JediNickD

I'm working on my red stripe for third degree which is for judging spar. We had spar class last night and it went really well. The instructors said they were nitpicking, but they suggested I move more to see the contact better. I found myself moving to see, but not necessarily giving myself a different perspective than the other judges. I need to move to keep the fighters between us when the fight moves to the corners of the ring. I can leave the fighting ring if necessary to get the best angle. Sometimes I may need to use my body to keep fighters out of danger, so I need to get closer too.

Oh, the bees were real. The stings finally stopped itching today. I'm not allergic, so it was just painful in the moment and really itchy the next day.

Phew! It's been a busy week since my last post. I hit all my goals last week and got off to a good start this week. The weekend comprised of so much epic stuff. Saturday was a day-adventure (4-5 hours) for LARP. Lots of running around in the woods. We had a giant battle at the end where I did a great job holding up a flank, pulling people together to form up ranks, and protecting a few of our braver fighters when they got overwhelmed. In the smaller battles, I stuck with my bow and didn't miss a shot, but in the woods, I didn't have many moving targets. My rogue got into battle as an NPC under the control of an illithid and in the first fight of my day, I died on a nest for a swarm of ground bees. I got 8 or so stings on my right leg. Since I was marked, the bees keep hovering around me. Fun. It was a long and hot day to be kitted up, but I had a blast. Sunday was the longest karate test I've attended at 8 hours, but not the longest for the dojo. It was a great experience as we saw some of our best students at the advanced ranks show off their stuff. The 5th degree tester got put through the ringer all day physically on the mat and mentally in a bunch of ways. She taught three lessons to the entire class and got quizzed on Budo principles other students demonstrated throughout the test. My favorite was the flexible tool lesson, where we learned to use our belt as a tourniquet. I applied some skills I learned in first aid training to pass on some stuff to the other students, such as keeping the patient talking by asking them to describe the person who hurt them or who they would need us to contact. Keeping them talking helps them remember the incident to describe later to police if necessary while also giving you a verbal indication that their brain is working right and they haven't passed out. It was a really fun exercise because the victims got to act and ham it up. On another note, I PRed pushups at 48 on Wednesday. I'm so close! I got some work done on my Madden videos. I also played some and recorded some great clips. I need to set a rule that I edit for an hour before I play a game or something. I have such a huge backlog of content, that adding to the backlog just feels wrong. But the game is too fun to not play!

Ran 1.25 miles. Walked 0.5 miles inclined. Light stretching. Felt pretty good. I am dealing with an ankle sprain recovery, but I think I'm in the clear to stress it. I'm helping with the karate test on Sunday, which should be fun as we have 4 black belts moving up (one to 5th degree!) and 10 going to probationary black! Going to get some exercise working them over ;-), though I haven't done spar since June before I hurt the ankle. Scheduled a podcast interview for tonight, but she flaked again. Should have toughed it out last week when I had to cancel because I was exhausted. Just need to get started with editing and publishing the three I have while I wait for this one to happen. I want to have them live in September.

In the last few years, my splits and high kicks have improved dramatically. Consistent effort is the name of the game. I feel like I could have both legs flush with the floor in 7 or 8 years ;-).

Flexibility and Weightlifting at the gym this morning. I've made it a goal to get to PR 50 pushups. I'm at 40 and aiming for 100 a day. Also, working on pull ups, getting my shoulders straight after an injury and regression. I can get 5 unassisted right now. After pull ups, chin ups, dips. and lat pull downs, I added barbell bicep curls and over the head press. Walking at noon. Karate classes tonight: Black Belt and Master Weapons (Bo Staff). Worked on editing a YouTube upload. Arranged a Podcast interview for tomorrow. Things are in motion.

