreneurial venture, and I asked him to share with me why he made the transition and what challenges he encountered as he moved from an uninspired and draining career, into one of passion, excitement and fulfillment. We also discuss the personal journey that led him to hitting rock-bottom, and the things he did to turn his life around. Uncertainty is another issue we get in to. It’s such a common problem for entrepreneurs, and it can be so frustrating wanting to push forward, but not really knowing how or in what area to do so. I probe Alan to share his experiences with uncertainty as he pushed forward in building his first business. Another thing that any entrepreneur must embrace is building connections, also known as networking. We discuss our mutual disdain for how networking has traditionally been approached, and alan shares with me how doing what he loves has not only made it easier to network, but has allowed him to do so on a much more genuine basis, which unsurprisingly has made his efforts in that department much more effective. Finally, Alan and I discuss the potential for personal growth that entrepreneurship represents, which helps him maintain a healthy perspective when the going gets tough. Of course, I ask Alan a number of advice-based questions and he did not disappoint. Whether your a health and wellness practitioner, an aspiring entrepreneur, or simply someone who’s trying to better themselves in any way, you’ll definitely want to check out this podcast and hear the great stories and advice that Alan has to share. So without further ado, please enjoy my conversation with the Founder of Olive Branch Fitness, Mr. Alan Leung.

www.olivebranch.life

Hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the Wellness in China Podcast. Joining me today on the show is Mr. Fionn Wright. Fionn and I have had a number of great chats ‘off-air’, so I thought it was only right to mic him up for an episode of the podcast. I’m not quite sure how to introduce Fionn. He has been called everything from a “health and wellness coach” to a “Dream Designer”. For his part, he’s not keen on labels, and according to him, he simply uses the experiences he’s had in life, and the things that he has learned along the way, to help people. Pretty simple right? What I failed to mention, was that Fionn is only 25 years of age. How much can you learn and experience in 25years of life? It turns out quite a lot, and Fionn discusses with me how he has applied what he has learned to help his clients in many areas of their lives. Another reason I wanted to speak with Fionn was to discuss with him how he approached getting involved in the health and wellness industry in China. Over the coming years, many young people from around the world will be coming to China to take part in this industry, and Fionn had some great first-hand advice about not only how to get involved, but how to cultivate the right attitude for SUCCESS in this market. As has become the norm in our conversations, we take a brief excursion down a few rabbit holes, to indulge our curiosity, throw some ideas back and forth, and hopefully put forward some novel or interesting thoughts and ways of thinking. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Fionn, though young, is a husband and father of two beautiful children, and he shares with me how he balances living in a crazy city and working in booming industry with a leading organization, while managing his responsibilities as a supportive father and a loving husband. We cover lots more in this episode, and as always, I thoroughly enjoyed our discussion, hopefully you will too. So without further ado, my conversation with Mr. Fionn Wright.

www.johnvallis.strikingly.com

www.livingoctave.com

Welcome back to another episode of the Wellness in China podcast. Today on the show I am joined by entrepreneur, practising Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and all around exceptional woman, Doris Rathgeber. Doris is the founder of Body and Soul Medical clinics, and is one of the head TCM physicians there. Doris has been in China for over 20 years, and founded Body and Soul shortly after graduating from 5 years of studying at the University for Traditional Chinese Medicine and Pharmacology, which she did in entirely in Chinese! Since that time Body and Soul has become a very well-known and trusted medical clinic, providing a broad range of treatments, including TCM, Chiropractic, Psychotherapy, Osteopathy, Physiotherapy, Infertility, Nutritional Counselling and much more. Though Body and Soul is open to treating any patient that walks through its doors, Doris tells me that western and Japanese expats are the most common patients, and that almost all of their patients come by way of referral. With now four clinics spread across Shanghai, Doris and her team are bringing extremely high-quality and a refreshingly broad array of medical services to an ever-growing number of people. Of course, with so much to manage, I couldn’t keep Doris from her work for too long, so we had to move fast in this episode. Among those topics discussed, I asked Doris to not only explain the incredibly complex system that is TCM, but I also asked her to speculate on the kind of worldview that led to the emergence of this ancient medical system. I also asked her to explain the foundational concept of ‘Chi’, her take on the pollution in China, what it is like being an entrepreneur in a foreign country, and why the ‘soul’ in Body and Soul. Finally, Doris had some great answers to my usual probing for advice, particularly to those in the health and wellness industry who may be considering coming to China to get involved. I’m sure Doris and I could have talked for hours, so if you like the show, let us know in the comments section in iTunes, and I’ll do my best to get her to come on again in the future. So without further ado, the founder of Body and Soul Medical Clinic, Dr. Doris Rathgeber.