By Richard Hackworth

If you need a dose of morning coffee to kick start your day you may be undermining the peaceful balance that comes from advanced martial arts training and dramatically lowering your ability to develop Ki energy.

Overloading your body with caffeine can cause insomnia, anxiety attacks, impatience, mood swings and the caffeine “Jitters”. But quitting cold turkey can cause headaches, constipation and irritability in many caffeine drinkers. So what can you do?

The best way to eliminate caffeine from your diet is to cut back slowly, beginning with food items such as chocolate and cocoa then moving on to the drinks such as soda and coffee. Some herbal teas like green tea, black tea and guarana tea all are high in caffeine too.

Herbalist such as ShimKiDo Grandmaster Seok Kyu Lee of the Korean Martial Arts Instructors Association say that the best plan for eliminating caffeine is to prepare ahead of time. One way to do this is to use herbs such as Nettles which help build up the adrenals and kidneys which are weakened by caffeine. Herbs like oat straw are a great way to strengthen the nervous system. Take up to a quart of either one each day. Take them separately or alternate them day to day and at the end of 45 days you should be able to completely Kick you caffeine habit.

Hapkido Grandmaster Yong Ki Song also suggests milk thistle seed tincture (not capsules) for strengthening the liver. He says that Bitters, like gentian, dandelion roots and artichoke leaf can also be used. He suggests taking them no more than 30 minutes before a meal to support the liver and ease digestion problems.

When you feel you are ready to begin your new caffeine free lifestyle for improved Ki energy mix your coffee with peppermint infusion (not tea). Increase the amount in each cup over about a 4 day period. It will give you that wide awake energetic feeling without the jittery feeling or Ki draining side effects of drinks containing caffeine.