GONE TURBO I've always had big plans to make a website, blog, podcast, etc to put myself and my philosophy out in the world to influence more people. I've implemented so many of these things and gotten myself outside my comfort zone to do it. With all these changes I've made in the last few years, it feels like I am not just in a new world, but like I am playing a whole new game. I'm taking a page from the movie "Wreck-It Ralph". I've Gone Turbo jumping games. So now, here we go with another episode of The Exciting Adventures of JediNickD! It was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away that I joined this site and started my first challenge. As a Ranger, I tried to Do-All-The-Things in World 1, my first extended stay at NF through 22 challenges where I learned how to develop and pursue health and fitness goals utilizing daily, weekly, and monthly routines. I took a hiatus from NF and came back with a better focus for my goals where I warped to World 2, which I defeated in an Epic Boss Fight slaying some mighty big life goals. In World 3, I strafed over to the Assassins and continued to develop my fitness, getting my body in the best shape of my life, even with the Degenerative Disc Disease, Arthritis, Disc Fissures, and more. Through physical therapy exercises and karate, I have maintained my core and back muscles to ease the pressure off my spine, but in the end, I defeated World 3 by transforming my life into a new form. With chiropractic care healing my spine, reaching the black belt at karate, blazing through the new Toastmasters education program called Pathways, and completing Novice rank at IJRS, World 4 was something new every day. I have moved over to the Monks to reach for more diversity in my workouts and culture as my physical and mental training focus has been more on my karate training. As I actively took on more responsibility of coaching, mentoring, and teaching in all aspects of my life, I formed a different me on World 5. Now, I have Gone Turbo into World 6. Every day, I just keep on L-I-V-I-N: fighting the good fight, lighting it up, and leveling up my life!  Challenge Lesson: "Budo, Empty Hands" I like themes so I'm going to continue with my karate dojo's creeds where I left off. The next one is for our Blue belt rank. The creed is below: As a martial artist, my body is my weapon. Any tool in my hand is just an extension of my body. My body can cripple my opponent or deliver mercy as I see fit. I must not be reckless as I could hurt myself. I must exhibit control and be precise while understanding my anatomy and skeleton to best protect or maim when necessary. My Main Quest and Mission: My mission is to be the best Jedi I can be. My main quest is always to enhance my overall health, fitness, and knowledge to be prepared for whatever challenges life could throw at me. As a Jedi, I need to be able to help people, whether that is a life-threatening situation or just a charitable one. There is no end in Jedi training for every light cast a shadow somewhere. Instead, it is a journey of self-discovery and compassion for others. World 6 Level 5 Challenge: FITNESS: Cardio: Speed and Stamina - Run twice a week. Include sprints, agility drills, and distance running. Get on the treadmill if I have to. STA +1, DEX +1 Walking: Fortify the Spine - 10+ min with good posture, daily. Do some stairs too. CON +1 Exercise: HIIT, Weight Lifting, and Bodyweight - 20+ min twice a week. STR +1, STA +1 Flexibility: Stretching and Physical Therapy - Daily exercises. Focus on hips, hams, and splits. DEX +1 Karate: Training and Practice - Three classes a week plus every spar class I can attend. Practice for 20+ min twice a week. DEX +1, STR +1 DIET: Lean Body - I need to lose some weight, which starts with what I eat. 5+ cups of fruits and veggies. Cut down flour and corn-based carbs at lunch and snack time. Fill up on spring mix. CON +1 LIFE: Write some new stuff for Journey2U.org website. Work on revamping the site. Edit podcast interviews for "Evolving in Toastmasters". Schedule more interviews. Start researching speeches for second podcast "I Evaluate U". WIS +1, CHA +1 Edit and publish videos from last year's gameplay. Record gameplay clips and edit videos for Madden custom league. WIS +1, CHA +1 Epic Quest - Complete something EPIC! I want to be able to look back at my four week challenge and say, "that was the challenge I did X". My challenges tend to be a lot of the same old. I've given myself plenty to improve in small steps, but I also want to see big strides in the things I've been working on. What box can I check? What have I been procrastinating? What am I focusing on? WIS +1, CHA +1

It's been almost 2 years since I've been here with a challenge. I think I need it. The challenges force me to set deadlines and report myself. Journaling about stuff helps sort out so much. And I've got a lot going on to sort through. This challenge is ending, so I'll start up on the next one, but here's a list of stuff I plan to work on: Weight: I've developed a small gut as I tote around an extra 20 lbs. Speed: My body is slow at everything and I hate it. And I have some knee, ankle, and foot ailments to heal and care for. Karate: I've got my project written. Need to hand it in this week. I got stripe stuff to work on. Toastmasters: What am I getting out of it? Reestablish my why. I'm a club president and area director this year. Membership building is the focus. Blog: Gotta write new stuff. Need to update the website. Podcast: I started recording. Now I got to edit and publish. I have a second podcast idea to flesh out. Extra-Life: More editing. I've recorded plenty. Maybe help others? Epic Nerd Camp: It's next month! AHHH! At least, I know WHEN I do all the things, but I'm still in the dark for WHAT the things are. Not great, but fine. LARP: My character and wardrobe are coming together. My combat skills are above average. What I need to work on is income. I'm a broke rogue. DnD: On hiatus at the moment. Work: Cognitive RF Tech is wild. Reading, researching, and watching webinars to stay on top of it. I'm sure there is more!

163.4 lbs. I ran Wednesday and today 2.5 miles in ~20 mins with an inclined walk cool down for 7 min. Both felt great and I followed up with a kata cool down and a hydro massage. Breathing and muscles are in good shape, but I've been in better. It's a process I had been procrastinating, because I don't like treadmills, but I hate running in the cold more. Putting "Cowboy Bebop" on helps get me through. I expect I'll make it more routine in January. Spar class tomorrow hopefully. It's our last weekend at home before heading to the in-laws, so we'll be plenty busy.

Yesterday, I worked glutes for my HIIT. Today, I did a squat thrust HIIT, which is 10 different squat thrust exercises 12 reps each in under 10 minutes. February 2020, I broke 9 minutes on this routine. Today, I did that again. When I started at Planet Fitness, it took 15 minutes and I was ready to puke. Not today. I feel flipping great. Finished the HIIT with 10 minutes of kata speed and power style. Karate class tonight! My wrists and shoulders enjoyed the time off, but i expect I'll beat them up with more cardinal practice. I posted a bunch of my live stream recordings from Extra Life Game Day on my YouTube channel. The recording quality came out so much better this year with my improved hardware. I have one more video to film. I have eat a raisin. Yuck. I'm going to play Alien: Isolation and when I die, I'll eat the raisin. It is just a matter of when. Looking like Sunday afternoon will be the time.

We did Kotegeishi take downs at karate, which are a wrist twist take down. I thought I had these down where I could do them at full speed, but there is always another detail to improve. My entry needed some polish to account for when I'm tired or sweaty, using a two handed catch, slide, and roll. My technique is already messy at full speed, so learning how to do it messy certainly helps fine tune my technique. This was really good practice. Unfortunately, I can't work on it again today. My wrist and shoulder are sore from demos and partner work. I was matched up with a 14 year old for most the time and he had no qualms wrenching my shoulder and wrist. I'm ok with a partner doing a few reps full speed with no quarter given. I'm ready to protect myself in those reps. Every half and quarter speed rep? No thanks. I had to intentionally miss my punch, because he hardly moved to get out of the way. I asked him several times to move out of the way first. When it was my turn, he would not punch at me, which was also not helpful, because I was moving too far out of the way. Just make sure you are a good partner when you are working with someone. Give them an authentic attack, give them natural body reactions, and take care not to hurt them.

162.2 lbs which is a good start. I have to say that I am going to miss my Spar goal due to scheduling. Last Saturday, we had a Friendsgiving. Tomorrow night is the kids Choral Concert. This Saturday, I have Toastmasters Leadership training. I need to make it to spar on Dec 18th, because the next class won't be until January 8th. And I won't make it to any extra classes either. So bad start there, but that is mostly just mistakes made planning my challenge. Work life is about to take a big change. We are bringing someone new in to work under me. My first subordinate! He is highly qualified and been with the company for years. In a few months, I'll be splitting time between a second project where I expect my expertise to be leaned on heavily as the current technical lead is leaving Friday. This is exciting stuff, but I'm going to need to buckle down on the books. No worries on that front, though.

Yesterday was test day at the Dojo. I volunteered to help out because we had 3 amazing young kids going to black. I've seen these kids grow over the last 4 years and I can't wait to see them in Black Belt class. Today, I tried a new single leg hamstring and glute isolation dead lift. It's fire and I'm going to be sore tomorrow. It wasn't even leg day. This week is hela busy. Karate tonight and Wednesday. Tuesday is company holiday party and Toastmasters. Thursday is the kids Choral Concert. Saturday, I have a Toastmasters leadership training most the day.

Published a new blog: https://www.journey2u.org/post/your-hero-s-journey This incorporates some writing I did for NF challenges around Yoda's "Adventure..." quote, which is going to part of a Star Wars / Jedi series, much like what I write for my challenges, because I enjoy it.

GONE TURBO This is my second challenge in my return to NF. I decided to take a break from NF while I sorted through the pandemic, teleworking, and virtual relationships. It was a good plan, because each day presented new obstacles and challenges while navigating to best ways for finding time and space for fitness and karate training, adjusting to maintaining healthy meals at home, and staying productive at work and in my different self-development programs with the myriad of distractions. Planning a 4 week challenge would have been impossible, because I would be course correcting daily. I took my time and built new routines understanding that they may be temporary. Over time, I developed my new normal with virtual and hybrid Toastmasters meetings, virtual gaming with friends, moved to a new gym, and working a hybrid schedule for work with some telework built in. Some things have been able to return to normal such as karate training, DnD, visiting family and friends, and working on-site but with known risk. The biggest change came in July when I launched my own website: Journey2U.org . I started a blog and coaching business to help others. It is in it's infancy, but it is a project I have been dreaming of launching for a very long time. Having it out there, I am living that part of the dream and building a new future for myself and others. With all these changes, it feels like I am not just in a new world, but like I am playing a whole new game. I'm taking a page from the movie "Wreck-It Ralph". I've Gone Turbo jumping games. So now, here we go with another episode of The Exciting Adventures of JediNickD! It was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away that I joined this site and started my first challenge. As a Ranger, I tried to Do All The Things in World 1, my first extended stay at NF through 22 challenges where I learned how to develop and pursue health and fitness goals utilizing daily, weekly, and monthly routines. I took a hiatus from NF and came back with a better focus for my goals where I warped to World 2, which I defeated in an Epic Boss Fight slaying some mighty big life goals. In World 3, I hopped over to the Assassins and continued to develop my fitness, getting my body in the best shape of my life, even with the Degenerative Disc Disease, Arthritis, Disc Fissures, and more. Through physical therapy exercises and karate, I have maintained my core and back muscles to ease the pressure off my spine, but in the end I defeated World 3 by transforming my life into a new form. With chiropractic care healing my spine, reaching the high ranks at karate, blazing through the new Toastmasters education program called Pathways, and working to complete Novice rank at IJRS, World 4 was something new everyday. I have moved over to the Monks to reach for more diversity in my workouts and culture as my physical and mental training focus has been more on my karate training. As I actively took on more responsibility of coaching, mentoring, and teaching in all aspects of my life, I formed a different me on World 5. Now, I have Gone Turbo into World 6. Every day, I just keep on L-I-V-I-N: fighting the good fight, lighting it up, and leveling up my life!  Challenge Lesson: "Relearning" I like themes so I'm going to continue with my karate dojo's creeds. The next one is for our Green belt rank. The creed is below: At Green belt, my dojo requires students to attend spar once a month. This is to introduce them to spar at a point where they have gained basic skills and need to start applying the skills. Students are also allowed to sempai classes at Green belt, though it is not required until Purple (3 belts higher). Here is where they start to learn basic skills in teaching. Teaching is not an easy task, because all students are different. Teaching is also easy, because you are essentially regurgitating what you know. If you listen to your own teachings, then you won't learn anything new, but you will solidify your understanding and enhance your recall of the information. This is what the creed means by relearning. Relearning is just practicing, or getting more reps. It is nothing special, but it is rather important when you want to build muscle memory or you want to improve your recall of information. The second aspect of this creed is to point out that discovery happens when you are silent and listening, because your brain can digest information and take time to wonder about it. You learn new things in your silence. If you are talking, then your ears will miss things. If you are talking, then your brain is focusing on things you know about. If you want to learn something new, then your first action is to ensure you remain quiet, so your brain can focus on new thoughts. These concepts are pretty straight forward for an adult, but for kids, they need to hear it, say it, and understand it. We have many young students who like to jabber all class and they struggle to pick up new information. Part of learning martial arts is learning discipline, where discipline applies to controlling yourself in all sorts of ways. Quieting the mind and focusing on what is important in the moment is one of the hardest lessons for young students to learn. My Main Quest and Mission: My mission is to be the best Jedi I can be. My main quest is always to enhance my overall health, fitness, and knowledge to be prepared for whatever challenges life could throw at me. As a Jedi, I need to be able to help people, whether that is a life threatening situation or just a charitable one. There is no end in Jedi training for every light cast a shadow somewhere. Instead, it is a journey of self-discovery and compassion for others. World 6 Level 4 Challenge: FITNESS: Cardio: Speed and Stamina - Run twice a week. Include sprints and distance. Get on the treadmill if I have to. I may have to throw the stationary bike in every once in a while to reduce impact. STA +1, DEX +1 Walking: Fortify the Spine - 10+ min with good posture, daily. Do some stairs too. CON +1 Exercise: HIIT, Weight Lifting, and Bodyweight - 20+ min twice a week. STR +1, STA +1 Flexibility: Stretching and Physical Therapy - Daily exercises. Focus on hips, hams, and splits. DEX +1 Karate: Training and Practice - Three classes a week plus every spar class I can attend, practice for 20+ min twice a week. DEX +1, STR +1 DIET: Lean Body - I need to lose some weight, which starts with what I eat. 5+ cups of fruits and veggies. Cut down flour and corn based carbs at lunch and snack time. Fill up on spring mix. Time to start tracking the weight loss and body measurements again. 163.2 lbs yesterday. CON +1 LIFE: Write for Journey2U.org website, Facebook, and blog every day. Publish a blog article once a week. WIS +1, CHA +1 Record gaming videos. Practice editing and publish videos. Record speeches and talks to build a Vlog library. Find a time to live stream on a schedule, even if it is just once a month. WIS +1, CHA +1 Epic Quest - Complete something EPIC! I want to be able to look back at my four week challenge and say, "that was the challenge I did X". My challenges tend to be a lot of the same old. I've given myself plenty to improve in small steps, but I also want to see big strides in the things I've been working on. What box can I check? What have I been procrastinating? What am I focusing on? WIS +1, CHA +1